ENGL 569 B: Topics in Language and Rhetoric

TXTDS 503 and ENGL 569 is a cross-listed and cross-disciplinary graduate course that considers subject heading lists, classifications, and other indexing languages used to organize information as primary texts. We apply literary and linguistic analysis techniques to these non-traditional texts to expand our understanding of what counts as a text, how texts change over time, and how texts shape and are shaped by society. 

You will learn how to:

• Do stuff

TXTDS 503/ENGL 569 is a research community. This is your community for sharing ideas, writing about and discussing those ideas, giving feedback and suggestions, and supporting each other. It is important that this community be supportive and welcoming of everyone in the course. If we build a strong community together, you will get a lot more out of this course.

Chris Holstrom
Email: cholstro@uw.edu
Office: Padelford A-19
Office Hours: Wed 12:00-2:00, and by appointment
Webpage

Communication is critical to your success in this course. I am here to help you! I want to hear what's important to you, when you need help, when you have a question, and when you want to discuss an idea. Just let me know. Don't wait until a small problem becomes a big one--communicate right away. For example, if you know ahead of time that you will need extra time for an assignment, let me know and we'll come up with a plan together.

Here are the main communication channels for this course, outside of class sessions and Canvas Discussion Boards:

• Office hours (Wed 12:00-2:00, and by appointment): You can use this time for anything that you need to discuss.
  
  
• Writing conferences: We'll meet 1:1 to discuss your conference paper. That time is dedicated entirely to helping you. You can also ask other questions during conferences.
  
  
• Email (cholstro@uw.edu): Email is my preferred form of written communication. I will reply to email within 24 hours on weekdays. If for some reason I do not, please reply to your email thread with a message like: "Just putting this back at the top of your inbox."
  
  
• Canvas Announcements: I will use Canvas announcements to send updates to the whole class. It is your responsibility to monitor your UW email address and Canvas on a regular basis.

Readings: I will provide PDFs and links for all required readings. See the Modules to find the readings that are due before each class session.

Laptop or Tablet: Bring a laptop (or at least a tablet) to each class session, so you can write, participate in activities, and access Canvas. 

This is a writing course, so you will do a lot of writing! Some of the writing will be informal discussions and reflections, some will be annotations and critiques of others' writing, some will be first drafts, and some will be more polished writing. With all of these writing assignments you'll be practicing and getting more comfortable with different writing techniques and with reading and reviewing others' writing, all of which should make you a better writer.

Listed below are the five assignment groups for this course. Each assignment group has multiple parts, which are explained in more detail on the Assignments pages. You'll write multiple drafts for all of the assignments (except for the discussion prompts), focusing on improvements from draft to draft.

• Discussion Prompts: Before most class sessions, you will write a short response to the readings for the day. These writing assignments are informal. Instead of producing polished responses, you should use these assignments to get in the habit of writing regularly.
  
  
• In-Class Activities: Most of our class sessions will have hands-on activities that you will do in small groups, discuss with the rest of the class, and turn in on Canvas.
  
  
• Résumé and Cover Letter: You'll choose a job posting, analyze the hiring team or manager as an audience, and write a résumé and cover letter for the job posting.
  
  
• Technical Explanation Article: You'll explain a technical topic of your choosing to a general audience with a style that engages the audience and defines and describes technical concepts.
  
  
• Instructions: You'll choose a technical task and write instructions that detail how to complete that task. In this assignment we'll focus on the rhetoric of procedural discourse, writing to a style guide, and reviewing and testing technical documentation.

There are no tests or quizzes in this course.

I have found that conventional grading often leads my students to think more about grades than about writing; to worry more about pleasing me or psyching me out than about figuring out what you really want to say or how you want to say it; to be reluctant to take risks with your writing. Grading even makes some students feel they are working against me.

- Writing Studies Scholar Peter Elbow

The goal of this course is not to determine who is a good writer and who is a less-good writer. The goal of this course is for everyone to become a better and more confident writer.

The grading policy for the course is based on rewarding work that contributes to that goal of improving your writing. If you actively engage in class sessions and activities, provide constructive and thoughtful peer feedback, and work on improving your writing with each draft, you will receive a good grade.

