English
1010 Calendar
College Writing 1
by Lee Ann Mortensen, Professor at Utah Valley UniversityUpdated 11/19/09 - print only 2-3 pages at a time
T TH T TH T TH T TH F T TH F August 27 September 1 3 8 10 15 17 22 24 29 October 1 6 8 13 15 20 22 27 29 November 3 5 10 12 17 19 24 26 December 1 3 8 10 15 17
Readings, Assignments, & Activities
Lecture Notes and Links Introduction: Finding Problems, Asking Questions, Thinking Rhetorically, and being an Educated Person
Syllabus & CalendarReadings Due Before Class:
-- Purchase text--The DK Handbook (see syllabus)!
Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Be a committed student.
2. E.mail me your phone and address from your most used E.mail account: mortenle@uvu.edu
--Thinking rhetorically (look at magazine samples).
-- Being surprising in your writing--a deeper writing process involves reading and thinking and talking.
-- Rhetorical choices (the art of persuasion for certain audiences) in Cosmo (young, fun, sex-obsessed, for women--younger women?) vs. Vogue (upscale, sexy. elegant? for older women? for models and the fashion industry?); or Maxim vs. Details?
-- Selling feelings and identities: The Persuaders (be sure to take notes of things you might want to respond to or question)
-- Educated People tend to read and enjoy complexity--Allan Bloom wrote in The Closing of the American Mind (1987) that a liberal education should give a student “four years of freedom . . . a space between the intellectual wasteland he has left behind and the inevitable dreary professional training that awaits him after the baccalaureate.” So is that what you thought college would be?
-- What we say, vs. How we say it and Who we say it for...
-- Language and Rhetoric: connotations vs. denotation; PAGS--genre--Steingraber's brand of non-fiction
-- Ads and their revisions: Barbara Kruger
-- "A world made of marketing"...(Berube p. 600)--Baudrillard--postmodern theory says that "everything is a 20th generation copy of everything else...'a panic-stricken production of the real and referential.'"
-- Adbusters anticonsumerism; Affluenza (get a diagnosis)
-- The Onion and connotations in different contexts (and the reading of tone)Rhetoric and Critical Reading, and more of The Persuaders
Readings Due Before Class:
--Read the course Syllabus carefully.
--DK Handbook pp. 1-11, 88-126 (rhetoric and analysis); pp. 186-199 (genre codes)
Assignments Due before class:
- E. Mail Lee questions about the Syllabus (and also send it from your best email address).
- Journal #1: a relatively informal, 300 word self analysis/evaluation of your identity laundry list (and ideological and scholarly/educational laundry lists) as a way to be more aware of how your reading/evaluation lenses are colored (why you see the world the way you see it; what connotations you bring to your readings of everything). You can also email this to mortenle@uvu.edu.
- Assessment Essay: 900 word essay dealing with something from The Persuaders (you can watch all of it on-line; we watched "A High Concept Campaign" and "Emotional Branding"so be sure you watch these first! You can also watch the DVD in our Library). You can work with an interesting idea (some kind of hot spot idea) AND/OR a rhetorically interesting move in the documentary. You can also think about your own reactions in terms of your identity laundry list.
TODAY In Class (not homework before today): a letter telling your reader what questions came up as you wrote your assessment essay as well as the process you followed to get your final draft. To be printed and attached (or emailed) to your assessment essay. Click here for business letter format information. The DK Handbook p. 211 has a sample also. We posted the "final" draft to Blackboard discussions (see topic "Cover Letter")
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Cultivating the attributes of an educated person to help yourselves as writers--being informed? Avoiding apathy? What are your college expectations? How might they be different than your high school expectations?
2. Identities, shifting, personas--what parts of your identity do you display or enhance when you are with different audiences?
3. Selling Feelings and Meaning--The Persuaders, and the connotations of language-- Reading between the lines: interpreting the white space, the unspoken but implied meanings; Questions; what difference does a name make? Student handout-- research and connotations--The Persuaders worksheet--language that misleads (obfuscates) or clarifies--do research for this (like with google.com, or via the libraries databases etc).
3. Appeals: emotion, ethics/authority, logic
4. Share rhetorical findings (do quick analysis in class)?
5. Connotations (baggage, spin, implications, cultural meaning, stereotype) vs. denotations; close reading; everything is contextual, like your identity and ideological laundry list, and how we read or interpret connotations based on our backgrounds (What connotations do different people associate with the Military? With "bad" words? How do different viewers see The Clothesline Project, or a police car patrolling the neiborhood; Chris Rock (rated R) audiences and ethnicity; trailer courts--My Name is Earl and the reclamation of "white trash"; Oprah's level of wealth vs. her viewer's levels of wealth; Marie Antoinette "let them eat cake"; "Patriot Act" and how it matters what you name things (Persuaders); Christianity vs. Deconstruction theory, and other dangerous binaries); Amanpour's journalistic report on God's Warriors--look at multiple negative and positive connotations of words like "warrior," "fanatic," "normal," "hero," "Battlecry," or "agenda," or "liberal" vs. "conservative" (Amanpour says these have become curse words for many Americans); Malcolm X and the cultural connotations (and possible racisms) of dictionaries--Look up connotations of "black" on the Miriam Webster page (compared to "White"). Some in-class definitions:Denotations—obvious, surface, meaning or definition or description
Connotations—secondary meaning, hidden meaning, innuendo (tonal spin--tone), implied meaning, cultural meanings/baggage, even stereotypes, subliminal? Makes you think of another meaning without knowing it…
6. Using Textual Evidence to support your analyses--for reading reactions, for anything (close reading)
7. DK Handbook and Lee on analysis ...Sep. 3 Writing, Thinking, and Reading as a Process
Readings Due Before Class:
--Handout (on-line only): Active Reading
--Handout (on-line): Close Reading Connotations
--The Outside Reading/Lecture Assignment
--DK Handbook: review pp. 98-99 specifically on analyzing two visual texts; 185-199 (genres part 1)
Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Exercise #1: start this assignment by bringing 2 similar (as in the same genre, or selling the same object) advertisements from magazines (like Cosmo ads vs. Vogue ads), web sites, billboards, bodies, etc. that you also think are selling something much deeper and larger than the mere product (like we see demonstrated in the video The Persuaders--you can watch it on-line in case you miss it during class). You might find that each ad appeals to different audiences in spite of similar genre or product choices. It would also be more interesting if one ad seemed effective, and one seemed ineffective based on your opinion (your identity laundry list will color most of what you notice). What are the similarities and differences in terms of rhetorical/persuasive choices (the implied or larger messages/connotations each might be sending; the audiences they might be appealing to or repelling; the effectiveness of their presentation for that audience; and are you part of the audience or not?). An easy way to think about rhetorical strategies can be summed up like this: who are "they" trying to appeal to, and how are "they" doing this?Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Your identity and ideological laundry list, and how you read your analysis and your research?
