Katie Daily-Bruckner
dailym@bc.edu
Office Location: 10 Stone Avenue – Office 202
Office Hours: Wednesdays 9:30am-10:30am and by appointment.
EN01031: FIRST-YEAR WRITING SEMINAR
O’Neill 256
M/W 11:00am
I. Course Description and Objectives
Who are you as a writer? Do you write for enjoyment? Is writing a chore? We will
work to explore these questions and more throughout the semester. Whatever your
future goals, writing will be a skill that carries you a significant distance. This course
is designed to increase your confidence as a writer while introducing you to new and
different approaches across academic disciplines.
We will focus on writing for many different situations and audiences. Your
assignments will range from personal narratives to research projects, and many
different places in between. The emphasis will be the writing and revision process,
focusing on how we arrive at a final product. We will work together to help
determine your writing personality. We will unearth your strengths as a writer and
work to improve upon your weaknesses. As part of this, I will require careful
attention to the class reading and writing assignments as well as significant
participation, as these are all critical to success in this class. I expect that you will
fully complete every assignment, thoughtfully engage with the material, and
challenge yourself.
II. Required Materials
Murray, Donald M. Write to Learn, 8th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.
Donovan-Kranz, Eileen and Lad Tobin, ed. Fresh Ink.
http://escholarship.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/freshink
Write to Learn (WTL) is available at the Boston College Bookstore. You can also get
WTL on Half.com, Amazon, or a host of other sites. Please feel free to buy it used. It
will also be on reserve. Fresh Ink is online. In addition, there are reading assignments
that must be accessed through Blackboard Vista. You are required to print these
readings and to bring them to class.
III. Course Policies
Academic Integrity: please review Boston College’s policy on academic integrity
(www.bc.edu/integrity). You will be responsible for adhering to this policy at all
times and in every course throughout your time at BC. If you are confused in any way
about quoting or paraphrasing, contact me BEFORE handing in an assignment.
Attendance: this course is a workshop and participation makes up a significant
portion of your grade. Your presence in the classroom not only helps bolster your
own learning, it also contributes to the experience of your classmates. Clearly, I
understand that there are times when you may need to be absent. I ask that you call
or email me in advance to alert me that you will not be joining us. If you miss more
than three classes, your final grade will be affected negatively. Five or more absences
puts you in danger of failing. Please note that missing a conference counts as missing a
class. The conferences are an integral part of the work that we will do together this
semester. In addition, for every three times that you are more than five minutes late
to class, you will receive an absence.
Cell Phones/PDAs/Etc: please turn off all communication devices upon entering the
classroom. If you choose to take notes on your laptop, disable any chat and email
functions prior to the class beginning.
Deadlines: due dates are inflexible and must be honored in order for the course to run
smoothly. All drafts are due IN CLASS on their due date. This includes having papers
prepared for in-class workshops. The failure to bring an assignment to class on
workshop day will constitute an absence since you will not be able to participate.
Regarding late work, your portfolio grades will drop by one full grade (B becomes a C,
for example) for every 24 for hours past the deadline. Naturally, “emergencies” will be
dealt with on a case-by-case basis; however, they do not include:
 Computer/printer malfunction
 Another paper deadline or exam on the same day
 Your roommate breaking up with significant other and needing latenight counseling; alarm clock malfunction; anxiety about global
warming
Grading: since this course focuses on the writing process, you are encouraged to
continue revising each of your papers until the end of the semester. At mid-term you
will prepare a midterm portfolio that will give you a sense of your progress in the
class. At that time, I will give you a written evaluation that provides a “snapshot”
grade and gives you tips for raising or maintaining it.
The final portfolio will account for 75% of your grade. You will choose your three
strongest essays to include in the portfolio with each of their drafts. The early drafts
will make up 50% of each paper grade within the portfolio with the second 50%
based on the final draft. The remaining 25% of your overall grade will be based on
attendance, preparation for and participation in class discussion, and a good-faith
effort on your informal writing assignments.
