Syllabus

FRAMING COMMENTARY

One of the many gifts of the writing craft is that our apprenticeship to writing never ends. At eighty-one years old I am still a student to my page…I will never stop learning to write, and I will continue to write what I did not intend. Old in years and young as a writer I am sustained by the certainty that this morning—and the next, and the next—my instructive page will surprise me by revealing what I didn’t know I knew.

• Donald Murray, “Write Before Writing,” in Thomas Newkirk, Teaching the Neglected “R”

Writing exists at the intersections of individual and social, of intentions and uptake of others, of agency and conformity, of form and meaning, of pattern and novelty. Writing exists at the intersections of the spontaneous and the planned; of the conscious and the nonconscious; of our histories, presents, and futures.

• Charles Bazerman, “On The Wonder of Writing,” 2009 Conference on College Composition and Communication Chair’s Address

Studies suggest that students write for various communities within the university, each of which uses writing in specialized ways that mediate the activities of the people involved. While some general features of writing are shared across disciplines […] these shared features are realized differently within different academic disciplines, courses, and even assignments. As a result, “academic writing” is constituted by and in the diversity of activities and genres that mediate a wide variety of activities within higher education; its use as an umbrella term is dangerously misleading.

• Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle, “Teaching about Writing, Righting Misconceptions: (Re)Envisioning ‘First-Year Composition’ as ‘Introduction to Writing Studies,’” College Composition and Communication 58.4 (2007): 552-584

REQUIRED TEXTS

• Writing About Writing: A College Reader by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs
• They Say, I Say: The Move That Matter in Academic Writing, 2^nd Ed. by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
• Additional course readings (posted to course blog Space)
• Course Blog Space:  www.bullygoodwriters.wordpress.com

REQUIRED TECHNOLOGY

• Mississippi State University Email
• Reliable Storage (e.g., dropbox, flashdrive, external hard drive)
• Reliable Backup Storage (e.g., dropbox, flashdrive, external hard drive)
• A  Personal Computer (or consistent access to a computer) with Internet Access that you bring to every class meeting (please see me if you do not have access to a laptop or smartphone)
• Blog Account and Personal Blog Space (WordPress.com)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Have you ever wondered if, in fact, text messaging is destroying your writing? Have you ever wondered how we know “good writing” and how “good writers” have come to be thus? This course is a writing about writing course, driven by the belief that learning how to write means learning, reading, researching, talking, and, of course, writing about writing. Thus, this semester I will ask that you read and engage with research on writing and writing processes; I will ask that you investigate your own writing processes, literate histories, and participatory power; and I will also ask that you conduct empirical research on everyday and discipline-specific communities that communicate, share, and create knowledge using writing as a tool. “Writing” will always be defined best when based on the context within which you write. This means that next semester, in a different class, how you are expected to communicate in writing and how that written communication is valued will likely be different from what is expected in this class. And, perhaps more importantly, will likely be different from what will be expected of you in your chosen career path. Therefore, our goal for this semester will be to better understand what scholars can and do know about how and why writing happens and for you to know how to effectively investigate writing contexts in order to respond in writing as you encounter different communities of practice that value different kinds of and purposes for writing.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• The course will invite you to reflect on who you are as literate human beings and the socio-political contexts that have influenced your past, are influencing your present, and will influence your future literate identities
• The course will invite you to develop authority as a thinker and writer in your university courses by asking you to read, reflect on, summarize, and synthesize secondary sources
• The course will invite you to recognize and understand writing as a social construction and as a mode of communication shaped by/within discourse communities
• The course will invite you to learn, experiment with, and practice composing processes: invention, drafting, revising, and editing (all distinct but interrelated processes) and tools
• The course will invite you to develop your own intentional and thoughtful rhetorical maneuvers as thinkers and composers in/of the various contexts in the university and the world 

POLICIES

I look forward to all of us learning from each other this semester, and to help ensure a productive work environment, I have some general expectations:

