Fall 1998 Mr. Podis, King 139, x8612; email: fpodis @oberlin.edu

Office Hours: Mon., 11:00-12:00 and Thurs., 2:00-3:00 p.m. or by appointment

Course Objectives:

- to train you to be a helpful and effective writing tutor

- to give you practice in responding to student writing

- to introduce you to the fields of composition studies and writing pedagogy

- to encourage you to reflect on your own writing habits and processes

Requirements:

1. regular attendance (no more than 2 absences without just cause, please; I insist on this not because I want to cultivate orderly or submissive behavior, but because the partici-patory-style inquiry methods of the course require that everyone be present to participate)

2. assigned readings on pedagogy and writing theory-see schedule below

3. a reading journal due in class every Tuesday, from which I will ask you to read excerpts

4. in-class discussion of assigned readings and of sample student essays

5. tutoring work: at the drop-in desk in Mudd, for a writing intensive course, or both

6. an essay (7-10 pages) to be drafted and revised over the first half of the semester (assignment suggestions will be given later); final draft due in class on Thursday, Oct. 15

7. an essay (10-12 pages) on any subject related to the course, to be drafted and revised during the second half of the semester (final draft due Thursday, Dec. 17)

8. a workshop-style presentation to the class, focusing on the draft-in-progress of your 10-12 pp essay-presentations should be about 30 to 45 minutes in length (I'll circulate a sign-up sheet after fall break so that we can schedule the presentations)

Texts:

Working with Student Writers: Essays on Tutoring and Teaching, edited by Podis/Podis (JoAnne and I are still working on this manuscript, so I will distribute the appropriate section each week as we work our way through the schedule.)

Cross-Talk in Comp Theory: A Reader , edited by Victor Villanueva, Jr. (get at Co-op)

Lives on the Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and Achievements of America's Educational Underclass, by Mike Rose (get at Co-op)

Also: selected handouts (mainly articles from professional journals) will be distributed according to the schedule below.

Note: There is a fee of $20.00 to defray the cost of photocopying the manuscript of Working with Student Writers and the handouts of articles from scholarly journals. Please pay Mrs. Pollard, the Expository Writing Program administrative assistant (most mornings she's in King 139 and most afternoons she's in Rice 16-Stenographic Services).

Week 1: September 3

For next week, please read the selections listed under Week 2 and write your first journal entry for class on Tuesday, September 8. In general, I would ask you to try to do the coming week's reading over the weekend, or at least in time for the Tuesday class each week so that you will be prepared to write your journal entry to bring to the Tuesday class. I will usually collect your journals at the end of class on Tuesdays so that I can respond to them and return them to you at the Thursday class each week.

Note: We will also try to do some practice tutoring in class next Thursday, September 10, and we should discuss how we want to approach that today.

Week 2: September 8 & 10

Readings (to be read for this week's classes, preferably by Tuesday's class)

In the manuscript ofWorking with Student Writers (hereafter WSW):

1. "Introduction" (pp. 1-7 of the manuscript)

2. Section I. "Tutoring Writing: Practical Advice" (pp. 9-14)

3. "Working at the Drop-In Center," by Katie Gilmartin (pp. 15-21)

4. "On Working with a Class," by Tisha Turk (pp.23-32)

5. "Speaking the Written Voice," by Alicia Koundakjian (pp. 33-37)

In Cross-Talk in Comp Theory (hereafter CT):

6. "The 'Given' in Our Conversations: The Writing Process" (pp. 1-2)

7. "Teach Writing as a Process Not Product," by Donald M. Murray (pp. 3-6)

 

Note: First journal entry is due in class on Tuesday, September 8

Also: On Thursday, September 10, we will do some practice tutoring in class

Week 3: September 15 & 17

Readings

In WSW:

1. Section II. "Perspectives on Peer Tutoring" (pp. 39-44)

2. "Training Peer Tutors for the Writing Lab," by Leonard A. Podis (pp. 45-51)

3. "Peer Tutors and Institutional Authority," by Jeremiah Dyehouse (pp. 53-57)

