Read:
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-09/st_thompson
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/01/18/when-teaching-restrains-discovery/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NotRocketScience+%28Not+Exactly+Rocket+Science%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Be ready to discuss:
1. How would you characterize your experiences with writing in and out of school? What most frustrates you about writing?
2. What kinds of writing do you imagine you'll do once you leave school? How is digital literacy different from and similar to the kinds of literacy practices you've learned in school?
3. Do you agree or disagree with the following: "Writing can be learned, but it can't be taught"? Explain.
4. Many of my recent former students describe being very passive and unengaged in school. How would you characterize your level of engagement in school? How honest are you with your teachers about what you know, what you don't understand, what you're interested in, what you find boring? What do you think causes students' lack of engagement?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Syllabus
Spring 2011
English 414
Professor Jennifer Trainor
Hum 541
jtrainor@sfsu.edu
Office hours: Tues and Thurs 10:00 - 11:00; Tuesday 8:00pm - 10:00 pm via email; by appointment
This course is designed to help you become more accomplished writers. Toward this goal, we will read research drawn from the fields of literacy and writing studies, and we will address questions such as: What does it mean to write well in college and in professional contexts beyond college? How is college writing different from professional writing? What do audiences expect from writers? How do writing conventions differ in different contexts? At the same time, we’ll be reflecting on these questions in a more personal way, asking: How have you become the kind of writer you are? What strategies, habits and beliefs about writing have you learned and how well do these serve your goals as a writer? How might you write more effectively – with more joy, and more satisfying results?
But learning about writing could be arguably meaningless unless you have something you want to say. To
that end, you will spend much of this semester researching and reading extensively about a topic of your
own choosing, and related to your chosen field of study or professional goals. You will write about that topic in a relatively recent format: an online blog. Unlike much
of the writing you’ve probably done for school in the past, this writing will be published on the web for
everyone to see and respond to, which has its own challenges, but should help you develop a sharper
sense of audience. Moreover, writing blog posts and commenting on others’ blogs will develop your skills
with the kind of connective writing that is essential in today’s digital environments and in today's workplaces.
But this course isn’t just about blogging; it’s about communicating effectively. The skills you develop in
this course should serve you well for the remainder of your academic career and beyond.
Unlike many writing classes, this class will not ask you to write multiple drafts of weekly or bi-weekly essays, and it will not evaluate your writing per se. You will be evaluated based on how thoroughly you engaged with the activies of the class (more on this below). It may seem strange to be in a writing class that does not assign or evaluate writing for its own sake. However, recent research suggests that assigning and evaluating writing per se are not as effective as we might like when it comes to helping students become effective writers. Because the writing situations that students, like all writers, face are so varied, there is no one set of guidelines, rules, practices, or habits that will “teach” you to write once and for all. There are no rules that apply across all contexts and situations. Instead, in this class, we will work to develop in each of you:
*the habit of self reflection about writing and self-awareness about yourselves as writers, and the ability to monitor your own thinking processes about writing;
*the habit of mindfulness – a state of alertness to the writing activities you are engaged in, in contrast with a passive or reactive mode where tasks are accomplished by rote or routine (rather than following “what the teacher wants” in a mechanical or disengaged way, we will work to develop the rhetorical skills necessary to use writing to reflect, inquire, communicate, and engage with academic material);
*the understanding that writing is conventional and context-specific rather than governed by universal rules;
*the ability to pay close attention to the context of each writing situation in order to discover what counts as appropriate for that discourse community;
*the recognition that writing is a process of drafting, revising, and editing, and to discover your own method for accomplishing these various parts of the work of writing;
*the ability to reflect upon and think critically about your own writing and the writing of your classmates.
To earn a C in this course, you need to fulfill all of the requirements below:
Attendance:
You will come to class, on time and ready to work. It is acceptable to miss one or two classes. It is not acceptable to miss more than a week.
