English 101 (Section H020)
Fall Semester, 2014
Class Period: MWF 9:00 – 9:50
Class Room: JGH 219
Emily Martin
emily.c.martin@eagles.usm.edu
Office: LAB 336
Office Hours: Tues & Thurs 9 – 10:30 AM
(or by appointment)
ENG 101: Composition I
COURSE DESCRIPTION
English 101 introduces students to some of the strategies, tools, and resources necessary to becoming
successful communicators in a range of academic, professional, and public settings. English 101 students
learn not only to think carefully through writing, but also to reflect critically about writing by engaging a
variety of discursive forms, from the academic essay to opinion pieces, from essays to advertisements.
In this course, we’ll be looking specifically at modern technology and popular culture and how these
contemporary issues have shaped our identities as well as our concept of community. Be thinking about what
these words mean to you: technology, pop culture, identity, and community. As the semester progresses,
we’ll be looking at how these concepts help define ourselves, our culture, and the collective consciousness of
the modern world.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
 Lunsford, Andrea, et al. Everyone’s an Author with Readings. New York: Norton, 2012.
 Blackboard Supplemental Readings
ONLINE ACCESS
To access the online components of this course, you must first go to https://usm.blackboard.com, then follow
the log-in instructions. You will need to have your EMPLID and password (the same information you use to
access SOAR and register for classes). If you have any questions or run into difficulty accessing the
Blackboard material for this course, please call the iTech Help Desk at 601-266-4357 or helpdesk@usm.edu.
You can also get specific instructions on how to use components of Blackboard by visiting
www.usm.edu/elo.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
ENG 101 is a GEC-required course at USM, and students taking this course are expected to meet the
following GEC learning outcomes:
1. the student is able to develop a topic and present ideas through writing in an organized, logical, and
coherent form and in a style that is appropriate for the discipline and the situation.
2. the student can observe conventions of Standard English grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage.
3. the student can write a coherent analytical essay [considering the] rhetorical situation or through
written communication effectively analyze the components of an argument.
4. the student can find, use, and cite relevant information.
In order assist students in meeting these GEC learning outcomes, the Composition Program at Southern Miss
has identified specific learning outcomes for each of its first-year writing courses that are meant to
complement the GEC outcomes. At the completion of ENG 101, students will be able to:
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See that writing is a form of social interaction;
Analyze rhetorical situations and make effective choices based on audience and context;
Responsibly synthesize material from a variety of sources;
Make claims and support them with appropriate evidence;
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Use writing to critically explore, explain, evaluate, and reflect on their experiences and on those of
others;
Understand and effectively use a range of genres/forms;
Use conventions of expression appropriate to situation and audience;
Effectively revise and provide substantive feedback to others on their writing;
Articulate a revision strategy based on an understanding of their own writing processes;
Recognize the importance of technology in research, writing, and other forms of social interaction.
COURSE POLICIES
GRADES
Writing and thinking are complex processes that take time to develop. Thus, your overall grade for English
101 is as dependent on how much your writing improves over the course of the semester, your demonstrated
commitment to learning and support of your peers, the careful completion of homework and class
assignments, and your own assessment of your strengths and progress, as any strict calculation of paper
grades. Indeed, a portion of your final grade for this course will be determined by your Final Portfolio
Project, which you will submit at the end of the semester. The following should serve only as a guide for
how grading will be approached:
Project One: A Literacy Narrative (15%)
A brief paper (3-5 pages) in which you will analyze and reflect on a moment in your life that involves
your pop-culture and/or social media/technology literacy development and makes it relevant to an
outside audience.
Project Two: An Analytical Argument (20%)
An argument essay (4-6 pages) in which you illustrate your ability to summarize and analyze a
specific pop-culture text (5%) and then to synthesize numerous course readings revolving around
pop-culture/technology as you develop and forward your own argument (15%).
Project Three: An Analytical Report (20%)
A longer paper (4-6 pages) in which you will report on and analyze a contemporary sub-culture of
which you are an outsider for an audience outside of that community.
Project Four: A Writing Redux (20%)
An opportunity to revise one of your primary assignments for a new audience in a completely new
medium. In addition to the “redux,” you will write a head’s up paper explaining your rhetorical
choices.
