The words you are searching are inside this book. To get more targeted content, please make full-text search by clicking here.
Discover the best professional documents and content resources in AnyFlip Document Base.
Search
Published by remusjournal, 2022-05-11 03:58:01

Composition Instructor's Handbook

Composition Instructor's Handbook

THE ENGLISH COMPOSITION SEQUENCE

INSTRUCTOR’S
HANDBOOK

ENGLISH WRITING LITERATURE AND PUBLISHING PROGRAM

1

2

THE ENGLISH COMPOSITION SEQUENCE

INSTRUCTOR’S
HANDBOOK

ENGLISH WRITING LITERATURE AND PUBLISHING PROGRAM

3

© 2021 The American University of Rome Press

4

This... is a work in progress
(last revised July, 2021)

5

TABLE OF CONTENTS 8
17
A WRITING COURSE RATIONALE
39
8 Premise 47
11 Goal 54
12  The Problem with Manuals
13  Writing in Blocks

ENG 102 WRITING FROM RESEARCH

18  Course Structure
22  The Readings
23  The Worksheet
24  The In-Class Essay
26  The Research Proposal
29  The Annotated Bibliography
31  The Preliminary Outline
34  The Drafting Stage
35  The Dry Run
35  The Final Paper
36  Sample Articles for Class Readings

ENG 202 WRITING FROM THEORY

41 Structure
42 Syllabus
45  J. Final Paper Assignment

ENG 101 WRITING FUNDAMENTALS

48  Course Structure
48  The Readings
51  The Short Research PaperThe Short Research Paper
52  The last two weeksT two weeks

ENG 100 COMPREHENSIVE WRITING FUNDAMENTALS

6

WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM 56
70
57  The Writing Process
57  The Research Proposal
58  The Annotated Bibliography
59  The Preliminary Outline
59  The In-Class Essay

ACADEMIC TOOLS AND STRATEGIES

70  The Marking System
71  Academic Honesty Check
74  How to encourage students to buy and read textbooks
75  Evaluating a new/replacement textbook engaging students
76  The Quote-ID

7

CHAPTER ONE

A WRITING COURSE
RATIONALE

Academic writing is, put simply, the application of theory and method to a
meticulously defined case study.

Premise

Writing courses are universally present in the American higher education
system to provide students with the skills required to tackle the academic paper.
As a rule, the development and staffing of such courses is the purview of English
departments, whose disciplinary focus on language, it is assumed, makes them
natural candidates for the job. By extension, it is also assumed that English graduates,
who tend vb to staff composition courses, have been sufficiently inducted into the
secrets of writing and can share such knowledge with students flocking to them
from all other departments and programs. However, few composition instructors
will have received any formal exposure to viable theories of learning that would
explain the process leading from a half-formed preliminary idea to a completed
piece of research writing of any length, from term paper, to thesis, to dissertation.
Most may remember the five-paragraph essay, the modes of writing from classical
rhetoric, or arbitrary precepts promoted by some nonesuch-manual-of-style.

8

What, then, makes advanced students of English so eminently qualified to teach
the courses no one else would teach? What gets them the job is the assumption that
they must know grammar, because their own writing tends to be free of errors;
however, most composition teachers will testify that they have become aware
of grammar rules (to their current level of proficiency and detail) because of the
teaching, and not necessarily prior to it. It follows that they must have acquired the
abilities they are trying to transmit to their students intuitively, through exposure
to vast amounts of quality writing in different styles. By extension, what makes
them successful instructors is their ability to look, self-reflexively, at the writing
process in their own practice, and glean from it the distinct elements that combine
in the creation of good research writing of any length. Thus, as they apply their
intuitive knowledge of writing in composition courses, instructors must, to some
extent, reinvent the wheel.

Like any other process of invention ex (almost) nihilo, the reinvention of the
wheel proceeds in stops and starts, marred by the uncertainties arising from lack
of proper guidance in course design and composition theory. New instructors will
invariably turn to one or more of four sources: existing syllabi (old or current),
colleagues teaching different sections of the same course, syllabi available on-line
at other institutions, and the writing manual currently in use where they teach. All
these are legitimate and helpful sources, with their own strengths and shortcomings.
Old and on-line syllabi, for instance, may reflect institutional needs and policies
that are no longer current or not clear to outsiders; also, an inexperienced instructor
is not in a position to evaluate the course setup, and must, therefore, accept its
merits on authority (which, ironically, is a rhetorical fallacy); in addition, syllabi
are meant for students and there is no “teacher’s edition” to explain the purpose
and function of each pedagogical choice (scheduling, assignments...). Colleagues
can be an excellent resource, when they are not (understandably) jealous of their
hard-earned experience, as confused as the new recruit is, or eager to commiserate
the state of education and undergraduate writing skills with a fellow sufferer.

9

The writing manual, or textbook, remains, perhaps, the most powerful
influence on course design, possibly because it is the only element which, chapter
by chapter, provides a structure for the course. In fact, such textbooks tend to
take over the course by attempting to micromanage the instructor: they determine
the general metaphor for writing, the order in which writing stages are presented
(although this order seems to be fairly consistent, and consistently wrong, across
texts; but more on this later), writing samples (that are chosen to confirm the
textbook’s guiding ideas on writing), and assignment leads. Most such textbooks
are sprawling behemoths that often mystify the reader by bearing the adjective
“concise” in the title. In this writer’s experience, the best texts provide few reading
samples, are designed as reference books where each chapter is a self-contained
unit, and support the instructor by getting out of the way. Indeed, what is the
point of hiring highly qualified professionals, many with a Ph.D. or close enough,
just to ask them to surrender their expertise to a textbook? No wonder the teaching
of composition is considered dull and de-qualifying by most professors.

An effective writing program should set the professors free to draw on their
own experience and expertise to teach courses that are more rewarding for both
instructors and students. This can only be achieved by providing a firm structure
to the course that is consistent with good academic writing practice at the highest
(doctoral) level (something the instructor will be acquainted with), and that can be
scaled in intensity all the way down to what is expected of undergraduate freshmen.
Most importantly, students should be given a recipe for self improvement they can
continue to apply throughout their academic career, and they should come away
from composition courses with the firm impression that writing is a process to
be tackled in stages, that it is always demanding, and that preparatory work of a
clearly defined sort invariably leads to improvement in their performance.

