Writing in the Humanities
Humanities 100W, Spring 2009
Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Class Days/Time:
Classroom:
Prerequisites:
Prof. Susan Scaff, Humanities Dept, SJSU
Clark 443
(408) 924-4507
Blackboard Mailbox. Please use Blackboard rather than my personal mailbox.
M 10:30-12:00, Th 12:00-1:00, appointment
Online
None
Completion of core GE, including ENGL 1B (with a grade of C
or better), satisfaction of Writing Skills Test (WST), and upper
division standing (56 units).
COURSE OVERVIEW
Purpose of Writing: Writing well is part of what makes up the intellectual skills and habits of educated people, enabling us to communicate with each other in a variety of personal and professional environments. In the humanities, reading and writing involve us in age-old discussions about the nature of
life – how we conceive of ourselves, see our purpose, define good and evil, distinguish men and women, comprehend the divine, believe society should be run – issues raised by rational human beings.
Writing in the humanities puts our minds to work on these and other humanistic questions, deepening
our understanding of life as well as improving our ability to present our ideas effectively.
Class Description: Humanities 100W teaches writing skills in the disciplines of the humanities: literature, art, religion, philosophy, and intellectual history. The course is designed to give Humanities and
Liberal Studies majors a firm foundation in expressing themselves well and making effective arguments. By reading well written essays and writing persuasive papers, students will hone their critical
thinking skills as well as their writing style and proper use of grammar and punctuation. The class
emphasizes proper documentation of research and requires incorporating library material into a 10-12
page research paper.
Catalog Description: Advanced workshop in composition and reading. Composition further develops skills of Core GE: writing expository essays, doing library research. Readings acquaint students
with major works and ideas of Eastern and Western civilizations.
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Computer Matters: Submit your work on the website in Word, Word Perfect, or a Rich Text Document. For problems with Blackboard, if you are on campus, the Help Desk is on the first floor of Clark
Hall. The hotline number is (408) 924-2377.
Student Technology Resources: Computer labs for student use are available in the Academic
Success Center located on the 1st floor of Clark Hall and on the 2nd floor of the Student Union. Additional computer labs may be available in your department/college. Computers are also available in the Martin Luther King Library.
TEXTS:
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2003, third edition. (CR)
Gordon, Karen Elizabeth. The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. (WTS)
Wiener, Harvey S., and Nora Eisenberg, eds. Great Writing: A Reader for Writers. Third edition.
Boston: McGraw Hill, 2002, third edition. (GW)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
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Five significant essays, including a major research paper of 10-12 pages
Reading assignments in an anthology of essays and other readings online or posted on the
Homepage, with homework and essays based on these readings
Multiple homework exercises covering the readings, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and style, and other writing matters
Weekly discussions with your group on a prompt provided
Several prewriting assignments prior to submission of the Research Paper (required as a condition of a grade on the paper).
Open Book Midterm.
GRADING POLICIES:
Homework (H) and essays (E) will be graded on:
(1) attention to the instructions / prompts
(2) thoroughness and thoughtfulness
(3) sufficient length according to the assignment
(4) clarity of expression
(5) good English
(6) proper documentation
Prewriting (PW) assignments for the Term Paper are mandatory. I will get these back to
you with comments as fast as I can for your benefit in preparing your essay. You must turn in
all of the prewritings and not skip any to ensure that your paper is accepted. (I do not promise
to grade essays that have not been preceded by all of the required prewriting.) These should be
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turned in on their due dates and must be turned in before the paper is due in a timely and orderly manner (not accepted if they come in all at once at the end).
Late homework (H) papers will receive half credit. Essays may also be graded down if
turned in late. Be sure to keep in touch with me about your schedule if you are having difficulty making deadlines because of an emergency.
The course grade will be calculated on the basis of 1000 points:. The grade for each assignment will be given as a percentage score (95 = A, 92 = A-, etc.) in Blackboard. To calculate your points for an assignment, multiply the possible points by your score (95 on the Research Paper is 200 x .95 = 125 points).
