English 398C: Writing Case Studies & Narrative Reports
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Course Description
The ability to write well is one of the most highly valued skills in the workplace, and those
who demonstrate this ability have a substantial advantage over their peers both when
finding work and advancing in their chosen career. Case study research and analysis is one
of the fundamental tools used by professionals in disciplines as wide ranging as education,
psychology, law, sociology, business, and many technical professions. The skills taught in
this course will be directly relevant and applicable to your work post-graduation, whether
you continue on to graduate school or enter the working world. This course is therefore
aimed at teaching the skills of case study writing, from establishing a rationale for your
research, to determining appropriate research design and methods for deriving meaning
from collected data, to communicating and verifying your results for a specific audience.
By the end of this course students should have learned to:
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Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research
Choose an appropriate research design
Identify a suitable audience with whom to share their findings
Report research findings in an appropriate format
Substantially improve upon existing writing skills
Edit their own writing and others
Required Text
Williams, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (ISBN: 9780321479358), any edition.
All other required readings – style guides, assignment prompts, model readings, etc. – will
be posted to ELMS or distributed in class. To help you review the basics of composition,
revision and research, I suggest that you have a thorough writing handbook.
Grading Procedures
The best way to improve your writing is by practice. All PWP classes require at least 25
pages of original work per student (approximately 6,250 words). You cannot submit
papers you have written in other classes to fulfill a PWP assignment. All work must be
written especially for this class, and you must complete all major assignments in a
satisfactory manner to pass this course.
Detailed assignment guidelines are posted on ELMS; each has its own specific expectations
for format and presentation. In general, however: use a professional-looking, easily
readable font; number pages and staple them together; proofread all work for content,
spelling, and grammar; keep all graded papers in a pocket folder to be turned in at the end
of semester. The course breakdown follows:
Résumé & Cover Letter (5%): The final product will be a one-page résumé and a companion
cover letter. You will prepare these for an actual position for which you are currently
qualified.
Gateway to X Reading List (5%): An informal reading list on a subject of your choice,
intended for a general audience. A preparatory exercise for the annotated bibliography;
should get us thinking about evaluative writing according to specific criteria. (3 pages)
Analysis for General Audience (10%): You will examine various explanations for what
caused a particular contemporary event or trend, then make your own claim about which
cause is/was most significant in causing the trend or event. You’ll support your claim using
timely evidence, logical reasoning, and a sophisticated framework for understanding causeand-effect relationships. This essay is for a general, non-specialized audience, such as the
readership of a newspaper or national magazine. (4 pages)
Set of Procedures (20%): A precise, thorough set of procedures for a specialized but novice
audience in your field of study. Your purpose and intended audience must be clearly
defined, as must all the specialized vocabulary that you use. The result will be a detailed,
specific, and comprehensive set of procedures that will show your audience how to
successfully prepare for, execute, and finish the task. (5-6 pages)
Annotated Bibliography (15%): Collaborating in small groups of three or four students,
you’ll survey up-to-date research on a topic connected with your field of study and compile
the most relevant, useful sources. You’ll then present your findings both in an evaluative
bibliography and in an oral presentation to the class (5%). (5 pages)
Case Study (30%): A thoroughly researched analysis of a real-life situation—the “case”—
that identifies significant problems and suggests a number of solutions based on evidence
and logical reasoning. You’ll conclude by recommending and describing how to implement
a specific solution to the problem. This project will synthesize many of the different types
of writing tasks from the semester. The result will be a detailed, carefully presented, and
accurately documented study of your chosen case. We’ll look at a variety of models for this
type of writing in class. (15 sources, 12 pages)
Professional Etiquette/ Participation (10%):
The aim of professional writing courses is not only to prepare students for writing in the
working world but also to teach and practice the behavior expected of all professionals.
Your conduct in the classroom should be the same as it would be in a work environment.
Failure to behave in a professional manner may result in a lowered participation grade.
Rationale for Grades
A paper
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Exceeds the standards for the assignment. Demonstrates creativity and critical
thought.
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Shows an appreciation for and application of the techniques we use to develop a
particular assignment.
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Meets the highest standard for audience’s needs and your purpose. Employs
effective strategies to meet goals.