As is good practice in course design across the curriculum, a writing course
should constantly expose students to reading material and writing projects that
are beyond their current abilities. This would answer to a number of academic

10

needs and ills. These include, in no particular order:
• Student complacency: students should never be under the impression that the course
(any course) does not require active and constant engagement from them.
• Grade inflation: ...is, in great part, an unavoidable byproduct of the tendency to
simplify course content; in doing so we are depriving instructors of the tools needed
to differentiate clearly between A-level, B-level, and C-level performance. While most
course material should be sufficiently challenging to make the need for active study
clear to every student, some of the assigned readings should require a much higher
level of proficiency in the discipline (straight, unadulterated academic articles, for
instance). Students will respond differently to this material, which will allow for
better and more accurate grade differentiation.
• Full use of the instructor’s expertise: assigning a selection of texts written by experts
for experts creates the necessity (and the opportunity) for the instructor to clarify
the material by providing guidance and context. In doing so, they will fall back on
their areas of expertise in selecting and explicating advanced readings. All courses
should be designed to include texts that require the intervention of the instructor in
order to be fully and correctly understood by the students. In this manner, the sheer
discursive breadth (or depth) of the disciplines to which students are exposed, will
become a palpable reality.

Goal

The main goal of an advanced writing course is to produce autonomous writers
who are also capable of using what they read to teach themselves how to write.
In my experience, the strongest writers are students who have always, also, been
strong readers. Clearly, in consciously reading for content, these students have
unconsciously absorbed a variety of underlying organizational structures that they,
in turn, apply effectively in their own work. This is the “value added” of heavy
reading. The task of college-level writing instruction is to make students conscious
that such structures exist, and to provide them with the meta-language needed to

11

make such structures emerge from behind the content. In short, we should teach
our students to read, literally, twice: once for content, once for structure and form.

An ancillary, yet not secondary goal of an advanced writing course is to instill a
writing ethic that should be, above all, simple and practical. The two fundamental
principles of good writing are clarity of expression and precision of argument.
These two characteristics should not be seen as just “goals” but, also, as ethical
practices that favor honest discussion. As politicians very well know, the greatest
risk in an argument is being properly understood; as academics, we should teach
our students to take that risk willingly, for the reward is participation in a broader,
truth-seeking (though not naively truth-finding) discourse.

The Problem with Manuals

The logical consequence of these considerations is that reading comes before
writing, and this notion should be reflected in the design of advanced writing
courses. Unfortunately, writing manuals and textbooks almost invariably begin
with advice on how to select a topic, placing the cart before the horses. This
practice is unfair to students in their freshman year because poor readers and
inexperienced writers will be at a loss and will likely choose topics that are too
general; strong readers and experienced writers will, on the other hand, fall back
on the familiar, and thus turn to material they have absorbed elsewhere. The
pedagogical consequence is that, instead of evaluating students for what they are
expected to learn in their current course, we are evaluating them, primarily, for
what they have learned before. The operative word, here, is “primarily”: student
performance is built over years of formal institutional schooling, and informal, half-
conscious self-improvement. We are, in other words, measuring the comparative
advantage students garnered from their prior education. To avoid this pitfall, the
writing course should try to even the scales a little by providing a knowledge base
in the first part of the semester, through select readings. Three or four academic
articles to be read and examined over a period of, roughly, five weeks, represent a
good balance with the practical goals of the course.

12

Writing in Blocks

One of the main objectives of the course is to show student that the writing
process can be structured into self-assigned tasks to be completed in any order.
After initial readings into topic (knowledge area), after the research proposal,
annotated bibliography, and outline, writers should be encouraged to begin
writing in the main body of their research paper project instead of starting with
the introduction. Writing (and, by extension, essays, papers, and dissertations) is
never completed in the mind and then reversed on the page, finished; writing is a
recursive process of progressive discovery, adjustment, and rediscovery of one’s
topic and thesis that only truly begins when the actual task of laying ink on a page
(so to speak, in this digital age) is undertaken.

Each self-assigned task can be represented as a writing block, a logical unit
in the argument and its outline. Since each block plays a specific function in the
argument and is reasonably self contained, almost any block can be initiated and
even completed at any stage of the writing process. The writer determines the
logic that holds each block together, from developing an example or illustration,
to describing process, to exploring a cause-effect relation, to narration, comparison
and contrast, classification and division, description, analogy, definition, and so
forth. If the writer is aware that they will have to summarize the plot of a novel
under analysis, define a particular term, or provide historical background, there is
no reason they should wait until they reach that specific point in their argument;
the block can be written as soon as a need is discovered, and as soon as the
required competence is acquired through reading and research. A block conceived
and developed in this manner can then be positioned or re-positioned as needed.
This inherent mobility of the block grants remarkable flexibility in re-organizing
arguments as they developed, allowing the writer to change block order almost at
will, to then work on transitions as needed to ensure proper flow.

Writers should understand that a block of text can be as small as a single

13

paragraph and as large as any number of paragraphs (or pages). A chunk of text
qualifies as a block when it can be moved easily around the essay as a unit; it is
also a block when, conversely, major adjustments are necessary to break it apart.
A block can be:

• Developed to convey background or historical information needed to understand the
coming argument. This can be a block unto itself.

• Built around supporting material like detailed information, narratives, examples,
data and statistics, expert opinion, interviews, survey results, and so forth. The
supporting material can be conveyed in its own paragraph, but it cannot constitute
its own block. All supporting material belongs in a block with the claim or concept it
supports, even if said claim is developed in a separate but adjoining paragraph.

• Constructed around a concept. Except for background information or historical
narrative in the introductory portion of the essay, all blocks should be structured
around one guiding concept. While the concept may be outlined, defined, or elaborated
in its own paragraph, such conceptual paragraphs are usually linked with their own
supporting material, completing the block structure. A purely conceptual block is
also possible, but this structure is generally reserved for extended thesis statements.
A block or paragraph containing several distinct concepts, stringed together through
addition rather than subordination, is a natural candidate for revision and may have
to be broken into as many blocks as are the concepts it contains.

• Formed around pointed analysis of a primary source or data. While analysis can
be carried out in a separate paragraph, it should not constitute a separate block.
Analysis always belongs in the same block as the account of the specific phenomenon
that is being analyzed.

• Concepts are key elements in the internal organization of writing blocks. Block
structures can be evidence or concept driven.

14

Three simplified block structure models:

• Evidence-driven block structure
• Evidence from case study
• Analysis of evidence
• Concept derived from/supported by evidence
• Additional/Reinforcing evidence
• Analysis of additional/reinforcing evidence

• Concept-driven block structure
• Concept or idea from theory
• Relevant evidence from case study
• Analysis of evidence in light of concept or idea from theory
• Restated concept in expanded form

• Abstract conceptual argument (theory)
• Concept 1 (+ Analysis and/or Evidence)
• Concept 2 (+ Analysis and/or Evidence)
• Concepts 1 and 2 compared and contrasted
• Restated or modified concept or premise in light of analysis.