Class Participation and Blog (10%)
Participation: Your contributions to class discussions; your participation in collaborative
assignments; participation in peer review workshops; and completion of assigned readings and and
informal writings.
Blog: You will also be required to keep up a blog responding to the essays we read for class as well
as other writing prompts. To receive full credit for your blog, you must write thoughtful entries in
your blog that go beyond summarizing the texts.
The Final Portfolio Project (15%)
Two papers, one systematically revised and the other polished, as well as completion of the reflective
essay assignment, which will ask you to critically reflect on and discuss nearly every aspect of your
work for this course.
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 2
Note: For program assessment purposes, some final portfolios may be randomly selected for institutional
review at the conclusion of the semester. In such cases, portfolios will be collected anonymously from among
all available sections of English 101. This review is intended solely to improve the quality of the curriculum
and will not affect your grade in any way.
PREPARATION
In addition to completing all reading and writing assignments, preparing for class means being ready to
discuss and intelligently question issues raised by the material. This does not mean, however, that you must
master the material. On the contrary, it is perfectly reasonable that you may be confused by some readings
the first time we encounter them. But in such cases you should be prepared to discuss what you specifically
found puzzling, aggravating, thought-provoking, engaging, or difficult about the assignment. In other words,
if you feel you have nothing to state about a piece of writing, you should actively develop a list of questions
about it. Remember, much of your grade in this course will be determined by how much you improve over
the course of the semester, so there is really no such thing as a stupid question, provided that you ask it in the
spirit of honest inquiry.
ATTENDANCE
The framework of this course – with its emphasis on class discussion and group work – demands that you
attend class regularly. Failure to complete in-class work, such as peer reviews, in-class writing assignments,
and group meetings will result in the lowering of your overall grade. Indeed, no in-class activities (including
quizzes) may be made up due to tardiness or absence, and students who accumulate more than three absences
over the course of the semester will automatically have their final grades lowered. There is no distinction
between excused and unexcused absences. More than six absences in a semester will result in your failing
the course.
LATE WORK
Late work will only be accepted if you can demonstrate that you have encountered a valid obstacle before the
deadline (i.e., that you’ve been working on the project in good faith, but have run into some problems). If
you feel you may be unable to complete an assignment on time, you should contact me as soon as possible,
but no later than two days before the due date. After reviewing all the work you’ve done on the assignment,
we will set a new deadline together. In all other cases, late work will automatically be docked one letter
grade per day past the deadline, beginning on the day the assignment was due and including weekends.
PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Students are encouraged to utliize portable elecronic devices (such as tablets and laptops) for constructive
purposes. Students who choose to use these devices for our electronic readings must show evidence of
annotation and analysis via an annotation program (iAnnotate, Good Reader, etc.). Texting, checking email
and social media sites, gaming, listening to music, doing work for other classes/purposes, and other
distracting uses of technology are unacceptable. If I notice that you are using technology in an
inappropriate way, I will not (further) distract the class by pointing it out, but I will deduct a point
from your final average for each infraction.
PLAGIARISM
All members of the academic community at the University of Southern Mississippi are expected to take
responsibility for academic honesty and integrity. Plagiarism – the willful copying/presenting of another
person’s work as if it were your own – and other forms of cheating are unacceptable. The penalties for such
behavior can include failure of the course and, in some cases, even expulsion from the university. If you have
any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism, please refer to your student handbook, to USM policies on
Academic Honesty, or come talk to me.
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 3
ADA NOTICE
If a student has a disability that qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and requires
accommodations, he/she should contact the Office for Disability Accommodations (ODA) for information on
appropriate policies and procedures. Disabilities covered by ADA may include learning, psychiatric,
physical disabilities, or chronic health disorders. Students can contact ODA if they are not certain whether a
medical condition/disability qualifies.
Address:
The University of Southern Mississippi
Office for Disability Accommodations
118 College Drive # 8586
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
Voice Telephone: 601.266.5024 or 228.214.3232 Fax: 601.266.6035
Individuals with hearing impairments can contact ODA using the Mississippi Relay Service at
1.800.582.2233 (TTY) or email Suzy Hebert at Suzanne.Hebert@usm.edu.