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Demonstrates that you have taken the time to draft, revise, correct, reject, invent,
and experiment.
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Demonstrates confidence, clarity and correctness.
B paper
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Meets the requirements of the assignment; the overall product meets the general
expectations of audience, purpose, and context; the strategies for meeting those
goals are adequate but might benefit from more thinking, planning, and revising.
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Your effort has been solid, but some of your choices have been inconsistent or
inappropriate. Your work might reveal additional issues or challenges that you
have not considered. You have learned techniques that need more time to practice
and refine in your drafting.
C paper
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Minimally meets the requirements of the assignment. You have tried but perhaps
you have not grasped some fundamental part of the requirement nor have you
spent adequate time in developing your analysis of your audience, a plan for
meeting the objectives, or applying the techniques of the assignment that we
discussed in class and read about.
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You are inconsistent or unfinished in your writing. The product seems rushed and
poorly conceived. The result suggests that you have not learned the techniques
well enough to use them effectively.
D paper
· Hardly meets any of the requirements of the assignment. You have not demonstrated
that you understand the concerns of your audience, and your analysis of the
purpose, context, and task are indistinct and unreasoned.
· Your writing is mostly unclear, unplanned, and indecipherable. You have not used, or
only inconsistently applied the techniques of analysis and writing that were part of
the assignment’s objective.
F paper
· Fails entirely to meet the fundamental requirements for effort and
understanding. Your work is ill considered, poorly planned, inappropriate for
audience, purpose, context, or task, rushed and inadequate.
Course Policies
Electronics
Turn off all cell phones before class starts and leave them in your bag. Reading the daily
newspaper, text messaging, doing the crossword puzzle, etc. during class is unacceptable
behavior. Be aware that even if I don’t call you on your behavior, I will mark it down as lack
of participation.
Attendance
Simply attending class is not enough, however. You should come prepared to discuss
assigned readings, to make substantive contributions to class discussions, to actively
participate during group workshops, and to engage fully with in-class writing assignments.
On workshop days, you must bring a completed draft to class. Absence or failure to bring a
draft on these days will result in a loss of participation points, as well as lowering your
grade on the final paper.
To succeed in this course, regular attendance is required. Classroom discussions and inclass work account for a significant part of your grade, and class participation, once missed,
cannot be restored.
Below are the policies on unexcused and excused absences, as well as tardiness. Please
note that missing more than two weeks’ worth of class for any reason may result in a
zero for the participation/professionalism portion of your grade and may jeopardize
your overall course grade. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you’ve
missed. Missing more than two weeks of class will make catching up difficult, if not
impossible.
Unexcused Absences. You may take up to one week’s worth of no-questions-asked
absences per semester for both the expected (i.e., being the best man in your brother’s
wedding) and the unexpected (i.e., a flat tire).
If you take a no-questions-asked absence, however, you are still responsible for whatever
material was covered in class. If a major scheduled grading event (assignment due, inclass workshop/peer review, presentation) is scheduled for that class period, and you don’t
show up and don’t have a university-sanctioned excuse (see below) then you will lose the
points for that activity.
Excused Absences. The University excuses absences for your own illness or the illness of an
immediate family member, for your participation in university activities at the request of
University authorities, for religious observance, and for compelling circumstance beyond
your control. Documentation is required for all excused absences. If you have an
anticipated excused absence, you must let me know in writing by the end of the schedule
adjustment period or at least two weeks in advance.
Absence for one class due to your own illness: The university requires that you provide
me a self-signed note attesting to the date of your illness, with an acknowledgment that the
information provided is true. Providing false information to University officials is
prohibited and may result in disciplinary action. The Health Center has an online
form (http://www.health.umd.edu/sites/default/files/Class%20Excuse110.pdf).
Absence from more than one class because of the same illness: You must provide written
documentation of the illness from the health care provider who made the diagnosis. No
diagnostic information shall be given. The provider must verify dates of treatment and
indicate the time frame during which you were unable to meet academic responsibilities.
Non-consecutive medically necessitated absences from more than a single class: Such
absences may be excused provided you submit written documentation for each absence as
described above, verifying the dates of treatment and time frame during which you were
unable to meet your academic responsibilities. However, as also noted above, if you miss
too many classes—even if excused—though you are technically eligible to make up the
work, in practice students are rarely able to do so.