4. Persuaders--balanced? What does balance mean, anyway?
5. Reading Reactions and Outside Lecture Reactions--responding strongly with focus, analysis, and opinion to essays (sample)-- Lee's RR 1 sample; Lee's Outside Lecture sample
9. PAGS and The style of The Persuaders conclusion...opened form? Open ended? Open minded? Or is it implying a critique? What is implied by the final image of a Song ad? What is the purpose of the whole documentary? --(on-line only): PAGSSep. 8 Writing, Thinking, and Reading as a Process
Readings Due Before Class:
--Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Exercise #1: final draft--bring a digital copy (of essay, and of your two items--we will learn to format these properly in class; you might need to save it as an .rtf file so you can open it in Word) of a polished, quick, but detailed analysis of your two advertisements where you compare/contrast any or all of the following: message or emotional "branding" (or the lack thereof); audience codes (genre codes); connotations/spin coming off language, color, images, models etc (and you can look up additional connotations in a dictionary or even on Google); how you fit or don't fit in with their audience choices; effectiveness (depends on audience). You can also think about fallacies (and future lectures on PAGS and appeals) and how this works with the whole message. This should be 2 pages (600 words; 30 pts), double-spaced; it may help to use ideas or questions from my rhetorical guide or the DK Handbook's pages about analysis, and certainly bring in elements from your identity laundry list that make you see the ads the way you do (and how someone different than you might see the ads). You can turn in hard copy, or email it to me. What else?
- It's not an essay, so it doesn't have to be closed-form or have a thesis at the top. The conclusion or final analysis can be something new that you haven't discussed in the rest of the assignment (perhaps a new insight you get after disecting the two ads, or perhaps a harder critique about the overall messages being sent).
- There are many ways I've seen students structure this assignment. Some analyze one ad/object/DVD cover on the first page, then they analyze the second item on the second page, with a concluding paragraph talking about effectiveness. Some students analyze the two ads (or whatever) together, looking at similarities and/or differences in the connotations and effectiveness of fonts, then the connotations of colors, then of faces or bodies, then of text (if there is text) etc.
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Thinking about the context of the speeches we'll be reading for the next class (Google searches on MLK, Barbara Jordan; on 1963 and 1976 etc.)--I want you to get in the habit of using a search engine to help you understand context and background which should help you make more complex comments and analysis about whatever text you are reading.
2. Proper MLA format and citation of figures for Ex. 1: you may need to do Google searches for examples documenting the kind of graphic you have (so you might need to be creative, and also show me where you found the example.
3. Hacker example with a cartoon--includes MLA in-text citation;inserting captions in Word (use Help);
3. Copyright/authorship and Youtube--yahoo answers (but can we trust this?); one answer from The University of British Colombia (find: "youtube", but also "advertising"); also from the Media Center at UC Berkeley;
2. Changing to proper spacing in a Doc or Docx
Missed this In Class assignment...for later? Ex. 2--"What's Difference Does a Name Make?" Based on the segment "Giving Us What We Want" from The Persuaders, choose a piece of legislation from the list at the bottom of THIS LINK, then research it (with Google, for example) so that you can answer the questions in the worksheet I gave out (or click here for the worksheet on-line). Be sure you keep track of your Google searches by at least copying and pasting the web addresses you take information from onto a sheet, then print that sheet and attach it to the worksheet.
Sep. 10 Sep. 15 Reading: Your Lenses, and Background Checks
Readings Due Before Class:
--DK Handbook: pp. 130-142 (evaluation of sources)
--DK Handbook Appeals pp.??
--Handout: "I Have a Dream" http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm (text and audio; and what about context? 1963...).
--Handout: Barbara Jordan DNC Keynote http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barbarajordan1976dnc.html (text; and what about context? 1976...).
--Handout: Verbal and visual fallacies
Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Exercise #1: final, final draft (really)!!--bring or email a digital copy (to show me how you uploaded, labeled, and documented your graphics for the analysis). Obviously this gives you time for more revision in terms of additional connotative meanings, transitions, and grammatical editing, plus the proper MLA documentation of your graphics (figure captions, Works Cited page).
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Work on "What's In A Name"--do google.com research or use the libraries databases etc, fill out the sheet, and then share your findings--what can you teach us about: No Child Left Behind? Prohibition? Patriot Act? Where do you see clarity? Obfuscation?
3. Persuaders Frank Lundtz and Narrowcasting (and Bush not narrowcasting in Utah)Discuss which policies obfuscate or clarify in the "What Difference Does a name Make?" assignment--doesn't it depend on where you're coming from?