• Attend and participate in each scheduled class session (including small group writing conferences and online/virtual class sessions). Contact me in advance if you know there are sessions you will have to miss so that we can make alternative arrangements for your work—I want you to do well in the course, and you will need to attend regularly in order to do so.
• Make time to read and understand all assigned readings (which includes communicating with classmates or with me if you are having trouble understanding anything).
• Create and submit thoughtful and creative assignments and work on time (the only time I accept “late work” is if we have previously discussed this and arranged alternative due dates).
• Show respect for one another – this includes paying attention when others are speaking, reading others’ work carefully and thoughtfully, being considerate of other students’ feelings, using appropriate language, and making your points without being combative or confrontational. This will be particularly important for small group writing conferences—think about how you can create a learning environment that encourages a robust exchange of ideas.
• Disagreement with someone’s idea or statement is perfectly acceptable, even encouraged; that’s part of learning to think and process the different ideas and worldviews around you. However, if you do disagree  with an idea or statement, explain why you disagree without attacking the person who said it. (We’ll read some useful material about this in Chapter 11 of The Say, I Say.)

ACADEMIC HONESTY

I am genuinely interested in your analyses, experiences, reflections, and thoughts and I am looking forward to the opportunity to read and talk over your writing; therefore, I expect that all work in the course that you turn in will be your own and will follow MLA citation guidelines to acknowledge your incorporation of others’ ideas.

University Honor Code “As a Mississippi State University student I will conduct myself with honor and integrity at all times. I will not lie, chart, or steal, nor will I accept the actions of those who do.” Please visit http://www.honorcode.msstate.edu/policy/ to familiarize yourself with the University’s full honor code, policies, and procedures.

SPECIAL NEEDS AND ACCOMODATIONS

We all have limitations and styles of learning that may be different from others. If you are concerned about how this class is taught or about the classroom environment, please see me as soon as possible so that I can make any changes that are necessary. Feel free to see me before or after class, during office hours, or contact me initially through email. If you have a learning difference, I encourage you to register with the appropriate office, Student Support Services: Montgomery Hall; 662-325-3335; http://www.sss.msstate.edu/disabilities/

ASSIGNMENTS AND COURSE BREAK DOWN

ROLE DESCRIPTIONS

As the course instructor, I see myself as a facilitator (I have created the writing context: researching for and then designing the course syllabus, schedule, and assignments) and mentor (I am committed to communicating with you about your ideas and the many possibilities that you have, as writers and rhetors, when those ideas morph into written communication). As such, in my role, I am committed to:

• Being prepared for and designing thoughtful and meaningful class activities, assignments, and discussions
• Being flexible and responsive to multiple learning preferences and styles during class meetings and in class assignments
• Being available outside of class, online and off, to discuss course assignments, concepts, readings, and, most importantly, your ideas, research, and writing
• Being an active and interested listener inside and outside of class time
• Offering timely feedback on written work
• Being encouraging of your researching and writing pursuits and pushing you to dig deeper, to try harder, and to care more about who you are as a writer and about the texts that you produce for school and as a part of your everyday life

As students in the course, I ask that you see yourselves as co-responsible for the success of class meetings and assignments and I also ask that you see yourselves as co-responsible for making class meetings and assignments interesting, fun, and meaningful. As such, in your role, I ask you to commit to:

• Calling, Seeing, and Thinking of yourselves as writers and rhetors and Taking yourself seriously as researchers, thinkers, and writers
• Preparing for class meetings by completing assigned readings and writings and arriving ready (and hopefully eager) to share your reflections, responses, thoughts, and questions with the group
• Being open-minded about what might be a new way of learning, talking, and thinking about writing for you
• Being encouraging of your classmates’ researching and writing pursuits
• Trying on an understanding of and practicing writing as a process that involves planning, drafting, revising/re-seeing, and editing
• Caring about the work that you do for the course, meaning working to find an angle within assignments (or to revise assignments in collaboration with myself) so that they will be interesting and meaningful for you
• Writing with passion, interest, clarity, intentionality, and creativity