Principles of internal block structure and organization:

• Chronological order (Order of Time)
• Spatial order (Order of Proximity or Relationship)
• Climactic order (Order of Importance or Emphasis)
• General-to-specific / Specific-to-general
• Most-familiar-to-least-familiar / Least-familiar-to-most-familiar
• Simplest-to-most-complex / Most-complex-to-simplest
• Topical order, emerging from the topic itself

15

Breaking down an argument in this manner, into parts that can be developed
somewhat independently of each other, will enable students to begin writing
significant portions of their essay even before their thesis is fully formed in their
minds. As they write, they will discover their true thesis and adjust their research
plans accordingly.

Ultimately, the best cure to writer’s block is to write a block.

16

CHAPTER TWO

ENG 102 WRITING
FROM RESEARCH

Writing from Research is the keystone course in the Composition sequence.
It aims to enable students to become autonomous writers capable of producing
well written, well organized, original knowledge. To this end, the emphasis in
course construction falls on the relation between research and argument, from
knowledge to comprehension, application, analysis synthesis, and, finally,
evaluation, following Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives in the
cognitive domain. Since originality is difficult to attain at any level, for this course
undergraduates are encouraged to select concrete case studies that are specific
enough to enable writers to achieve an adequate level of competence in the
available time.

A second and equally critical goal of this course is to show students that they
can continue to teach themselves how to write by reading sources for form and
not just content. In the first part of the semester, instructors will use the assigned
academic readings to illustrate a variety of writing strategies deployed by
experienced writers, from organization to transitioning, to using sources, citing,
incorporating quotes and paraphrases, and so forth.

A limited number of freshmen may place directly at this level, skipping ENG 101
entirely. Students that place directly into ENG 102 have demonstrated, in testing,

17

the ability to organize arguments logically, and to support claims with evidence,
while consistently maintaining paragraph unity, transitioning seamlessly between
paragraphs and ideas, and deploying sophisticated organizational strategies. Their
writing is virtually free of grammar errors.

Course Structure

In order to grant the writing instructor the utmost freedom in tailoring the
course to their academic interests and strengths, the standard syllabus should be
intended, not as a cage, but as a scaffolding whose support enables the instructor
to build the course around familiar themes and material.

Each assignment builds towards the final project for the course: a research paper
compatible with the course theme selected by the instructor. The theme should be
broad enough to allow for a variety of disciplinary approaches (historical, economic,
literary, cultural); for example, the modern city, popular culture, laughter… Once
the theme is chosen, it is injected in the following scaffolding:

1. Three to four readings. These should be academic articles on specific
topics related to the theme. Students are evaluated on their ability to
annotated printouts (brought to class regularly), and fill worksheet as
indicated in the provided template.

2. Three in-class essays. These are short essays in which students learn
to build arguments around sources and quotes. The argument is their
own, but they are required to use one of the assigned readings as a
source. Students are allowed an outline and the annotated printout
of the source.

3. The Research Proposal. In this assignment students are asked to
begin thinking seriously about their final project.

4. The Annotated Bibliography. In this assignment students identify,

18

read, and process five new sources they intend to use in their argument;
they also make a first attempt at delineating a thesis.
5. The Outline. In this assignment students attempt to organize their
discussion hierarchically, in blocks and categories, and revise their
initial thesis.
6. Drafting. This is a process that spans several weeks in which students
develop a number of coherent blocks in their argument/outline.
7. The Dry Run. While this assignment takes the shape of an in-class
essay, it is not part of the graded sequence. Students are asked to
write out a large portion of their argument in 550 words, in class,
without incorporating sources. The goal is to help students define
(sometimes discover) their true thesis without being bogged down
by the constraints of research.
8. The Final Paper. This is a formal research paper in MLA format and
the culmination of the students’ efforts during the course.

19

Suggested grade weight and instructor attitude for each assignment:

1. Readings: 10% of class grade for worksheets; evaluate precision
in carrying out the assignment, and formal qualities. 5% of class
grade for annotations; evaluate how “busy” the pages looks, with
underlining, circling, and margin notes; penalize students for
incomplete annotations (blank pages).

2. The in-class essays: 30% of class grade. This is the benchmark
assignment in which students produce written work in a controlled
situation, diminishing the benefits of successful cheating in at-
home work. The essays can be used to challenge the student for any
significant disparity in quality between at-home and in-class writing;
indeed, the third essay should be an abstract of the final paper to be
written on the day of the final exam, allowing for direct comparison
between the two. The instructor may decide to drop the lowest of
the three grades from the final average, and/or to use this option as a
way around scheduling make-ups for students who miss one writing
session.

3. The research proposal: 10% of class grade. students who fulfill all
requirements are likely to receive a very high grade (B+ to A). I advise
against punishing students excessively for grammar or awkward
phrasing. A research proposal that does all that is required, but is not
solidly written should get no less than a B+. This is, after all, preliminary
work. Grades will drop sharply, however, when sections are omitted
or do not meet length requirements, or for serious violations of the
MLA format.

4. The Annotated Bibliography: 15% of class grade. Students who
fulfill all requirements are likely to receive a very high grade (B+ to A).

20

Again, I advise against punishing students excessively for grammar
errors or awkward phrasing. An annotated bibliography that does all
that is required, but is not solidly written may get no less than a B. This
is, after all, preliminary work. Grades will drop sharply, however,
when sections are omitted or do not meet length requirements, or
for violations of MLA guidelines, including in the Works Cited page.
One missing source would lower the grade for the entire assignment
by 20 percentage points. It is up to the professor to accept or not late
work in completion of the assignment, for full or partial credit.

5. The Outline: Mandatory, not graded. My advice is to penalize students
by 5 percentage points on their final paper for late submission, and by
10 percentage points for failing to submit.

6. Drafting: Mandatory, not graded. My advice is to penalize students
by 5 percentage points on their final paper for late submission, and by
10 percentage points for failing to submit.

7. The Dry Run: Mandatory, not graded. To be considered part of
drafting.

8. The Final Paper: 30% of class grade. It should be graded meticulously
for form, mechanics, research, and argument. Failure to submit a
research paper, or a failing grade, is an automatic failing grade for the
class, regardless of averages.

This scaffolding is meant to create uniformity between different sections of
the same course, while allowing broad thematic, theoretical, and methodological
variety, limited only by the imagination of the instructor.

