ENGL 111 M: Composition: Literature

*This is a tentative syllabus, so it is subject to change, as I may adjust it according to our progress. If I make any changes, I will inform you in advance. 

Course Texts

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, ISBN: 9780141439495, Publisher: Penguin Classics

1984 by George Orwell, ISBN: 9780451524935, Publisher: Signet Classic

Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, ISBN: 1982155752, Publisher: Scribner

Grading

1. Portfolio (70%)

After working through the two main assignment sequences, you will have the chance to revise significantly one (or both) of the major papers using feedback generated from my comments, peer review sessions, and writing conferences. A complete portfolio is required for passing the course. The portfolio will include:

• well-considered final revisions of 3 short projects
• well-considered final revisions of 1 long project
• a written reflection covering all the work you have done
• all of the sequence-related writing you were assigned in the course (both major papers and all the shorter assignments from both sequences)

Because you will not be turning in your portfolio until the end of the quarter, you will not be graded on any of your assignments until that time. Do not feel anxious if you are not confident about your writing at the moment; you will have time to revise and your grade will be based on how well you address the course outcomes by the end of the quarter.

2. Participation (30%)

­­Due to COVID-19, I will no longer use the conventional method of enforcing attendance as means to grade your participation. If you are feeling sick, have been in contact with someone who is sick, are experiencing mental health issues due to the current situation, or encountered any other emergency, please prioritize your physical and mental well-being. However, if you miss a class, it is your responsibility to make up for the missed material, either by borrowing notes from your classmates, or by attending my office hours, offered both on zoom and in-person.

Here is a breakdown of your participation grade:

• Reading discussion posts (20%)

The night before each class when there is reading assigned, you will make a post on a discussion board on Canvas. These posts are merely graded upon completion, so they are a low-stakes way for you to share any thoughts, questions, or speculations about the required reading for the day. I and/or the discussion leaders will take a look over them and address them in our class discussions. You do not need to post anything on the day that you are leading discussions.

I will also be giving two free passes to each student, so if for two classes (a.k.a., a week) you feel unable to keep up with the reading or are feeling unwell, you can miss two discussion posts throughout the quarter without being deducted any participation points.

Update: to relieve some of your stress, I have decided to let you make up for any discussion posts missed in the first 4 weeks of class. Starting week 5, I will return to enforcing the original due dates listed in the syllabus, and late posts will not be factored towards your grade.

• Discussion leaders (5%)

At the beginning of the quarter, you will sign up for a day to lead a class discussion of the reading. You and your groupmates do not need to conduct a presentation — rather, you are hosts, picking out interesting points that you think might spark an interesting conversation in the classroom. Feel free to pull questions and quotes from the discussion post that day as inspiration.

• Conferences (5%)

You are required to meet with me one-on-one two times during the quarter in conferences to discuss your work. These conferences give you the opportunity to get feedback about your papers/projects and to express any concerns, questions, or suggestions you might have about the course or the assignments. I do not reschedule for missed conferences, so if you miss one, it is your responsibility to come to my office hours to make them up. I will provide you with a sign-up sheet for these conferences and detailed instructions about how to prepare for them.

Extra Credit

There will be opportunities to make up for work that you missed occasionally. Each extra credit opportunity is worth 1% of your total grade:

• One of the ways you can earn extra credit is by taking your work to the Odegaard Writing & Research Center or CLUE. After the session, email me a reflection that answers the following questions in around 250 words: 1. What did you ask the tutor to look for in your paper? 2. What feedback did you receive? 3. How will you incorporate this feedback into this (and future) work?
• Another way is by uploading your notes for a class within 24 hours onto our class google drive.

More extra credit opportunities may arise as the course progresses.

Late Work Policy

If you need an extension for any assignment (with the exception of the final portfolio), feel free to reach out — I usually will grant extensions without any questions asked. However, although I will not deduct points off late work, in order for me to grade the papers in time, late work will receive little to no feedback. Papers submitted more than 3 days late will receive only marginal comments (no summative feedback), and those submitted more than a week late will receive no feedback.