THE WRITING CENTER
The Writing Center is a free program available to all student writers at the University of Southern
Mississippi. It offers one-on-one help with any kind of writing project, at any stage of the writing process.
The Writing Center is located in Cook Library 112. For more information, and hours of operation, you may
contact The Writing Center at 601-266-4821, or visit the website at: http://www.usm.edu/writingcenter/.
THE SPEAKING CENTER
The University of Southern Mississippi offers a Speaking Center, with consultations available at no cost to
all students, faculty, and staff. The center is available for advice on all types of oral communication—formal
individual presentations, group presentations, class discussion, class debates, interviews, campus speeches,
etc. The center also offers several practice rooms for recording presentations and practicing with delivery
aids (PowerPoint and internet access are available). Visit the center in Cook Library 117, call the center at
601-266-4965, or visit the website at www.usm.edu/speakingcenter.
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 4
Note: This schedule is tentative and subject to change at my discretion.
EA= Everyone’s an Author, BB= Blackboard
Week One
W
8/20
Introduction to the Course; Student Introductions; Setting up your blog
HW:
Reading: Read over syllabus, read over my blog instructions.
BB David Foster Wallace “This is Water”
Writing:
F
8/22
Set up blog. Blog Entry: Introduction Post.
Annotate “This is Water.”
Syllabus Quiz; Discuss “This is Water”; Introduce Project One.
HW:
Reading: EAA “Thinking Rhetorically”; “Rhetorical Situations”;
“Writing Processes”; “The Need for Collaboration” (1-35)
Writing:
Blog Entry: Responding to EAA 1-35.
Week Two
M
8/25
Discuss “Thinking Rhetorically”; “Rhetorical Situations”; “Writing Processes”; “The Need
for Collaboration”; Discuss Project One; In-class invention exercises.
HW:
Reading: EAA “Writing a Narrative”(101-127) and “Literacy: A
Lineage” (132-136)
Writing:
Blog Entry: Responding to “Writing a Narrative” and
“Literary: A Lineage.”
W
8/27
Discuss EAA “Writing a Narrative” and “Literacy: A Lineage”; in-class invention exercises.
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
F
8/29
EAA Lynda Barry “Lydia’s Story” (128-131); EAA Michelle
Cacho-Negrete “Tell Me Something” (733 – 740)
Blog Entry: Responding to “Lydia’s Story” and “Tell Me
Something.”
Discuss “Lydia’s Story,” “Tell Me Something,” and how to write description and scenes;
In-class invention exercises
HW:
Reading: EAA Lynne Truss “The Joy of Texting” (p. 939-941); EAA
Mike Rose “Blue-Collar Brilliance” (p. 905-913)
Writing:
Blog Entry: Responding to “The Joy of Texting” and
“Blue-Collar Brilliance.”
Week Three
M
9/1
NO CLASS—LABOR DAY HOLIDAY
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 5
W
9/3
Discuss “The Joy of Texting” and “Blue-Collar Brilliance”; Crafting a narrative thread
HW:
F
9/5
Reading:
Writing:
BB David Sedaris “Me Talk Pretty One Day”
Blog Entry: Responding to “Me Talk Pretty One Day”
Draft at least two introductory paragraphs for your
literacy narrative.
Discuss “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” voice, and style; Idea workshops
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
BB Julie Marie Wade “Skin” and Anne Lammott “Shitty
First Drafts
Blog Entry: Responding to “Skin” and “Shitty First
Drafts”
Week Four
M
9/8
Discuss “Skin” and “Shitty First Drafts”; In-class writing experiment.
HW:
W
9/10
Reading:
Writing:
Workshop student essays as a class. Discuss Peer Review Workshop process.
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
F
9/12
Write a full draft of your literacy narrative and bring
enough drafts to class for everyone in your group.
Read your group’s narrative drafts and write thoughtful
feedback in preparation for your group workshop.
Revise your narrative
Visit Writing Center. Peer Review Workshop Literacy Narrative: small group meetings.