Tardiness. In the professional world tardiness is not tolerated. However, this campus is
large, and another instructor may keep you late. So if you do arrive late on occasion, do not
disrupt class, and let me know by the end of the schedule adjustment period if you
anticipate ongoing conflicts. Remember that it is your responsibility to catch up on your
own time, not the class’s. Thus, 2 late arrivals (or unexplained early departures) will
convert to 1 absence.
Conferences
You are required to attend two student-instructor conferences at a scheduled time during
the semester. Please bring all relevant papers and drafts to conference. During these
meetings we will discuss your work in progress, and you can raise any questions or
concerns you might have about the class. Class will be cancelled during the week of the
conferences, and sign-up sheets will be distributed several weeks prior to our meetings.
Failure to attend conferences with whatever material is required will be counted as an
absence.
Resources
· The Writing Center http://www.english.umd.edu/programs/WritCenter/
The writing center can help you to improve your papers, determine strategies for
revision, and highlight recurrent grammatical errors.
· The Career Center http://www.education.umd.edu/studentinfo/careerservices/
The Career Center can help you with job search advice, career counseling, and other
career-related questions.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is using other people’s words or ideas without giving them credit. The penalties
for plagiarism include an automatic “F” for the class and possible dismissal from the
University. Cutting and pasting from any sources without attribution constitutes
plagiarism.
Accommodation
If you have a documented disability please speak to me by the end of the schedule
adjustment period to make any special arrangements necessary.
Course Evaluations
Your participation in the course evaluation through CourseEvalUM is a responsibility you
hold as a student member of our academic community. Your feedback is confidential and
important to the improvement of teaching and learning at the University as well as to the
tenure and promotion process. Please go directly to the website
(www.courseevalum.umd.edu) to complete your evaluations once you receive an email
notice from the university that the system is open, typically the last two weeks of the
semester.
In addition to the University’s online system, the Professional Writing Program uses its
own paper evaluations that will be distributed in class during the last two weeks of the
semester. These paper evaluations provide our program with valuable information to
continue improving our courses.
Course Schedule
This schedule is subject to change depending on our progress as a class. You will be notified
of any modifications ahead of time. Additional readings will be added later, and you will be
notified ahead of time.
Week One
Tuesday Introduction, Diagnostic
Thursday Introduce Resume and Cover Letter
Week Two
Tuesday Review Resume/Cover Letter/ Discuss audience. Readings: Sample cover
letter and resumes, handout on audience; Williams, “Concision”
Thursday Due: Rough draft resume/cover letter
Week Three
Tuesday Discuss writing tasks; Readings: Williams, “Actions”
Thursday Final Draft Due: Resume/Cover Letter
Week Four
Tuesday Discuss writing style and voice/simple task exercise
Thursday Readings: Williams, “Cohesion and Coherence”
Week Five
Tuesday Introduce Analysis for General Reader/ Readings: Williams, “Emphasis”/ sign
up for conferences”
Thursday Due: First draft of Analysis for GA for workshop
Week Six
Conferences
Week Seven
Tuesday Discuss research, abstracts, and bibliographies/ Assignment bibliography
groups; Readings: AV Club “Gateways to Geekery”
Thursday Due: Final Analysis paper
Week Eight
Tuesday Introduce Procedure assignment and Case Studies; Readings: Procedure
Models and Guides
Thursday Due: Gateway final; Readings: Williams, “Motivating Coherence”
Week Nine
Tuesday Procedure and Case Studies continued; Readings: Flyvbjerg, “Five
Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research.”
Thursday Draft of Procedures assignment
Week Ten
Tuesday Workshop Procedures assignment
Thursday Readings: Case Study Models and Guides
Week Eleven
Tuesday Discuss Case Study presentation, organization, graphics; Readings:
Williams, “Global Coherence”
Thursday Due: Procedures assignment/sign up for conferences
Week Twelve
Conferences-rough draft case study due in conference
Week Thirteen
Tuesday Workshop Case Studies
Thursday Review progress on Annotated bibliographies
Week Fourteen
Oral Presentations (Annotated Bibliography due with presentation)
Week Fifteen
Tuesday Oral Presentations/Evaluations
Final Draft Case Study due