Dept. of Rhetoric&Composition

RHET-481: Syllabus

Week 1: Tuesday, February 5:

For the first class period, we will spend some time introducing ourselves, reviewing the syllabus, and discussing tutoring assignments. We will also look at some sample journal entries from past years and, as time allows, do some writing in response to a questionnaire I will hand out. For Thursday, please complete the questionnaire and bring it to class.

Week 1: Thursday, February 7:

Bring the completed questionnaire to class. We will discuss our answers in detail. We will also continue to review tutoring assignments for the semester, and we will try to organize the practice tutoring sessions scheduled for next week (see below).

Assignment for next week: Please read the selections listed under “Week 2” and write your first journal entry for class on Tuesday, February 12. In general, I would ask you to try to do the coming week’s reading over the weekend so that you will be ready to write your journal entry to bring to class each Tuesday. I will often ask you to read excerpts aloud from your journals as a way of initiating class discussion, and 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 on Thursdays. Ideally, your journal entries will play a crucial role in shaping class discussion and in suggesting any changes we should make in the course as the semester progresses.

Note: We need to discuss how we want to set up the practice tutoring sessions for next week

Week 2: February 12 & 14
ADVICE ON PEER TUTORING & WRITING AS A PROCESS

Readings (to be read for this week, preferably by Tuesday’s class)
In Working with Student Writers (hereafter WSW):
1. “Introduction” (pp. 1–7)
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. “Teach Writing as a Process Not Product,” by Donald M. Murray (pp. 3–6)
Handout:
7. “Processing Writing,” by Polly Dondy-Kaplan
Note: The first journal entry is due in class on Tuesday, February 12.
Also: This week we will attempt to do some practice tutoring in class.
Finally: Writing Center (“Desk”) tutors should email me or give me a note this week with their preferences for days, times, and total number of hours per week at the writing center.

Week 3: February 19 & 21PERSPECTIVES ON PEER TUTORING & REVISION STRATEGIES

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. “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers,” by Nancy Sommers (pp. 43–54)
Handouts:
6. “Tutoring Writing: Healing or What?” by Diane Stelzer Morrow
7. “Joe says, ‘Communication, what kind of communication?” by Charlotte Byrd
8. “Spreading the Word: A Proposal,” by Michael Kish

Week 4: February 26 & 28
FACILITATING AND RESPONDING TO STUDENT WRITING & WORKING WITH ESL AND BILINGUAL STUDENTS

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)
Handouts:
5. “The Comments They Made: A Personal Exploration of Helpful and Unhelpful Commentary,” by Naomi Strand
6. “Evaluating the System: Why Letter Grades Are Appropriate but Insufficient,” by an anonymous peer tutor
7. “Strangers in Academia: The Experiences of Faculty and ESL Students Across the Curriculum,” by Vivian Zamel
8. “Writing Beyond the Words: How Native Language Can Influence Orientation and Purpose of Academic Writing,” by Maria E. Barajas
Note: The 7–10 pp. paper will be assigned this week; it will be due Thurs., Mar. 21.

Week 5: March 5 & 7
WRITING IN THE CLASSROOM & FORM AND GRAMMAR

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)
Handouts:
6. “Teaching Arrangement: Defining a More Practical Approach, by Leonard A. Podis
7. “Glazed Looks and Panic Attacks: The Challenge of Teaching Grammar to Basic Education Students,” by Kate DalozNote: Tutor each other in class on the 7–10pp. essay this week.

Week 6: March 12 & 14
WRITER’S BLOCK & AUTHORITY ISSUES

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. “Depression and Writing: A Toolkit,” by Jacob Kramer-Duffield
6. “From Silence to Words: Writing as Struggle,” by Min-Zhan Lu
7. “‘I Hate Writing Papers So Much I Want to Die!’ and Other Problems with Academic Writing,” by Bridget Heersink
8. “Reviewing Authority,” by Nick JunkermanNote: Continue tutoring each other in class on the 7–10pp. essay this week.

