307 - Schedule
1. January 25 – Introductions: Portfolio, syllabus, schedule.
In-class reading: Frederick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write,” (WP, p.
94ff). Writer’s Reference on planning and drafting, p. 3-17.
DISCUSS: Autobiography assignment, planning and drafting.
READING ASSIGNMENT: Read Nancy Mairs’s “On Being a Cripple” (WP, p.
157ff), Alfred Lubrano’s “The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts”
(Download from website), and Writer’s Reference on punctuation p. 259-276.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Autobiography (8-10 pages)
2. February 1 – DUE: Autobiography
DISCUSS: 1. Mairs and Lubrano
2. punctuation
3. Portfolio process, if needed
4. More on writing process
READING ASSIGNMENT: Read DuBois’s “Of Our Spiritual Striving” (Online
– linked on Blackboard and Marcia’s website), Hughes’s “Salvation” (WP, p.
142-145), and Gates’s “Rope Burn” (Online – download from Blackboard or
Marcia’s website); Writer’s Reference on Sentence Style, p. 91-121.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Spiritual Autobiography (Portfolio 1)
3. February 8 – DUE: Spiritual Autobiography (Portfolio 1)
DISCUSS: 1. DuBois, Hughes, Gates
2. Sentence Style
3. Introduce Man’s Search for Meaning. Why are we reading this
book?
READING ASSIGNMENT: Man’s Search for Meaning (p. 3-96), Writer’s
Reference on revising and writing paragraphs, p. 18-36
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Draft of Portfolio Essay 2
4. February 15 – DUE: Completed rough draft of Portfolio Essay 2
DISCUSS: 1. Man’s Search for Meaning (p. 3-96)
2. Writer’s Reference, revising and writing paragraphs
3. Peer Review of Portfolio Essay 2
READING ASSIGNMENT: Man’s Search for Meaning (p. 97-134), Writer’s
Reference on other punctuation (p. 276-293)
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Continue work on Portfolio Essay 2
5. February 22 – DUE: Portfolio Essay 2
DISCUSS: 1. Man’s Search for Meaning (p. 97-134)
2. Writer’s Reference review commas and other punctuation.
READING ASSIGNMENT: Read Stephen L. Carter’s “The Insufficiency of
Honesty” (WP, p. 318-323) and Lauren Slater’s “The Trouble with Self-Esteem”
(WP, p. 857-64)
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Start Portfolio Essay 3
6. March 1 – DUE: Completed rough draft of Portfolio Essay 3
DISCUSS: 1. Carter and Slater’s essays.
2. Peer Review of Portfolio Essay 3
READING ASSIGNMENT: “How to Say Nothing in Five-Hundred Words”
(Blackboard/Marcia’s website)
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Continue work on Portfolio Essay 3
7. March 8 – DUE: Portfolio Essay 3
***LIBRARIAN VISIT DAY***
DISCUSS: 1. Library information session
2. “How to Say Nothing in Five-Hundred Words”
3. Introduction to The Hunger Games
READING ASSIGNMENT: The Hunger Games, Part 1 (p. 1-130), and Writer’s
Reference on Conducting Research (p. 318-352).
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Start Portfolio Essay 4
*** Spring Break, March 15. No class ***
308 - Schedule
1. March 22 – DUE: Draft of Porfolio Essay 4
DISCUSS: 1. The Hunger Games, Part 1 (p. 1-130)
2. Peer Review of Portfolio Essay 4
3. Writer’s Reference on Conducting Research
4. Questions about the library or use of databases
READING ASSIGNMENT: Continue The Hunger Games (Part 2, 131- 245);
Writer’s Reference on argument papers (p. 67-90); Amy Cunningham’s “Why
Women Smile” (WP, p. 324-331)
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Continue work on Portfolio Essay 4
2. March 29 – DUE: Portfolio Essay 4
DISCUSS: 1. Argument papers
2. Exercise – Is this an argument?
3. The Hunger Games, part 2
4. “Why Women Smile”
READING ASSIGNMENT: The Hunger Games, Part 3 (p. 246-374), Writer’s
Reference on Thesis, Evidence, Plagiarism, MLA and APA (p. 355-60 and 416426)
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Start Portfolio Essay 5
3. April 5 – DUE: Draft of Portfolio Essay 5
DISCUSS: 1. The Hunger Games, Part 3 (p. 246-374)
2. Peer Review Portfolio Essay 5
3. Thesis, Evidence, Plagiarism, MLA and APA
READING ASSIGNMENT: Writer’s Reference on documenting sources and intext citations, MLA and APA (p. 370-407, 433-50); Lakshmi Chaudhry’s “Mirror,
Mirror on the Web” (WP, p. 632-40); Laura Kipnis’s “Against Love” (WP, p.
748-56).
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Continue work on Portfolio Essay 5
4. April 12 – DUE: Portfolio Essay 5
DISCUSS: 1. Writer’s Reference on Documenting sources and in-text
citations, MLA and APA
2. Chaudhry and Kipnis’s essays
READING ASSIGNMENT: Writer’s Reference: MLA and APA sample papers
(p. 408-412, 484-488), Barry Schwartz’s “The Tyranny of Choice” (WP, p. 83442), Michael J. Sandel’s “The Case Against Perfection” (WP, p. 811-28).
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Draft of Research Paper
5. April 19 – DUE: Draft of Research Paper
DISCUSS: 1. Peer Review of Research Paper
2. Research Presentations, Group 1
3. Schwartz and Sandel’s essays
READING ASSIGNMENT: Sherry Turkle’s “How Computers Change the Way
We Think” (WP, p. 564-569), Howard Zinn’s “Stories Hollywood Never Tells”
(WP, p. 898-907)
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Continue work on Research Paper and Revise
previous Portfolio Essays for final submission.
6. April 26 – DUE: Research Essay (Portfolio 6? Recommended for 300 class.)
DISCUSS: 1. Research Presentations, Group 2
2. Turkle and Zinn’s essays
READING ASSIGNMENT: None
WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Revise all Portfolio essays for submission.
7. May 3 – DUE: Final Portfolio
Research Presentations: Group 3