BLOGS:
You will create an online blog focused on a topic of
your choosing. You will then write at least 12 posts that are coherent, relatively error-free, and relevant to your blog’s topic. You will post regularly throughout the semester (to earn a C, your blog must emerge over the course of the term, rather than appear, at the last minute, during finals week). Each of your posts should be between 200-750 words in
length (longer is fine, but not necessarily better), and each post should link to (or
reference) at least one external source. This means that, in order to write posts, you
will need to read, on a continual basis, what others are saying about your topic. You
may blog under a pseudonym, if you like, but the blog must be publicly accessible. At least two blog posts should be substantive, in-depth explorations of an issue or question that others are writing about in your field. At least half of your posts must be revised, with feedback from me, for considerations of audience, purpose, clarity, organization, and correctness.
RESUME AND COVER LETTER
You may, as a substitute for one blog post, create or revise a cover letter and resume aimed at a job in your field. This is optional.
VIRTUAL PORTFOLIO
At the end of the semester, you will collect all of your materials into an virtual portfolio
of your work. This collection will contain all the writing you did for the course, or link to
places your writing resides online. You will also need to include a narrative (300-500
words) that describes and reflects on your work over the semester.
To earn a B in the course, you need, in addition to the above, to fulfill the reqiruements below:
5 - 10 COMMENTS ON OTHER BLOGS OR ONLINE FORUMS
These are comments you write on the blogs of other students in the class or on blogs,
discussion boards, or forums related to your own topic. What you comment on, and
when, is entirely up to you.
4 - 8 ONLINE CONSULTATIONS
You are invited to seek specific writing feedback from me or from our TA via email. Please keep a record of these consultations; you will include them in your final portfolio.
VOLUNTEER 1 - 4 TIMES FOR WRITER'S CHAIR
Each day during class, one or two of you will volunteer your blog for class discussion. This is an invaluable to get feedback on your writing.
6 -10 ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ON THE CLASS BLOG THAT ARE ABOUT WRITING / BLOGGING / SCHOOL
Once a week or so, I will post a discussion question based on our conversations in class; you are encouraged to post a reply on our class blog.
VISUAL AND MULTI-MEDIA EXPERIMENTATION
You are encouraged to consider the rhetorical effect of the visual design of your blog, and to use images and design elements to enhance your readers' experiences of your blog.
To earn an A in the course, you must fulfill all of the above requirements, AND your blogging must be of exceptional quality: it must be thought-provoking; It should address the complexities inherent in your topic; it should be written in an engaged and engaging voice; it should cohere visually and rhetorically; it should be visually appealing; it should be in constant conversation with other writers who are working on your topic; it should be written in a mature style, and relatively free from proofreading errors.
English 414
Professor Jennifer Trainor
Hum 541
jtrainor@sfsu.edu
Office hours: Tues and Thurs 10:00 - 11:00; Tuesday 8:00pm - 10:00 pm via email; by appointment
This course is designed to help you become more accomplished writers. Toward this goal, we will read research drawn from the fields of literacy and writing studies, and we will address questions such as: What does it mean to write well in college and in professional contexts beyond college? How is college writing different from professional writing? What do audiences expect from writers? How do writing conventions differ in different contexts? At the same time, we’ll be reflecting on these questions in a more personal way, asking: How have you become the kind of writer you are? What strategies, habits and beliefs about writing have you learned and how well do these serve your goals as a writer? How might you write more effectively – with more joy, and more satisfying results?
But learning about writing could be arguably meaningless unless you have something you want to say. To
that end, you will spend much of this semester researching and reading extensively about a topic of your
own choosing, and related to your chosen field of study or professional goals. You will write about that topic in a relatively recent format: an online blog. Unlike much
of the writing you’ve probably done for school in the past, this writing will be published on the web for
everyone to see and respond to, which has its own challenges, but should help you develop a sharper
sense of audience. Moreover, writing blog posts and commenting on others’ blogs will develop your skills
with the kind of connective writing that is essential in today’s digital environments and in today's workplaces.
But this course isn’t just about blogging; it’s about communicating effectively. The skills you develop in
this course should serve you well for the remainder of your academic career and beyond.
