ENG 370: Advanced Composition

Objectives

No matter what you want to do with your life, communication skills can help.  Whether you plan to go to graduate school and pursue a career in academia, to start your own business, to go to Washington and turn this country around, or to raise happy and successful children, you will benefit from knowing how to find reliable information and how to convey it forcefully. 

Having written perhaps dozens of essays in other courses, you already can state a claim and support it with evidence.  In this course, you will move beyond competence and develop a number of rare and valuable skills that will help you achieve your full potential as a researcher, writer, editor, designer, and speaker.  Specifically, we will proceed with these objectives in mind:

Communication: Knowledge confined to a single person's brain has limited use.  It is through sharing this knowledge that humans make progress in medicine, science and technology, politics, and every other human endeavor.  In this course, you will explore every major component of effective rhetoric, from well-formed arguments and general organization down to precise, lively words and carefully placed commas.   In addition, we will examine the fundamentals of graphic communication, oral communication, and technology. Thus, by the end of this course, you not only will be writing clearer, more engaging prose, but will be able to design an attractive resume, give an effective presentation, and publish a World Wide Web site.

Language: Success in college, graduate school, and the world beyond requires more than basic literacy.  In this course, you will learn not only how to decipher language, but also how to analyze it for clues about purpose, audience, and agenda.  As you edit and write material, you will deepen your understanding of how language shapes meaning and will broaden your knowledge of rhetorical, linguistic, and bibliographic terms.

Research: One of the most valuable skills you will learn in college is the ability to gather detailed, reliable information so that you can make informed decisions.  In this course, you will learn how to look beyond books and journals to find the information that you otherwise might have missed.  Specifically, we will take a field trip to view the Southern Historical Collection, a premier research collection, and learn how to find, analyze, and use primary sources, such as first editions, newspapers, and manuscripts of letters and literature.

Ideas: As we explore ways of reading, writing, and speaking effectively, we also will examine a number of principles related to the world of communication, including copyright, libel, and censorship.

Supplies

  • Holeton, Richard. Composing Cyberspace. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998.
  • Williams, Joseph M.  Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace.  New York: Longman, 2000.
  • Hilligoss, Susan. Visual Communication.  New York: Longman, 2000.
  • Three IBM-formatted computer diskettes

Policies

Attendance is vital in this course.  While I will not penalize you for missing class, you will shortchange yourself by missing the discussions, demonstrations, exercises, workshops, and other important work that we will do in the classroom. 

The following statements come from Disability Support Services: "Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to speak directly to Disability Support Services and the instructor, as early in the semester (preferably within the first class week) as possible.  All discussions will remain confidential."

"This publication is available in alternative formats upon request.  Please contact Mary Helen Walker, Disability Support Services, Career Services Center, 521-6270."

Be Your Best

You can expect me to be the best teacher I can be.  I will work hard to make this course interesting and rewarding.I expect you to be your best, as well.  Although this course is no more difficult than most college courses, it demands a lot of work, including reading and writing assignments, library research, and study.  I expect you to make these commitments, to turn in neatly typed and carefully edited assignments on time, and to check the online announcements at the beginning of each week.  For tips on improving your study habits, see Be Your Best.
Fall 2000 | 9-9:50 a.m. MWF

Professor Mark Canada
118 Dial Humanities Building
UNCP
canada@sassette.uncp.edu
www.uncp.edu/home/canada
Office Hours: 8-9 a.m. MTWRF
(910) 521-6431
Online roster
listserv: eng370mc@papa.uncp.edu

Schedule

Be Your Best Research Drafts Revision Graphics Speaking

Portfolio

When you invest a large portion of your time and energy in a class for several weeks, you should expect something more than a grade in return.  If you work hard in this course, you can receive a good grade, but you also can receive several other, more lasting and important benefits, including a foundation of knowledge and skills.  To strengthen this foundation, you will prepare an online advanced-composition portfolio, where you will present the writing you have done in this course and demonstrate how much you have learned about research, written communication, and graphic communication.  This portfolio, which you will post on the World Wide Web, comprises the components in the box at the right.