21

The Readings

The three-to-four readings function as tools in developing a number of
essential research skills. These include the ability to quickly evaluate a source by
looking at its title, abstract (if present), introduction and conclusion, paragraph
topic sentences, and so forth. Students should learn to tailor expectations on what
the source promises to deliver in its title and, especially, thesis-level statements
early in the reading.

In this part of the course, students begin to develop skills that should serve
them well in finding and selecting academic sources to use in their final project.
Due to the likely complexity of the material and the intensive work the class is
expected to perform on it, academic articles over 15 pages should be read in two
parts or class sessions (see sample article titles in Appendix A).

To prepare the class for this assignment, the instructor should assign Mortimer
Adler’s short essay “How to Mark a Book” (Appendix B). The essay is freely
available on the Internet and provides essential advice on the proper use and
abuse of books and articles. Adler advises slow, yet active reading during which
the reader engages the text by marking the pages with annotations and symbols. In
this manner, the active reader leaves behind a trace and record of their intellectual
engagement with the source. Adler’s very practical advice will prepare students
for the assignments associated with the readings: to turn in, on the day an article is
discussed, an annotated printout of the source (Appendix C), and to turn in, once
per source, a completed worksheet in MLA format (Appendix D).

Printed or electronically annotated articles should only be accepted at the
beginning of class, before discussion begins. A grade penalty should be introduced
for missing annotated printouts; late submissions should not be accepted. Students
who are absent on the day of discussion may email an electronic version of the
printout, which will receive full credit provided it reaches the instructor’s in-box
before beginning of class on the due day. This daily deadline provides an incentive

22

for students to read the assignments and come to class prepared for discussion,
and discourages skipping class as an excuse for submitting a late assignment.

Associated Software

The annotated printout may be done in hard copy, as ink on paper, or digitally,
utilizing software that allows the annotation of pdf files. The instructor should
become familiar with at least one program and illustrate its basic functioning in
class. At the time of writing, two options come to mind: “Skim” for Mac OS and
“PDF XChange Editor” for Windows. Similar software exists for tablet computers,
and the instructor may expand this list or make their own recommendation.
Both suggested programs are free to use, with PDF X-Change Editor offering a
registration option for more advanced features (not needed for this assignment).
Adobe Acrobat Reader is also a viable alternative.

In preparation for the first worksheet, the instructor should devote some class
time to explaining basic word processor functions like inserting headers and page
numbers, changing line spacing, inserting page breaks (in place of scrolling),
making the ribbon visible, inserting correct indentations in body paragraphs (and
reverse indentation in the Works Cited), showing invisible formatting symbols,
automatically arranging paragraph lines in alphabetical order (in the Works
Cited), pasting text without source formatting, etc.

Remind students that they have free access to the latest Microsoft Office
programs with their AUR tuition. The Installer is accessed by logging into AUR
Email through the web interface.

The Worksheet

The Worksheet assignment is designed to introduce students to basic MLA
formatting: top matter, spacing and margins, in-text citations and quoting,

23

punctuation, and the Works Cited page. In addition, students practice bracketing
quotes between lead-in and follow up sentences.

The formal drilling with worksheets is also designed to allow the instructor
to penalize students sharply for any glaring formal mistakes in the final paper.
As a grading strategy, instructors may assign a grade for the various parts of
the worksheet, and then deduct points for errors like titling the “Works Cited”
anything but “Works Cited” (”Bibliography” or “Sources” are common mistakes)
(-5 points), forgetting to indicate page number and student’s last name in top
right corner (-5 points), no double spacing (-5 points), inconsistent or incorrect
formatting of book or article titles (-5 points), incorrectly formatted in-text citations
(-3 points), missing in-text citations (-5 points), errors in formatting Works Cited
entries for books and scholarly articles (-3 points) and so forth. A short list of such
deductions may be provided to students for reference. In addition, the instructor
may decide to cap maximum deductions for glaring MLA infringements at -10
points, or to stop deducting when the grade for the assignment reaches 70% (C-).

The In-Class Essay

The In-Class essay is a critical assessment tool in ENG 102 courses. Weighing
at 30% of the class grade, the assignment ensures that a large portion of the grade
is obtained in controlled conditions, allowing for comparisons with students’ at
home work. The third and last in-class essay is a direct check of the authenticity
of the final paper, as students are required to write 550-word version of their
argument.

In terms of course objectives, the in-class essay requires students to construct
an argument on their own, using a source they have previously read, annotated,
and discussed, as support or foil for their claims. Because students are allowed
to bring an annotated printout of their source to class, they learn to write with a
source literally in front of them, and thereby learn the critical connection between

24

new writing (theirs) and previous writing (their sources).
Students also learn the value of planning ahead since they are allowed to bring

a previously prepared outline. Instructors should also encourage students to write
down thoughts, or even drafts, ahead of the test, so as to make the actual writing
sessions something more than a first and instinctive draft. Of course, students are
not allowed to bring drafts or notes to class.

Additional benefits of the in-class essay are: a) learning to write under pressure
from time constraints; b) learning that in an intense and timed writing session they
can produce a fairly large volume of work ready for revision; c) creating a healthy,
attention-raising performance anxiety that will then last through the semester,
since grades for in-class work will normally be lower than expected/actual grades
for at-home work.

Note: The instructor should discourage students from tackling the same case
study as in the source. Instead, they should use something they have learned from
the source (argument, definition, method) and apply it to a case study of their
own choosing. Students who do take on the source, especially to disagree with
it, generally fare worse than those who change topic. This is because they take it
upon themselves to challenge a 15-to-20-page academic article in a 550 word in-
class essay, without the experience to do so effectively. In addition, any conceptual
or factual error in using the source will be immediately spotted by the instructor
during grading since they will know this source inside and out. Students should
be warned they will put themselves at a substantial disadvantage should they take
this route.

See template assignment for the in-class essay in Appendix E.

25

The Research Proposal

The Research Proposal is the first step towards writing the final research paper.
It asks students to begin thinking about their topic or area of interest, without, for
the time being, committing to an argument.

The assignment is divided into five sections plus a tentative title, but no
tentative thesis statement is required at this stage. This is intentional to convey
the notion that reading and thinking about a problem or topic should precede
forming an opinion. As the saying goes, one should remember to plug in the brain
before the mouth is activated; but the brain, too, requires fuel to run on, and this
fuel is in the (admittedly limited) knowledge base represented by the readings the
instructor had selected for the course.

Each section answers to a specific purpose, while the assignment as a whole
will introduce students to the healthy practice of breaking one’s thinking about a
project into functional blocks to be developed independently of, yet in relation to
each another.