Week 7: March 19 & 21
WRITING, TEACHING, LEARNING AND “DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES”—PART I

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)
Handouts:
6. “Reflections on Academic Discourse,” by Peter Elbow
7. “A Pedagogy of Charity,” by Kevin J. Porter
8. [Draft in progress of “Pedagogical In Loco Parentis,” by Leonard and JoAnne Podis. Hey, folks, this is my midterm paper for you—so actually I’ll submit it to you on Thursday, March 21, when you give me your midterm papers, and it will be included in the readings for Week 9. Please read and respond to it over spring break.]
Note: 7–10 pp. essay is due in class on Thursday, March 21. On the day the paper is due, I will ask you to talk in class about what you wrote, what you learned, what the process was like, etc. Also choose an excerpt from your paper to read aloud to the class. I will submit my paper (“Pedagogical In Loco Parentis” to you, too)

Week 8: March 26 & 28
*****Spring Break*****

Note: In your journal for next week, please include a midterm evaluation of the course. Next week in class we will talk about your views of the course and consider possible changes.
Week 9: April 2 & 4
WRITING, TEACHING, LEARNING AND “DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES”—PART II
Readings
In WSW:
No readings in this text this week.
In CT:
1. “Writing with Teachers,” by David Bartholomae (479–488)
2. “Being a Writer vs. Being an Academic: A Conflict in Goals,” Peter Elbow (489-500)
3. “Interchanges: Responses to Bartholomae and Elbow” (501–509)
Handouts:
4. “For Whom Do I Write? A Discussion on the Discourse of Academia,” by Erin Savage
5. “Continuing the Conversation on Loving Writng,” by Anna Ruth
6. “Pedagogical In Loco Parentis,” by Leonard and JoAnne Podis
In Lives on the Boundary, by Mike Rose:
7. Chapter 1
8. Chapter 6 (If you have time, read chapters 2–5, also. Next week we’ll read Ch. 7 & 8)
Note: 10-12 pp. essay will be assigned this week (final draft due Tuesday, May 14)
Week 10: April 9 & 11EMPOWERING MARGINALIZED LEARNERS
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).
Handout:
6. “Demystifying the Discourse,” by Melissa Hoskins
In Lives on the Boundary, by Mike Rose:
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
Note: Tutor each other in class on the 10–12pp. essay. Presentations will begin this week or next week (depending on sign-up schedule).

Week 11: April 16 & 18
CHALLENGING TRADITIONAL APPROACHES IN TEACHING, TUTORING, AND PAPER-WRITING

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)
Handouts:
5. “Between the Drafts,” by Nancy Sommers
6. Untitled expository writing paper (dated 3/15/99) by Dinah Shepherd
7. “The Hero with a Thousand Voices: The Relationship Between the Narrative and Academic Styles,” by Aaron Rester
8. “Subjectivity,” by Courtney McGeeNote: Tutor each other in class on the 10–12pp. essay, this week. Presentations ongoing.

Week 12: April 23 & 25
IDENTITY, IDEOLOGY, AND COMPOSITION & ETHICS OF SCHOLARLY CRITIQUE

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)
4. “Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing Class,” by James Berlin (pp. 679–699)
5. “Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing,” by Maxine Hairston (pp. 659–675)
Handouts:
6. “Revealing Silence: Rethinking Personal Writing,” by Anne Ruggles Gere
7. “The Rhetoric of Reproof,” by Leonard A. Podis and JoAnne M. PodisWeek 13: April 30 & May 2MORE IDENTITY ISSUES & “CONTACT ZONES” IN THE TEACHING OF WRITING
ReadingsIn 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)
Handouts:
5. “Standard English? I Speak English But That Ain’t My Standard,” by An Anonymous Peer Tutor
6. “Ghosts: Liberal Education and Negotiated Authority,” by Gwen Gorzelsky
7. “Fault Lines in the Contact Zone,” by Richard E. Miller
8. “Not Academic Discourse: Peter Dybdahl’s Companion to Peter Elbow,” by Peter Dybdahl
Note: Tutor each other in class on the 10–12pp. essay, as appropriate.

Week 14: May 7 & 9CONTACT ZONES IN ENGLISH STUDIES AND ACADEMIA
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. “Writer’s Block and Religion Papers: Seeking God and Defining Self at a Secular
Institution,” by Andrea Eshelman
6. “The Nervous System,” by Richard E. Miller
7. “Beyond Fear and (Self-)Loathing in the Composition-Literature Wars,” by JoAnne M. Podis and Leonard A. Podis

The last class will be held on Thursday, May 9. The final draft of the 10–12pp essay is due Tuesday, May 14 in King 139.