English 289 Fall: Intermediate Composition
Literacy, Genre, Discourse Communities
Language is power.
South Carolina Slave Law, May 1740
That all and every person and persons whatsoever, who shall hereinafter teach or cause any slave
or slaves to be taught, to write, or shall use or employ any slave as a scribe in any manner of
writing whatsoever, hereafter taught to write, every such person and persons, shall, for every such
offense, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds current money.
Excerpt from Virginia Revised Code of 1819
That all meetings or assemblages of slaves, or free negroes or mulattoes mixing and associating
with such slaves at any meeting-house or houses, &c., in the night; or at any SCHOOL OR
SCHOOLS for teaching them READING OR WRITING, either in the day or night, under
whatsoever pretext, shall be deemed and considered an UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY; and any
justice of a county, &c., wherein such assemblage shall be, either from his own knowledge or the
information of others, of such unlawful assemblage, &c., may issue his warrant, directed to any
sworn officer or officers, authorizing him or them to enter the house or houses where such
unlawful assemblages, &c., may be, for the purpose of apprehending or dispersing such slaves,
and to inflict corporal punishment on the offender or offenders, at the discretion of any justice of
the peace, not exceeding twenty lashes.
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Michelle Holley
McMicken 245B
M, T, W 3:30-4:43
Email: michelle.holley@uc.edu
MATERIALS NEEDED:
We will not have a text book for this class; however, I do expect that you have access to an
English usage handbook with a section on documentation styles—how to cite and document
sources—and know how to use it.
Readings posted to our course Blackboard site, usually in pdf format
A two-pocket folder, writing materials for in-class writing,
Important Notice:
All course materials including readings, the syllabus, daily schedule, assignment descriptions,
handouts, and announcements can be accessed through our Blackboard site. Please bring
printed copies of material when assigned to do so. I will distribute few if any copies of course
materials; therefore, be sure that you have access to a printer or have enough funds on your
Bearcat card to print copies and that you are well-versed in Blackboard and can log on with no
problems.
Please check our course site regularly for materials and updates. I will correspond with you using
your UC email accounts.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
English Composition 289 is an intermediate composition course designed to build upon and
enhance the writing and reading skills developed in the first-year writing courses (English 101
and 102). The course emphasizes critical reading and writing, more advanced research and
argumentative skills, and rhetorical understanding of discourse as it is used in various ways. You
will read and respond to a variety of materials about personal literacy, academic literacy, and
community literacy. In addition, you will write three major assignments: a focused literacy
autobiography, an analysis of discourse and genre related to a topic in your field, and an
ethnographic research study of literacy within a particular discourse community.
Primary Course Goals:
By the end of this course, you should be able to
• analyze, compare, and evaluate rhetorical strategies specific to a discourse community
• interpret, assess, and write within a variety of genres to understand how meaning is
made, communicated, and debated
• identify and distinguish among kinds of evidence used in a given discourse community
• locate, evaluate, and integrate source material appropriate to research inquiry
• reflect on connections among ideas within the course and your own academic,
personal, social, and professional lives
• write and revise drafts and integrate feedback using drafting, revising, and editing
strategies
• use appropriate technologies to research and communicate findings
• use conventions of format, organization, syntax, grammar, punctuation, and language
appropriate to specific writing situations
• recognize and use specified documentation and citation guidelines and styles
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Main Assignments (70%)
You will turn in a portfolio of your work. We will discuss the requirements for each assignment
within the portfolio in class. Since a portfolio is a collection of work; all drafts, shorter
assignments, presentations, or any other element required will be counted as part of the portfolio
grade. Failure to turn in all parts of a portfolio can result in a lower grade. Full descriptions of
portfolio assignments are on Bb under Assignments.
The final paper is a reflection about your learning in the course.
Drafting, feedback, and revision:
Since our class will follow a workshop model, it gives us the perfect opportunity to share writing
with others working on a similar projects. We will frequently share work-in-progress with each
other in paired or small groups or as a whole class during workshops. While showing your
unfinished work can be unnerving at first, students often find that getting feedback in this way is
the most satisfying means to improvement. With the first two portfolios, please include responses
to one or two of your group members.
In addition, you are welcome to bring your drafts to my office for a conference or to e-mail me,
and I will include some class periods that allow time to speak with me one-on-one. Finally, the
A&S Writing Center offers assistance free of charge. I encourage you to take advantage of these
opportunities.
Revising graded papers: All essays must be proofread and edited before turning them in. You
may revise one of the first two assignments after getting back your graded portfolio; however,
revision does not mean cleaning up errors due to poor editing or proofreading.
Your revised essay must be accompanied by a one to two-page letter to me detailing your
revisions and why you made them—what guided your decisions. Submit your revised essay in
your portfolio folder along with your original graded essay with my comments, and any
additional notes and drafts. You may submit your revision at any time, but no later than the last
day of class. Revising does not guarantee a higher grade.