A grade of Incomplete will be given only under these circumstances: (1) the student has
completed at least 70% of the course work toward the end of the semester; (2) the student has
an emergency at the end of the semester preventing completion of the class on time; (3) the
student has kept in touch about his or her situation and requested the Incomplete in a timely
manner before (not after) the work is due.
A student must receive a grade of C or higher to receive credit for GE Area V. The is
university policy. In this class you must earn 730 points out of 1000 to receive a C grade.
GRADE DISTRIBUTION
Assignments
Essay 1: Definition (3-4 pp)
Essay 2: Argument / Persuasion (4-5 pp)
Essay 3: Comparison of two Texts (5-6 pp)
Essay 4: Interpretation of a Text (5-6-pp)
Essay 5: Research Paper (10-12 pp)
Homework
Discussions
Prewriting for Essay 4
Midterm (open book)
Due Dates
Feb 23
March 9
March 19
April 13
May 13
as designated
weekly
as designated
May 11
Points (1000)
75
100
125
175
230
125
120
required
50
UNIVERSITY POLICES
Academic integrity:
Students should know that the University’s Academic Integrity Policy is availabe at
http://www.sa.sjsu.edu/download/judicial_affairs/Academic_Integrity_Policy_S07-2.pdf. Your own
commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University and the University’s integrity policy, require you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are
required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The website for Student Conduct and Ethical Development is available at
http://www.sa.sjsu.edu/judicial_affairs/index.html.
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Instances of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Cheating on exams or plagiarism (presenting
the work of another as your own, or the use of another person’s ideas without giving proper credit) will
result in a failing grade and sanctions by the University. For this class, all assignments are to be completed by the individual student unless otherwise specified. If you would like to include in your assignment any material you have submitted, or plan to submit for another class, please note that SJSU’s
Academic Policy F06-1 requires approval of instructors.
Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act:
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon
as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the DRC (Disability Resource Center) to establish a record of their disability.
Dropping and Adding:
Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drops, academic renewal, etc. Information on add/drops are available at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/soc-fall/rec298.html. Information about late drop is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/sac/advising/latedrops/policy/
. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for adding and dropping classes.
UNIVERSITY OBJECTIVES FOR GE AREA Z:
Learning Objective 1: Students shall be able to refine the competencies established in Written Communication IA and IB as summarized below:
IA Student Learning:
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Students should be able to perform effectively the essential steps in the writing process (prewriting, organizing, composing, revising, and editing). These steps are covered in the prewriting assignments for the research paper (PW 1-5).
Students should be able to express (explain, analyze, develop, and criticize) ideas effectively.
These activities are covered in analysis of multiples readings from Great Writing: A Reader for
Writers. Students “chat” about these essays in their weekly group sessions, and they write
about them in homeworks 4 and 9.
Students should be able to use correct grammar (syntax, mechanics, and citation of sources) at
a college level of sophistication. Exercises are required in homeworks 2, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14.
Students should be able to write for different audiences (both specialized and general). Audience instruction and exercises required in homeworks 4 and 5.
IB Student Learning:
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Students should be able to use (locate, analyze, and evaluate) supporting materials, including
independent library research. Research required for the final paper with compiling a bibliography emphasized in prewritings 2 and 5.
Students should be able to construct effective argument. Required in the five essays assigned
in the course.
Learning Objective 2: Students shall be able to express (explain, analyze, develop, and criticize) ideas effectively, including ideas encountered in multiple readings and expressed in different forms of
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discourse. The readings in the course cover prose, poetry, and drama, and the Interpretation Essay and
the Comparison Essay require analysis of texts.
Learning Objective 3: Students shall be able to organize and develop essays and documents for both
professional and general audiences, including appropriate editorial standards for citing primary and
secondary sources. Essays 1-4 are to be written for a general audience, Essay 5, the research paper, for
a specialized audience. Proper documentation and editorial standards are required through the implementation of MLA Style. Homework 15 is an exercise in documentation.