Students should be informed/warned that serious difficulties in completing
this assignment, in whole or in part, will translate into greater difficulties at the
writing stage of the research paper. Inability to complete any of the five sections
could indicate that a) the topic is not viable, or; b) the writer is not sufficiently
knowledgeable about the topic. Perhaps re-evaluating the chosen topic and looking
for alternatives is in order. The parts:

• Case study. In this section writers narrow their focus to concrete and specific
instances of the phenomenon they wish to observe. The emphasis should be on
“concrete.” Instructors should use the articles read in the first part of the course to
show how experienced writers select concrete and specific case studies or topics upon
which to build an argument based on abstract thinking.

• General topic. In this section the writer tries to identify the general categories
within which they wish to locate/investigate their specific topic or case study. Here,

26

writers are working with big ideas and broad concepts. The categories employed here
are necessarily large and, without the more specific focus granted by the case study,
would lead only to generalizations.
• Conflict. This is intended broadly. Students may struggle to see the conflict in their
subject of choice, mainly because they generally have a very narrow conception of
what amounts to conflict.

• The instructor should explain that conflict can include differences in opinion
or interpretation. Here, too, concreteness should be emphasized, in the form of
the individuals or groups that hold each conflictual position.

• It should be noted that inability to find conflict in the topic of choice is indicative
of larger problems with the student’s understanding of what “argument” is.
Generally, students who struggle with this portion of the assignment risk
producing papers that are only descriptive and not argumentative. Often,
this problem becomes apparent only at the drafting stage, where it should be
corrected through redirection.

• Method. This part asks students to consider what they will do with the primary
sources (specific examples/case study) they identify. The “method” section is an
assignment that is, in principle, more advanced than the students’ competence level.
Except in a few cases (exceptional students), the instructor should not expect a very
articulated and coherent discussion of method; indeed, their true method may very
well emerge after the annotated bibliography, and during the drafting stage. Still,
it is pedagogically sound to introduce students to methodology as part of that self-
reflexive loop in which the writer thinks how rather than what they write. If students
use this section to connect the case study to the general topic, then the exercise is to
be considered a success.

• Definitions. This is an extension of the “definitions” assignment from the
worksheets. In the proposal, however, students are selecting terms specifically for use
in their own writing (as opposed to the “good to know” attitude from the previous
assignment). Here, too, copying and pasting from the source should be acceptable.

27

Still, the pasting should reflect a criterion of selection. Students who paste whole
entries containing several possible meanings for the term, should be penalized.
• Tentative title. A first attempt at title-writing. This section will not receive a grade.
Its purpose is to allow students opportunity to experiment with titles. A discussion
of academic “titling” should have begun with the assigned readings. Now, it is the
students’ turn to give it a try.

NOTE: Students may still change topic/case study after turning in the research
proposal. If a student wishes to work on something else, the instructor should
advise them to start working on the Annotated Bibliography for the new topic
and turn in a new Research Proposal at their earliest convenience (but no later
than the last day of class).

Also note that major adjustment are possible within the same project proposal. For
example, a student may change general topic but keep the same case study (ex.
from racism to gender roles in the film The Matrix), or keep the same general topic
but change case study (ex. the racialized portrayal of the sidekick in animated film,
replacing Sebastian from The Little Mermaid with Donkey from Shrek). Allow
students plenty of leeway.
Associated Software

Once students begin collecting sources in earnest, it is time to introduce
reference management software. The goal is to m ake students aware that such
software exists, but they should not be under the impression that its use is required.

The Reference Managers creates a database of sources, attaches pdf files when
they are available, lets the user annotate and highlight the pdf, and integrates with
the most widespread word processor to automatically handle citations. These
programs can generate a bibliography applying all most common styles, including
MLA.

28

The instructor should demonstrate the use of whichever software they are
familiar with. I have been quite satisfied with the functionality of Mendeley, which
is a free, multi-platform (Windows, MacOS, Linux) option that synchronizes the
user’s library across different computers while keeping a version in the cloud (up
to 2GB at the time of writing).

The Annotated Bibliography

After the research proposal, students begin collecting academic sources for
their final project. In the weeks leading to the due date, students may be asked
to identify and introduce briefly one or two new sources per class period, and
to discuss with the class their search strategies and any problems they may have
encountered. The instructor may illustrate sample database searches using the
overhead projector, or attempt to address specific problems raised by students.

The annotated bibliography assignment at the undergraduate level should,
ideally, provide some groundwork for the more complete literature review, which
may be required of students in their continuing education. Although the literature
review is, in many ways, a different animal from the annotated bibliography, the
task of collecting, annotating, and positioning sources in a broader disciplinary
discourse should hardly come as a surprise or a novelty to any student who has
completed an advanced composition course as an undergraduate. It should be
impressed upon students that this scalable skill may be an essential part of their
future academic (perhaps even non-academic) career. In this regard, the Justus J.
Randolph’s article, “A Guide to Writing the Dissertation Literature Review” may
be provided as (future) reference.

The Annotated Bibliography assignment is structured as follows:

• Tentative title: more experimenting; again, this portion of the assignment is not
graded.

29

• Thesis statement: students are asked, for the first time, to write out the heart of
their argument, their research question. This portion, also, is not graded to reduce
performance pressure and let students play with ideas without fear of judgment.

• Sources: Students are required to identify and examine five new sources they intend
to use in the final paper. For each source, the student writes an extended worksheet,
with the addition of a paragraph-long summary, and a paragraph-long discussion of
the usefulness of the source to the student’s project. Of the five sources, four should
be academic articles and one should be book. Of course, the instructor will direct
students to identify portions of the book by looking at specific chapters or finding
points of interest in the index.

• Works Cited: students will provide full citation on a separate page, in alphabetical
order, as MLA requires. Ideally, this list will be ready to append to the final paper.

NOTE: Students may not change topic after they have turned in the annotated
bibliography.

