Instructor: Maria Eliades
Office: 115-17 Anderson Hall
E-mail: maria.eliades@boun.edu.tr
Office Hours: T 2-5pm, Th 2-3pm & by appointment
Class Hours: W 3-5pm, Th 4-5pm
ENGL 111.04
Fall 2015
Expository Writing I
Syllabus
About me:
I’m here to help you be successful in this class, so please see me in my office if you need to talk about
anything. However, don’t wait until the day before an assignment is due to stop by or ask for an
appointment! If my office hours don't work for you, do get in touch or talk to me after class and we’ll find
an alternative. E-mails are also a good way to get in touch and ask for help. I generally don’t respond to
work e-mails late at night or at the last minute before an assignment.
Why you should attend class:
You won’t learn most of what you need to do with the readings or listed assignments. This syllabus is
designed to inform you of the due dates and assignments for the term, but without coming to class, the
techniques you’ll need to get them done and to get other university assignments done will be missing.
Course Objectives:
This course aims to improve your ability to write clearly, uniformly, and comprehensively in English. At
the end of this course, you'll be able to create and defend an argument, as well as compare and contrast
ideas with descriptive writing. By the end of the course, each member of our section will be able to form a
thesis statement, conduct library research, and write a well-argued research paper with points of analysis.
We’ll have regular writing assignments every week both in class and out. These assignments are an
essential part of your development not only as a writer, but also as a thinker. Expect to upload them to
Moodle unless told otherwise. Assignments will vary and will not be graded, though the completion of
each assignment will count toward your short writing assignments grade. Think of them as the easy part of
your grade.
Revisions are an essential part of the writing process. Half of your grade on your essay and research paper
will come from the extent of your revisions. Remember that you are part of a community of writers and
scholars in training. The material and assignments in this course will form the basis of your academic
writing and can serve as a reference point for your future work.
How to succeed in this class:
Show up and participate. I cannot stress enough how important it is not only to show up to class but also to
come prepared (which means at the very least you’ve done your reading for the class and/or the
assignment) and to take an active role in the class itself. Showing up is good -and in fact attendance has a
direct correlation with your performance in your academic writing - but it won’t be enough to help you
learn. You must take charge of your own learning experience - which means you must be prepared to speak
up in class and must do the readings.
Note: You must attend 75% of all classes to turn in your Research Paper, which counts as a final
exam. This is a department policy.
Turn in assignments in their proper format and on time. Format is a stupid area to lose points on. Look at
the sample papers and follow their notation style, font, and layout. When I say the font is to be 12-pt Times
New Roman and double-spaced with 1” margins, that does not mean that 16-pt Arial single-spaced is okay,
nor does it mean that extra spaces between paragraphs are okay. I’ve been a commercial editor for years.
I’ll spot any of these infractions right away, and yes, I will deduct points if you do that.
If you are having problems with resetting spell check to American English for your assignments, please
seek out one of your classmates or one of our campus IT staff to fix it. Not following formatting and
spelling conventions looks sloppy and unprofessional.
For every day after a due date, I’ll subtract 10 points from your original grade. Losing points due to
turning things in late is another stupid way to kill your grade.
Be responsible by making sure that all parts of an assignment are present. If I say that I want you to hand
in the first draft with the final draft, I mean it. I don’t haul around more paper for my own exercise. Both
the first draft and final draft must be handed in on the final due date so that I’ll be able to compare your
progress from your first draft and to give you better feedback.
Do your reading. Occasionally I will “pop” a quiz on you to make sure you’ve been doing your reading
and that you’ve been staying on top of your work. I’ll mainly ask about central ideas and content to check
that you’ve prepared for class.
Revise. I cannot stress this enough. Turn in a final draft which looks almost exactly like your previous draft
with the exception of a few cosmetic changes (such as changing the format or changing a few sentences)
and I will give you a grade at least a whole letter below the quality of the writing, organization, and
research. A first draft is never perfect. Every researcher and writer needs to make significant changes
between their first and final draft to create a strong and worthwhile paper.
Create original work. Plagiarizing is a serious offense. Writing down some else’s ideas or work without
giving them credit is stealing. At Boğaziçi, we take plagiarism seriously. A plagiarized paper will get you
an F on that paper and will quite probably be reported to the university disciplinary committee. For more
information on plagiarism, see the “About Plagiarism” entry by BU’s Department of Western Languages
and Literatures (http://bit.ly/1oiOOam), as posted by BU’s Department of Philosophy. In this class, you
will be required to submit your paper to Turnitin to help you learn how not to accidentally plagiarize.