2. . Did you do additional Google searches for context information on the speeches? What kinds of sources were you looking at? Every web site is going to have a certain spin, so you have to think critically with all sources; What about Wikipedia (a collaborative project?) - The Colbert Report coined two apparently important words last year--"truthiness" (feelings are more important than facts), and "wikiality" or "truth by consensus" as a way to critique Bush as well as Wikipedia. Wikipedia sabotage by politicians; also Wiki-tage by Fox News; also critically look at web sites that have specific causes like the ACLU web site, the or the Sierra Club web site, the Focus on the Family web site...
4. A great archive of other King speeches (hear his Viet Nam speech for yourself)
3. PAGS-- Opened and closed-form writing (a classification)--your favorite? Tom Tomorrow cartoons and PAGS; Appeals and PAGS;
PAGS and NYTimes (Bush and PAGS); PAGS and SLC Protest--KSL vs. MSNBC
2. Evaluating and your RR1--who do you think your audience might be and why? Think about your own PAGS, as well as your knowledge of context...1963 vs. 1976?
4. Rhetorical differences between King and Jordan--PAGS; some audiences find religious references, or even "preacher voice" more credible; some find a more Eastern, enunciated, "educated" sounding voice more credible; Jordan's flatness has moments of emotion like when she alludes to a dream deferred (Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem" which ends with an "explosion")
5. The Jim Crowe Exhibit... (the racist Lester Maddox who ran for President with an ax handle in 1976 at the same time Barbara Jordan is giving her speech; racism in our era like The Jena 6)
6. Thinking about Audience and the genre "codes" of different kinds of written and oral texts
8. MLA changes for 2009; MLA on figures (from Purdue)
9. DK Handbook with on-line sample pages (MLA etc)Sep. 17 Analysis and Reading
Readings Due Before Class:
--Watch Video of the "I Have a Dream" Speech
--Watch Video of Jordan's DNC speech: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3.
Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Reading Reaction #1 (bring digital copy to upload to Blackboard): a strong, but brief, response/analysis/critique/interpretation of interesting ideas the speech makers are giving their listeners, but also about rhetorically interesting parts of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech and Barbara Jordan's speech (how are they saying what they are saying, and who are they trying to appeal to? are you part of their audience? why or why not?). You should also analyze their use of Logical Fallacies (and why fallacies might be used on purpose for positive rhetorical effects). Length should usually be 600 words, 30 pts, and ready to upload to Blackboard Vista via UVLink. It may help to focus on a key question: What did you like most about the speaker's points/style? Hate most? Who is the speaker most speaking to in your opinion? How can you tell? Are you part of the writer's audience? How or how not? Did you do any additional Google searches on the context of these speeches? If you want, you can look at my sample Reading Reaction #2.
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Parallelism in MLK and Jordan (look it up in the Prentice Hall)
2. Appeals
3. Oprah not like us? Lofton's scholarly writing vs. White's humor op-ed article and PAGS.
4. Active Reading: highlighting and annotating to avoid passivity. See my Ann Coulter active reading sample.
5. Fallacies!
5. A quick analysis of Obama's Innaugural Speech; Obama's Health Care speech (part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4; part 5; part 6; ..think about rhetorical choices in his speech, and also in the gaze of the camera--in this instance CSPAN; vs. MSNBC)
9.bill oreilly
5. Using DK Handbook for usage and definitions
6. Satire, Parody
7. Poetic and Figurative language (or rhetorical choices): rhythm, sound, parallelism; imagery--simile, metaphor, analogy
8. Jordan alluding to King's dream speech, but also to Langston HughesSep. 22 Reading and Evaluating as Writing Process
Readings Due Before Class:
--Handout: Johnathan Swift's famous 1729 satire "A Modest Proposal" (be careful of satirical tone; the original readers weren't)
-- Handout: watch the Colbert Report's "The Word: Truthiness" on-line (is it parody? satire? tone and visual cues are key).
--Handout: Active Reading
--DK Handbook: Bring ItAssignments Due Before Class:
1. RR 1 Reply: after uploading your RR 1 to Blackboard Vista (via UVLink, make an intelligent reply to someone else's RR 1 (you can intelligently comment on their rhetorical choices or argue for or against their ideas...but don't be rude!)...may be done in class?
2. Exercise #2: Highlighting and Annotating Swift (either on a printout of the article, or electronically like I did in class--see my Colter example; be sure to follow the advice in my Active Reading lecture for more information)--20 points for highlighting and annotating the whole essay (especially since he breaks through the satire toward the later part, and we want to talk about that).
3. Exercise #3: Take notes on similarly hot spot areas of the Colbert Report (5 points).
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Textual evidence--more about Connotations and Close Reading--hot spots like Lofton's use of words like "couture" or "assault" can help you be more detailed and accurate in your interpretations or critiques
2. Reading the rhetorical moves of Lofton vs. White: the way they cite sources, their tone (language with attitude spin), they way they bring in examples, their purposes; what is the purpose of a smaller font for the Lofton notes? Who would want a works cited? Why is Lofton's article long?
3. The search for concrete details! Examples, hypothetical and real; close reading of connotations; being able to cite sources and examples precisely
4. : Evaluating context...background (angle-of-vision) and credibility etc. Google the authors to find out more about where they are coming from, what other things they write, what their affiliations might be, etc.
6. AppealsSep. 24 Responding to Readings with Tension
Readings Due Before Class:
--Handout: Lee's Commenting Guide
Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Exercise 4: look throughout your environment (newspapers, mom's talking, the Swift and Colbert pieces) for 10 fallacies. Describe or quote the example, say what fallacy or fallacies are being "committed," explain why you think the example fits the fallacy, and even speculate on whether the fallacy might be being used on purpose and effectively. See the PH Fallacies lecture notes, and my example for more details. Be sure to cite your sources also!