SCHEDULE:
DATE
1-26
TOPIC
Introduction
1-27
Documentation
1-28
Mechanics: Complete Sentences
1-29
Documentation
2-2
Audience
Hum 100W S09
ASSIGNMENT
Send an email to me and cover it to any five other class members
by 11:55 this evening, introducing yourself in a Word document
that you attach to the message. Give a brief description of yourself
as an individual (anything you would like us to know – age, occupation, family, plans, etc.) and explain why you signed up for this
course other than that you want to complete it without going to
classes. You might do this by telling about your experience with
writing and in previous writing courses or other classes to give a
sense of how 100W will fit into your education. Tell how you anticipate an online class to be different from in-class instruction. Finally, say what you hope to gain from taking 100W (besides credit for
Area Z, which is true for everyone). Take the opportunity to think
through your writing skills, explaining how you excel and in what
ways you need to improve. Why do you think it is important to
learn to write well and that the university requires you to do so?
Submit Homework 1, following the prompts on the instruction
sheet attached in the H 1 window. We will start with nuts and bolts
and do a few exercises on documentation procedure. Every piece
of work that you turn in will be documented, and we are going to
learn right away how to proceed using MLA Style.
Read carefully the handout titled “Complete Sentences” posted
under Writing Resources. (Again, we are starting out with nuts and
bolts by reminding ourselves how important it is to write in complete sentences.)
Submit Homework 2 by midnight, following the prompts on the
instruction sheet, understanding that this kind of elementary “busy
work” will constitute very little of what we do in this class overall.
Read “Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts,” Great Writing, pp.
332-4.
Submit Homework 3, a documented summary of the reading in
MLA Style.
Read President Obama’s Inauguration Speech from last week.
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Think about its meaning by singling out different messages or layers
of a main message. Prepare carefully to discuss the speech when
you meet with your groups next week. You will find the text of the
speech at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inaugur
ation_obama_text.
2-3 to 4
Audience
2-4
Audience
2-5
Audience
2-9
Audience
2-10 to 11
Audience
2-10
Mechanics
2-11
Mechanics
2-12
Definition
2-16
Definition
2-17 to 18
Definition
Hum 100W S09
Read “Close Reading” and “Aristotle’s Four Appeals” under Reading
Resources on the Homepage.
Meet with your chat group at your designated time in the Chat
Room to discuss the Obama speech in terms of (1) its message(s)
and (2) the appeals that Obama makes to his audience.
Submit Homework 4, an analysis of a section of Obama’s speech,
drawing from the tips in “Close Reading” and emphasizing Obama’s
appeal to his audience.
Read “Pericles’ Funeral Oration” at
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/PERICLES.HTM. Consider who
Pericles is addressing, considering speech once again through Aristotle’s three appeals.
Read Craft of Research, Chap 2, pp. 16-24, on audience
Submit Homework 5: two paragraph statement for three radically
dif audiences. Choose a topic on which you have strong feelings
(e.g., abortion, your girl friend’s betrayal). Present your message as
though writing (1) an op ed piece in the Spartan Daily); (2) your
best friend in an email or text message; (3) a letter to your grandmother. Make the three versions extremely different in style.
Chat Group discussions of Pericles’ speech from the point of view
of audience, again drawing from Aristotle’s three appeals.
Submit Homework 6: Punctuation exercise to be completed on
attached sheet.
Submit Homework 7: Punctuation exercise to be completed on
attached sheet.
Read Great Writing, “Claiming the Self: The Cripple as American
Man,” pp. 490-5.
Consult http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/622/01/
and http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/definition.html
Read Great Writers, “Introduction to Definition,” pp. 464-72
Tue-Wed Group Discussions on Definition: Pick one of the topics
for the Definition Essay and generate ideas about it: What kind of
thing is it (what category does it belong to)? What are its parts or
aspects? How is it unlike (different or opposite from) other things?
What causes it or brings it about? What is it like (what are its synonyms)? What are its fundamental features (features that distinguish it)?
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2-18
2-19
2-23
Definition
Definition
Definition
2-24
Argumentation
2-24-25
Argumentation
2-25
Argumentation
2-26
Argumentation
3-2
Argumentation
3-3
Argumentation
3-3 to 3-4
Argumentation
3-4
3-5
Argumentation
Argumentation
Hum 100W S09
Submit H 8: Definition exercise to be complete on attached sheet.
Work on your essay.
Submit Definition Essay: Definition of one of the following: (1)
love; (2) the supernatural; (3) the beach; (4) a celebrity (either the
concept or a particular figure). Write 3-4 pages.