Discussion Board Postings (15%):
We’ll have plenty of opportunities to discuss the readings and your writing in class, but not
everyone is as comfortable speaking up in class as are others. Often, too, thoughtful discussion
can get cut off when we run out of time or have to move to other topics. Discussion Boards allow
everyone to continue discussions and have a chance to be heard.
Since we will write nearly every class period, use these activities as springboards for DB postings
and to reflect on your writing when you begin writing major assignments.
You can attach sources and materials, including images you wish to share with your classmates.
Finally, use the DB to post your ideas for papers. I’ll read all postings, respond to some, and will
choose a few to stimulate discussion in class.
Select several entries to turn in during weeks three and six. The selections should consist of
three to six entries each time you turn them in and can be informal, experimental, and incomplete,
but they must be typed, proofread, and dated, and total at least 750 words. At least one entry
per set must be a response to a classmate’s post. The total of both sets should be about 1500
words. We’ll discuss how to format DB postings to hand in.
Note: Please post regularly and respectfully. Remember that the DB is a public forum available
to anyone in our class and to others I provide with access. Do not use the DB as a forum to
complain about the course, me, or each other. You can edit or remove your posts, but you cannot
post anonymously.
Participation and Attendance (15%)
Please observe common-sense rules of courtesy. Arrive on time with work prepared and stay the
full class period. Turn off all cell phones and other electronic devices. Unless otherwise directed,
do not use your laptop in class. Realize that I cannot give one-on-one attention while I’m
conducting class.
Since this course is run as a workshop, your presence and participation is important to your
success and critical to each session. We will write nearly everyday, developing ideas, practicing
strategies, and responding to texts; as a result, missing class will affect your participation and
performance. Be sure to bring materials from our Bb site when required. Lack of participation
will result in a deduction of points from your final grade.
I take attendance regularly and note absences as well as tardiness. You will be allowed three
absences for the term without penalty. After the third absence, I will deduct five points for each
class missed.
EXCEPTION: University-sponsored events that require your participation will not be counted
as an absence. Please provide me with a signed document on department letterhead noting the
event and dates of attendance prior to the event. In addition, absences due to religious obligations
will not be counted. I do not need doctor’s notes.
Please keep track of your attendance. Absences will lower your grade even if you earn A’s on
your coursework.
Grading summary:
The evaluation criteria for writing in 289 are the same as those for 101 and 102; I will evaluate
your writing based on focus, development, organization, support, and mechanics. The grading
rubric will be posted to Blackboard. Please ask me if you are not familiar with these criteria.
Grades will be weighted as follows:
Portfolios (55%):
Portfolio One: Literacy Autobiography and Analysis
Portfolio Two: Genre Comparative Analysis:
Portfolio Three: Ethnographic Research Project
15%
15%
25%
Reflection
15%
Discussion Board Postings
Participation and Attendance
15%
15%
100%
I grade on a standard 10/100 point scale:
90-93.5 = A-; 94-100 = A; 80-83.5 = B-; 84-86 = B; 86.5-89.5 = B+ ; 70-73.5 = C-;
74-76 = C; 76.5-79.5 = C+; 66.5-69.5 = D+, 64-66 = D, 60-63.5 = DPossible course grades for English 289 are A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F; W
(Withdrawal), UW (Unofficial withdrawal), and I (Incomplete). Incompletes will be given only
on an emergency basis and only when an agreement has been worked out between us regarding
some portion of the requirements not yet complete.
A note on grades: I want you to become a better writer and thinker. This is the goal of the
course. Sometimes students want to “just get an A.” These goals can coincide if the student is
prepared to work diligently and to think creatively. A work is excellent, original and exciting.
An important note on plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the action of using without due acknowledgement the thoughts, writing, scholarship,
or the inventions of another. It is often the result of carelessness or ignorance: a person does not
fully understand the importance of the issue or does not know the appropriate procedures for
acknowledging sources. Sometimes, however, a person is fully aware of submitting ideas or
work belonging to someone else. The University of Cincinnati considers plagiarism a serious
moral issue and a form of academic dishonesty.
In the English Composition Program, the penalty for plagiarism, even if it is not intentional, is an
automatic grade of F for the course and a letter detailing your plagiarism in your college file.
Therefore, if you are unsure about whether or not you have cited all of your work properly,
including any published images you’ve used, ask me before you submit your essay.
Conduct
The A&S Faculty Handbook states that students are to behave with civility and appropriate
etiquette toward faculty and one another. Noncompliance may lead to disciplinary action as
outlined in the Student Code of Conduct.
Viewed freely, the English language is the accretion and growth of every dialect, race,
and range of time, and is both the free and compacted composition of all.
Walt Whitman
A riot is the language of the unheard.
Martin Luther King, Jr.