2. Bring (or email) your ex. 2 and 3 so Lee can check it off.
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Toulmin Arguments (like Swift's)--places where he's being serious ("somewhat dear" and no other expedients; data is compelling, but what of the warrant? Where does he allow the other side (rebuttal) to come in? And what about the main problem, his faulty warrant (grounding assumptions that in our culture suggest human life is sacred)?
2. More Fallacy examples (Moore's Bowling for Columbine points out fallacies, and makes fallacies); my list of fallacies from the RNC--but are they being used purposefully for that audience? What clarifies? What obfuscates? And doesn't it depend on audience and context?
3. A list of Fallacious Arguments at http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html ; Fallacies and advertising and politics and comedy (fallacies as part of the Genre).
4. Also, an amusing article about pathos-- "Four Basic Human Emotions to Sell Anything"
Sep. 29 Oct. 1 Responding to Readings with Tension
Readings Due Before Class:
--DK Handbook: bring itAssignments Due Before Class:
1. Reading Reaction #2: after you do your evaluation grids for Swift and Colbert, write 600 words reacting to these texts--think about at least one key idea that strikes you from each article, but also make comments on their differing rhetorical approaches (PAGS, in other words--similarities, differences, audience choices, where you fit or don't, stylistic differences etc.). Of course, you can also comment on context (google the authors), fallacies, appeals, connotative spin, interesting examples or details. You can also extend the conversation by thinking about the larger significance, or what it means for us at this time. Upload this to Blackboard via UVLink.
2. Bring (or email) your ex. 2 and 3 so Lee can check it off.
In Class...4. A reply to TWO other RR2's in UVLink.
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Toulmin Arguments (like Swift's); Monty Python; complex arguments; "good" arguments;
2. Angle-of-vision sources? More on Evaluation Grid analysis in terms of fallacies and appeals
3. Connotations and Close Reading4. Top 10 grammar problems from Rutgers
5. Looking usage and grammar issues up in DK Handbook
6. Looking up usage and grammar issues on Google
6. Using the OWL or Writing Lab (before and after writing is due) for grammar help, tutorials; but also for structure help, thesis ideas, MLA help; help understanding some of my comments)
Oct. 6 Problematizing Arguments
Readings Due Before Class:
--Handout: READ the Essay #1: Critical Argument
--Handout: Political Category Grid (another part of evaluating sources)
--Handout: Theses with Tension
Assignments Due Before Class:
1.Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Look at your fallacies and evaluation grids
2. More on Connotations and writing with detail (showing examples or details can help you clarify your arguments, interpretations, or evaluations) ...
3. Essay #1--a previous hot spot, dilemma, or question from class viewing and reading thus far? And what interesting, analytical, and evaluative point do you want to make about it?
7. Jean Kilbourne's ad analysis (making popular culture critiques highly significant for all audiences); also see About Face for the "top 10 offenders"
8. Also, an interesting review about a DVD dealing with television and it's harmful stereotypes--"Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class."Oct. 8 Exploring, and Problematizing, Flawed Arguments
Readings Due Before Class:
--Use Google to find and then actively READ (highlight and annotate hotspots and key points/details) your "seed" article for your essay #1
--D K Handbook: 100-121 (on argument; making them, critiquing them)
Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Start Essay #1 by finding and actively reading an interesting opinion piece or editorial you want to argue against, critique, and further complexify via additional research--be prepared to share your article and ideas in class! Argument is often dialectic (or like a conversation), so you need to find one very specific article to speak to before you dive in. You can Google "op-ed" to find these kinds of articles, then browse over them until one seems interesting to you (and makes you want to argue with it). You can also look at this political category grid for possible newspaper and commentator links that might lead you to an interesting op-ed article (you can, for instance, click on the names of commentators to browse over their op-ed articles until you find something that grabs you). Remember to pick an article you disagree with, but also an article you could complexify!
2. Journal #2 on-going(20 pts): essay #1's ongoing research journal where you keep track of search words, sources, evidence, and evaluations (see my sample). You might start this simply by saving web links under Favorites that you find as you read your interesting op-ed article.Lee's Lecture Notes:
9. Trusting authors and evidence1. Essay #1: A sample interesting critical argument essay by Jason (his MLA citation; his interesting thesis; his analysis/connotation work; his smooth use of sources).
4. Finding that focused, interesting thesis associatively (as you go); going deeper into explanations/connotations--900-1500 interesting words with an interesting thesis for other complex thinkers...Avoiding the "Duh! reaction...and making it personal--why do YOU care about this topic?
5. Writing process: freewriting, looping, clustering, and more research to deepen and find details/examples/concretes3. Using Sources Smoothly and evaluating them in advance (and using the evaluation when you use the sources in your essay).
7. Research journal: always keep track of your explorations, sources, and search words! See Lee's Oprah Research Journal
using the library search engines to find "credible" articles
using other Googles to search for articles (like google video?); turning off safe search at home if you're working with something more taboo)
warrant work (from sltrib.com)
reading tone--think of purpose, look at progression of claims; (comprehension and critical reading literacy)--from H&H Publishing...
DK Handbook p. 140-41--credibility checklist of online sources (for academic audiences)
Oct. 13 Looking for Interest/Tension, and Structure
Readings Due Before Class:
--Use Google to find and then actively READ (highlight and annotate hotspots and key points/details) at least 4-6+ articles/web sites using Google and our library's electronic databases that can help you complexify the topic or argue against your "seed" op-ed article (you may look at many more than this just to find 4-6+ decent sources)
.--Handout (review): Theses with Tension
--DO YOU HAVE YOUR MIDTERM "INTELLECTUAL" BOOK YET?!?!
Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Journal 3 : background/context notes on the author of your "seed" article
2. Ex. 5: a clear, edited summary (200-300 words) demonstrating your understanding of the "seed" article's claims, evidence, tone (especially if there's any sarcasm there), warrants (this is hard because it is often an assumption, not really stated), audience, context, and purpose etc. Email me your "seed" article link along with this summary (or give me a copy in some form).
3. Journal #2 (20 pts): essay #1's ongoing research journal where you keep track of search words, sources, evidence, and evaluations (see my sample).
4 Ex. 6 complexifying...in class??
4. Writing process: where are you going to dive in first? Brainstorming and freewriting to find some hot spots?. Researching and reading: using google (but be careful of Wikiality), our library's Ebsco; freewriting about what you find before you get a "draft"; brainstorming possible tension-filled theses?
5. Associative writing--surprising yourself: As you explored your journal assignment/author/hotspot, what overarching claim or thesis, or interesting revelation or critique started to emerge for you?
6. Research journal: always keep track of your explorations, sources, and search words! See Lee's Oprah Research JournalOct. 15 fall break Oct. 20 Assignments Due
1. Ex. 6: a possible predictive (closed-form) working thesis/claim for your argument (with a possible prediction of the structure inside it--it's very likely that your structure will be based on the "seed" article you are specifically critiquing). Email this to me!Oct. 22 Structure, Tension, Evidence (Stats), and Documentation
Readings Due Before Class:
--Find and actively read 4+ more UVU Library Article sources as needed for your Essay #1.
--Handout: Using Sources Smoothly
--DK Handbook: be familiar with (skim) the MLA documentation pages pp. 351-420 about in-text citations and works cited entries.--HAVE YOU STARTED READING YOUR "INTELLECTUAL" BOOK YET?!?!
Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Journal #2 (20 pts): essay #1's ongoing research journal where you keep track of search words, sources, evidence, and evaluations (see my sample).3. Lee will check all articles, especially if she didn't during the last class period...
what counts as evidence DK p. 104
organizing your essay...focusing on 3-6 main problems/areas that can be complexified in the "seed" op-ed article (my op-ed piece and MSWord example)
getting your works cited
using sources smoothly
7. Writing Process: Initial Researching and taking notes--search words; types of sources; who are they writing for??
4. Numbers and stats may seem to have a "True" presentation, but by the time we see them, they have often been interpreted from interpretations of interpretations... EPA superfund site--but the better google search word is "priority list"
8. Why does it matter to you (or how can you make it matter)? Your identity laundry list can help you care...2. : read something that uses statistics to help persuade, then ask (and try to answer) 5 questions about the stats: What are the possible messages these stats are giving us? How are they presented? Any language obfuscation or clarity problems? Who is compiling the stats and what are their affiliations? Who is their audience, or who might interpret the info one way, and who might disagree? What did they not look at? How big is their sample (of subjects, say), and what might be good or bad about that? What's missing? In other words, why should you not just believe stats you hear in the news? You can find stats by Googling the word "poll" or "survey" (here's an article about the recent "happiness poll"; here's an extended Gallup poll on American attitudes about global warming; an article citing Zogby poll numbers on atheism; Survey.com is a far more biased, and general, polling site; The Harris Polling site is more credible, but what is their political bent?)--Handout: Analyzing Stats from UNC
--Handout: The Three Averages from Stats.org
--Handout: article on Statistics in the Media
--Handout: blog article about sample sizesLee's Lecture Notes:
1. How do you read the connotations of a statistical page? Doubting research--Steingraber analyzes the problems of data (35).
8. Emily talked about St. George protests of the proposed Divine Strake (but who is this GlobalSecurity group? what is their spin/agenda?) conventional bomb test in Nevada (NTS)...downwinders most upset, but why? We looked at Fallout Map (but of course, we should feel fear, but also question how he came up with this map); Amber showed us Storewars.org the gen-x organic debate (but aren't you all part of the younger gen Y or millennial generation??
2. Steingraber and words--p. 75, 78; when the Pekin Daily Times claimed that "AREA CANCER RATES NORMAL" (69), what does "normal" mean (78)? It's always contextual! But what if government officials also use different standards to evaluate statistical significance (1% margin of error vs. 5% of error)? Also p. 84-85 normality declared again after 5 months of study, and Steingraber's analysis of the problems in the study.
17. Advocacy groups: Kids and cancer in Arizona; the Silent Spring institute (82); Long Island "sleuthing" by ordinary citizens (79);
18. Find a Mesothelioma Lawyer in Normandale; a cancer center in Pekin (for a population of 35,000);
5. Roundup details (from Monsanto--now a "Group E oncogen" instead of a group C oncogen--see p. 241; vs. Mindfully.org)
1. Erin Brockovich the person vs Erin Brockovich The Movie--history, genre differences.... Small Town activism...watching Erin Brockovich--her current blog
the Hollywood movie--steingraber p. 69--Normandale; genres
Normandale; Erin Brockovich-- Interpreting Pop Culture genres vs non-fiction and scholarly genres with PAGS
11. Death Penalty...and Hollywood genre codes--give the movie Dead Man Walking a love story
8. A good review/overview of Steingraber by Laurier; the "famous" critique from the NEJM; a critique of that review; what about Evaluating the critiques?Oct. 27 Drafting the Interesting
Readings Due Before Class:
--Find and actively read more UVU Library Article sources as needed for your Essay #1.
--HAVE YOU STARTED READING YOUR "INTELLECTUAL" BOOK YET?!?!
Assignments Due Before Class:
1.Ex. 7 a detailed outline for your problematizing critical argument essay (bring a digital copy in Word 2003 or .rtf format to class so you can be working on it)
2. Essay #1's Works Cited page following the rules required preferred by MLA audiences (use the DK Handbook--especially good for learning about in-text citation variations--and/or the Dianna Hacker web site to find examples similar to your sources; Hacker has the newest works cited updates, however).
