English 131 C3

Deep Dives: Environments, Languages, and the Shaping of Identities

Time and location: Mechanical Engineering Building 243, MW 2:30-4:20

Instructor: Dr. Emily George                                           

Email: ecg136@uw.edu

Office Hours: M/W 10-11 or by appointment, on Zoom: 

https://washington.zoom.us/j/99625371204

Course Description

This course focuses on developing your critical reading and writing skills by approaching composition as a way of thinking—one that enables you to ask questions, draft and develop ideas, learn and revise those ideas, and engage with what others have written. Because writing is a process of thinking that demands that we slow down, clarify, and revise, it helps us reflect on what we think we know, realize what we don’t know, revise our assumptions, and revisit past ideas. Our broad theme for the course is “Deep Dives: Environments, Languages, and the Shaping of Identities.” Each reading we will study provides a “deep dive” into the intersections of language, environments, and/or identities in a different form of composition: academic essay, scripted podcast, public essay, and digital project. This theme will be a guide for the texts we study as a class and for the topics you choose for your own composition work. Using this theme as a guide, the class will practice reading and composition in a variety of contexts. This will include assignments practicing academic and non-academic writing, with an emphasis on drafting, feedback, and revision.

English 131 Course Outcomes

Outcome One

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 composition choices.

Outcome Two

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 Three

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 Four

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 audience(s) in a manner consonant with the genre, situation, and desired rhetorical effects and meanings.

Materials

• All readings will be posted on Canvas. You will need reliable daily access to Canvas. 
• Microsoft Office. You will be asked to use Microsoft Word to write and submit your essays in order to standardize formatting and length. You will also be asked to keep track of your grade using Microsoft Excel. You can access Microsoft Office as a UW student for free: https://itconnect.uw.edu/uware/microsoft-office-for-desktop/#:~:text=How%20to%20Get%20Microsoft%20Office,visit%20your%20device's%20app%20store.
• Email: You will need to check your UW email regularly and Canvas messages.

Class Expectations and Guidelines for Discussion

You will be working within small groups, peer review pairings, and the whole class throughout the quarter. Disagreement can be productive, and scholars in all fields depend on disagreement to strengthen their arguments, discover errors, and challenge their own thinking. You may find that some of the topics and discussions in this class will cause you discomfort. This is normal, expected, and, in fact, crucial to your learning. Engaging with complexity—through history, art, literature, politics, cultural studies, your own research and writing—is a difficult labor, and difficult labor is often uncomfortable. 

However, in order for conflict to be productive, it must be respectful. Personal attacks, disrespectful language, and disrespectful behavior have no place in the class, and will not be tolerated. If debates or discussions get intense or heated, remember that it is difficult to know the backgrounds, experiences, emotions, and beliefs of others in the room, and be sensitive to that. Be generous with others and try to assume good intentions. Keep your responses specific to the topic under discussion. You are expected to use language and action that shows respect for gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, and ability in order to create a safe and welcoming class.

English 131 Winter 2024 Grading System

Participation (30%)

Throughout the quarter, the majority of your work for the class will be in the category of “participation.” This includes in-class assignments (5 points each), homework (10 points each), and major writing assignments (20 points each).

Each assignment in the “participation” category will receive one of two grades: a “complete,” meaning you have fulfilled all the requirements of the work, and thus receive full credit, or an “incomplete,” meaning either you have ignored the work, or you have submitted something that does not fulfill the assignment requirements. Assignment requirements will always be specified on the prompt. My reasoning for using this system is twofold. First, I believe this creates a more equitable and transparent form of grading that attempts to restore justice and compassion in the classroom. Research shows that traditional “quality”-based grades can be biased and subjective. In a writing-intensive classroom in particular, traditional “quality”-based grades often favor students who are white, middle- or upper-class, and native English speakers. Second, I believe this system makes it easier to see the reading, writing, and research we do as a kind of thinking process and practice, and therefore to see it as the difficult, continuous work that it is rather than as a single skill to achieve. My hope is that this approach to grading will encourage you to take risks with your writing and trust that the failures you will inevitably encounter as you learn and try new things will not penalize you in a traditional grading sense. As your professor, I will give you feedback on your work, and you will have assignments that ask you to use feedback you receive from me and from your peers to revise or apply it to your next project. Real learning can happen through treating writing as a process of thinking, researching, drafting, and revising your way into the strongest version of your ideas.

