Special Topics: English Composition

Expository Writing/English 103-01

Anne Trubek

Fall, 1998

MWF 10:00-10:50

 

Office: King 139C

Office Phone: 775-8615

Office Hours: to be announced

E-Mail: ftrubek@oberlin.edu

Course Description

--Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy

Is electronic communication altering the way we read and write? If so, is it also altering our "interior consciousness"? In order to approach these questions about reading and writing in (what some have called) a post-print age, this course will explore the history of print, from the Ancient Greeks to today. We will consider how changes in writing technologies--from handwriting to printing to computers--have changed not only what we write but who we are, individually and culturally. In the first half of the course, we will explore the history of writing technologies by reading about them, looking at them (in the library's Special Collections), and using them ourselves. In the second half of the course, we will consider how the computer fits into this history of print. We will read debates on whether the "age of print" is over, we will write our own hypertexts, and we will explore what it means to be a "writer" or an "author" in an electronic age.

This will be a writing course is all senses of the term, as we will read and write about writing. We will have the opportunity to test, assay and debate the issues raised in reading and discussion by working on a diverse array of writing activities emphasizing experimentation and creative approaches to assignments. The range of writing required--such as writing your own Platonic dialogue, handwriting and typewriting a paper and writing a group hypertext--will encourage reflection on the relationship between technology and composition, and, hopefully, make you a better writer.

Every Friday, the class will meet in the computer lab in Mudd 212, where we will experiment with reading and writing as an electronic group. In addition, all writing done in the course will be posted to the web using Alta Vista Forum. No computer experience or knowledge is required for this course. But all students in the course must be willing to learn and use Microsoft Word 6.0, a word processing program, Alta Vista Forum, a web-based discussion forum, and Storyspace, a software program for writing hypertext. All of these programs are easy to learn and require only basic knowledge of computers.

Materials: The following books can be purchased at the Co-op:

--Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word

--Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2

--Jay David Bolter, Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext and the History of Writing

Additional readings will be assigned, and I will either hand them out to you in or give you a URL (via AVF or the course web page) where you can find and download the reading.

We will be using Storyspace, a software program for writing hypertext, as well. Storyspace can be downloaded from MacServ. Information on how to access Storyspace will be distributed in October, when we will begin to learn how to use it.

Course Requirements

Course Goals: To receive credit in this course you must demonstrate the following by the end of the term: 1.) significant improvement in your writing over the course of the semester, particularly in the areas you and I designate as essential to improve after discussing your mid-term portfolio; 2.) the ability to think critically, as reflected in your responses to assigned essays, and your summaries, analyses and critiques of assigned readings; 3.) the ability to write confidently, effectively and mechanically correct essays; 4.) the ability to revise extensively and substantively, and 5.) an understanding of academic discourse (i.e. research requirements, conventions of argumentation, voice and organization). You must also fulfill attendance and due date requirements listed below.

Essays, Assignments and Portfolios: You will be asked to complete a wide variety of writing assignments in this class. Some assignments will be very experimental, and will require creative approaches; some will require outside research, and some will be written by the class, collaboratively. You will be asked to complete about six informal projects or responses (1-3 pages), four longer drafts (4-8 pages), three extensive revisions and one group project.

I will not comment on every assignment you complete; instead, I will assess the work you've done for the course by evaluating your portfolio, submitted at mid-term and at the end of the semester. Portfolios include all writing done for the course, including workshop and peer review critiques (but not class notes or handouts) (see below). You will write self-evaluations of your writing, assessing your progress, to accompany each submission of your portfolio.

Your writing will be evaluated holistically--all the various types, stages and forms of your writing will be considered together. Students who approach their writing holistically as well, and focus on assignments as invitations to experiment with different forms, voices and structures for writing, rather trying to figure out the "right" way to complete "the college essay", will benefit the most from the portfolio approach.

Course Procedures

Class Meetings: Every Friday we will meet in the Computer Lab on the second floor of the library, Mudd 212. Every Monday and Wednesday we will meet in our assigned classroom.

Conferences: I will meet with each of you individually, for about twenty minutes, at least six times during the semester. In a sense, you will take two courses with me this semester. In the first and formal course, the whole class is involved in discussions. In this second and less formal one, you and I engage in an ongoing dialogue about your writing. This second course happens through comments which both you and I write on your essays and during individual conferences. During conferences, we will discuss questions you have about the essay you are currently drafting or revising, or any other course-related questions you may have. Every Monday morning, I will post a sign-up sheet for conferences on my office door. If you'd like to meet with me that week, sign up for an available time. You must meet with me at least three times before fall break.

Writing Workshops Peer Review: In addition to classes and conferences, you will take a "third" course in writing solely with your classmates through writing workshops and peer review. Several class sessions will be set aside for writing workshops. During workshops, the entire class will discuss two or three student essays, which we will have all downloaded from AVF, read and reviewed, before class. Each student will have their work reviewed by the class at least once during the semester.

In addition, I will divide the class into small groups of about three students each for peer review. You will be asked to meet with your group outside of class time to discuss each others' writings. Your group may stay the same all semester or change after mid-term. In the second half of the course, you will work on a collaborative project, using Storyspace, a hypertext software program, with your group. Writing workshops and peer review comprise a central component of the course, and your serious and engaged participation in commenting on the writing of your peers is central to the course. Written comments, either in the form of an AVF reply or in "hard copy," of your responses to your classmates' essays are required, and will be included in your portfolio.

Class Cancellations: If you're scratching your head in disbelief over the amount of out-of-class time this course requires, you'll be relieved to learn that several class meetings will be canceled to enable us to meet individually and in groups.

