Transition to College Writing
Writing 100, section 001
T/Th 10-11am, 2155 North Quad
Winter 2014
Instructor: Scott Beal
Email: skot@umich.edu
Office: 1330 North Quad
Office Phone: 615-9868
INTRODUCTION:
WRITING 100: Transition to College Writing gives you the opportunity to practice
academic writing skills that will serve you well in college and beyond. We will focus
intensively on strategies for reading, analyzing, and responding in writing to texts—tasks
you will be asked to do often as a college student.
This course includes several unique features designed to assist you as you develop as an
academic writer. First, you will meet with me once every two weeks for one-to-one halfhour conference sessions during which we will discuss what you are working on for the
course and your development as a writer. This one-to-one help is incredibly valuable for
writers at any stage and is a great benefit of this course. Additionally, you will create an
electronic portfolio which will showcase your work for the course and your evolution as
a writer. You will have access to this portfolio long after our course is complete, and you
can—and should—continue to use it as a place to demonstrate and reflect on your
evolution as a writer.
COURSE DESCRIPTION (FROM COURSE GUIDE):
Great writing in any discipline is more than a matter of presenting information or stating
opinions. It is an active engagement with the world, in which we work to see subjects
more sharply and more deeply, and to bring our audience along. Accordingly, the writing
process is a process of discovery, which proceeds in stages, from brainstorming and
research to collaboration and revision. In this section of "Transition to College Writing"
we will focus on the element of discovery in writing about our own experience, our
observations about the wider cultures of which we are part, and the various texts we read.
Students will write and revise six essays (as well as several informal writing assignments)
and will present them at the end of the semester in an electronic portfolio. In addition,
students will be expected to participate actively in class discussion, in peer review
sessions, in explorations of several University resources, and in bi-weekly meetings with
the instructor.
COURSE READINGS:
All course readings will be available electronically via CTools or as handouts distributed
in class; you do not need to purchase a textbook. To access course readings, log into
CTools, click the tab for our class, then click on "Resources" in the list on the left. Click
on the reading you are looking for. Always print copies of these readings and bring them
to class on the days we are scheduled to discuss them.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
This course is credit / no credit, which allows you to practice and improve your writing
without the anxiety of letter grades. To receive credit you must complete the following
required written work:
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Six major essays, typewritten and double-spaced. We will discuss criteria for
these essays well ahead of time, and they will explore a range of subjects and
techniques (reflection, summary/response, analysis, argument). Each of these
essays will undergo at least one major revision guided by feedback received
during conferences and peer critiques.
1-2 page reflections on most of your major essays (as specified in the course
schedule).
Eight 1-2 page responses to your colleagues’ rough drafts, typewritten and
double-spaced (see "Peer Review," below).
Frequent short assignments, which will be completed in and out of class and
will be largely informal, including: responses to texts we study; explorations
of issues discussed in class; reflective, inspirational, and craft-building
exercises; etc.
Creation of an electronic portfolio. The e-portfolio is the culmination of all
your work for the course. It allows you to reflect on your development as a
writer and to present your work to audiences beyond the classroom. We will
spend a lot of time together working on developing our e-portfolios.
Obviously this is a lot of writing. The goal of any writing course is to develop your
critical and expressive skills, and the only way to develop is through continuous critical
and expressive activity (just as you must practice regularly to improve at tennis or banjo.)
If you take the course and the practice it offers you seriously, you will see improvement in
your writing.
In service of this ambitious workload and our classroom's shared dedication to writing
improvement, you must also meet the following requirements to receive credit for the
course:
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Attending class and conferences. If you must miss a class or conference due
to an unavoidable commitment or genuine emergency, consult with me as far
in advance as possible. You are responsible for arranging to make up any
missed assignments and class time. Students who miss more than three classes
OR more than one conference should not expect to receive course credit.
Punctuality. Tardiness disrupts both your learning and the functioning of the
class, so each day you are late to class or conference will count as half an
absence.
Active participation in all class activities. You are expected to come to
class fully prepared to discuss any assigned texts and to participate actively in
all classroom activities, from in-class writing to small group tasks to full class
discussions.
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Timely completion of assignments. If you know in advance that you will be
unable to make a deadline, talk to me to inquire about alternative
arrangements. Students who miss deadlines routinely or turn in careless work
should not expect to receive course credit.
Appropriate use of technology. Personal electronic devices—cell phones,
tablets, iPods, and laptops—should be turned off as you enter the classroom.
Exception: you may bring your laptop to class on scheduled E-Portfolio days
(see attached schedule) in order to work on your electronic portfolio during
class.
CONFERENCES:
The one-on-one conferences are this course's vital feature and resource, and as such it is
essential that you attend and participate actively in all conference sessions. An effective
conference is a two-way conversation in which you play a lead role. You should come to
conferences with a draft of the paper you are working on (as noted in the attached course
schedule), have prepared questions or topics to ask about, and be ready to discuss your
writing and answer questions. Conference sessions will never consist of me "telling you
what to do" and you listening passively. Instead, expect to engage in genuine, two-way
conversations about your writing-in-progress.
WORKSHOP:
We will spend four of our sessions together discussing each other’s writing-in-progress
(i.e. rough drafts) in order to offer support and advice on how to improve our expression.
For each workshop session will divide into groups of 3 students each, and when rough
drafts are due for each essay you will bring 3 copies to class. You will give one copy to
me to hang on to, and one copy to each member of your workshop group; make sure you
keep a copy for yourself as well. For the following class session you will assemble in
your groups and spend the hour discussing your colleagues’ essays: what each one’s
strengths are and how each could be improved in revision. For each of these sessions you
will have prepared a 1-2 page response, in letter form, for each paper being discussed that
day, in which you point out the strengths and opportunities for improvement you see in
the paper. Bring two copies of each response, one for me and one for the student whose
paper it pertains to. The feedback you receive from your peers will help you revise your
rough draft into a stronger final draft which will be due a few classes later. See the
attached class schedule for a specific timeline for when drafts are due and when
workshops will be held.
PLAGIARISM:
The University of Michigan defines plagiarism as “submitting a piece of work (for
example an essay, research paper, work of art, assignment, laboratory report) which in
part or in whole is not entirely the student’s own work without attributing those same
portions to their correct sources.” Plagiarism is when you knowingly (or unknowingly)
submit someone else’s ideas or words as your own. If you plagiarize—regardless of
whether it’s a few lines or an entire paper—you can expect to fail the course and to have
the case forwarded to the college administration for disciplinary action and permanent
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notation in your academic record. For more detail on the university's plagiarism policy,
see: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/english/undergraduate/advising/plagNote.asp
LEARNING DIFFERENCES/DISABILITIES:
Services for Students with Disabilities (http://www.umich.edu/~sswd/) is available to
assist university students who need accommodations due to a disability. If you would
like to request such accommodations for this course, please make an appointment to see
me.
SWEETLAND CENTER FOR WRITING:
Few universities have a resource like the Sweetland Center, located at 1310 North Quad,
which is dedicated exclusively to helping students improve their writing. I recommend
you take full advantage of their services, for this class as well as your others. They offer
one-on-one tutoring in the Writing Workshop, one-on-one peer tutoring at various
locations around campus, and online writing consultation through OWL and syncOWL.
You must include at least one of these resources as part of your Guide to University
Resources for this course. For more information on Sweetland's services, visit their
website: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/sweetland/forstudents
This syllabus and the attached timeline may be subject to adjustment as circumstances evolve over the
course of the semester. In the event that changes become necessary, I will notify you as soon as possible.
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