Portfolio (70%)

In all English 131 classes, 70% of a student’s final grade is determined by a final portfolio. While students are required to include original drafts of all their work done over the course of the quarter, they are empowered to select which assignments will be revised and evaluated and explain their choices in the critical reflection. The use of portfolios in the writing classroom is consistent with the UW Program for Rhetoric and Writing’s belief that revision and reflection are key elements of developing a mindful and effective writing practice. Throughout the quarter, we will practice planning, researching, drafting, reflecting, and revising. You will receive responses from me and from your peers on the major writing assignments you submit. In your final portfolio, you will select the assignments you wish to include that you think best demonstrate your abilities related to the 131 course outcomes, revise them, and submit them as “showcase” pieces alongside a metacognitive reflection essay on your understanding of the course goals and how your showcase assignments in the portfolio reflect those course goals. The portfolio will also include a compendium of all major writing assignments (including all short assignment lead-up components) you completed this quarter. When we get closer to the portfolio, we will go over the full checklist for completion and develop a grading rubric together as a class.

Policies

Late Policy

If you submit your assignments on time, it is easier for me to get them back to you in a timely manner, and it is also easier for you to move on to the next assignment having gained skills and experience from the previous assignment. Assignments are sequenced purposefully so that they build on each other, and completing them in the correct order is the best way to make sure that you’re learning as much as possible from them. Therefore, I hope you will make your best effort to submit all assignments on time. However, I also understand that this isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons. Therefore:

• You may use a 48-hour extension for any assignments (see exceptions in the next bullet) that you are not able to complete on time, up to 3 times. To use this extension and ensure your assignment will not be marked incomplete, you can email me any time before the assignment is due to let me know you are using an extension. As long as you’ve done this, your assignment will not be marked late. You do not need to offer any excuse or documentation.
• Exceptions: Because our course includes opportunities for peer review, and students receive credit for performing peer reviews for each other, your classmates will be relying on you to complete assignments that will be submitted for peer review on time, and they will also be relying on you to give them your own peer reviews on time. Therefore, the 48-hour extension does not apply to peer reviews you are giving to others or to drafts of your work that will be receiving peer review. You will always know well ahead of time if a draft is receiving peer review. If you have extenuating circumstances that make this impossible, please contact me before the due date so we can find a solution together.
• If you are unable to complete an assignment within the 48-hour extension window, please email me to set up a Zoom meeting to meet with me so we can work together on a plan to help you catch up on your coursework. This meeting is required for extensions beyond 48 hours.
• If your assignment is marked “Late”: I accept late participation work for up to one week after the date it is marked “Ignored,” and then close the assignment page to submissions. Late work receives 75% credit. So, a late homework assignment from 10 points to 7.5 points, a late in-class assignment goes from 5 to 3.75 points, etc. Keep in mind that you have the option to use extensions with no consequence and must communicate with me to use them.

Ignored Work

Ignored work is work that is 1) never submitted and, thus, remains ungraded; or 2) an assignment is marked “incomplete” (an X on the grade page) and which is not revised accordingly within 1 week of receiving the “incomplete” grade. An assignment is “incomplete” if it does not meet ALL expectations outlined on the assignment sheet or prompt. If an assignment is submitted on time but marked incomplete, I will note the reason why it is incomplete in my comments, and you will be given 1 week to complete it. If you have questions or concerns about the “incomplete” designation, reach out to me as soon as possible. Incomplete work that is not completed in this timeframe will be considered “ignored.” Late work that is not submitted within this time frame will be considered “ignored.” Peer reviews that are not submitted will be marked “Incomplete” without the possibility of correction.

Note: in order to know when you have received an “Incomplete,” it is important that you regularly check your grades on Canvas. You should also set up Notification Settings on Canvas to alert you whenever you receive a grade. You can find instructions here: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Video-Guide/Notification-Settings-All-Users/ta-p/383690 (Links to an external site.)

Missing Class

If you must miss class, you may request alternative participation assignments up to 3 times throughout the quarter, as long as you request them ahead of our class meeting. For longer absences due to extenuating circumstances, you’ll need to set up a meeting with me so that we can make more specialized arrangements and discuss your options.