Read Great Writing, “A Modest Proposal,” Swift’s 18th century satire proposing a solution to poverty in Ireland, in Great Writing, pp.
534-40.
Tue-Wed Group Discussions on Swift’s satire by addressing questions 1-6 under “Language, Form Structure,” pp. 540-1.
Read Great Writing, “A Case Against Chores,” pp. 564-6.
Consult Great Writing, “ Introduction to Argumentation and Persuasion,” pp. 520-8.
Submit Homework 9: Analysis of the persuasive devices in either
Swift or Smiley, drawing upon the editors’ points about persuasion
in Great Writing, pp. 520-8.
Also submit Homework 10, your topic for the argumentation paper, accompanied by an explanation of why you chose that topic
and assurance that you have not written on it before or simply
looked up arguments pro and con on the web.
Read “Thesis Statements” under Writing Resources.
Read the OWL web page on argument and thesis statements:
http://www.ga956.org/Speaking/Speaking%20Bin/Establishing%20
Arguments%20-%20The%20OWL%20at%20Purdue.pdf.
Submit H 11: Pick two of the topics on the attached sheet and
write sample thesis statements, experimenting with different models (i.e., a thesis beginning with although, a thesis listing three
parts, etc.) Write two for each topic, so four in all.
Tue-Wed: In lieu of chat groups exchange drafts of the first paragraph of your argumentation essay and comment on each other’s
introduction and thesis statement: (1) the opening sentence and
its effectiveness; (2) the sequence of ideas; (3) the thesis – is it narrow enough? does it have an argumentative edge? does it lay out
the pattern of the essay? what are the main points that you believe the author intends to cover in the essay? (list them in the order that they will be taken up).
Exchange your comments by email, covering the instructor, twice.
You will do this on Wednesday and Thursday (you may extend over
the weekend by mutual agreement, but no later than Saturday).
This exercise is required for completion of the Argumentation Essay
assignment. (I will assign you to your two partners.)
Exchange drafted first paragraphs with a partner.
Exchange drafted first paragraphs with another partner.
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3-9
3-10
3-10 to 11
Argumentation
Comparison
Comparison
3-11
Comparison
3-12
Comparison
3-16
3-17 to 18
Comparison
Comparison
3-17
Comparison
3-18
Comparison
3-19
3-30
3-31 to 4-1
3-31
4-1
4-2
4-6
4-7 to 4-8
Comparison
Mechanics
4-7
Interpretation
4-8
Interpretation
Mechanics
Mechanics
Mechanics
Interpretation
Interpretation
Hum 100W S09
Submit Argumentation Essay. Write 4-5 pages.
Read Walker’s “Everyday Use” in Great Writing, pp. 344-51.
Chat Groups: With your group address the questions about Walker’s story under “Meaning and Idea,” pp. 350-1.
Read or skim the following essays with a view to which two you will
compare for Essay 2, a comparison of the view of man or of woman in two from this list: “My Father’s Life,” pp. 81-7; “What I’ve
Learned from Men,” pp. 175-8; “My Last Duchess,” pp. 185-6; “The
Gold Worker,” pp. 262-7; “Shakespeare’s Gifted Sister,” pp. 287-9;
“My Mistress’ Eyes,” p. 328; “The Girls in their Summer Dresses,”
pp. 367-71; “The He Hormone,” pp. 445-58; “Femininity,” pp. 4859; “I Want a Wife,” pp. 501-2.
Consult Great Writing, pp. 278-86
Read “Comparison” under Writing Resources.
Understand that you will be held to the instructions and guidelines
for writing a comparison essay strictly, especially regarding the
structure of the essay.
Assemble your thoughts for the Comparison Essay.
Chat Groups: Tell each other which stories you will be writing on
and why. Discuss the points of comparison that you think you will
be making. If someone has read a text that others have not, that
student could tell others about it. Exchange ideas so that you learn
from each other about the readings and get ideas for your own essay.
Thesis Statement: In an email to me propose your thesis statement with a jotted outline as a preliminary part of the comparison
essay assignment.