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
Revise your narrative
Week Five
M
9/15
Literacy Narrative DUE. Introduction to Analytical Argument and Themed Readings.
HW:
Reading:
EAA “Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing,” (p. 388398); Steven Pinker “Mind over Mass Media” (p. 893896).
Writing:
Blog Entry: Responding to “Quoting, Paraphrasing,
Summarizing” and “Mind over Mass Media.”
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 6
W
9/17
Discuss “Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing”; Art of Summary, “Mind over Mass
Media”
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
F
9/19
EAA Kevin VanOrd “The Sims Medieval” (p. 943 – 948);
Alissa Wilkinson “The Social Network” (p. 949 – 954).
Blog Entry: Responding to “The Sims Medieval” and
“The Social Network.”
Discuss “The Sims Medieval” and “The Social Network.”
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
EAA David Crystal “2b or Not 2b?” (745 – 754); Roger
Ebert “Why I Hate 3-D (And You Should Too)” (755 –
760).
Draft your summary
Blog Entry: Responding to “2b or Not 2b?” and “Why I
Hate 3-D.”
Week Six
M
9/22
Summary Draft Writing Workshop; Discuss “2b or Not 2b?” and “Why I Hate 3-D.”
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
W
9/24
Summary DUE; Discuss “Identity in a Virtual World” and “Virtual Humans;” Art of
Response.
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
F
9/26
BB Michelle Jana Chan “Identity in a Virtual World”; Kelly
Tyler-Lewis “Virtual Humans.”
Revise summary
Blog Entry: Responding to “Identity in a Virtual World”
and “Virtual Humans.”
BB Jean Kilbourne “Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt:
Advertising and Violence”; Joan Morgan “From Fly-Girls
to Bitches and Hos.”
Draft your Analytical Response
Blog Entry: Responding to “Two Ways a Woman Can Get
Hurt” and “From Fly-Girls.”
Discuss “Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt” and “From Fly-Girls”; Argument and
Synthesis
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
EAA “Arguing a Position” (61-88); EAA “Strategies for
Arguing”; (305-324)
Blog Entry: Responding to “Arguing a Position” and
“Strategies for Arguing.”
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 7
Week Seven
M
9/29
Discuss EAA “Arguing a Position”; EAA “Strategies for Arguing”; Working Thesis
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
EAA “Synthesizing Ideas” (381-387) and “Giving Credit”
(401-406); BB James Harold “A Moral Never-Never Land:
Identifying with Tony Soprano.”
Write a finalized working thesis for your argument
Blog Entry: Responding to “A Moral Never-Never Land.”
W
10/1
Discuss EAA “Synthesizing Ideas” and “Giving Credit”; Discuss “A Moral Never-Never
Land”; Evidence and Support
HW:
Reading: EAA “Analyzing Arguments” (275-304); BB Carl
Matheson “The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning
of Life.”
Writing:
Blog Entry: Responding to “The Simpsons.”
F
10/3
Discuss EAA “Analyzing Arguments”; “The Simpsons”; Counterarguments
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
BB Mitu Sengupta “Race Relations Light Years from
Earth”; David Denby “High-School Confidential: Notes on
Teen Movies.”
Draft your Analytical Argument
Blog Entry: Responding to “Race Relations” and “HighSchool Confidential.”
Week Eight
M
10/6
Analytical Argument draft DUE; Discuss “Race Relations” and “High-School
Confidential.”
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
W
10/8
BB Peter Appelbaum “Harry Potter’s World: Magic,
Technoculture, and Becoming Human.”
Write feedback for your workshops
Blog Entry: Responding to “Harry Potter’s World.”
Discuss “Harry Potter’s World.” Discuss group conference expectations.
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
Read your peers’ Analytical Argument drafts and write
feedback on their drafts in preparation for your group
conferences with me.
Revise Analytical Argument
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 8
F
10/10
Peer Review Workshop: group conferences (NO CLASS)
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
EAA “Reporting Information” (182-212); “Conducting
Field Research” (354-361); “The Year Without Toilet
Paper” (801-808)
Revise Analytical Argument
Blog Entry: Responding to “Reporting Information,”
“Conducting Field Research,” and “The Year Without
Toilet Paper.”