You will still receive critical feedback about your writing from me and from your peers, but that feedback will always be about helping you to improve your writing, not about deducting grading points. You will not be graded down for grammar issues, a document that doesn't quite flow, or trying something new that doesn't quite work--unless you do not make an effort to improve these issues.

Grading criteria are focused on how engaged you are in improving your writing and are listed in each assignment description. Assignment grades are weighted as follows:

• 8% Discussion prompts: Each prompt is worth one point. There are 10 total discussion prompts, but only 8 responses will count toward your grade--your two lowest scores will be thrown out.
  
  
• 18% In-class activities: Activities are done in small groups, and each activity is worth two points. There are 11 in-class activities, but only 9 activities will count toward your grade--your two lowests score will be thrown out. You can receive up to 1 point if you miss class and complete an activity on your own.
  
  
• 25% Résumé and Cover Letter: This assignment has a first draft, peer review, second draft and conference questions, final draft, and reflection. 
  
  
• 25% Technical Explanation: This assignment has a proposal, first draft, peer reviews, second draft and conference questions, usability test, and reflection.
  
  
• 24% Instructions: This assignment has a doc plan, first draft, peer reviews, second draft and conference questions, final draft, and reflection.

Your grade for the course overall is calculated based on the following mapping. You can view your calculated grade in Canvas.

Late assignments are accepted, but will receive a reduced grade in line with how late the assignment is and any mitigating factors.

Important: I am generally very accommodating of late assignments. Just make sure to let me know ahead of time if something will be late. I will work with you to make sure that you don't fall too far behind. 

You may ask for clarification about or contest any assignment grade that you receive. Questions about grades must be submitted via email no sooner than 24 hours and no later than one week after the grade is released in Canvas.

As with anything that you do, the more that you put into this course, the more you will get out of it. Your responsibility is not to understand everything that we discuss or read in class. Your responsibility is to put in the work to engage in the readings, assignments, and discussions and to ask questions to explore and understand as much as you can.

That work includes:

• Responding thoughtfully to the discussion prompts.
• Attending class regularly and being as mentally present as you can be.
• Letting me know if you need extra help, extra time, or an extra explanation of a difficult concept. I'm here to help, but I can't do that if you don't let me know what you need.
• Critiquing your classmates' work honestly, respectfully, and with the goal of helping them improve.
• Reading and annotating documents to better understand what makes a document work.
• Supporting your classmates and helping to make this class a safe and comfortable place.
• Trusting that you'll get something positive out of the class if you put in the work.

If you do this work while treating yourself and the rest of the class with respect, you will do well.

You'll conduct extensive research in this class. Use UW Libraries to make your searches easier and to access journals, databases, and documents that require subscriptions.

You can access additional resources through the Services for Students page.

The University of Washington takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of your responsibility to the shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, just ask. I am willing to discuss any questions that you might have.

The type of academic misconduct that is most relevant to this course is plagiarism. Plagiarism can take multiple forms:

• Presenting someone else's work (or an AI's work) as your own. For example, buying an assignment online or from another student, using an article that you find online as your own, or asking ChatGPT to write your paper.
  
  
• Presenting part of someone's work as your own without properly quoting and citing. You can quote directly from other sources or summarize their ideas, but you must cite them properly and not present the ideas as your own. One goal of this class is to integrate sources into a publication-ready paper, so you want to ensure that your citations are in good order by the final draft.  

I am committed to engaging with anti-racist pedagogies. These pedagogies may take various forms, such as curricular attention to voices, communities, and perspectives that have been historically marginalized inside and beyond academic disciplines; inclusive classroom practices; discussions of racism; and consideration of other forms of prejudice and exclusion. I believe that countering the cultures and practices of racism in an academic institution is fundamental to developing a vibrant intellectual community. If you’re interested in how teachers of English as a professional community have taken up anti-racist work, check out the National Council of Teachers of English Statement on Anti-Racism to Support Teaching and Learning.

I am committed to engaging with and supporting religious students, including 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 Religious Accommodations Policy. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

Your experience in this class is important to me. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so we can discuss how they will be implemented in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), contact DRS directly to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations. Contact DRS at disability.uw.edu.