At Boston College, there are twelve grading categories: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+,
D, D-, and F. The categories breakdown as follows: A is excellent; B is good; C is
satisfactory; D is passing but not satisfactory; and F is failure.*
Revision: each of the four major essays will undergo revision. Revision does not mean
proofreading or editing. These revisions will require you to show a willingness and
ability to transform your papers. You might choose to focus on elements such as the
paper’s tone, its focus, conducting additional research, or shifting your argument.
Whatever you decide, you must significantly revise (literally re-vision) each piece.
IV. Campus Resources Available to You
Connors Family Learning Center (CFLC): Located in O’Neill 200, this is a place where
you can go to meet individually with writing tutors. A tutor won’t “fix” a paper, but
can be a great resource if you feel stuck or just want someone else’s feedback. Most
professional writers would dream for such a ready resource, and it’s available to you
at no charge. To schedule an appointment call 2-0611.
Campus Technology Resource Center (CTRC): Located in O’Neill 250, this is a place
to access a computer and print documents like the PDF readings from Blackboard
Vista.
Counseling Services: Should you feel overwhelmed, homesick, depressed, or just need
a sounding board, University Counseling Services is a great place to turn. Call (617)
552-3310 to set up an appointment or stop into one of their offices at Gasson 108,
Fulton 254, or Campion 301. This service is free to all students. Likewise, please feel
that you can come to me to talk about issues before they reach critical mass.
V. Course Requirements
Conferences: in addition to our two weekly class meetings, each of you will meet
with me for individual conferences every other week (A and B). You should e-mail by
5pm the night before our conference with a conference topic/draft questions. We will
meet for approximately 15 minutes during these sessions. You will sign up for a
specific time at the beginning of the semester and keep that time for the entire
semester.
Discussion Leader: at the beginning of the semester, you will sign up to serve as the
discussion starter for one class session. You will post two or three questions about that
week’s material to Blackboard Vista at least 48 hours before your assigned class. In
class, you will help lead discussion and work to challenge your peers to see the
*
Taken from Boston College Handbook.
readings in a new way. You may work in pairs but are each expected to lead at least
one question in class.
Written Work: this class will include four essay assignments that will each go
through multiple drafts/revisions. Each essay requires you to develop your own
specific focus. Assignment lengths will vary, so please see the assignment sheets for
specific guidelines; however, the final versions will probably be slightly longer than
first drafts. They papers that we will write are:
1) Personal Narrative
2) Cultural Analysis
3) Academic Essay (significant research component)
4) Argument/Persuasion
In addition to the formal essays, you will participate in informal exercises that will be
carried out via reading reactions and on Blackboard Vista.
Reading Reactions – You are required to hand in one single-page (typed,
double-spaced) reaction each week on the reading assignments. You can
choose to hand it in on either Monday or Wednesday, just as long as you
submit one per week. These should not be summaries of the readings. They
should be your reactions to them as both a reader and a writer. Questions to
consider are: What did you think about while reading? What made sense to
you? What did you disregard as irrelevant? What is the writer doing in the
piece and how are they doing it?
Blackboard Vista – On the week when you are the Discussion Leader, you will
post information to Blackboard Vista at least 24 hours before class. These
postings will help fuel our in-class discussions and give us a sense of direction
that works with your personal interests.
Portfolio: as mentioned above, this course culminates in your final portfolio, which
should include:
1. A Process Analysis Cover Letter: this cover sheet introduces your body of
work. It should discuss your development as a writer as well as your
thoughts on the writing process, your various drafts, and your challenges
and achievements as a writer
2. Weekly Reading Reactions: you will include your reactions in order to
provide a sense of your thought process throughout the semester
3. Three Essays: you will revise your essays throughout the semester, and the
final portfolio will require you to submit what you consider to be your
three strongest essays with ALL drafts and peer response worksheets
The practice for this is the midterm portfolio, which will follow the same guidelines
and format but will be a progress check rather than determining your grade. As we
near the midterm, I will give you a handout detailing exactly what should be included
in this portfolio – but to be on the safe side SAVE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE!