Academic Integrity

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. As a matter of policy, any student found to have plagiarized any piece of writing in this class will automatically receive 0 points without the possibility of make-up and an incident report will be filed with the Dean of Academic Programs. If a student plagiarizes more than once over the course of a quarter, he or she will receive a 0.0 grade for the course as a whole.

If you are confused or unsure about whether or not something you want to do would be considered plagiarism, please talk to me about it! I won’t penalize you for not knowing. Sometimes plagiarism is something obvious, like copying someone else’s essay, but sometimes it can get trickier, like incorrectly paraphrasing, forgetting to cite information/ideas and not just quotes, etc. Likewise, if you are feeling so much pressure or confusion that you’re thinking about plagiarizing, talk to me. Plagiarizing can have huge consequences for your grade and your academic future, and we can come up with a solution that’s better than taking that risk.

Academic Integrity: On the use of “Artificial Intelligence,” ChatGPT, and other AI writing programs

Artificial intelligence is a subject with tons of branches, and sometimes, the results of AI research and projects are useful, creative, and ethically well-thought-out. However, this is not true in many instances. ChatGPT and other forms of “AI” have repeatedly been shown to provide you with misleading or outright false information; to unethically scrape the labor of creators (artists, writers, researchers, programmers, engineers, and other workers) and use it without compensation or permission; and even, on occasion, to “hallucinate,” providing nonsensical responses. All of these are important reasons for being wary of using AI for research, writing, or fact-checking. But in the case of this class, the most important thing to remember is that English 131 is a class designed to guide you through a particular process of thinking, making judgments, coming to conclusions, and revising your conclusions. A machine might be able to produce an essay that is coherent, follows “standard English grammar,” and addresses a given topic. It cannot, however, demonstrate how your ideas have changed over the course of reading and discussing a topic, or how your argument has been revised to accommodate new information, or how you have read and researched different sources and made your own judgments about their reliability, their usefulness, their connections to one another and to your own thinking. Therefore, because those are the habits and skills we are focusing on in English 101, submitting work produced by AI instead of written by you is considered a form of academic dishonesty and falls under the plagiarism clause described above.

Religious Accommodation Policy

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 at https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form: https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request.

Accommodations and Disability Services

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/ Links to an external site.

English Departmental Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Justice

The UW English Department aims to help students become more incisive thinkers, effective communicators, and imaginative writers by acknowledging that language and its use are powerful and hold the potential to empower individuals and communities; to provide the means to engage in meaningful conversation and collaboration across differences and with those with whom we disagree; and to offer methods for exploring, understanding, problem solving, and responding to the many pressing collective issues we face in our world—skills that align with and support the University of Washington’s mission to educate “a diverse student body to become responsible global citizens and future leaders through a challenging learning environment informed by cutting-edge scholarship.”

As a department, we begin with the conviction that language and texts play crucial roles in the constitution of cultures and communities, past, present, and future. Our disciplinary commitments to the study of English (its history, multiplicity, and development; its literary and artistic uses; and its global role in shaping and changing cultures) require of us a willingness to engage openly and critically with questions of power and difference. As such, in our teaching, service, and scholarship we frequently initiate and encourage conversations about topics such as race and racism, immigration, gender, sexuality, class, indigeneity, and colonialisms. These topics are fundamental to the inquiry we pursue. We are proud of this fact, and we are committed to creating an environment in which our faculty and students can do so confidently and securely, knowing that they have the backing of the department. We acknowledge that to study and engage the English language is to grapple with its imperialist and colonialist history, its relationship to power and whiteness, its involvement in the spread of globalization and in perpetuating inequity, as well as its creative uses to imagine and bring into existence a better world.

Towards that aim, we value the inherent dignity and uniqueness of individuals and communities. We acknowledge that our university is located on the shared lands and waters of the Coast Salish peoples. We aspire to be a place where human rights are respected and where any of us can seek support. This includes people of all ethnicities, faiths, gender identities, national and indigenous origins, political views, and citizenship status; nontheists; LGBQTIA+; those with disabilities; veterans; and anyone who has been targeted, abused, or disenfranchised.