In addition to posting your portfolio on the Web, each of you will give two 30-minute presentations--one before midterm and one at end of the course--during which you will show me your portfolio, talk about what you have learned, and answer questions designed to measure your success in meeting the objectives of the course.  You must bring all of the material you used or created in preparing your portfolio, including rough drafts, notes, and photocopies of your sources with quoted or paraphrased passages highlighted.  I decide in advance whom I am going to meet in conference.  If you are not in class that day or fail to bring the required materials, you may fail part or all of the portfolio presentation.  If you know you are going to miss class for a legitimate reason, let me know in advance.

Using my standard criteria, I will evaluate your portfolio at midterm and at the completion of the course.  Each time, I will assign you a letter grade based on the quality of both components.  Your final grade in the course, however, will depend only on your performance on the final portfolio and presentation.  Thus, even if you earn a D at midterm, you may revise your portfolio, use what you have learned to improve on future work, and earn a better grade--perhaps even an A--on your final portfolio and presentation.  The purpose of this system is to give you an opportunity to continue learning and improving over the course of the semester.

Furthermore, you will contribute virtually everything that you produce in this course to All American: Literature, History, and Culture, an online subject encyclopedia based at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Thus, you will have a unique opportunity not only to expand, but to apply your knowledge and skills, and to create publications that you can cite in resumes and portfolios.

I hope that this portfolio's value to you will outlast this semester and that you will continue to consult it and add to it as you encounter language in the years to come. You may even want to show it to friends, parents, prospective employers, and--someday--grandchildren to demonstrate all that you have learned this semester.

Profile

In this profile, you will introduce yourself to me, your classmates, and the rest of the world. Please include the following components:
  • Name
  • Photograph: Scan a recent photograph of yourself and place it on your profile.
  • E-mail address: Create a link to an e-mail address that you regularly use.
  • Table of contents: List links to the various compents of your portfolio.
  • Essay: In a paragraph of about 200 words, describe your interests, hobbies, family, or anything else that you would like people to know about you. 
When you have finished, post your annotation on your portfolio, create an anchor for it, and submit the URL of this profile to the course listserv.

Introduction

In this essay, which should be between 300 and 500 words long, you should summarize the progress you have made in the areas of language, ideas, research, and communication. Be as specific as possible.  For example, instead of saying simply that you "have become a better writer," you might describe some rhetorical and stylistic devices that you have begun to use in your writing.  Present and analyze as many specific examples as you can.

Almanac Entries

Using what you have learned about finding print sources in the library and about paraphrasing, write five entries for the All American Almanac. Each entry should have the following components:
  • Date: Type the day of the month in boldface type.
  • Description: In one to three sentences, describe an important or interesting literary or historical event that took place in America on this day. Make sure that you mention the year.
  • Byline: Type the words "Submitted by" and your name in boldface type. Create a link for your name so that researchers can click on it and see your profile.
I suggest that you begin your research by looking at Sources of Information About Specific Dates.  When you have finished, post your annotation on your portfolio, create an anchor for it, and submit the URL of this annotation to the course listserv.

Annotation

Using what you have learned about search engines, portals, and other means of finding information on the Internet, locate a World Wide Web site related to American literature, history, or culture.  Make sure that it is credible and that it does not already appear in All American Resources.  Create an annotation for this site with the following components:
  • Citation: Using MLA style, type a citation for this site and place it in boldface type.  Make the URL a link.
  • Summary: In a paragraph  of about 200 words, describe the content of this site and evaluate its timeliness and credibility. Provide one or two examples of the type of information researchers can find here. 
  • Byline: Type the words "Submitted by" and your name in boldface type. Create a link for your name so that researchers can click on it and see your profile.
When you have finished, post your annotation on your portfolio, create an anchor for it, and submit the URL of this annotation to the course listserv.