Unlike many writing classes, this class will not ask you to write multiple drafts of weekly or bi-weekly essays, and it will not evaluate your writing per se. You will be evaluated based on how thoroughly you engaged with the activies of the class (more on this below). It may seem strange to be in a writing class that does not assign or evaluate writing for its own sake. However, recent research suggests that assigning and evaluating writing per se are not as effective as we might like when it comes to helping students become effective writers. Because the writing situations that students, like all writers, face are so varied, there is no one set of guidelines, rules, practices, or habits that will “teach” you to write once and for all. There are no rules that apply across all contexts and situations. Instead, in this class, we will work to develop in each of you:
*the habit of self reflection about writing and self-awareness about yourselves as writers, and the ability to monitor your own thinking processes about writing;
*the habit of mindfulness – a state of alertness to the writing activities you are engaged in, in contrast with a passive or reactive mode where tasks are accomplished by rote or routine (rather than following “what the teacher wants” in a mechanical or disengaged way, we will work to develop the rhetorical skills necessary to use writing to reflect, inquire, communicate, and engage with academic material);
*the understanding that writing is conventional and context-specific rather than governed by universal rules;
*the ability to pay close attention to the context of each writing situation in order to discover what counts as appropriate for that discourse community;
*the recognition that writing is a process of drafting, revising, and editing, and to discover your own method for accomplishing these various parts of the work of writing;
*the ability to reflect upon and think critically about your own writing and the writing of your classmates.
To earn a C in this course, you need to fulfill all of the requirements below:
Attendance:
You will come to class, on time and ready to work. It is acceptable to miss one or two classes. It is not acceptable to miss more than a week.
BLOGS:
You will create an online blog focused on a topic of
your choosing. You will then write at least 12 posts that are coherent, relatively error-free, and relevant to your blog’s topic. You will post regularly throughout the semester (to earn a C, your blog must emerge over the course of the term, rather than appear, at the last minute, during finals week). Each of your posts should be between 200-750 words in
length (longer is fine, but not necessarily better), and each post should link to (or
reference) at least one external source. This means that, in order to write posts, you
will need to read, on a continual basis, what others are saying about your topic. You
may blog under a pseudonym, if you like, but the blog must be publicly accessible. At least two blog posts should be substantive, in-depth explorations of an issue or question that others are writing about in your field. At least half of your posts must be revised, with feedback from me, for considerations of audience, purpose, clarity, organization, and correctness.
RESUME AND COVER LETTER
You may, as a substitute for one blog post, create or revise a cover letter and resume aimed at a job in your field. This is optional.
VIRTUAL PORTFOLIO
At the end of the semester, you will collect all of your materials into an virtual portfolio
of your work. This collection will contain all the writing you did for the course, or link to
places your writing resides online. You will also need to include a narrative (300-500
words) that describes and reflects on your work over the semester.
To earn a B in the course, you need, in addition to the above, to fulfill the reqiruements below:
5 - 10 COMMENTS ON OTHER BLOGS OR ONLINE FORUMS
These are comments you write on the blogs of other students in the class or on blogs,
discussion boards, or forums related to your own topic. What you comment on, and
when, is entirely up to you.
4 - 8 ONLINE CONSULTATIONS
You are invited to seek specific writing feedback from me or from our TA via email. Please keep a record of these consultations; you will include them in your final portfolio.
VOLUNTEER 1 - 4 TIMES FOR WRITER'S CHAIR
Each day during class, one or two of you will volunteer your blog for class discussion. This is an invaluable to get feedback on your writing.
6 -10 ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ON THE CLASS BLOG THAT ARE ABOUT WRITING / BLOGGING / SCHOOL
Once a week or so, I will post a discussion question based on our conversations in class; you are encouraged to post a reply on our class blog.
VISUAL AND MULTI-MEDIA EXPERIMENTATION
You are encouraged to consider the rhetorical effect of the visual design of your blog, and to use images and design elements to enhance your readers' experiences of your blog.
To earn an A in the course, you must fulfill all of the above requirements, AND your blogging must be of exceptional quality: it must be thought-provoking; It should address the complexities inherent in your topic; it should be written in an engaged and engaging voice; it should cohere visually and rhetorically; it should be visually appealing; it should be in constant conversation with other writers who are working on your topic; it should be written in a mature style, and relatively free from proofreading errors.
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