4. "Peer Tutors: What the Teacher Can Learn," by Leonard A. Podis (pp.59-65)

In CT:

5. "Writing as a Mode of Learning," by Janet Emig (pp. 7-15)

6. "Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers," by Nancy Sommers (pp. 43-54)

Handout:

7. "Tutoring Writing: Healing or What?" by Diane Stelzer Morrow

 

Note: Second journal entry is due in class on Tuesday, September 15

Week 4: September 22 & 24

Readings

In WSW:

1. Section III. "Facilitating and Responding to Student Writing" (pp. 67-72)

2. "'Like, it was, you know what I mean?': Conversational vs. Presentational Speech in Student Academic Discourse," by Emily Fawcett (pp. 73-83)

3. "Improving Our Responses to Student Writing: A Process-Oriented Approach," by JoAnne M. Podis and Leonard A. Podis (85-94)

4. "The Dilemmas of Grading," by Noelle Howey (pp. 95-100)

Handout:

5. "Ranking, Evaluating, and Liking," by Peter Elbow

In CT:

6. "Contemporary Composition: The Major Pedagogical Theories," by James Berlin (pp. 233-248

 

Note: 7-10pp. essay assigned this week (Final version due Thursday, October 15)

Week 5: September 29 & October 1

Readings

In WSW:

1. Section IV. "Writing in the Classroom: Approaches and Methods" (pp. 101-106)

2. "Perspectives on the Writing Classroom," by Leonard A. Podis (pp. 107-116)

3. "No Answers: Interrogating 'Truth' in Writing," by Noelle Howey (pp. 117-121)

4. "Identifying and Teaching Rhetorical Plans for Arrangement," by JoAnne M. Podis and Leonard A. Podis (pp. 123-137)

In CT:

5. "Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar," by Patrick Hartwell (pp. 183-211)

Handout:

6. "The Phenomenology of Error," by Joseph M. Williams

 

Note: Tutor each other in class on the 7-10pp. essay, this week & next week

Week 6: October 6 & 8

Readings

In WSW:

1. Section V. "Writer's Block and Authority" (pp.139-142)

2. "Learning from Writer's Block," by Jenny Love (pp. 143-150)

3. "Consciousness, Frustration, and Power: The Making of Contextual Writer's Block," by Miriam Axel-Lute (pp. 151-168)

4. "Authority Issues in Online Instruction," by JoAnne M. Podis (pp.169-178)

Handouts:

5. "From Silence to Words: Writing as Struggle," by Min-Zhan Lu

6. "Glazed Looks and Panic Attacks: The Challenge of Teaching Grammar to Basic Education Students" by Kate Daloz

Week 7: October 13 & 15

Readings

In WSW:

1. Section VI. "Discourse Communities: Issues and Problems" (pp. 179-184)

2. "Scientific Writing: What's So Difficult About It Anyway?" by Anita Stone (pp. 185-192)

3. "Defining a Persona Within the Boundaries of Academic Discourse, or God, I Sound Like a Pretentious Ass," by Elizabeth Schambelan (pp. 193-198)

4. "Traveling the Middle Ground: Bridging the Dichotomies Between Academic and Personal Discourse," by Holly Thompson (pp. 199-206)

In CT:

5. "Inventing the University," by David Bartholomae (pp. 589-619)

Handout:

6. "Reflections on Academic Discourse," by Peter Elbow

Note: 7-10 pp. essay is due in class on Thursday, October 15

Week 8: October 20 & 22

Week 9: October 27 & 29

Readings

In WSW: No readings in this text this week.

In CT:

1. "Writing with Teachers," by David Bartholomae (pp. 479-488)

2. "Being a Writer vs. Being an Academic: A Conflict in Goals," by Peter Elbow (pp. 489-500)

3. "Interchanges: Responses to Bartholomae and Elbow" (pp. 501-509)

In Lives on the Boundary, by Mike Rose: Chapters 1 and 6 (If you have the time and inclination, feel free to read Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5, too). Next week, we will read 7 & 8.