30

The Preliminary Outline

Outlining is an essential skill, not only for organizing the argument, but also
for discovering categories under which to classify and subdivide aspects of the
phenomenon under analysis. This assignment asks students to elaborate a linear,
preliminary outline using standard symbols. The most common model is the
hierarchical labelled outline:

I. First major heading
A. Subheading of first degree
1. Subheadings of second degree
a. Subheading of third degree
(1) Subheading of fourth degree
(a) Subheading of fifth degree
B. Subheading of first degree

When asked (in a class exercise, for instance) to generate major headings, and
subheadings of first degree, students will, commonly, pack several ideas and
categories into one single line. The instructor can use these mistakes as opportunities
to illustrate the organizing power of outlines by breaking the student’s sentence
into a general heading and several subheading. For example, a student might
offer, as the first major heading, an “Analysis of the cultural, social and economic
effects of racial stereotyping.” The instructor may point out that this heading can
be broken into a number of subheadings:

I. Effects of racial stereotyping
A. Cultural effects
B. Social effects
C. Economic effects

At this point, the student may be asked to generate more subheadings for

31

each of the three areas of interest, down to specific examples that illustrate the
phenomenon. In the process, the student may discover (and the instructor may
suggest) that one of the three subheadings stands out as being more promising
than the other two because the student was able to find better sources, more
trenchant examples, and to generate more articulate ideas. Thus, the student may
have discovered the specific focus of their research paper. If, say, the social effects
are more promising, a discussion of cultural and economic effects may play a
supporting role, or may be moved to the beginning of the essay, as part of the
introductory notes.

This approach requires some on-the-fly thinking by the instructor, and will be
messy. At the same time, it will be helpful in showing students what they can do by
simply parsing their topic headings into their constitutive elements or categories.

This assignment requires students to develop an outline for the main body of
the paper. Introductions and conclusions can be developed at a later stage, when
the argument itself becomes clearer. Each of three blocks in the main body should
be developed, at least in one branch, to Level 4, which must be a concrete example
or quote from a secondary source.

It should be pointed out to students that the outline orders ideas but not
necessarily the actual writing. The writer may begin writing a specific block at the
most general level and then work their way towards the specific, or they may begin
with the specific (the quote at level 4) and work their way towards the general.
Students should not feel trapped by the linearity of the outline.

Associated Software

Most word processor have outlining functionality that automatically generates
standard labels and indentation. These functions are not always implemented
properly and may require some software-wrestling that will certainly lighten the
mood during in-class demonstrations. At times, competent students can be of great
help to the instructor, who should also point out that software often comes with an

32

electronic or web manual that can be consulted for help.
Microsoft Word has a very useful Navigation Pane that converts document

headings into a hierarchical view of the paper’s structure. This Navigation Pane
must be checked in the View tab to be made visible.

The organic model is alterantive to the hierarchical and is based on the “writing
in blocks” philosophy. It grows naturally from reading and thinking practices and,
unlike the hierarchical model, can be developed in increments. Where designing
a hierarchy requires one to have fairly clear ideas about one’s topic and project,
the organic model works by addition with each building block representign a
specific purpose that requries varying degrees of ideas, information and quotes
from sources, and revealing details from the case study. The template also asks the
writer to estimate the number of paragraphs in the block and its position in the
paper. The model is structured in sections, as follows:

[block n]
The purpose of this block is...
Information comes from
Revealing detail from case study
Passages from secondary sources I might quote or paraphrase
Projected number of paragraphs in this block
Position in the paper
[repeat for block n+1]

For non-linear outlines, in the form of clustering or mind-mapping, an
interesting option is the multi-platform and free FreeMind. Still, for this particular
assignment, a linear or organic outline is required.

Commented templates for both models can be found on the Writing Center
web resource: https://www.thewritingcenter.info/outlining

33

The Drafting Stage

The drafting stage focuses on developing several blocks from the paper’s main
body. Students are required to produce two 800-to-1000-word drafts. While this is
still work in progress, the drafts should be fairly polished and should not look like
a series of notes.

The purpose of the exercise is not, primarily, to provide feedback, as important
as this aspect certainly is, but to ensure that writers have a sizable chunk of their
essay already written long before the deadline for the final paper. Hopefully, the
advantages of revision and recursive thinking will become apparent to students.

The assignment is not graded, but there is a penalty for submitting the drafts
late, or not at all. This arrangement maintains the pressure to write while removing
the anxieties of evaluation. In addition, it creates a sense of collaboration between
writer and instructor. By this stage, students should show a higher degree of
healthy uncertainty about the exact direction and value of their work to date, they
should be able to identify problems and problem areas, and they should begin
approaching the instructor more frequently with specific and pointed questions
on how to improve their work.

34

The Dry Run

The Dry run takes the familiar format of the in-class essay. Students are asked
to write out as much of their argument as they can in 60 minutes/550 words. The
instructor will take the remaining class time to verify essay length and penalize
students who fail to reach it.

This exercise is not meant to provide detailed feedback; its goal is to force
students to produce a coherent version of their argument without worrying about
sources and evidence, hoping that it may help them confirm or discover their true
thesis.

The Final Paper

The final paper for the class is a research paper in MLA format on a topic/case
study chosen by the student and outlined in the Research Proposal. Minimum
length is 2000 words. The instructor may set an upper limit; there is a pedagogical
benefit to not having such a ceiling to show diligent students how effective the
strategies practiced during the semester are in allowing them to produce large
amounts of competent writing. On average, students produce papers around 2500
words. Few, usually, hover just above the threshold, while a few may exceed the
required length by two or three times. See assignment template.

35

Sample Articles for Class Readings

The following articles are intended for use in the first half of the ENG 102
course when the course focuses on form, writing strategies, and methods. Instead
of applying abstract and simplistic models, the instructor helps students discern
rhetorical choices and writing strategies in high level, academic articles taken “in
the wild”. The larger goal is to teach students to use their readings not only as
sources of content but also as resources in teaching themselves how to write.

The titles below are thematically linked as they all relate to aspects of cultural
analysis of, specifically, popular culture. The choice of cultural studies for the
readings should bring the following benefits:

• it provides high level analysis of objects with which students will be somewhat
familiar (film, television, movie, images);

• it provides a shared knowledge baseline on which to build as students select and
develop their own project;

• it levels, somewhat, the playing field by preventing students from falling back too
easily and too heavily on previous writing experience, and, usually, on cliché topics;

• it forces students to select a concrete and specific case study rather than broad themes
(a particular film, actor, director, music genre, tv series, and so forth).

The instructor should mix articles on different aspects of popular culture
and encourage students to think of possible case studies and topics for their own
research paper.

Students should be warned that the articles were produced by experts, for
experts; they should not expect them to be easily accessible. But while the level of
the reading material remains extremely high, expectations are adjusted to fit the
class, while still rewarding highly capable students with top grades.

The articles (pdfs) should not be simply given to the students; the instructor

36

should show students how to use the library services to search for them in the
various academic databases. This will help students become familiar with the
interface ahead of the Annotated Bibliography.

