Fall 2005
TR 6:00-7:15
McIver 326
Instructor: Joe Goeke
Office: McIver 108
Phone: 334-4689
Email: jfgoeke@uncg.edu
Office Hrs: MWF 10:00-10:50, TR 5:00-5:50 and by appointment
Required Texts
 Bloom, Lynn Z., Edward M. White, and Shane Borrowman. Inquiry: Questioning,
Reading, Writing . 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2004.
 Ruszkiewicz, John, Maxine Hairston, and Christy Friend. SF Express . New York:
Longman, 2002.
Course Description
This course is designed to help you develop a useful habit: writing to learn. With this approach, you do not assume that you know what you will write before you begin.
Rather, you call to mind only what you’ll write about —putting pen to paper, or fingers to keys, trusting that you will discover connections, questions, and ways of expressing things in the process of writing itself. In writing to learn, you begin by taking off the editor’s hat. This means putting aside questions of grammar, spelling, and structure until you have written enough to discover some of your own ideas on the subject. Where do you stand? How do you relate to the subject? What about the subject interests you?
What are some important questions to answer?
We will look at our textbook, which focuses on writing to learn, to fuel our writing process with questions, topics, and readings on subjects that, in their broadest sense, involve everyone. Then, through workshops and revision, we will also address later stages in the writing process, including editing, proofreading, and revision itself.
Course Work and Class Demeanor
Our workload will be reading and writing intensive, and our class meetings will combine lectures with discussion. Classes will also include occasional multimedia presentations (e.g., film, music, art), in-class writing, and small group work.
Active participation and note taking are encouraged and will have a positive influence on your final grade.
To make this a healthy and fun learning environment for all of us, please respect your classmates and me by staying for the entire class. If you need to leave early, let me know ahead of time. You can also contribute by participating in discussion, keeping outside conversation to a minimum, and responding to your fellow students. Once class has begun, please clear unrelated texts from your desk, stay awake, and avoid disruptive late entrances. Repeated disturbance will result in a deduction of 5 points from the final average and, if necessary, dismissal from the class.
Grade Distribution
Attendance & Participation 5%
Journals
Paper One
10%
20%

Paper Two
Paper Three
Paper Four
25%
20%
20%
You should keep a handwritten journal in a notebook that holds only that journal .
Entries in the journal should be dated, and they should include notes, free writing, drafts, and other plans for your essay assignments. I will collect these journals with each essay that you turn in. They should include at least one page of writing per week.
Number of entries per week is your choice .
Essay assignments (3-5 pages each) will relate to unit questions from Inquiry . The class will divide into three sections —A, B, and C—to work on these essays so that I can devote a fair amount of time to reading each one. You will share your essays with two fellow students on designated workshop days. (See schedule below and Workshop
Schedule handout for further details.) You may revise after receiving a grade, as long as you meet with me first to review your graded essay and my comments.
Plagiarism is strictly forbidden and will result in failure of the assignment, possibly even failure of the course and expulsion from the university.
Attendance and Participation
Much of our class will involve group discussion, which requires frequent participation, so attendance is very important. You should show up on time and be prepared to discuss the day’s reading(s). If you must miss a class, let me know before we meet, if possible.
Absences over three will have a negative effect on your final grade. Such absences will especially affect borderline cases (e.g., a B-/C+ borderline grade would automatically become a C+). Any student who misses eight or more classes and does not withdraw from the course will automatically fail.
Course Schedule
This schedule is tentative and subject to change.
Page numbers in parentheses refer to Inquiry , unless otherwise noted ( SF = SF Express ). Be prepared to discuss all readings in class on the assigned date.
Date Reading / Class Activities Section A
Due Dates
Section B
Due Dates
T 8/16 Meet and greet / Introduction of syllabus
Th 8/18 Introduction (xvxix); Ursula Le Guin, “Where Do You
Get Your Ideas From?” (318-25) / Assign Groups
T 8/23 Identity: How Do I Know Who I Am? (1-11)
Th 8/25 What Is My Physical Self?: Natalie Angier,
“Estrogen, Desire, and Puberty” (14-23)
T 8/30
Th 9/1
Who Am I in Relation to Others?: Joan Didion, “On
SelfRespect” (61-66) / Workshop 1-A
Eric Liu, “Notes of a Native Speaker” (66-77)
T 9/6 How Do Language and Literacy Affect My Identity?:
Richard Wright, “The Power of Books” (99-108) /
Workshop 1-B
Th 9/8
T 9/13
Essay Review / Workshop 1-C
Reinterpretations/Contexts: What Can We Learn from the Past? (47888); Linda Simon, “The Naked
Source” (596-601)
[Workshop 1]
Revision 1
[Workshop 1]
Revision 1
Section C
Due Dates
[Workshop 1]
Revision 1

Th 9/15 Film: TBA
T 9/20 Film: TBA
Th 9/22 How Can We Interpret and Understand the Past?:
Frances Fitzgerald, “America Revised” (587-95)
T 9/27 How Does Family Heritage Affect Who We Are?:
Barry Lopez, “Searching for Ancestors” (489-97) /
Workshop 2-A
Th 9/29 Scott Russell Sanders, “Under the Influence: Paying the Price of My Father’s Booze” (521-33)
T 10/4 How Can We Interpret and Understand the Past?:
Stephen Hawking, “Our Picture of the Universe”
(572-82) / Workshop 2-B
Th 10/6 Sentence Revision (Handout) / Workshop 2-C
T 10/11 Fall Break —No Classes
Th 10/13 Ethics: What Principles Do —and Should—Govern
Our Personal Lives? (223-33)
[Workshop 2]
Revision 2
[Workshop 2]
Revision 2 [Workshop 2]
Revision 2
T 10/18 What Governs Ethical Behavior?: Jeffrey Wattles,
“The Golden Rule” (234-40)
Th 10/20 Peter Singer, “The Singer Solution to World Poverty”
(248-55)
T 10/25 What Are Some Operative Principles of Work and
Play?: Howard Gardner, “Good Work, Well Done: A
Psychological Study” (256-64)
Th 10/27 Barbara Ehrenreich, “Serving in Florida” (264-73) /
Workshop 3-A
[Workshop 3]
T 11/1 How Can We Meet the Challenge of Creativity?:
Jacob B ronowski, “The Reach of Imagination” (306-
14)
Th 11/3 Alice Walker, “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens”
(328-37) / Workshop 3-B
T 11/8 Essay Review / Workshop 3-C
Th 11/10 Predictions: What Will the Future Be Like? (604-14)
T 11/15 Will War and Terrorism Shape the Future?: William
James, “The Moral Equivalent of War” (e-reserve)
Th 11/17 Margaret Mead, “Warfare Is Only and Invention—
Not a Biological Necessity” (654-60)
T 11/22 C zeslaw Milosz, “American Ignorance of War” (661-
65)
Th 11/24 Thanksgiving Break —No Classes
T 11/29 Will a New Utopia Be Possible in the 21st Century?:
Kofi Annan, “The United Nations in the 21st Century”
(698-704)
Th 12/1 Karen Armstrong, “Does God Have a Future?” (704-
16)
T 12/13 Final Exam 7:00-10:00 p.m.
—Essay 4 Due
Revision 3
[Workshop 3]
Revision 3 [Workshop 3]
Revision 3