3. Journal #2 (20 pts):if I haven't checked essay #1's ongoing research journal where you keep track of search words, sources, evidence, and evaluations (see my sample), be sure to send it to me
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Essay #1
2. Ranking and commenting on draft 1 in Blackboard.
2. DK Handbook: introduction to in-text and works cited syetems p. 351
3. Using Sources Smoothly
5. Getting your Works Cited page: MLA documentation is a 2 part system--in-text citation (parentheticals) and a final page called the Works Cited; use the PH, and/or the Dianna Hacker Guide to look up examples of sources that are similar to your sources; see Lofton's use of MLA; citing movies, emails...
6. And MLA format...4. What did you learn from your outline?
Oct. 29 Workshopping
Readings Due Before Class:
--Find and actively read more sources as needed for your Essay #1.
--Handout: Workshopping Guide
--DK Handbook: bring itAssignments Due Before Class:
1. Essay #1: a draft (not a freewrite) focused as a conversation/critique/argument against a specific essay; you must be working toward a tension-filled claim /rebuttal. Be ready to upload this to Blackboard (as an attachment), and/or email it to me (as an attachment).
2. ??in class Make comments on your groups drafts using the Blackboard Review button (before class if possible, or during class).
... journals and ex. from the last classes if I didn't get to check them yet...
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Aristotle's argument appeals: pathos, ethos, logos, and the audiences that prefer them...
2. Oral, Live workshopping...rules, needs etc.
3. Using Sources Smoothly
4. Grammar du Jour: PH index--look up Quotation marks and punctuation; and ellipses (for omitted words in quotes)
1. Why MLA? Who is that audience? See my MLA lecture in a nutshell...
2. In-text citations are short; last page citations, or the Works Cited, are long--Why?
3. Why do MLA audiences want you to cite authors and page numbers in your in-text citation?
4. Text fonts and audience: if you have a lot of text, it's easier for the eye to read a Serif font like Times Roman (as opposed to a sans-serif font like Ariel).4. What to do with your comments
Lee's Lecture Notes:
2. Formatting figures (graphics):: using something from the "Hateful Things" exhibit
3. Usage du jour: then and than, effect and affect (PH usage glossary)
4. PH quotations and punctuation
5. Part 2 of MLA citations
Examples:
- Real—actual, verifiable-- vs. Hypothetical –invention, but you tell the reader it’s an invention…
- Hypothetical—Let’s say someone named Julie walks into a 7-11 and wants to buyakjfaks jskfas;lj; Let’s use a hypothetical example: “Julie” walks into a 7-11…; Let’s say person A walks into a 7-11lank;ld;a skf
- Stories, personal or from others…
Introduce sources clearly:
Maureen Dowd is well known for her acerbic wit, yet in the “Blue is the New Black,” she claims that a;lkj;qwje rjir. I, however, thinkClear Tags:
- Hank Aaron always said, “ajd;fhlkajs;kfj ;aj s” (Adams 45).
- Aaron goes on to say,” a;lkdfj;as kfjka;ls
- He then brings up the idea oflm alaks nflk;ans;fj ;lasj kl ja;ld
no class--work day
Meet With Lee (in LA114B), and Revise
Readings Due Before we meet:
--Be sure to sign up for a time to meet with me to talk about your critical "argument" (email me asap about this)
-- Find and read more and better or more detailed sources as neededAssignments Due when we meet:
1. Your revised critical argument draft, hard copy (you can also email it to me in advance).Other things you can and should be doing:
1. Go to the Writing Lab in LI 208 for structure, evidence, MLA help etc. with your "arguments" (extra credit is available).
2. Review last weeks lectures that will help you as you revise (argument workshopping handout; using sources smoothly handout; DK handbook lessons on the types of details/evidence you can use to support and flesh your claims pp. 104+)
3. Be finishing your "intellectual" book...no class--work day
Meet With Lee (in LA114B), and Revise
Readings Due Before we meet:
--Be sure to sign up for a time to meet with me to talk about your critical "argument" (email me asap about this)
-- Find and read more and better or more detailed sources as neededAssignments Due when we meet:
1. Your revised critical argument draft, hard copy (you can also email it to me in advance).Other things you can and should be doing:
1. Go to the Writing Lab in LI 208 for structure, evidence, MLA help etc. with your "arguments" (extra credit is available).
2. Review last weeks lectures that will help you as you revise (argument workshopping handout; using sources smoothly handout; DK handbook lessons on the types of details/evidence you can use to support and flesh your claims pp. 104+)
3. Be finishing your "intellectual" book...Nov. 10 An Educated Person and Book Presentations
Readings Due Before Class:
--Be finishing your "intellectual" book (see email for some choices many of which are in the library)Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Essay #1: Final Draft with self-reflection notes--email an attachment to mortenle@uvsc.edu (if you must, you can drop off a hard copy in the English Deptarment drop box outside LA 114; I would strongly prefer an emailed attachment, however).2. Journals and ex. if I haven't seen them...
Lee's Lecture Notes:
2. Your Powerpoint Book Presentation
Aristotle's argument appeals (pathos, ethos, logos; logos is why I ask you to have sources and examples to back up and illustrate your ideas)
2. Appeals--Steingraber uses logos (p.65 she talks about jobs that have higher cancer rates like firefighters, though this page stays pretty general); she also uses pathos (p. 65-66; breathing carcinogens on to your children after work--children are often seen in pathos-oriented ways); she herself has pretty good ethos because she is an ecologist looking at the environment (though does that make her a carcinogen expert? or a statistical expert?).