Edited Pages

I will assign each of you three Web pages that other students have created for All American. It will be your job to edit each of these pages to make sure it fulfills the following criteria:
  • Accuracy: While editors lack the time to check every fact in everything they read, it is partially their responsibility to make sure that the information they edit is accurate. As a general rule when editing material for All American, check at least one fact in shorter articles (100-300 words) and three facts in longer articles (more than 300 words), as well as anything that you think might be wrong, either because it does not match what you think is correct or because it just seems like the kind of thing someone would be likely to confuse.  If you find an error, let me know so that we can evaluate the credibility of the entire essay.
  • Clarity: Ensuring that a piece of writing is clear is not only the most important, but also the most difficult task for the editor.  Do not be afraid to revise a sentence you find confusing, as long as you can still convey the true sense of what the writer is saying--if what the writer is saying really is accurate, of course.  Be careful, however, not to rewrite sentences just to make them sound like your own writing.  It's a delicate balance.  
  • Readability: Make sure that the spelling, punctuation, grammar, and mechanics in each page conform to the general practices of Standard Written English.  Consult a standard English handbook, such as The Ready Reference Handbook, if you have questions.
  • Style: In addition to making sure that a piece of writing conforms to the conventions of Standard Written English, editors must make material conform to their publication's particular style. Like many editors, we generally will use The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual as our guide to style. 

Article

Midway through the semester, we will take a field trip to Chapel Hill, where we will visit the Southern Historical Collection.  Working with primary sources, such as the ones you will find there, as well as credible secondary sources, write an original 3,000-word article about some aspect of American literature, history, or culture.  For example, you might analyze changes that Thomas Wolfe made to his manuscripts before publication, examine the feelings of Southerners about the Civil War, or explore the relationships between slaves and their masters in the antebellum South. Your article should state a clear, original claim and support it with thorough, relevant, and credible evidence. When you have finished, post your article on your portfolio, create an anchor for it, and submit the URL of this article to the course listserv. 

The final stage of this assignment will be to submit your article to a publication or enter it in a regional or national competition.

Components

  1. Profile
  2. Introduction
  3. Almanac Entries
  4. Annotation
  5. Edited Pages
  6. Article

Help

Criteria

  • Content: The project should thoroughly and insightfully address its subject with accurate, credible, timely, and relevant information.  If the project is supposed to be argumentative, it should state a clear, substantive, contestable, and precise claim early and support this claim with appropriate evidence.
  • Clarity: The project should present information in a clear, logical fashion.  In particular, each paragraph generally should begin with a precise topic sentence, followed by clear, well-organized sentences that support the topic sentence. The writer should use transitional words and phrases effectively to guide the reader through the information.
  • Readability: The project should engage the reader with lively, concise writing and should generally lack typographical errors, as well as lapses in tone, register, punctuation, mechanics, spelling, word choice, and grammar.  The project should effectively incorporate source material with proper use of attribution, paraphrases, and quotations.  Longer projects should begin with an engaging introduction and include a satisfying conclusion.
  • Format: Parenthetical citations and the bibliography or list of works cited should conform to MLA style.  The project also should have an attractive, professional appearance and should conform to any particular format requirements set by the instructor.
Note: Each project must be your own work.  That is, except for properly cited quotations, every sentence and phrase must be in your own words.  All interpretations, except for those properly cited, also must be your own.  If you turn in someone else's work, use a source's exact words without placing these words in quotation marks, or use an interpretation you found in a source without giving credit to the source, you are guilty of plagiarism and may fail this course.  You must be prepared to prove that you have done all your own work by showing me your sources and discussing the details of your project with me in conference.

Grades

  • A: Mastery
  • B: Near mastery 
  • C: Basic competence
  • D: Less than basic competence
  • F: Serious problems, such as plagiarism or glaring lack of competence

Updated December 2, 2000 | University of North Carolina at Pembroke
© Mark Canada, 2000 | canada@sassette.uncp.edu