Week Nine
M
10/13
Discuss “Reporting Information,” “Conducting Field Research” and “The Year Without
Toilet Paper”; Field Observations
HW:
Reading: EAA “Serving in Florida” (761-774)
Writing:
Blog Entry: Responding to “Serving in Florida.”
Finish revising Analytical Argument
W
10/15
Analytical Argument DUE; Discuss “Serving in Florida”; Interviewing
HW:
F
10/17
Reading:
Writing:
EAA Hannah Miller “American Pie” (865 – 874).
Blog Entry: Responding to “American Pie.”
NO CLASS—FALL BREAK
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
Week Ten
M
10/20
Discuss “American Pie”; Group brainstorming
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
W
10/22
Discuss “Teen Haulers” and “The Tea Party Online”; Developing Perspective
HW:
F
10/24
BB Andrea Chang “Teen ‘Haulers’ Become a Fashion
Force;” Jonathan Rauch “The Tea Party Online.”
Blog Entry: Responding to “Teen Haulers” and “The Tea
Party Online.”
Reading:
Writing:
BB Zach Waggoner “Videogames, Avatars, and Identity.”
Blog Entry: Responding to “Videogames, Avatars, and
Identity.”
Discuss “Videogames, Avatars, and Identity”; discuss Field Research Presentations
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
Begin drafting Analytical Report
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 9
Week Eleven
M
10/27
Watch King of Kong.
HW:
W
10/29
10/31
Finish drafting Analytical Report
Blog Entry: Responding to King of Kong.
Analytical Report draft DUE. Finish watching King of Kong. Discuss.
HW:
F
Reading:
Writing:
Reading:
Writing:
Read your peers’ drafts
Write constructive feedback on drafts
In-class peer review workshop: small groups
Last day to drop with a grade of W
HW:
Reading: EAA “Tweets to Reports” (526-537)
Writing:
Revise Analytical Report
Blog Entry: Responding to “Tweets to Reports.”
Week Twelve
M
11/3
Introduce Writing Redux; Discuss EAA “Tweets to Reports” (526-537); Media Ecology;
Rhetorical Situations and the Digital
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
Revise Analytical Report
W
11/5
Brainstorming Revisions: Invention Exercises
HW:
F
11/7
Reading:
Writing:
Analytical Report DUE; Brainstorming Revisions: Invention Exercises
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
EAA “Designing What You Write” (570-590)
Blog Entry: Responding to “Designing What You Write.”
Week Thirteen
M
11/10
Discuss EAA “Designing What You Write”; Medium/Criteria
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
EAA “Publishing Your Work” (664-670)
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 10
W
11/12
Discuss EAA “Publishing Your Work.”
HW:
F
11/14
Reading:
Writing:
TBD
TBD
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
Begin drafting Writing Redux
Week Fourteen
M
11/17
Workshopping Various Genres
HW:
W
11/19
11/21
RL 11: Choose three digital genres and describe their
criteria and how to judge a successful version.
In-Class Peer Review Workshop: Writing Redux
HW:
F
Reading:
Writing:
Reading:
Writing:
Individual Conferences (NO CLASS)
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
Week Fifteen
M
11/24
Individual Conferences (NO CLASS)
HW:
W
11/26
11/28
Finish Writing Redux, write Head’s Up Essay
NO CLASS—THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
HW:
F
Reading:
Writing:
Reading:
Writing:
Finish Writing Redux, write Head’s Up Essay
NO CLASS—THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
Finish Writing Redux, write Head’s Up Essay
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 11
Week Sixteen
M
12/1
Writing Redux DUE; Decompression; “Assembling a Portfolio”; Writing a Reflection
Essay
HW:
Reading: Read over your essays and choose one to revise
Writing:
Bring revision to class
W
12/3
Revision; Portfolio Workshops
HW:
F
12/5
Reading:
Writing:
Revision; Portfolio Workshops
HW:
Reading:
Writing:
Exam Week
Final portfolios DUE: Wednesday, December 10 by 11:59PM.
ENG 101, Fall 2014 / Page 12