Emphasize that these two sections will require regular attendance on FRIDAY MORNINGS and that, due

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Boston College First Year Writing Seminar EN 010.47 – M/F, 9:00-9:50 am (plus individual conferences) EN 010.49 – M/F, 10:00-10:50 am (plus individual O’Neill 257 Instructor: Craig Kasprzak Office: Carney Hall 239 Office hours: by appointment Voicemail: TBA E-mail: [e-mail]: http://www2.bc.edu/~kasprzcr/ Catalog Description: Designed as a workshop in which each student develops a portfolio of personal and academic writing, the seminar follows a semester-long process. Students write and rewrite essays continuously, discuss their works-in-progress in class, and receive feedback during individual and small group conferences with the instructor. Students read a wide range of texts, including various forms of non-fiction prose. In addition to regular conferences, the class meets two hours per week to discuss the writing process, the relationship between reading and writing, conventional and innovative ways of doing research, and evolving drafts of class members. Course Description and Objectives: This particular section of the First-Year Writing Seminar aims to help you recognize the processes inherent to good writing and develop effective habits of composition and revision. Such skills are not innate to anyone, but come only through hard work and continuous practice. Just as you might train at long runs to prepare for a marathon, or frequent the driving range to hone your golf skills, so too does writing—good writing, that ...

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• Publié par: Efta
• Nombre de lectures: 23
• Langue: English

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Boston College First Year Writing Seminar EN 010.47– M/F, 9:009:50 am (plus individual conferences) EN 010.49– M/F, 10:0010:50 am (plus individual conferences) O’Neill 257 Instructor: Craig Kasprzak Office: Carney Hall 239 Office hours: by appointment Voicemail: TBA Email:[e-mail] Web:http://www2.bc.edu/~kasprzcr/ Catalog Description: Designed as a workshop in which each student develops a portfolio of personal and academic writing, the seminar follows a semester-long process. Students write and rewrite essays continuously, discuss their works-in-progress in class, and receive feedback during individual and small group conferences with the instructor. Students read a wide range of texts, including various forms of non-fiction prose. In addition to regular conferences, the class meets two hours per week to discuss the writing process, the relationship between reading and writing, conventional and innovative ways of doing research, and evolving drafts of class members. Course Description and Objectives: This particular section of the FirstYear Writing Seminar aims to help you recognize the processes inherent to good writing and develop effective habits of composition and revision. Such skills are not innate to anyone, but come only through hard work and continuous practice. Just as you might train at long runs to prepare for a marathon, or frequent the driving range to hone your golf skills, so too does writing—goodwriting, that is—demand dedication and commitment to improvement.In this course, then, we will work as a community of developing writers to acquire a functional toolbox of effective writing skills for use in college and beyond. At the same time, this section seeks to cultivate your own individual voice and enable you to employ it selfreflectively as a vehicle for learning about yourself and your relationship to the outside world.Taking models from the published writing of actual Boston College students of years past, and through rigorous exercises that invite personal choice and demand creative risk taking, you will explore writing in a variety of nonfiction forms—some familiar and some completely foreign.Specific expectations and requirements for this section of FWS follow; for more information about the program philosophy in general, and for a list of program requirements, visit the official FWS website at http://monticello.bc.edu/fws/program. REQUIRED TEXTS th Hacker, Diana.A Pocket Style Manualand New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s,Ed. Boston, 4 2004. To limit the cost of textbooks, I will post all other assigned readings on a free, coursespecific WebCT site.You may access WebCT through a standard URL login (http://webct.bc.edu:8900), which requires your BC user ID and password, or through an Agora dropdown menu option (you