If your work does not receive feedback due to lateness, you must take initiative in your revision processes, either through peer feedback, attending conferences, going to a writing center, or seeing me in office hours.

Classroom Use

Our class is conducted in a computer-integrated classroom. The university has several policies regarding CIC classrooms:

1. Absolutely no food or drink is allowed in the computer lab classrooms. Please keep your work area tidy. Recycling containers and trash cans are located at the front of both computer classrooms.
2. Do not sit on the desktops that connect pod workstations. While sturdy, they are not designed to support human weight.
3. Accessible stations are located in the front center pod. Disabled students have priority for these stations. The desktops on the accessible stations should only be adjusted to accommodate wheelchairs or other equipment.
4. Use of both lab classrooms is limited to currently installed software. You may not install or use any of your own software on class computers, nor may you download software, games, or apps.
5. Files saved to lab computers cannot be accessed outside the lab. Make sure to transfer all files produced or revised in class.
6. Do not manipulate any of the hardware. Unplugging cables can cause the system to crash and people to lose files. If you are having a problem with your station, consult your teacher or the technical support staff.
7. Do not turn off the computers or screens unless told to do so by your instructor or by a technical support person.
8. Log off computers at the end of class. If you do not do so, the next user can see your work. Note that logging off will delete any files saved to the computer's hard drive. Remember to transfer any files you need before logging off.

Citation and Academic Integrity

Unless otherwise specified, all assignments should be formatted with MLA style. This includes: 12 pt. Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double-spaced, page numbers with last name in header, works cited page for any external sources. You can find a full guide to formatting your papers at Purdue OWL. As always, feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

Plagiarism, or academic dishonesty, is presenting someone else's ideas or writing as your own. In your writing for this class, you are encouraged to refer to other people's thoughts and writing -- as long as you cite them. We will practice in class how to cite sources. As a matter of policy, any student found to have plagiarized any piece of writing in this class will receive a grade of 0 in this course and be immediately reported to the College of Arts and Sciences for review.

Official University Covid Policy

While optional, we continue to welcome and encourage mask wearing during spring quarter. Masks remain an important tool against respiratory illnesses of all kinds and offer greater protection that can help all in our community feel safe. When you mask up, choose a well-fitted, high-quality mask — such as a KF94, KN95, N95 or surgical mask — which when worn correctly protects you as well as those around you. You can pick up free masks at a variety of locations on each UW campus. 

All UW students are expected to complete their vaccine attestation before arriving on campus and to follow the campus-wide face-covering policy at all times. You are expected to follow state, local, and UW COVID-19 policies and recommendations. If you feel ill, have been exposed to COVID-19, or exhibit possible COVID symptoms, you should not come to class. If you need to temporarily quarantine or isolate per CDC guidance and/or campus policy, you are responsible for notifying your instructors as soon as possible by email. If you have a known exposure to COVID-19 or receive a positive COVID-19 test result, you must report to campus Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S).

All UW community members are required to notify EH&S immediately after: Receiving a positive test for COVID-19; being told by your doctor that they suspect you have COVID-19; learning that you have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. You can notify the COVID-19 Response and Prevention Team by emailing covidehc@uw.edu or calling 206-616-3344.

Accommodations

Disability Accommodations

• If you need accommodation of any sort, please let me know so that I can work with the UW Disability Resources for Students Office (DRS) to provide what you require. This syllabus is available in large print, as are other class materials. More information about accommodation may be found at http://www.washington.edu/students/drs/.

Religious Accommodations

• Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available atReligious Accommodations Policy..  Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

Complaints

If you have any concerns about the course or your instructor, please see the instructor about these concerns as soon as possible. If you are not comfortable talking with the instructor or not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may contact the following Expository Writing Program staff in Padelford A-11: Director Stephanie Kerschbaum, kersch@uw.edu; or Assistant Directors Francesca Colonnese, fcolonne@uw.edu; Missy González-Garduño, mimgonz@uw.edu; Joseph Wilson jwils@uw.edu. If after speaking with the Director or Assistant Directors of the EWP, you are still not satisfied with the response you receive, you may contact English Department Chair Brian Reed, (206) 543-2690.