Attendance and Late Papers: This course is designed to be extremely interactive, because I think the best way to learn how to write well is to be able to read what other people like you are writing, to talk with them about your writing, and to write together. Unfortunately, such a class can only work if we're all always prepared and we're all in class at the same time. Therefore, the following policies must be upheld for the class to work well, and for you to get the most out of it.

Attendance: In my experience, students who miss more than four classes or more than two conferences are not able to complete the work required to receive credit for the class. Therefore, if you are absent from either class more than four times, or fail to appear for a scheduled conference more than twice, you will receive a No Entry for the course.

If you do miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out what was done during the class and complete all necessary work before the next class meeting. I suggest you contact other class members, through e-mail or other form of communication, for this information.

Late Papers. In this course, all of the work we do in this course centers around a specific paper assignment, whether that involves peer reviews, in-class discussion of the essays, or individual conferences. Often, essays are distributed to others for scheduled discussions or discussed in class on the due-date. Therefore, only one first and one final draft will be accepted late. No first draft will be accepted more than two days after it is due, and no final draft more than one week after it is due.

Writing Requirement: Students whose writing meets Oberlin's "Criteria for Proficiency" (see separate handout) by the end of the course can earn a writing certification credit. However, such certification is not automatically awarded for passing the course. One exception is for students who have passed EXWR 100 ("Basic Writing") and then pass this course: they earn one certification credit automatically.

Notes:

The first line indicates what we will do in class that day; the items below set off by "--" indicate what is due for the next class meeting.

 

Specific essay and reading assignments will be posted on the class web page at the beginning of each unit.

 

This syllabus is highly likely to change!

UNIT 1: SPEECH TO WRITING

Week 1

Wed 2: Introductions

--Read Bolter, Introduction, pp. 1-11

--Write 1-2 page history of your own writing with technology

 

Fri 4: Discussion of Bolter (Meet in regular classroom!)

--Read Plato (http://plato.evansville.edu/texts/jowett/phaedrus14.htm)

--Read Bolter, "The New Dialogue," 107-119

--Write 1-2 page response

Week 2

Wed 9: Discussion of Plato, Bolter

--Write a dialogue with Plato, Bolter or a classmate

--Bring dialogue, saved on disk in Microsoft Word 6.0 if possible, to class

 

Fri 11: AVF demo (Meet in Mudd 212)

--Read group members' dialogues and respond on AVF

UNIT 2: WRITING TO PRINT

Week 3

Mon 14: Writing Workshop

--Read Ong

 

Wed 16: Ong discussion

--Ong reading, continued

-- writing technologies project

 

Fri 18: In-Class workshop on writing technologies (Mudd 212)

--Ong reading, continued

--read and respond to group members' projects on AVF

Week 4

Mon 21: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Meet in Mudd, 4th floor)

--read Manguel

 

Wed 23: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (Meet in Mudd, 4th floor)

--read Eisenstein (handout), student essays

 

Fri 25: In-class workshop on web sites on history of book (Mudd 212)

--Shape of Books essay due

Week 5

Mon 28: Writing Workshop

--Peer review (time to be arranged by groups)

 

Wed 30: NO CLASS

 

Fri 2: Web searching (Mudd 212)

--revision of Shape of Books due

UNIT 3: PRINT TO COMPUTERS

Week 6

Mon 5: Discussion of Web

--read Bolter, handouts

 

Wed 7: Bolter discussion

--Bolter reading, continued

 

Fri 9: Web searching, continued (Mudd 212)

--Shape of Web essays due

Week 7

Mon 12: Writing Workshop

--Peer review (time to be arranged by group)

 

Wed 14: NO CLASS

--Portfolios due (including revision of Shape of Web essay)

 

Fri 16: In-class self-evaluation (Mudd 212)

Week 8

FALL BREAK

UNIT 4: THE END OF PRINT?

Week 9

Mon 26 Introduction to unit

--read Birkerts (http:www.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdbirk.htm)

--read Gibson, "Johnny Mnemonic" (handout)

 

Wed 28 Discussion of Birkerts

--read debate on Birkerts, "Page versus Pixel" (http://www.feedmag.com/95.05dialog/html)

--read Borges, "Library of Babel"

 

Fri 30 Storyspace introduction (Mudd 212)

--Reading responses

--read Technorealism web site (http:www.technorealism.org/)

Week 10

Mon 2 Discussion of Technorealism, etc.

--read Johnson, Shenk (web sites to be announced)

--read group members' responses and respond on AVF

 

Wed 4 Discussion of Johnson and Shenk

 

Fri 6 Storyspace introduction, cont. (Mudd 212)

--techno-debate arguments due

UNIT 5: HYPTERTEXT

Week 11

Mon 9 Writing Workshop

 

Wed 11 NO CLASS

--revision of techno-debate due

 

Fri 13 Storyspace: planning group projects (Mudd 212)

Week 12

Mon 16 Storyspace discussion

 

Wed 18 Writing Workshop

 

Fri 20 Storyspace: group projects, cont. (Mudd 212)

--group projects due

Week 13

Mon 23 Introduction to Unit 6

--read Powers, Galatea 2.2

 

Wed 25 NO CLASS

 

Fri 27 NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)

UNIT 6: AUTHORSHIP AND OWNERSHIP

Week 14

Mon 30 Discussion of Powers

--read Bolter, "Artificial Intelligence"

 

Wed 2 Discussion of Powers, Bolter

--read Okerson, Fearer, Bank (handouts)

 

Fri 4 Authorship/Ownership experiment (Mudd 212)

--draft, final project

Week 15

Mon 7 Discussion of Powers, Bolter and others

 

Wed 9 Workshop

 

Fri 11 Final evaluation (Mudd 212)

--revision, final project

Week 16

Mon 14 Portfolios due