Sample Articles by Area
Film:
Beckman, Frida. “From Irony to Narrative Crisis: Reconsidering the Femme Fatale

in the Films of David Lynch” (2012)
Dawson, Lesel. “Revenge and the Family Romance in Tarantino’s Kill Bill” (2014)
Haslam, Jason. “Coded Discourse: Romancing the (Electronic) Shadow in The

Matrix” (2005)
Orit, Kamir. “Honor and Dignity in the Film Unforgiven: Implications for Sociolegal

Theory” (2006)
Television:
Beck, Bernard. “The Myth That Would Not Die: The Sopranos, Mafia Movies, and

Italians in America” (2000).
Donnelly, Ashley M. “The New American Hero: Dexter, Serial Killer for the

Masses” (2012)
Lavigne, Carlen. “Death Wore Black Chiffon: Sex and Gender in CSI” (2009)
Tasker, Yvonne. “Television Crime Drama and Homeland Security: from Law &

Order to Terror TV’” (2012)
Images/Photography:
Juffer, Jane. “A Pornographic Femininity? Telling and Selling Victoria’s (Dirty)

Secrets” (1996)
Lopes, Paul. “Culture and Stigma: Popular Culture and the Case of Comic Books”

(2006)

37

Massoni, Kelley. “‘Teena goes to market’: Seventeen Magazine and the Early
Construction of the Teen Girl (as) Consumer” (2006)

Music:
Brown, Timothy S. “Subcultures, Pop Music and Politics: Skinheads and ‘Nazi

Rock’ in England and Germany” (2004)
Frank, Gillian. “Antigay Prejudice and the 1979 Backlash against Disco” (2007)
Lobato, Ramon. Constructing the Pirate Audience: On Popular Copyright Critique,

Free Culture and Cyber-Libertarianism (2011)
Strong, Catherine. “Grunge, Riot Grrrl and the Forgetting of Women in Popular

Culture” (2011)
Traber, Daniel S. “L. A.’s ‘White Minority’: Punk and the Contradictions of Self-

Marginalization” (2001)

38

CHAPTER FOUR

ENG 202 WRITING
FROM THEORY

Writing from theory is the last course in the composition sequence. It completes
the student’s training in academic writing with the introduction of theory as a new
dimension of intellectual engagement. The previous level, Writing from Research,
focused explicitly on research as the main driver of the writing process, encouraging
students to seek existing standpoints and opinions on topics of interest, discover
ongoing conversations on said topics, and inject their own reasoned and source-
supported point of view. As they begin to read and use academic articles, they
will necessarily encounter theory of some kind, but without being (or being made)
explicitly aware of its nature and function. Writing from Research aimed to instill
the proper academic work-flow, ethic, and rigor. By contrast, Writing from Theory
wants students to become aware of, explore, and integrate abstract structures that
guide a writer’s understanding of complex social and cultural phenomena.

It is paramount for the instructor to keep in mind at all times that this course
is first a writing course and only second a course in cultural theory. The concepts
introduced here are many and difficult to grasp. In lectures, the instructor is to do
their best to explain the ideas encountered in the readings, and to show students
how these concepts can function as lenses that bring in sharp contrast those
social and cultural features to which they are best attuned. For example, Marxian
language will bring into relief aspects related to production and exchange, while

39

structuralist approaches will foreground relations between signs and meaning. The
instructor’s role is also to show, with concrete examples, how a newly introduced
idea can immediately call attention to specific aspects of a case study that would
have been all but invisible before.

In grading student work, instructors should take into account evidence of
engagement with the readings, ability to apply abstract ideas to specific aspects
of concrete case studies, overall organization of the argument, and clarity of
expression. Imprecisions in the use of theory should, of course, invite commentary
from the instructor, as constructive feedback, but should never be considered a
damning error. This is particularly important as, roughly half the time, students
are required to read primary theoretical texts that are far above their level of
comprehension. The accompanying textbook helps contextualize the primary
readings in their discursive environment, provides some historical background
(in terms of history of ideas), and some needed simplification. But in tackling the
primary sources, the role of the instructor is invaluable in mediating between
budding scholars and some of the most intellectually demanding texts available to
academics. The goal is to favor the development of a way of thinking and relating
to the world, not to punish students for failing to grasp material that would be
challenging for graduate students.

Students should be told from the beginning, and reminded often, that the
readings, although short (for the most part), are dense and difficult, and that
the best strategy to approach them is to read them multiple times. A first, quick
reading will provide an overview of the text’s argument and structure (like the
presence of summaries or recapitulations); it will make subsequent readings more
rewarding although not necessarily painless. Class discussion with the instructor
is, of course, the final complement to the student’s endeavor, and the moment
when theory is unlocked and demystified.

To facilitate reading, all primary texts are made available to students in
annotated form (pdf), with key passages highlighted and minor comments in

40

margin. Instructors are advised to pull up the annotated texts on the overhead
projector and help students through the wording of important passages. Students
should be encouraged to bring the printout to class so they may ask specific
questions about specific sections that the instructor can show on the overhead.

Structure

The syllabus is divided into four broad sections and each section culminates in
a writing assignment designed to fit the theoretical frameworks presented in the
readings:

Part I

Theory: Marxism and Classical Social Theory
Case Study: The American University of Rome as cultural space
Assignment: 650-word in-class essay with outline

Part II

Theory: Structuralism and Post-structuralism/Post-modernity
Case Study: short film (assigned)
Assignment: 1500 - 2000 word at-home paper with research proposal

Part III

Theory: Psychoanalysis and Feminism
Case Study: the making of a perfect self (free choice)
Assignment: 650-word in-class essay with outline

Part IV

Theory: Material culture theory
Case Study: material object (free choice)
Assignment: 1500 - 2000 word at-home paper with research proposal

41

Syllabus

42

43

44

J. Final Paper Assignment

Final Paper

In completion of the composition course, submit a formal, final paper on a
topic of your choice related to the course theme.

Final Paper Guidelines

Topic: The topic for the paper is the topic selected by you in the two prior
assignments: the topic proposal and the annotated bibliography. You are not
allowed to change topic at this point.

Length: 2000 words. Points will be deducted incrementally for shorter papers
(regardless of quality, a paper with fewer than 2000 words will receive a top grade
of C; a paper with fewer than 1500 words will receive a grade of F). There is no
upper limit. However, if you get close to 3000 words, consider revising your draft
to eliminate repetition and inessential discussion.

Form: This is a formal, argumentative paper. It should have a clear introductory
paragraph or block with a thesis statement or a statement of purpose, and a
conclusion. A delayed thesis structure is also an option. Pay particular attention to
the flow of your argument and to how each paragraph and block is connected to
the one before and after. Make sure you proofread.

Format: Follow MLA guidelines for formatting and citing. See MLA chapter
in the textbook and/or follow the link in MyAUR, under Shared Links, for an
online guide to the MLA standard. Up to 10 cumulative percentage points may be
deducted from your grade for the final paper for glaring errors that you should
not be making at this point.