Workshops: We will have four workshops throughout the semester. I will email you
your groups a few days before each scheduled workshop. You’ll be paired with three
other students and will be expected to respond to their work before the in-class
workshop. You will be responsible for responding by carefully filling out a peer
response worksheet (located on BlackBoard Vista), which will give feedback to your
partners, be given to the writer, and be submitted with the writer’s final draft in their
portfolio. You are responsible for emailing drafts to one another the night before our
in-class workshops so that everyone has time to craft their responses.
VI. Course Calendar and Due Dates
*FI = Fresh Ink, WTL = Write to Learn, BBV = BlackBoard Vista
W Sept 7
Introduction/Syllabus Review/Initial Exercise
M Sept 12
WTL Chapter 3 (pp. 12-23), FI: Were Not: Why Not?
Unit I: Your Personal Culture
W Sept 14
WTL: Chapters 5 - 8 of (pp. 43-77), FI: Trunks & Old Photos
M Sept 19
“A”
Please bring a photo of someone you know to class
BBV: Jack Handey, “How I Want To Be Remembered”
FIRST DRAFT DUE
W Sept 21
Workshop of personal narrative
M Sept 26
“B”
BBV: “B*R*E*A*K” from New Comm Ave and Karen Karbo, “The
Dining Room”
W Sept 28
BBV: Eats, Shoots, Leaves pp. 177-204
M Oct 3
“A”
Grammar review continued, check in about first revision process
SECOND DRAFT DUE
Unit II: Cultural Analysis
W Oct 5
FI: PB and Justice
M Oct 10
Columbus Day: NO CLASS
W Oct 12
WTL: Ch. 14 –16 (pp. 133-152)
M Oct 17
“B”
BBV: Sarah Vowell, “Tom Cruise Makes Me Nervous” and “Cowboys
vs. Mounties”
FIRST DRAFT DUE
W Oct 19
Workshop of Cultural Analysis essay
M Oct 24
“A”
Review about midterm portfolios.
W Oct 26
MIDTERM PORTFOLIOS DUE, in class sharing of each
writers “favorite” portion – whether a paper, weekly response, etc.
Unit III: Researching Culture
M Oct 31
“B”
BBV: “The Credibility of Wikipedia: Who Is Researching The
Researcher?” (121-126). Think about possible research interests/topics
for research paper.
W Nov 2
Library Research Workshop.
M Nov 7
“A”
WTL: Ch. 9 - 12 (pp. 81 -128)
W Nov 9
BBV: “Changing Students, Changing Methods”
FIRST DRAFT DUE
M Nov 14
“B”
In-class workshop of research essay
W Nov 16
FI: Names, Memory, and Acceptance and Promoting Prejudice
M Nov 21
“A”
BBV: Lauren Collins, “Banksy Was Here”
THANKSGIVING BREAK NOVEMBER 23-25
Unit IV: Arguing For/Against Something Culturally Relevant
M Nov 28
“B”
BBV: “Act 33: Children or Criminals” from New
Comm Ave and WTL: “Write to Persuade” (pp. 313-31)
SECOND DRAFT DUE
W Nov 30
BBV: This I Believe essays from NPR. You can also listen to
them if you so choose. “There is No God” by Penn Jillette and “Do
What You Love” by Tony Hawk
M Dec 5
In-class workshop of argument/persuasion essay
FIRST DRAFT DUE
W Dec 7
BBV: read MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech and watch it on
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
Closing activity: evaluation and synthesis
M Dec 12
Open office hours 10am – 3pm – everyone is expected to stop in during
this time.
F Dec 16
FINAL PORTFOLIOS DUE (no later than 5:00pm!)
Note: Material included in the course policies and syllabus is subject to change and
revision at the instructor’s discretion.