English 100 - Section 8 (Spring 1995)                     MWF 1:45 - 2:50 p.m.
Leslie D. Harris                                          18 Seibert
Susquehanna University

FAMILIES AND INTERNET COMMUNITIES

We all grow up in a family of some kind, although there are lots of variations on the basic American model of the nuclear family. This section of the Writing Seminar will focus on families across cultures. We will read essays and short stories, and we will watch a movie and some television shows, all related to the basic theme of the course.

To help you understand racial, class, and cultural differences in attitudes about families, we will be linking up electronically with a composition class at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. You'll share journal entries with that class over e-mail, and you'll have synchronous, computer-mediated discussions on a MOO space called Diversity University MOO, as you explore issues related to the course.

Writing Seminar Mission Statement: We in the English Department intend the Writing Seminar to teach our students that thinking, writing, and reading are vitally interconnected. A good writer has to be a good reader and a critical thinker. We also believe that critical reading and writing will happen most readily if we foster genuine enthusiasm in class--enthusiasm for writing, for the creative process, for self-expression, for the ideas of others. Once students approach writing with enthusiasm, once they understand that creativity needs to be part of all writing, we expect that they will concern themselves with mechanics and the process of writing. We further believe that we should teach our students critical methods of documentation and research--not as mechanical exercise but as a form of critical and creative thinking. In short, we wish to free our students from the restrictive forms and narrow sense of correctness that they may consider college writing to be. We want our students to write with a confident sense of purpose and audience--whatever the audience might be--and to understand writing as a powerful form of communication.

Objectives:

In accordance with the above mission statement, this course has several objectives:

to teach you to read the writing of others with close attention and understanding
to teach you skills of argumentation and evidence, so that you present your ideas powerfully and convincingly
to foster a classroom environment in which you discuss your ideas in an engaged and active fashion
to give you a sense of audience reactions to your writing, so that you write with a greater sensitivity to others
to teach you skills of research and documentation, allowing your writing to be informed by the ideas of others without overwhelming your own voice
to involve you in the process of writing, so that you see the "finished" essay as party of a continuing process of engagement with your ideas.

Book List:

Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native Son. Boston: Beacon Press, 1984.

Cisneros, Sandra. Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. New York: Vintage Books, 1991.

Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle, eds. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Second Edition. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1992.

Requirements:

Full participation in the various aspects of this course is crucial. That participation involves attending class, joining the MOO sessions, and contributing to the on-line journal. Each student will be responsible for starting one discussion thread on the journal by posting a detailed question to the list. You will sign up in advance for the week during which you will post your question. At the end of the semester, you will submit an e-mail portfolio that includes several of your or of other people's postings. Your frequency of participation in the journal will also contribute to your final grade.

You will hand in four essays during the course of the semester, which will receive a preliminary grade. At the end of the semester, you will hand in a portfolio of your essays (incorporating revisions), along with a short argument discussing your progress as a writer during the course and the grade you think you deserve. The breakdown of your grade will be as follows:

4 essays @ 15% = 60%

Writing Portfolio Cover Letter @ 10% = 10%

E-mail Portfolio = 15% (incl. Frequency of Participation)

Final Exam = 10%

Attendance/Participation = 5%

Total = 100%

Statement on Plagiarism:

Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class. A plagiarized essay will receive a grade of F. More dire consequences may also result, based on the seriousness of the offense. Please note that plagiarism means copying passages, sentences, or even phrases from another author's published work without proper citation for each instance of borrowing. If you use the words of another author, change one or two words into your own language, and fail to cite and to quote that borrowing, you are still committing plagiarism. If you use another author's ideas and fail to cite the source of those ideas, you are also committing plagiarism. Please see pp. 6-8 of the Student Handbook for a full discussion of Susquehanna's Policy on Academic Honesty. If you are tempted to commit plagiarism, please talk to me about your anxiety concerning your grade. An essay on which you receive a low grade is better than an essay on which you violate your integrity by committing plagiarism.