ADVANCED COMPOSITION: AMERICAN ACADEMIC CULTURE

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1 ADVANCED COMPOSITION: AMERICAN ACADEMIC CULTURE Dominic Ashby, Instructor Advanced Composition will help you to develop an insider s view of academic culture in the United States, with a special focus on strategies and expectations for reading and writing academic texts. Through this class, you will become better prepared and more comfortable interacting with American academic culture, whether as readers of American texts in classes in China, or as visiting students in an American university. By studying rhetorical conventions and applying them to course readings about American cultures, you will further develop your analytical, argumentative, and writing skills. Course Goals Through this course, among other things, students will: Enter into American academic discourse by learning and practicing fundamentals of rhetoric, with particular focus on audience, purpose, context, and credibility. Develop an enriched, insider knowledge of US cultures, and be able to communicate those insights. Become familiar with expectations American university instructors often have for classroom discussion and participation. Make critical comparative analyses of US and home cultures. Become familiar with a variety of traditional and multimedia genres of English writing. Develop strategies for reading and responding to academic writing. Use invention techniques to explore topics and develop arguments. Locate, evaluate, integrate, and cite sources effectively and ethically. Analyze and evaluate your own and others writing and uses of rhetoric. Improve English speaking, listening, and writing abilities Major Projects 1. Rhetorical Narrative: Using invention strategies learned in class, students will write a two-page narrative about their own use of rhetoric. 2. Rhetorical Analysis: Students will use rhetorical concepts learned in class to write a twoto three-page analysis of a printed argument about American culture. 3. Academic Argument: During the last half of the class, students will research a topic related to the program excursions and write a four-page argument supported by scholarly sources; as part of this process, students will draft, review, and revise their work in class before presenting their findings to their classmates. 4. Group Video Project: During the last week, students will form small groups to work on creating a video project. The project will draw from the research the members completed for their Academic Argument essays and is a chance for students to apply their knowledge of rhetoric developed during the Rhetorical Narrative and Rhetorical Analysis

2 assignments. Class during this time will focus on video editing. The groups will share their videos with the rest of the class at the end of the summer program. Grading In this course, you will complete several short writing assignments, three longer assignments, and a short presentation in pairs or small groups. The short writing assignments will be graded on a scale check plus, check, or check minus. These pieces are designed to focus your thinking on topics from the readings. They may also build or scaffold toward the larger projects. These short assignments together constitute 20% of your final course grade. The longer assignments will involve more time and should be more polished. We will take time in class talking about and revising your work on these assignments before you turn them in for a final grade. Together, these assignments constitute 60% of your final grade: 10% for the Rhetorical Narrative, 20% for the Rhetorical Analysis, and 30% for the Academic Argument. Group work and participation make up the final 20% of your course grade. This includes taking part in the final presentations and contributing to discussions and during in-class writing exercises. Grading Scale: Your longer assignments and your final course grade will be given letter grades based on the following percentages: A % A % B % B 86 84% B % C % C 76 74% C % D % D 66 64% D % F 59% and below Late Work: All assignments should be submitted on time. Late major assignments will be downgraded ½ a grade per day late. Late in-class and other short assignments may be turned in the following class period for half credit; short assignments turned in later than that will receive zero credit. Participation: Participation is a vitally important component of classes in American universities, constituting a significant portion of your grade for the course. There are a number of ways that

3 you will be expected to participate and/or collaborate in Advanced Composition: Class discussion, whole class invention, editing, and revision workshops, reading and responding to other students writing, and in general contributing to work in the course. Attendance: I expect you to be in class every day that it is scheduled. In the event that you cannot make to class, please or come talk to me as soon as possible. Repeatedly missing class will negatively impact your grade for the course. Tardiness: Please be considerate of your classmates coming in late can be very disruptive and can complicate group work. Repeated tardiness will drop your participation score. Course Policies Cell Phones, Text Messaging, and Other Distracting Stuff: How do you react when somebody's cell phone starts ringing in a movie theater or in the middle of a business meeting? How do you feel when you're giving a presentation and someone in the audience is playing a video game or reading the newspaper? In general, the policy is this: Do not interrupt the class in any way, or distract your classmates, or show disrespect for the instructor or other students in the class. Turn cell phone ringers to Off (or Vibrate). If you absolutely must, take calls and do text messaging outside the class, not in it. Academic Integrity/Plagiarism: The assumption for this course is that the writing you submit is your own original writing, produced originally for this class. The expectation is that you will appropriately identify that portion of your work which is collaborative with others, or which is borrowed from others, or which is your own work from other contexts. In other words, you should credit others' contributions to your work. You should not claim, as your own, writing that is not your own. To do so is considered plagiarism, a serious violation of the principle of academic integrity. To copy someone else's writing without acknowledging that use is an act of academic as well as professional dishonesty, whether you borrow an entire report or a single sentence. The most serious forms of academic dishonesty are to "buy" an entire paper; or to have someone else write an assignment for you; or to turn in someone else's entire paper (or significant portions of an existing piece of writing) and call it your own. These forms of dishonesty constitute serious breaches of academic integrity. If you have doubts about whether or not you are using your own or others' writing ethically, ask the instructor. Also, please be aware of what is sometimes referred to as self plagiarism. It is not acceptable to resubmit the same paper, or even part of a paper, for multiple classes. Professionals have to deal with this, too; this is why sometimes you see published authors citing their own previous works. For further details about Academic Integrity at Miami University including a detailed list of examples of academic dishonesty and procedures and penalties for dealing with instances of academic dishonesty see