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must first login to Agora using the same BC user ID and password).Students are expected to print out copies of any assigned WebCT readings and to bring them to class. COURSE REQUIREMENTS 1) Conferences: All sections of FWS require students to meet regularly with their instructors in nearweekly 15 minute conferences to discuss work in process.You will select from a list of possible conference times at the beginning of the semester and maintain that regular time throughout.Conferences will take place in my office, unless otherwise specified.Remember that conferences, abbreviated as they may be, count as the third class meeting of every week and, therefore, are not optional; missed conferences equal missed classes, and affect your grade accordingly (see policy below). 2) Attendance: Regular, punctual attendance of both class meetings and conferences is a requirement for this course. Becauseunforeseen circumstances can occasionally make attendance impossible, however, you will be allowed three absences,regardless of the reason. Latenesswill count as 1/3 of a missed class.For every full absence after your third, your participation grade will be lowered systematically based upon a percentage of our total meetings.After your sixth absence, you will receive a failing grade for the course.For special circumstances, a note from the Dean is required. Inthe event of any absence, it is your own responsibility to find out what you have missed, as well as to turn in missed assignments; I am not the course secretary, and will not chase you down to bring you up to speed. 3) Participation: Because of our intimate class size and seminar format, active participation is also a requirement for this course; simply gracing the room with your bodily presence will not be enough to succeed. You will be expected on a daily basis to draft writing assignments according to the calendar listed below; to have read any assigned readings carefully and completely; to be prepared to discuss them at length; to listen attentively to your peers; and to comment constructively upon your peers’ written drafts in regular workshops. 4) Peer workshops: We will devote a significant portion of our class time to peer workshopping.While the format for these workshops will vary, most will divide you into small groups of three for the purpose of mutual critique, support, and improvement.For every essay draft due, you should always bring fourcopies in total, one for each workshop participant and one to handin to me.Your performance in our peer workshops will factor into your participation grade. 5) Eightweek portfolio: During the first eight weeks of the semester, you will write and revise several essays of various lengths. Theseassignments will occasionally be due in draft stages [see the Course Calendar for specific due dates] and often will serve as the raw materials for the group workshops outlined above. Atthe end of this eightweek period, you will then submit a portfolio of your work to demonstrate the quantity, quality, and range of your writing to that point.The portfolio should include “completed” drafts of each of your longer essays, along with all of your previous drafts and shorter writing assignments (which you are welcome to revise as often as you see fit, but will not be required to do so).You will also have the opportunity to designate a particular piece of writing as your best work, which will carry a weighted value for grading purposes, but ultimately you will receive only asinglegrade for the entire portfolio, one that reflects not only the finished products, but your progress at each stage along the way.[Note: In order to give you a clear

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understanding of my expectations about your writing from the very beginning, I will affix a letter grade to your first—and only to your first—essay draft.This grade will be purely heuristic and will only “count” insofar as it represents a small percentage of your completed portfolio]. Because I am asking you to submit each and every draft you write, you must remember to save your drafts individually using the “Save As” function on your computer (simply clicking “Save” or the diskette icon will overwrite any previous work). Do not—and I cannot stress this enough— DO NOT THROW AWAY ANYTHING YOU WRITE FOR THIS COURSE, as I cannot give you credit for what you do not include in your portfolio, even if I have seen it previously. 6) Final magazine project: In week nine, you will begin a more concentrated inquiry into one of the issues or interests you will have uncovered through your previous writing, and will present your work in the form of a themebased magazine.This project will differ in form from your previous work only in that it also will require you to design and layout your writingvisually. Your magazines may take any form and be any length you choose, but must include the following: a “From the Editor”/ “Dear Reader” piece; an OpEd piece; a cover story that includes some research; a freeform creative piece; and two letters to the editor, both of which will be drafted by your classmates.You will need to submittwocopies of your magazine, one that I will grade and return to you and one that I will keep for my records. 7) “Letters to the Editor”: Near the completion of the final magazine project, you will receive overviews of your workshop partners’ magazines in progress and draft one thematically consistent letter—from the perspective of a regular reader—to the imagined “Editor” of each. 8) Selfassessment: In lieu of a final examination, you will write a three to fourpage selfassessment, in which you comment upon your progress over the course of the semester and assign yourself a nonbinding mock grade.This assignment demands both honest selfreflection and careful, wellreasoned persuasion, and, though I alone reserve the right to assign your final course grade, your argumentation might make a difference in the event of a borderline grade.Your selfassessment will be due on or before the final examination date for your section listed on the Course Calendar. ASSESSMENT In our first class meeting after add/drop ends (9/16), we will devise as a group a set of criteria for essay assessment and assign individual weights to each assignment in a course contract.Your final grade for the course will be determined by some mutually agreedupon distribution of the following: Class participation (includes workshops) Eightweek portfolio (all writing up to and including 10/28) Final magazine project Letters to the Editor (2 @ 1 pg. each) Selfassessment (24 pgs.) In accordance with Boston College policy, you will receive anestimatedgrade near the midterm. This grade will not count for anything, save for apprising you of your progress to date, and is not binding. COURSE POLICIES