Sources: Use a minimum of six secondary sources in your argument. Of these,
at least three must be scholarly articles (ex. from Library databases such as JSTOR
and Project Muse); one must be a book. Note that you can have as many additional
sources as you want or need. The articles assigned as class readings may be used,

45

in addition to the aforementioned six sources.
Quotations: Remember that quotations need to be introduced, if briefly (ex.

“According to X, …” ). When a quote is not a stand-alone sentence but is inserted in
another sentence, the two must agree grammatically. Watch for tense agreement,
pronoun agreement, subordinating and coordinating conjunctions, and so forth.

Works Cited: Include a “Works Cited” page in MLA style.
How to submit your paper: Upload to MyAUR. Name your file “lastname
firstname final.extension” (ex. pacor andrea final.doc) [1/3 grade penalty for
incorrect file naming]

46

CHAPTER FIVE

ENG 101 WRITING
FUNDAMENTALS

Writing Fundamentals is the first course in the Composition sequence. Its aim is to
rapidly increase the proficiency of average writers to a level that is adequate for college
work. The skills and strategies acquired in this course will prepare students for the next
stage in the sequence, in which they will learn to plan, research, and write an argumentative
academic paper.

Students that place at this level have demonstrated, in testing, some ability to
organize arguments logically, and to support claims with evidence, but are not yet able
to consistently maintain paragraph unity, transition seamlessly between paragraphs and
ideas, nor do they deploy sophisticated organizational strategies. Their writing shows
grammar deficiencies that should be addressed before they are admitted to ENG 102, but
that, at the same time, do not impair intelligibility.

The main assessment tool in ENG 101 is the in-class essay. This type of assignment
will rapidly increase in length and difficulty in the course of the semester, but students will
receive constant support from the instructor in the form of in-class writing drills, feedback,
and discussion of planning strategies. By the end of the course, successful students should
be familiar with the in-class essay format and able to write 550 words from an outline
and an annotated source, in an 85-minute class period. This creates significant overlap
with ENG 102 where in-class essays of the same length will be the first major assessment
tool students will encounter.

47

Course Structure

The Writing Fundamentals course is structured around a series of readings
from which, with the help of the instructor, students will derive compositional
elements and strategies. The readings are chosen “in the wild” from reputable
magazines and should not be academic in nature, but still of medium-high quality.
To engage inexperienced writers at the freshmen level it is advisable to select articles
that deal with familiar topics, such as popular culture. An additional advantage
in choosing pop culture as a theme is the defusing of potentially conflictual and
ideological arguments on “hot” topics like abortion or capital punishment. While
first year students tend to gravitate quite naturally towards such loaded issues,
because they feel they have an opinion or a moral stance they want to share, it is
not advisable to let them pursue such broad and general arguments. All readings
in ENG 101 and (albeit at a much higher level of complexity) ENG 102 should
focus on specific issues (case studies) not only as illustrations of competent writing
but also as examples of viable topics.

The Readings

The following is a sample reading sequence that illustrates how the readings
should be selected to introduce students to writing strategies that grow more
and more complex as one’s knowledge of the subject/topic expands with further
reading:

• Reading 1: Richard Brody, “The Hard-Won Wisdom of Wonder Woman”
(The New Yorker); this is a review of a recent blockbuster movie that students
are likely (but are not required) to have seen. The review is generally positive
and it introduces discussions of film genre and conventions, as well as gender
roles in Hollywood movies.
• With this reading, students will look at description and narration as
essential elements of any case-based writing. With the instructor’s

48

guidance, they will practice describing case studies (in this case, a film)
and narrating stories or events. This practice should reinforce a sense
of paragraph and block coherence as students learn to take their time to
make the object of the description or narration intelligible to the reader,
as well as pleasant.
• In-Class Essay 1 tests students on description and narration, not
necessarily in a single, integrated piece of writing. The two modes of
writing may be applied to distinct objects in separate pieces. Each piece,
though, should span at least two paragraphs.

• Allowed material: outline; annotated printout of Reading 1.
• Reading 2: Josephine Livingstone, “Wonder Woman is Propaganda” (The

New Republic); this article presents a second, contrasting view to the first,
and should be chosen for this very reason. The reviewer does not see the
film’s main character as a feminist figure, nor does she consider the film
successful in breaking with Hollywood gender stereotypes. The introduction
of a second opinion complicates the students’ understanding of the topic and
the case study, forcing them to generate a third point of view: their own.

• With this reading, students begin to practice exposition and argument.
Exposition is now necessary to account for a variety of opinions among
their sources; argument arises naturally form the need and desire to
take a position and, thereby, participate in the conversation between
readings one and two.

• In-Class Essay 2 tests the students’ ability to report different opinions
on the topic by summarizing and citing the two sources. It also requires
them to develop their own argument (agreeing with one of the two
sources, or disagreeing with both) and defend it. Of course, before
expositing opinions, they will have to describe the subject or occasion
(the film) and narrate the basic story (plot), thus capitalizing on the
exercises done with Reading 1.
• Allowed material: outline; annotated printout of Reading 2.

49

• Reading 3: Joanna Bourke, “Sentimental Education: The Invention of Human
Rights” (Harper’s); the third reading in the series takes the class in a different
direction, changing the topic, and also increases significantly the difficulty of
the reading. This is an article that should, perhaps, be read and discussed in
two parts, rather than approached all at once. The selection criterion is the
article’s use of other sources.
• This reading, while not yet academic in nature, introduces working
with demanding sources whose contribution to one’s argument needs
to be properly expounded and acknowledged. Since the topic will be of
a certain substance, or seriousness, the third reading functions also as
an introduction to research methods involving the Library’s academic
databases. Students can be required to report on searches for “human
rights” identifying articles that can be used for the third in-class essay.
An additional element to be introduced in connection with the third
reading is the need to look for extended (encyclopedic) definitions of
key terms (“human rights,” for example) in order complicate one’s
thinking about a particular topic or issue. Use of sources like Wikipedia
or the Britannica should be encouraged, although it should be made
clear to students that encyclopedias, while being excellent tools to fill
gaps in knowledge, are very poor sources to cite in research papers.
• In-Class Essay 3 requires students to do additional research using the
Library’s academic databases. The best assignment to pair with this
particular source could be a literature review requiring description,
definition, and exposition. Argument is not required in this assignment,
but may be added at the instructor’s discretion.
• Allowed material: outline; annotated printout of Reading 3 and
found sources.

50


Click to View FlipBook Version