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 Stephanie Kerschbaum, Director of the Program for Rhetoric and writing, at kersch@uw.edu. If, after speaking with the Director, you are still not satisfied with the response you receive, you may contact English Department Chair, Anis Bawarshi; bawarshi@uw.edu, (206) 543-2690.

Course Calendar

Our class is broken up into Weekly Modules, which consist of participation assignments, homework assignments, and major writing assignments. Modules are not all open at once, but will be opened two weeks in advance. This calendar is an overview of the focus of each module, but may not always have the most up-to-date details, as circumstances change throughout the quarter. Make sure you are using the “Weekly Overview” at the beginning of each weekly module to ensure that you are completing all readings and assignments.

Unit 1: Active Reading

Unit 1, Week 1

Readings

How to Use Canvas

English 131 Syllabus

Deadlines

Wednesday, January 3

Log on to the Canvas page and view weekly overview. Begin working on Week 1 (syllabus, quiz, intro survey)

Friday, January 5

Intro Survey

Week 1 Quiz

Sunday, January 7

Homework: Introduce Yourself!

Unit 1, Week 2

Readings

Epeli Hau'ofa, "Our Sea of Islands"

Deadlines

Monday, January 8th:

Pre-Read Hau'ofa

Wednesday, January 10th:

Shared Annotation of Hau'ofa due before class

Sunday, January 14th

Homework: Discussion Cluster—Initiators

Unit 1, Week 3

Readings

Jennifer Y. Chuong and Kailani Polzak, "Contact, and Contact Again: Reflections on an Eighteenth-Century Powderhorn" 

Deadlines

Monday, January 15th

No Class on Monday the 15th: MLK Jr. Day

Pre-Read Chuong and Polzak due Tuesday, January 16th, 11:59 PM

Wednesday, January 17th

Shared Annotation of Chuong and Polzak due before class

Sunday, January 21st

Homework: Discussion Cluster—Responders

Homework: Practice Summary, Paraphrase, and Quote

Unit 2: Summary and Response

Unit 2, Week 4

Readings

Bouchra Khalili, The Mapping Project and Bouchra Khalili Artist's Statement

Julian Barr, "Pioneer Square and the Making of Queer Seattle"

Deadlines

Wednesday, January 24th

Khalili and Barr Discussion Board due before class

Friday, January 26th

Ways of Responding

Sunday, January 28th

Homework: Discussion Cluster—Initiators Again

Unit 2, Week 5

Readings

NA

Deadlines

Monday, January 29^th

Plagiarism Tutorial

Sunday, February 4th

Major Writing Assignment: Summary and Response Essay

Unit 3: Process Project

Unit 3, Week 6: Conferences

Readings

Urvashi Chakravarty, "The Problem of Civility: A Genealogy"

Code Switch, E Ola Ka 'Olelo Hawai'i

Deadlines

Wednesday, February 7th

Annotation Group Responses to Chakravarty due before class

Friday, February 9th

Participation: Listen to and Respond to"E Ola Ka 'Olelo Hawai'i" discussion board

Sunday, February 11th

Homework: Discussion Cluster—Responders Again (Final post)

Line of Inquiry

Unit 3, Week 7

Readings

Finding your own!

Deadlines

Wednesday, February 14th

Source Assessment 1

Friday, February 16th

Source Assessment 2

Sunday, February 18th

Source Assessment 3

Unit 3, Week 8

Readings

Project Groups: Read each other's script outlines

Note: Monday, February 19th is a university holiday—no class

Deadlines

Wednesday, February 21st

Process Project Script Rough Draft

Friday, February 23rd

Process Project Script Peer Reviews

Sunday, February 25th

Major Writing Assignment: The Process Project Revised Draft

Unit 4: Portfolios

Unit 3, Week 9: Portfolio Conferences

Deadlines

Wednesday, February 28^th: Online Asynchronous Class

Work on revision plans

Friday, March 1st

Portfolio Conferences

Sunday, March 3rd

Portfolio outline and revision plans

Unit 3, Week 10: Portfolio Conferences

Deadlines

Wednesday, March 6th

NA—Portfolio Work/Conferences

Friday, March 8th

NA—Portfolio Work

Sunday, March 10th

NA—Portfolio Work

Monday, March 11: Final Portfolios Due