3. MLA format--Dianna Hacker MLA help
3. Writing Lab for extra credit
3. Looking things up at our Library
1. Steingraber intro--some PAGS (multiple purposes, mixing of genres--opened and closed forms); Evaluating Sources and her web site (thinking about angle of vision)
2. PAGS--thinking about the genres of non-fiction writing; opened vs. closed form writing
3. Appeals-- Logos and pathos in Steingraber p. 65-67 (the carcinogenic kiss)
4. Silent Spring and Rachel Carson (Time Mag's top 100 people of the last century; *the damage being done by poison chemicals today is far worse than it was when she wrote the book.*); Carson called an "hysterical woman"; Monsanto out to get her--loss of revenue; why didn't she want people to know she had breast cancer? Bias and the problem with the scientific genre. Not pesticides but "biocides." "Nature was her religion." How she and her publisher were thinking about audience/PAGS--Carson says she didn't want to rant (but that she would a little).
5. Steingraber's PAGS--her purpose for writing about things Rachel Carson already wrote about (DDT isn't good for me, but it's ok for Afrika? Or South Korea? What about resistance to DDT's effects?); her mixing of genre codes. Is she an environmental "nutcake"? Is Carson? Evaluations
6. What have we covered thus far? Vocabulary list...
Nov. 17 Educated Person--Oral Presentations
Readings Due Before Class:
--Handout: Your intellectual book assignmentAssignments Due Before Class:
1. Sec. 72: Daniel, Brandon, Morgan, Fabiola, Christine, Rob; Sec. 80: Rowdy, Peter, Brianna, Marta
2. Intellectual Book Powerpoint Presentation (see My Sample PDF for structural/heading ideas)
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. What are human rights? The Bill of Rights. The UN Universal Declaration.
2. The American Experience video on Silent Spring: "DDT is good for me!" archival video footage of children being sprayed (it must be safe, right?); Rachel Carson being targeted by Monsanto etc.; the rise in aggressively pushing chemistry after WWII by the government and industry ("they didn't know why DDT worked, but it did"); the problem of eradicating one insect when there is a chain of causality;
3. Logic: Deduction and Induction
4. Imagery: metaphor, simile, personification, analogy
2. We got us a mandate? More on statistics, who makes them, how they can be interpreted or even summarized in very conflicting ways.
9. Thinking about bee death mysteries (Patsy found it searching under "pesticides"?) and Steingraber--looking for "clues" to help find some of the possible reasons for these mysteries...
19. p. 70--funding problems;
21. Causality Problems--Post Hoc, and Steingraber's Stats: p. 72--the Ecological Fallacy--that all associations are causal (post hoc) p. 78--the need to have less than 5% chance of chance causality (but the Pekin study required less than 1%)...
9. Steingraber and poetic imagery: The capillary metaphor p. 2; if you fell to earth p. 3; darker secrets p. 5
10.
6. The Peoria Pundit--his problematic presentation of statistics vs. Steingraber...Nov. 19 Educated Persons--Oral Presentations
Readings Due Before Class:
--Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Sec. 72: Janalee, Katie, Jamie, Wayte, Tae, Stephen, Jacob; Sec. 80: My, Keisha, Rebecca, Mary, Jordan, Seth, Vanessa
2. Outside Lecture Reaction #1 (600 words)--email it to me
3. Intellectual Book Powerpoint Presentation (see My Sample PDF for structural/heading ideas)
Nov. 24 Exploring a Problem, Meta Style
Readings Due Before Class:
--Handout: Essay 2Assignments Due Before Class:
1. in class??Journal 4--brainstorm 2-3 potential problems, dilemmas, or oversimplifications (something you have genuine questions about) that you want to make complex from something we've read in class (your statistical articles, or previous readings, videos; an outside lecture even, might have sparked something). Email this to me.
2. in class??Journal 5--freewrite for 30 minutes about one of the more interesting things you brainstormed about (this will likely be the introduction to your exploratory essay). Email this to me.
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Writing Process--exploring and reading; freewriting and clustering
2. Academic Search Premier
3. Brainstorming possible hot spots...4. Cultivating curiosity...make it personal; ask questions about significance--for who? Why should you care? Lee is especially thinking about knowing and not knowing--the culture of not knowing--capitalism and not knowing...
4. Some peer sample brainstorming/show and tell.
5. Thinking about theses with tension as we brainstorm.
2. Quid Pro Quo--money, politics, pollution, and science
9. Writing Process--we've been doing a number of the first steps every day
3. Lee's claim (based on poststructural linguistic theory) that News does not equal Fact--everything is interpreted (everything is language, is connotation, is context), and thus everything is spun to some extent (simplified, dramatized, out of context). So when we hear that we are "Winning" the war against cancer, who benefits from saying this (like Sam asked?). Who is making this interpretation? MSNBC? CNN? Fox News? Salt Lake's KSL or ABC4 or Fox13? St. George Utah's KCSG? What are their agenda's/angles of vision? Their identity and ideological grounds? How do they give different spin to the "same" news?
2. Some things Dr. Sam Rushforth brought up last year...What surprises you most? What things did you want to say, or what did you want to argue with or agree with, and why?Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Patsy sent an article about frogs being saved by ark!
2. Brainstorming
3. More show and tell from your research--more hot spots, surprise, shock, or arguments about Steingraber; biomagnification p. 191-92; political dramas and incinerators p. 225+; is she a drama queen? look at the end of the fire chapter p. 234
4. Using Steingraber's index p. 357+Exploratory Research and Note Taking
Readings Due Before Class:
--Handout (hard copy): a sample exploratory essay on social networking
--DK Handbook: 20-25, 32-37 on research (also you can review 104-113 for further information about how to judge, or evaluate, sources)Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Ex. 8??!
2. Journal 6 (on-going)--the usual research notes with a twist: evaluations, search words, observations about your problem, but you need a lot more than that because this will almost be like your first draft of essay 2 when you are finished. Summarize key points from each article, record the most interesting (complexifying) data, and write your strong/critical responses to both rhetoric and subject-matter in the articles you find, and most importantly explain how the article(s) "advanced your thinking, raised more questions, or pulled you in one direction or another …" (A&B Guide).