Course Outcomes

Outcome 1

To compose strategically for a variety of audiences and contexts, both within and outside the university, by

• recognizing how different elements of a rhetorical situation matter for the task at hand and affect the options for composing and distributing texts;
• coordinating, negotiating, and experimenting with various aspects of composing—such as genre, content, conventions, style, language, organization, appeals, media, timing, and design—for diverse rhetorical effects tailored to the given audience, purpose, and situation; and
• assessing and articulating the rationale for and effects of composing choices.

Outcome 2

To work strategically with complex information in order to generate and support inquiry by

• reading, analyzing, and synthesizing a diverse range of texts and understanding the situations in which those texts are participating;
• using reading and writing strategies to craft research questions that explore and respond to complex ideas and situations;
• gathering, evaluating, and making purposeful use of primary and secondary materials appropriate for the writing goals, audience, genre, and context;
• creating a ‘conversation’—identifying and engaging with meaningful patterns across ideas, texts, experiences, and situations; and
• using citation styles appropriate for the genre and context.

Outcome 3

To craft persuasive, complex, inquiry-driven arguments that matter by

• considering, incorporating, and responding to different points of view while developing one’s own position;
• engaging in analysis—the close scrutiny and examination of evidence, claims, and assumptions—to explore and support a line of inquiry;
• understanding and accounting for the stakes and consequences of various arguments for diverse audiences and within ongoing conversations and contexts; and
• designing/organizing with respect to the demands of the genre, situation, audience, and purpose.

Outcome 4

To practice composing as a recursive, collaborative process and to develop flexible strategies for revising throughout the composition process by

• engaging in a variety of (re)visioning techniques, including (re)brainstorming, (re)drafting, (re)reading, (re)writing, (re)thinking, and editing;
• giving, receiving, interpreting, and incorporating constructive feedback; and
• refining and nuancing composition choices for delivery to intended audiences in a manner consonant with the genre, situation, and desired rhetorical effects and meanings.

Course Calendar

Week 1

Mar. 29 Syllabus

Mar. 31 Gulliver’s Travels, Book 4, Ch 1-6 (P.205-236)

Week 2

Apr. 5 Gulliver’s Travels, Book 4, Ch 7-12 (P.236-271)

Apr. 7 1984, Book 1, Ch 1-6 (P.1-69

Short Assignment 1 Due Apr. 8, 11:59 pm

Week 3

Apr. 12 1984, Finish Book 1 + Book 2 Ch 1-4 (P.69- 136)

Apr. 14 1984, Book 2 Ch 5 -  Half of Ch 9 “Winston began reading” (.P136- 184)

Short Assignment 2 Due Apr. 15, 11:59 pm

Week 4

Apr. 19 1984, Finish Book 2 (P.184- 224) , Orwell’s Letter

Apr. 21 1984, Finish Book 3 (P225-298)

Week 5

Apr. 26“Why ‘1984’ Is a 2017 Must-Read” “Orwell Revisited” (on Canvas)

Apr. 28 No class—Conferences

Major Assignment 1 Due Apr. 29, 11:59 pm

Week 6

May 3 Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption P. 1-50;

May 5 Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption P. 50-111; “Mass incarceration in America, explained in 22 maps and charts” (On Canvas)

Short Assignment 3 Due Ay 6, 11:59 pm

Week. 7

May 10 No reading--Shawshank Redemption film screening

May 12 No reading—film screening cont’d

Week 8

May 17 No reading—Get Out film screening

May 19 No reading

Major Project 2 Due May 20, 11:59 pm

Week 9

May 24 Sample student portfolios

May 26 No class—conferences

Week 10

May 31 No reading— Peer review session

Jun. 2 No reading— portfolio workshop

Final week

Portfolios Due Jun. 6, 11:59 pm