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ENGL 302 H24: Advanced Composition

Spring 2007
4:30-7:10 W Robinson Hall B202  
Pabich
Office Hours: 3:15-4:15 W Sub 1, bottom floor; & by appt.
mpabich@gmu.edu
      
Things You’ll Need

How do I know what I think until I see what I say?
                                    —E.M. Forster
Overview
     Our work in English 302 is to build on the critical skills you developed in English 101, and to better acquaint you with the writings and rhetorics with which you’ll be dealing in your career.
     One emphasis in class will be on the importance of drafting. I say it in every class:  nobody gets it right the first time. In fact, almost nobody even knows what he or she is writing about, until they get something down, and can begin figuring out what it means. We’ll be talking about our writing, and getting practice reviewing our peers’ work, as well as examining published examples of professional writing. And we’ll be looking at the importance of persuasion and critical thinking in the composition of an effective communication, written or oral. People tend to think of reading, writing, speaking and listening as separate acts. In fact, we argue as we read, and we listen to ourselves as we argue. As we write, we try to anticipate our readers’ responses. We are always engaged in some kind of conversation.

There is no such thing as good writing.  There is only good rewriting.
                            —Louis Brandeis

Grading
Grades will be weighted as follows:
Professional Autobiography 20%
Research Essay  20%
Review Project  10%
Usage/style bell ringer 5%
Response portfolio 20%
Class work/participation 25%

100%
             
You need a grade of 'C' or better to pass Engl 302.

Essays. We have two graded essays to write this semester: a professional autobiography and a research essay. The essays are formal writing assignments that deal with specific issues and questions in your field. They are to be word-processed, stapled, and formatted in accordance to the documentation style appropriate to your field (for many of you, that style is MLA; you need to let me know what style you will be using).

Response portfolios. Every week I’ll be providing a prompt to respond to, in approximately 300 words. Two participants every week will read their responses, for discussion. I’ll be collecting the gathered responses in an unannounced fashion throughout the semester, to grade together, so make sure you bring all your responses, every class, numbered and in order. The gathered responses must be the originals, including my feedback from earlier hand-ins.  

Review project. The review project is an exercise in summarizing, interpreting, and critiquing a published article in your field. We will discuss the specs of the assignment in class.

Usage/style bell-ringers. Most of our classes will begin with a five-minute “bell ringer” presentation, dedicated to a specific issue of usage or composition. It’s a way to review, or get better acquainted with, some of the basic tools of the writing trade. Each presentation will include a handout (with holes for a 3-ring binder), a talk, and some Q&A.

Classroom Policies
Attendance.  I cannot overemphasize the importance of coming prepared to class. You can’t pass if you don’t show up and participate. (Also: cell phone conversations please turn your cell phones to silent for the class.)  

Late work. I do not accept late, or e-mailed, submissions of small assignments or drafts. Graded essays handed in one class meeting late will be docked a letter; e.g., an “A-” paper turned in late will be given a “B-.” I do not accept essays that are more than one week late. Also, you must first get the OK from me to put essays or assignments in my mailbox.

Drafting. Drafting is a vital part of the writing process. You can’t know what your material is, until you see it in front of you. Both the autobiography and the research essay will be composed in multiple drafts. I will not accept a paper unless I’ve seen the earlier work.

The website; e-mail. Our website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~mpabich/engl302/index.html . The site will include announcements, an updated schedule, online readings, and other resources. Also, I will be using your Mason e-mail addresses for any correspondence, so check your account regularly.

Plagiarism.  Forthwith, the GMU English Department definition of plagiarism:

    Plagiarism means using the words, opinions, or factual information from another person without giving that person credit.  Writers give credit through the use of accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or end notes; a simple listing of books and articles is not sufficient.  Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in an aca-demic setting.
    Student writers are often confused as to what should be cited.  Some think that only direct quotations need to be credited. While direct quotations do need citations, so do paraphrases and summaries of opinions or factual information formerly unknown to the writers or which the writers did not discover themselves. Exceptions to this include information that can be obtained from a variety of sources, the writers’ own insights or findings from their own field research, and what has been termed common knowledge.  What constitutes common knowledge can sometimes be precarious; what is common knowledge for one audience may not be so for another…In other words, writers provide a citation for any piece of information that they think their readers might want to investigate further.  Not only is this attitude considerate of readers, it will almost certainly ensure that writers will never be guilty of plagiarism.

To add my two cents: plagiarism, in addition to being wrong, is almost always easy to spot, especially in a class such as this one, where we read so much of each other’s writing. Make sure your work is your own.

The Writing Center
     In their own words, The Writing Center “seeks to foster a writing climate on campus and beyond by offering free writing support to George Mason students, faculty, staff and alumni. No matter what your writing abilities are, our writing specialists can help you develop the skills you need to become a successful writer.”  And the service is free!
I strongly encourage all of you to make use of this great  resource.  The Writing Center is located at Robinson A114, and is open Monday to Thursday 9:30 am to 7:30 pm, Friday 9:30 am to 2:30 pm.  Call them for an appointment at (703) 993-1200, or e-mail them at wcenter@gmu.edu. For more information, consult their website: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/writingcenter/wcwelcome.html