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Writing Process--thesis discovery and focusing; freewriting/looping
2. Essay #2--A 4-6 exploration/strong response to something specific from Steingraber--and how shall you make it interesting/complex? And what outside sources could you use to make your strong response more informed?
3. After finishing this book, what does Steingraber really make me think about? The larger, broader things? The small and specific things?
4. Lee's Journ. 10 freewriting...8. Lee's Journal #9...5. Lee's Journ. 11 freewriting...
5. 9. Patsy's Initial Outline ...
6. Lee's Research Journal;
7. Lee's outline with 3-6 main categories, subclaims, subpoints, claim/counter claims, problems, solutions etc.
6. An interesting link from Emily on a town in Oklahoma being "an environmental nightmare" (notice the language in this article, and it's source).
7. Closed form writing and PAGS--Steingraber has chapter titles that help her close down her form, and she does have topic sentences and sections, but she doesn't predict her points in advance, and thus we are never sure exactly where she's going to go next--she weaves between opened and closed forms.
8. Things Lee noticed your Essay 1's needing more of:
analysis/comment/interpretation/evaluation--most people were doing some of this which is good! but still needs more...
tension-filled theses, but also sub-theses/points--a newness--people were mostly doing well with this, though sub-points needed more tension
detailed examples--need a lot more to flesh your interesting theses (Steingraber is heavy on the examples, less so on the commentary, but she does weave)
most importantly, weaving of all these things together--if you had more chunky essays, your grade went down
What some people needed less of: awkward sentences (clunkiness), surface errors, usage problems, or MLA problems--if there were enough of these, your grade might have gone down 1/3 to a full letter grade (more in really severe cases)
3. Audience and MLA format (PH p. 402+) and documentation (in-text and works cited): look examples up -- writing lab handout; PH pp. 392-394; Diana Hacker's Citation Web site
7. Tip Du Jour: Be willing to let your essay/ideas go in new directions based on the sources you find or don't find...6. 5. Riley found this cool global warming calculator...
???. 14 Workshopping???? and Revising
Readings Due Before Class:
--Actively find and read at least 8 good sources you found during your explorations (in conjunction with Journal 6).Assignments Due Before Class:
1. Essay #2 Introduction: Bring digital copy to show off and work on in class (this is likely your Journal 5 freewrite).
2. Journal 6: detailed notes about search words, web addresses, and critical notes and reactions about the rhetoric and subject-matter of your 8 sources. Include a paragraph about the way each source makes you learn something new, or makes you react, or makes you start searching in a different direction.
Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Writing Process
2. Learning from Essay 1 problems
3. Comma Splices--use the PH, and also our OWL
4. In-text citations
5. Do you still need more sources? Get them..
6. Closed-form, Parallel Structuring
7. Patsy's Initial Outline ...
8. Lee's outline with 3-6 main categories, subclaims, subpoints, claim/counter claims, problems, solutions etc.
9. The savvy writer learns about scholarly credibility via Toulmin argument structures (show the other side, then show why they are wrong, if they are); Steingraber's credibility techniques--she self-critiques, shows flaws, biases, things she can't solve, her own flawed reasoning, her pathos...this adds credibility with a more complex-thinking audience and with scholars???. 16 Workshopping, Revising Opened Form Essays
Readings Due Before Class:
--Bring DK HandbookAssignments Due Before Class:
1. Essay 2: Bring a digitized copy of a revised (more polished) draft (ready to print for workshop)
2. Sign up for final consultation
3. Do course evaluation in UV Link.Lee's Lecture Notes:
1. Writing Process
2. Surface errors--more grammar du jour
3. Questions?
4. Do you still need more sources? Get them...
5. Use the OWL or go to LA 201 for writing help (and extra credit)!5. Theses/claims with tension--Frost: no surprise for the author, no surprise for the reader; also flexibility in your thesis; argument claims are things that don't have easy, obvious answers.
6. The savvy writer learns about scholarly credibility via Toulmin argument structures (show the other side, then show why they are wrong, if they are).
7. Lee's claim brainstorm: when Luntz says his diction choices all mean the same thing--poppycock!
8. Use the OWL or go to LA 201 for writing help (and extra credit)!
??/. 21Workshopping, Revising, and Powerpoint
Readings Due Before Class:
--Bring DK Handbook
--Handout: Workshopping the Exploratory EssayAssignments Due Before Class:
1. Essay 2 comments for your peers
2. Sign up for final consultation
3. Do course evaluation in UV Link.???. 23 Revising, and doing your PowerPoint Book Presentation
Readings Due Before Class:
--Bring DK HandbookAssignments Due Before Class:
1. Essay 2 last minute comments
2. Schedule a time to meet with Lee about grades if needed...Dec. 11 no classes
Study Day
Assignments Due (drop off at LA 114, or email to Lee):
1. Outside Lecture Reaction #2 (600 words)
2. Any extra credit outside lecture reactions (up to two, 600 words each)
3. Do course evaluation in UV LinkEMAIL LEE YOUR ESSAY 2 DRAFT BY MIDNIGHT IF YOU WANT COMMENTS FOR REVISION.
Dec. 28 and 30 (sec. 72:)
(sec. 80: )
...Schedule a time to meet with Lee about grades if needed.Dec. 16 Final Portfolio Due:
--Self-Reflective Cover Letter
--Assessment (with comments)
--Critical Argument (with comments)
--Final Draft of Essay #2 due by midnight via email--please send each item as a separate attachment, but include each in one email. Check your email to be sure I received your work.Copyright © Lee Ann Mortensen 2009