4 Walk-in office hours, 1:00 3:00 p.m. Week 2 Thursday 7/11 Week 3 Monday 7/15 Thursday 7/18 Week 4 Tuesday 7/23 Thursday 7/25 Week 5 Monday 7/29 Tuesday 7/30 I am also available immediately after class and by appointment. Daily Course Schedule ***Schedule is subject to change. In the event that you are absent, remember that you are responsible for materials covered. Week 1 Monday, 7/8 Welcome and course overview Writing diagnostic Photo roster Homework for next day Read: What is Rhetoric? Booth, How Many Rhetorics? Write: Rhetorical inquiry (informal) Tuesday, 7/9 Due: Rhetorical inquiry (informal) Discuss Reading Rhetoric as meaning-making Activity: Audience Awareness Write: Examples of Argument (informal list) Wednesday Reading Discussion 7/10 Audience analysis of magazines Read: David Owen, Green Manhattan. New Yorker. 18 Oct Thursday 7/ Write: Short write 3 Canons of Rhetoric Reading discussion Home: Look for two examples of visual rhetoric (e.g., and advertisement or PSA) Friday 7/12 Writing for different audiences (in-class writing) Principles of visual design (C.R.A.P. Principles) Analysis of visual arguments

5 Week 2 Monday 7/15 Tuesday 7/16 Wednesday 7/17 Thursday 7/18 Friday 7/19 Week 3 Monday 7/22 Read: Everyday Writer Think critically about visuals , and Analyzing Arguments Everything s An Argument Reading Discussion Analysis of a video Watch: assigned video Write: Short write #4 rhetorical analysis heuristic Find: another short video to share with small groups be ready to talk about its purpose (to inform, to entertain, to move to action, etc) Bring Laptops and headphones Discuss video and written responses Group activity with videos Develop a set of evaluation criteria Assign Rhetorical Analysis Choose a video text to analyze (following the criteria in the assignment handout) Write: Begin answering questions about your video using the rhetorical analysis heuristic Activity: In groups, share your video and what you wrote about it. Brainstorm about what to focus your analysis on. Draft an introductory paragraph, using the guidelines provided in class. Share your paragraphs and offer suggestions. Write: Complete a full draft of the rhetorical analysis Due: Rough draft of Rhetorical Analysis Conferences full class does not meet. Write: Revise Analysis Revised, full draft of analysis Peer review and revision workshop Write: Continue Revising Due: Final draft of Rhetorical Analysis Organization Activity Academic Writing as a Genre Strategies For Choosing and Developing a Research Topic Read: Salamone and Salamone, Images of Main Street: Disney World and the American Adventure. Read the Oxford History Slideshow. The Everyday Writer , sample student research paper Write: Short Writing prompt Tuesday 7/23 Reading Discussion Research Strategies

6 Wednesday 7/24 Brainstorming Topics The Everyday Writer on evaluating sources Read & Write: Do preliminary research to find sources and narrow your topic Bring Laptops Due: Topic and source list (draft) Share topics and sources; further develop research questions Divide into project groups Draft project proposal Write: Finalize research proposal; turn in Wednesday night. Read: Continue with your research Thursday 7/25 Meet instructor in class to talk about proposal Work in-class on research project Revise proposal if needed Find additional sources if needed Read: Toulmin Model from Joining Academic Conversations Friday 7/26 Discussion: Toulmin Workshop: Revising Research Paper Watch and discuss sample student video research projects Read: On source citation Write: Continue drafting Week 4 Monday 7/29 Discuss Source Citation Workshop drafts Introduction to using imovie video software Form video project groups Complete revisions Tuesday 7/30 Due: Final draft of research paper (4 pages, plus works cited) Work in class on video projects Read: Everyday Writer on Writing in the Disciplines Wednesday 7/31 Thursday 8/1 Friday 8/2 Work with groups on videos Discuss WAC/WID Continue working on video projects Prepare for presentation of videos Presentations Presentations Attend closing ceremony

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