Required texts:
-Course Reader, available at Hısar Fotokopi
Recommended Resources:
-On researching and writing about history -on reserve at the library:
Brundage, Anthony. Going to the Sources: A Guide To Historical Research and Writing. Wheeling,
IL: Harlan Davidson, 2008.
Burke, Peter. Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence. Ithaca, NY: Cornell,
2001.
Cullen, Jım. Essaying the Past: How to Read, Write, and Think about History. Great Britain: WileyBlackwell, 2009.
McDowell, W. H. Historical Research: A Guide. Great Britain: Pearson, 2002.
-Dictionaries:
Merriam-Webster's College Dictionary
Compact Oxford English Dictionary
-Thesauri:
Roget's Thesaurus
Oxford Learner's Thesaurus
-Online:
Purdue's Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition format guide
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01) (for academic formatting)
Grading:
Short writing assignments 40%
Research Paper 40% (20% revisions)
Participation 20%
Schedule:
28 September – 2 October
Week 1
Day 1 – 30 September
Introduction
Day 2 – 1 October
Syllabus Quiz
The writing process: On brainstorming, planning, thinking critically, drafting, and revising
Read:
-Strunk. William, Jr. and E. B. White. "Elementary Principles of Composition." In The Elements of Style,
15-33, New York: Longman, 1999.
5 – 9 October
Week 2
Day 1 – 6 October
The writing process II
Day 2 – 8 October
Intro to analyzing for history
Short assignment due 9 October by 5 pm
12 – 16 October
Week 3
Day 1 – 14 October
Screening of “How Schools Kill Creativity”
In class reflection paper (turn in at end of class)
Brainstorm due in class
Day 2 – 16 October
The Research Process
19 – 23 October
Week 4
Day 1 – 21 October
Library visit
Day 2 – 22 October
Arguments and analysis: How to make an argument
Discussion of reading
Read:
-Pinker, Steven. "Mind Over Mass Media." In 40 Model Essays: A Portable Anthology, edited by Jane E.
Aaron and Ellen Kuhl Repetto, 293-295, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013.
Thesis statement due in class
Short assignment due 23 October by 5 pm
26 – 30 October
Week 5
Day 1 – 26 October
No class
Day 2 – 29 October
Republic Day -No class
2 – 6 November
Week 6
Day 1 – 4 November
On note-taking + on film analysis
Analyzing for history continued
Read:
-Mazower, Mark. "Conquest, 1430." In Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950,
15-30, London: Harper, 2005.
Formal Reflection on "Mind Over Mass Media" due by 5 pm
Day 2 – 5 November
In class screening, Film TBA
9 – 13 November
Week 7
Day 1 – 11 November
In class screening continued
In class writing of formal reflection
Day 2 – 12 November
On academic style
Formal reflection on film due by 5 pm
16 – 20 November
Week 8
Day 1 – 18 November
Writing the first draft of anything -but especially the essay
Discussion of sample papers
Outline of Paper Due in class
Read:
Sample papers (in Course Reader)
Day 2 – 19 November
Library day
Two additional sources due by end of class
23 – 27 November
Week 9
Day 1 – 25 November
Plagiarism
Day 2 – 26 November
On Chicago Style + Drafting the research paper
Study:
-“The Purdue OWL: Citation Chart.” Purdue OWL, Last Modified October 2014.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20110928111055_949.pdf.
Short assignment due 26 November by 5 pm
30 November – 4 December
Week 10
Day 1 – 2 December
Drafting the research paper (2) practicum
Bring in papers and your notes as they are for trouble-shooting
Day 2 – 3 December
On revising and giving good feedback
Peer Review
Research Paper Due (First Draft) in class, and to Turnitin and Moodle by 5 pm1
7 – 11 December
Week 11
Day 1 – 9 December
Discussion of “Alexandria: British Years”
Read:
-Mansel, Philip. "Alexandria: British Years." In Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean,
127-147, London: Murray, 2011.
Day 2 – 10 December
On citations
Bring in research papers for in-class activity
Short assignment due 11 December by 5 pm
14 – 18 December
Week 12
Day 1 – 16 December
Writing tune-up
Discussion of “Introduction”
Read:
-Mazower, Mark. "Introduction." In Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950, 112. London: Harper, 2005.
Day 2 – 17 December
Peer Review
Research Papers (Second Draft) due in class, and to Turnitin and Moodle by 5 pm
21 – 25 December
Week 13
Day 1 – 23 December
“Damsel in Distress” short video screening and in-class writing activity
Day 2 – 24 December
TBA
December 25
Research Papers (Final Draft) due to Turnitin and Moodle by 5 pm
1
Note that the grade to be given on this assignment is theoretical and not actual. Therefore, take what you see as the indication
of what you would get if this was the final draft, so as to help you know how much you need to work on it.