 

Note: In this week's journal, please include an entry that offers a midterm evaluation of the course. We will talk about your views of the course and discuss possible changes to make.

Week 10: November 3 & 5

Readings

In WSW:

1. Section VII. "Empowering Marginalized Learners" (pp. 207-212)

2. "My Hidden Class Consciousness," by Monica Bielski (pp. 213-220)

3. "Writing in Academia: The Politics of Style," by Virginia Pryor (pp. 221-227)

4. "Writing Tutors and Dyslexic Tutees: Is There Something Special We Should Know?" by Jennifer Wewers (pp. 229-237)

In CT:

5. "Diving In: An Introduction to Basic Writing," by Mina Shaughnessy (pp. 289-295).

Also: In Lives on the Boundary, by Mike Rose: Read Chapters 7 and 8.

 

Note: 10-12 pp. essay will be assigned this week (final draft due Dec. 17)

Also: Sign up for workshop presentations (presentations start next week)

Week 11: November 10 & 12

Readings

In WSW:

1. Section VIII. "Politics of Literacy: Challenging Traditional Approaches" (pp. 239-242)

2. "How Much to Tell? The Role of the Teacher in the Politicized Classroom," by Jennifer Breen (pp. 243-250)

3. "On the Use of 'I' in Academic Writing," by Samantha Sansevere (pp. 251-260)

4. "My Paper," by Alice Peterson (pp. 261-266)

Handout:

5. "Between the Drafts," by Nancy Sommers

In CT:

6. "Collaborative Learning and "The Conversation of Mankind," by Kenneth A. Brufee (pp. 393-414)

 

Note: Tutor each other in class on the 10-12pp. essay, this week & next week

Week 12: November 17 & 19

Readings

In WSW: No readings in this text this week.

In CT:

1. "Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing Class," by James Berlin (pp. 679-699)

2. "Contact Zones" and English Studies," by Patricia Bizzell (pp. 735-742)

3. "Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing," by Maxine Hairston (pp. 659-675)

Handouts:

4. "Counterstatement: Responses to Maxine Hairston," by John Trumbur et al.

5. "Discourse and Diversity: Experimental Writing within the Academy," by Lillian Bridwell-Bowles

6. "Fault Lines in the Contact Zone," by Richard E. Miller

Week 13: November 24 (No Class on Nov. 26-Thanksgiving)

Readings

In WSW:

1. Section IX. "Identity Issues in the Teaching of Writing" (pp. 267-270)

2. "Caught Between Skin Color and Dialect: A Non-Essentialist View of the Use of Black English," by Monica Anthony (pp. 271-283)

In CT:

3. "The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children," by Lisa D. Delpit (pp. 565-588)

Week 14: December 1 & 3

In WSW:

1. "'The Me Experience': Composing as a Man," by Donovan Hohn (pp. 285-299)

2. "Writing Inside Out: Issues of Sexual Identity in the Writing Classroom," by Rebecca Phares and David Schwam (pp. 301-314)

In CT:

3. "Composing as a Woman," by Elizabeth A. Flynn (pp. 549-563)

4. "Considerations for American Freiristas," by Victor Villanueva, Jr. (pp. 621-637)

5. "On the Subjects of Class and Gender in 'The Literacy Letters,'" by Linda Brodkey (pp. 639-658)

Week 15: December 8 & 10

Readings

In WSW:

1. Section X. "Problems and Issues in English and Composition Studies" (pp. 315-318)

2. "No Voice, No Vote: The Politics of Basic Writing," by Lauren Podis (pp. 319-324)

3. "Stuck in Composition: Two Anecdotes from the 112th MLA Convention," by Leonard A. Podis (pp. 325-327)

4. "Contextualizing the Debates: A Historical View of Expository Writing," by Grace Chang (pp. 329-336)

Handouts:

5. "The Wyoming Conference Resolution Opposing Unfair Salaries and Working Conditions for Post-Secondary Teachers of Writing," Linda R. Robertson et al.

In CT:

6. "The Language of Exclusion: Writing Instruction at the University," by Mike Rose (pp. 525-547)