|
Spring 2001 | |
|
Rhetoric and Composition 481/English 399 TTh
11:00-12:15 |
King 139c, (440) 775-8615, |
|
|
E-mail: Anne.trubek@oberlin.edu |
Course Procedures
The first half of the course mainly addresses the "nuts and bolts" of tutoring; the second half of the course surveys major theoretical, cultural and political issues current in the field of Rhetoric and Composition studies. Of course, one can't really separate practice from theory, so throughout the course we will consider the assumptions behind our practices as well as the practical implications of our theories.
Each week will be both discuss and practice aspects of tutoring, teaching and writing. On Tuesdays, we will discuss assigned readings. On Thursdays, the first 20 minutes or so of class will be set aside for discussions of recent tutoring experience and that week's posts to courseinfo (see below). In the first half of the semester, the remainder of Thursday classes will consist of workshops, during which we will either respond to student writing or practice our own writing. In the second half the semester, groups of you will lead the class on Thursdays.
Course Requirements
--Tutoring. You must either tutor for at least 6 hours a week at the Peer Tutoring Center or assist a writing intensive course.
--Class Participation. Obviously, a must in a small course about tutoring. No more than two absences without just cause, please.
--Weekly Participation in Courseinfo Discussion Board. We will use a course management program to hold electronic discussions. Courseinfo can be found at http://cinfo.oberlin.edu. To get to our discussion, logon, click on the "Communications" button, go to "Discussion Board" and then either add a new thread or reply to an existing thread. Posts should be written in a form appropriate to electronic communication (more informal than formal, easy to digest while reading on-screen, and not overly long). You should think of this as an "electronic journal" recording your responses to recent readings and/or tutoring experiences.
Ideally, you will post and reply whenever you have something to say, and there will be several discussion threads going at once. You are certainly welcome to post or reply more than once a week. But to try to get to that ideal communication situation, and to encourage dialogue, I'll start with this minimum requirement: each week you must either add a new thread or reply to a thread initiated by someone else. New threads must be posted by 8:00 am Tuesday; replies are due by 8:00 am Thursday. Again, you are invited to post and reply as often as you'd like. We may integrate these posts into class discussion using the laptops in the classroom.
--Reflective Essay. For this essay, you will be asked to go through all the stages of the writing process. You will pre-write, bring a first draft to the writing center, meet with me one-on-one to discuss your draft and complete a major revision of the essay.
The essay will be reflective, considering your own experience as a tutor or a student writer in light of the readings from the first weeks of the course. You might, for instance, reflect upon your writing process, experiences having your writing evaluated, or first tutoring experiences. About 5 pages. First Draft due March 3 (posted to courseinfo); Final Draft due March 9.
--Group Presentation. These presentations should help you with many skills needed to be an effective tutor: you will collaboratively write an essay, and plan and lead a class session. Each group must write an essay of 3-4 pages that responds and builds upon the readings for that week. The paper is due by 5:00 Wednesday (posted to courseinfo) enough time for everyone to read it before Thursday's class. Your group will lead that Thursday's class.
Neither the paper nor the class needs to follow any certain format; you might approach the paper as a fairly straightforward summary followed by analysis, ending with questions for the class to consider, or you might experiment with form, voice, level of discourse, etc. The class could be a straightforward discussion of readings, it could follow the workshop model of the first half of the semester (i.e. looking at student essays in light of issues brought up in readings), or you could develop any other pedagogy you think appropriate to the topic.
--Project to Improve Peer Tutoring Program. The peer tutoring program belongs to you all, of course, and this requirement asks you to develop something that you think will improve the program. Examples of such projects can be found in Podis and Podis' Working With Student Writers. Other examples include the "Writing Across the Curriculum" binder in the Writing Center, and the Peer OWL (Online Writing Lab) (see http://www.oberlin.edu/~exposwrt/owl). Projects need not be material resources; you might also choose to write an essay of at least 10 pages that addresses an area of rhetoric and composition, incorporating course readings. The essay should suggest how this topic is relevant to Oberlin's program (examples of such essays include an paper proposing Oberlin require all first-years to take a writing course or many of the essays in Working with Student Writers). Due April 26 (enough time for the projects to be used during the semester; extensions are possible for those doing essays).
--Final Report/Response on Tutoring Experience. An informal essay -- you might approach it as an extra-long discussion board post -- that reflects upon and summarizes your experiences tutoring over the course of the semester. About 4 pages. Due May 10.
Course Materials
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Peer Tutoring
Week 3: Responding To Writing
Week 4: The Writing Process
Week 5: Rhetorical Analysis and Writing Across the Curriculum
Week 6: Error, Grammar and Style
Week 7: ESL, Bilingual and Learning Disabled Students
SPRING BREAK
Week 8: Historicizing Composition
Week 9 What Is Academic Discourse?
Week 10 Critical Pedagogy and Questions of Access
Week 11 Contact Zones
Week 12 Social Constructionism and Postmodernism
Week 13 Electronic Rhetoric