Thesis Statement: If I have asked you to, revise your thesis and
send me the revision.
Submit Comparison Essay. Write 5-6 pages.
Recuperate
No chat groups this week
Complete Homework 12, punctuation exercise on attached sheet.
Complete Homework 13, punctuation exercise on attached sheet.
Complete Homework 14, punctuation exercise on attached sheet.
Read “The Kitchen” in Great Writing, pp. 45-9.
Tue-Wed Chat Groups: Discuss questions # 1-5 under “Language,
Form, Structure” on p. 49.
For Homework 15 write a two page memory from your childhood
taking inspiration from Kazin’s essay and writing in descriptive language
Read and prepare to interpret one of the following stories from
Great Writing: “The Last of the Kiowas,” pp. 18-23; “Once More to
the Lake,” pp. 24-35; “Graduation,” pp. 123-33; “Wakefield,” pp.
134-40; “A Marriage Proposal,” pp. 591-602.
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4-9
Interpretation
4-13
4-14
Interpretation
Research
4-14 to 15
Research
4-15
Research
4-16
Research
4-20
Research
4-21 to 4-22
Research
4-21
Research
4-22
Research
4-23
Research
4-27
Research
Hum 100W S09
Consult: the University of North Carolina web page on writing
about fiction
(http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature.html).
To help yourself generate ideas, consider questions like the following about the aspect that you want to write about: Do you see a
pattern or a problem in the text that would focus your attention on
the thing’s meaning? How can a thing be described? (asked of an
event, character, image, point of style, etc.). What are the facts
about it? How did it happen? What are its parts? What is its function? How has it been made or done? How did it occur and why?
Does it conflict with something else in the story? Can a case be
made for or against it? (i.e., on moral terms or terms of plausibility). What is my personal response to it? What does the thing
mean? To interpret a text it is best to find a point of tension or a
paradox or something puzzling that functions like a problem for you
to solve. You then present your solution in your thesis and bring
forward evidence from the text to support your claim.
Submit Interpretation Essay. Write 5-6 pages.
Pick a general research area from the list provided on the assignment sheet for the research paper.
Chat Groups discuss the research topics available, give your choices
and reasons, speculate how you might narrow your topic to the appropriate scope, give each other feedback and ideas.
Preliminary catalog search for availability of scholarly sources on
your topic idea.
Submit PW 1, narrowed research topic with list of five or more
scholarly sources from your catalog search.
Read Craft of Research, Chap 4, pp. 51-67, on finding a research
problem.
Chat Groups: Discuss the main points of Chapter 4 in Craft of Research. Explain how you believe you will find a research problem in
your narrowed topic and exchange ideas with each other.
Read Craft of Research, Chap 5, pp. 68-82, on finding and evaluating sources.
Read “Scholarly Sources” under Writing Resources.
Spend library time looking for scholarly sources – lots of time – get
a long list – if you don’t get a long list, change your topic and keep
looking – make sure the sources are scholarly and that you have
plenty of them.
Submit PW 2, Preliminary Bibliography, minimally five sources.
Annotate these by telling the scope of the source, its usefulness for
your project, and the reasons you know that it is scholarly.
Read Craft, pp. 95-100, on note taking.
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4-28
4-28 to 4-29
Research
Research
4-29
Research
4-30
Research
5-4
Research
5-5
5-6
Research
Research
5-11
5-12
5-13
Midterm
Research
Research
Hum 100W S09
Continue your research, taking careful notes.
Tue-Wed Chat Groups: discuss how you personally take notes to
avoid plagiarism—be specific and concrete – also discuss evaluating
sources – once you get into one, how do you know it is worthwhile?
Submit PW 3, an overview or abstract of your planned essay in several paragraphs.
Submit Homework 16, reviewing how to punctuate and document
quotations.
Submit PW 4, a brief outline of your upcoming paper. Reread your
abstract and outline it – either formally or informally as a jotted
outline. Then tell how each section of the outline supports the thesis.
Continue working.
Submit PW 5, bibliography divided into Works Cited and Works
Consulted (may change this later as necessary).
On the mechanics that we have covered this semester.
Writing Day
Submit Research Paper. Write 10-12 pages.
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