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(A) Drafts: Mistakes and misdirection are often what enable good writers eventually to produce good writing, so students are hardly expected to produce perfect first drafts.No writereverproduces a perfect first draft.However, students will be expected to approach each draft with due diligence.Draft status is not a valid excuse for incompletion or halfhearted effort, nor is it for carelessness. (B) Revision: Contrary to the beliefs of many, the process of revising does not entail simply eliminating the cosmetic blemishes from one’s work.In fact, the word’s Latin derivation (revidēre) indicates quite literally to see or to visit again (re-, again;vidêreThus, as you revise your work,, to see). you will be expected to approach each assignment with a new set of eyes, both literally and figuratively. Yourclassmates and I will provide some of this new perspective, by supplying constructive advice and criticism through workshops and graded drafts, but you will also be expected to approach your work dynamically with each subsequent draft.Fixing a comma here, or substituting a word there, is not revising; it isediting, and it requires far less intellectual and creative energy than revising does.If all you do is edit, your grade will reflect your effort accordingly. (C) Meticulous Proofreading: It isn’t just a good idea; it’s arequirementfor all written assignments, and students who fail to do so will be penalized accordingly. (D) Extensions and Missed Assignments: I generally frown upon the granting of extensions, and will grant them only in the event of a documentedexcuse (i.e., from the Dean).Be forewarned, however, that I willnevergrant extensions on the day immediately preceding a deadline, nor will I allow them after a deadline has already passed.If you miss an assignment and do not contact me sufficiently in advance, your grade will be penalized for each day that the assignment remains outstanding. (E) Paper Formatting: All writing for this course should be typed and doublespaced in a sensible 12point font (in other words, noCopperplate Gothic,Lucida Console, orVerdana), with standard one inch margins on all sides AND some kind of fastener (i.e., a staple, or a paper clip) to safeguard against runaway pages.Works cited, when applicable, should follow standard MLA format. (F) Consulting Writing Tutors: All students are encouraged to take advantage of the free tutorial services offered by the Connors Family Learning Center (located on the second floor of O’Neill Library). The CFLC features a staff of friendly peer tutors trained specifically to help you diagnose problems in and generally improve your writing, in 50minute sessions that range from brainstorming and strategizing, to revising and troubleshooting written drafts. Appointments are available on a walkin basis, or by calling x20611 on campus.You may also wish to use the Online Writing Lab, or OWL (http://www.bc.edu/owl), which delivers constructive, globallyoriented feedback on student writing, usually within 48hours of submission.You are free to utilize these services—or any other tutorial—as often or as infrequently as you like, and your decision to do so will have no direct influence on your grades.My only requirement is that, if you do chose to work with a tutor, youask the tutor to sign and date each draft you work on together (if you submit instead to the OWL, simply attach a copy of your tutor’s emailed comments to your finished draft). (G) Academic Integrity:

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Boston College takes seriously any and all breaches of academic integrity—including, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, and collusion—and I adhere closely to the university’s official policies and procedures on the matter.It is each student’s own responsibility to familiarize him or herself with the official language of BC’s standard, which I will distribute to you on the first day of class and which is available online at http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/resources/policy/#integrity. If, after reviewing these guidelines, you remain uncertain about the definitions or procedures associated with academic integrity, it is imperative that you see me for clarificationbeforeany potential violations occur.Any students found to have violated these guidelines purposefully will be subject to the standard penalty—a failing grade for the course—and a mandatory judicial hearing before the Dean and the Committee on Academic Integrity for your school.It is always best to err on the side of caution, so be ever certain that your work is original—meaning both that it is your ownandthat you have produced it exclusively for this course—and take all of the necessary steps to acknowledge clearly the intellectual property of others. PROVISIONAL COURSE CALENDAR (Subject to change) Note: All assignments aredueon the particular date indicated (denotes reading assignments due;denotes written assignments due).  WEEK ONE Mon., 9/5 – NO CLASSES—LABOR DAY Fri., 9/9 – Welcome to FWS; introduction to the process method; syllabus review; diagnostic writing  WEEK TWO Mon., 9/12 – How do you write? –Course goal statement (12 pages) Note: Wed., 9/14 is the deadline for Add/drop/late registration Fri., 9/16 – Course grading contract; showing vs. telling –Anon., “Being Barbie”  WEEK THREE Mon., 9/19 – Class workshop; introduction to writing dialogue –Dawson, “Skin”; Anderson, “Brownsmead, Oregon (25 Minutes East of Astoria)”;Descriptive writing assignment (24 pages) [Reminder: Bring four copies of your essay to this class, and to any other workshop classes in the future.] Fri., 9/23 – Class workshop; writing about sequence –Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants”;Malchodi, “Madame” –Dialogue writing assignment (24 pages)  WEEK FOUR Mon., 9/26 – Class workshop –Sequence writing assignment (24 pages) Fri., 9/30 – Introduction to narrative –Harvell, “Family Portrait”;Freeman, “My Name Was Simóna”

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Note: Parents visiting for Parents’ Weekend are welcome, but be sure to let me know in advance, so I can request sufficient seating.  WEEK FIVE Mon., 10/3 – Class workshop –Personal narrative (56 pages) Fri., 10/7 – Narrative (cont’d) –Stanger, “Signed in Red”;Vigue, “Lifeguarding Against Baywatch”  WEEK SIX Mon., 10/10 – NO CLASSES—COLUMBUS DAY Fri., 10/14 – Class workshop –Revision of personal narrative  WEEK SEVEN Mon., 10/17 – Introduction to analysis –Rauseo, “The Night the Mirror Broke”;Pardo, “The Other Side”;“Being Barbie” (reread) Fri., 10/21 – Class workshop –Cultural analysis (56 pages)  WEEK EIGHT Mon., 10/24 – Introduction to argument –Daniels, “The Veritas about Maroon”;Beaulieu, “The Oppressed Smoker”;Anderson, “The Extinction of the Written Word” Fri., 10/28 – Class workshop –Argument essay (34 pages)  WEEK NINE Mon., 10/31 – Library research information session Fri., 11/4 – Introduction to the final magazine project; incorporating research into your argument –Murphy, “An Issue of Privacy”; O’Neill, “Who Cares about Child Care?”;Eightweek portfolio  WEEK TEN Mon., 11/7 – Class workshop –Magazine project proposal Fri., 11/11 – TBA  WEEK ELEVEN Mon., 11/14 – Class workshop –Draft of “From the Editor”/ “Dear Reader” piece Fri., 11/18 – TBA –Draft of OpEd piece  WEEK TWELVE Mon., 11/21 – TBA –Draft of creative piece Fri., 11/25 – NO CLASSES—THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY  WEEK THIRTEEN Mon., 11/28 – Class workshop –Draft of cover story (must include some research)

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Fri., 12/2 – Magazine layout; class workshop –Letters to the editor (1 page each) ***In addition to today’s writing assignment, I would like everyone to bring to class a magazine, along with a short, brainstormed list of the features (aesthetic, formal, etc.) properties that you typically expect to see in/on such a magazine.  WEEK FOURTEEN Mon., 12/5 – Course evaluations (***target deadline for magazine text ***) Fri., 12/9 – Magazine presentations –Final magazine project  FINAL EXAMINATION SCHEDULE (http://bc.edu/offices/stserv/academic/current/exams/#fall) 02 M[W] F 9Mon, Dec 1912:30 P.M. 03 M[W] F 10Wed, Dec 149:00 A.M. Selfassessment essay (24 pages)