COM 200 Writing to Communicate (sec. 1) Spring, 2003

Dr. Elliot Gaines, Office: 411 Millett

Office hours: 11:00-2:00, and 3:30-4:30 Tuesday-Thursday, or by appointment

email: elliot.gaines@wright.edu

Class Meetings 9:30-10:45 Tuesday, Thursday, Room: Room 403 Millett

Textbooks:

Hacker, Diana. 2003. A Writer's Reference, Fifth Edition. NY: St. Martin's Press.

LIBRARY: Massey, Kimberly B. 1999. Readings in Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture. Mountainview CA: Mayfield Publishing.

Students are required to bring a computer disk to class, and to acquire the appropriate student

computer lab account from the CATS Help Desk.

Instruction and practice in writing to communicate nonfiction reports. Course includes use of library sources for research, and covers principles of organization, composition, and academic documentation.

This course prepares you to write clearly and correctly for courses in organizationa communication, mass communication, communication studies, and social and industrial communication. To write well you must develop critical thinking skills, such as the ability to draw warranted conclusions. This course is designed teach you how to conduct library research, to help organize thinking, and to write well.

The course involves four kinds of work:

(1) Preparation includes assessment of your knowledge of standard American usage, including knowledge of correct sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation, as measured by a standardized test. Preparation involves learning to identify your audience and purpose in writing, as well as learning how to find sources of information;

(2) Research includes learning about information sources that are relevant to your target audience and your purpose, retrieving relevant articles and other sources, and compiling a Works Cited using correct documentation style;

(3) Organization and composition involve writing an introduction, a body and a conclusion;

(4) Revision includes rewriting; that is, fixing organization, checking to see that conclusions are warranted, cutting out clutter, revising sentences, and correcting other things such as reference style.

Throughout the course, if you need tutoring on any element of composition and/or grammar you will receive individual tutoring either from the instructor or by appointment from an instructor at the WSU Writing Center.

The standardized writing test given at the beginning of the course will be given again near the end of the course to measure your improvement in knowledge of grammar, punctuation, sentence construction, and other skills covered in the test.

The course includes the following:

A. Usage and grammar pretest.

B. Exercise on library and electronic information sources.

C. A formal typed proposal in which you state the purpose of the paper you will write for the course, the sources for the paper, and the scope of the paper.

D. A preliminary Works Cited for your paper, typed in MLA format and style.

E. All materials must be typed.

F. Several papers, and their evaluations

G. First draft of paper, about 3-4 pages long (all papers/assignments must be typed).

H. Usage and grammar posttest.

I. Final draft of paper.

* Attendance is required Ten percent of your course grade involves participation, including active participation in class discussions and meeting assignment deadlines.

* If you miss more than four classes in total, regardless of excuses (including, but not limited to, employment, military assignment, weather or illness), the instructor may assign a grade of Incomplete.

* Some graded exercises will be done during class time. If you are not in class to do a graded exercise you don’t get any points, and there is no make-up work.

* All assignments done outside of class time must be submitted on time

* Do not ask to take tests or submit other work before or after the rest of the class, unless you are working with the Office of Disability Services.

* Read all materials before class and come prepared for a full challenging discussion.

* Grammar, spelling, style, accuracy, and critical thinking will be considered in all writing assignments.

* Papers must be typed, double spaced, and stapled. No binders or paper clips.

* Use MLA style parenthetical citations and Works Cited.

* Papers must be turned in at the designated time.

* Late papers will not be accepted.

* clarity of purpose; and precise use of language,

* completeness in achieving purpose, i.e., doing all you set out to do; appropriateness of organization;

* relevance and completeness of evidence;

* clarity and correctness of writing;

* correctness of documentation style.

* The criteria for the Works Cited are accuracy of documentation style, completeness, credibility and relevance of sources.

* The criteria for quizzes are accuracy and completeness of answers.

* The criteria for the usage and grammar pre-and-post tests are accuracy for multiple-choice questions and unity, clarity, and correct writing as noted in the criteria for the essay portions of the tests.

Grading: Weighting of assignments:

Final draft of paper............................................................... 25%

First draft of paper................................................................ 10%

Three papers.......................................................... (10% x 3) 30%

Usage and grammar tests: Pretest 5%, post test 5% 10%

Formal Proposal......…………………………………… 15%

Participation......………………………………………… 10%

Works Cited for paper: P-NC

Quiz on course syllabus: P-NC

Quiz on information sources available at Dunbar Library: P-NC

(P-NC means Pass-No credit--you either get 100 percent of the credit on this assignment, or nocredit.)

Total: 100%

Papers 1, 2, 3: Using at least one scholarly source, write a brief analysis of a

published study relating to your research question. These essays and sources will be written in preparation for the Final Draft paper.

* One page only, double spaced, average size font; approximately 250 words

* Include your name, date and assignment on the top left

* Standard MLA style: in-line citation and works cited

* sentence structure, and wording

* paragraph structure, transitions and headings

* essay structure, including logic of writing, evidence, and reasonableness of analysis

* grammar and punctuation

* MLA style

* Always put you name at the top of each page and staple pages.

* Refer to "partners" first for updated information in case of an unavoidable absence.

* All writing assignments must use correct citation style.

* Avoid broad generalizations such as speaking about "today’s society."

* Do not express personal opinions in papers.

* Avoid speculation and assumptions about "general knowledge."

* Avoid long quotes.

* Avoid unnecessarily complicated sentences

* Paraphrase readings, cite the source, and write reasonably conclusions

* One page papers need to be approached as a literature review. That is, seek evidence embedded in scholarly research and other reliable sources, and apply results to contemporary issues. For example, to discuss developments in cell phone use, any diffusion of innovation research can be used to compare past situations with current observations. This can demonstrate a "reasoned" position rather than a personal opinion that lacks grounding in established research.

* Readings in Hacker are short and to the point, effectively illustrated. Read all of Hacker assignments in advance of the due dates. Due dates represent class discussion in preparation for papers and the final English Proficiency Test. However, in order to positively prepare for writing assignments, the readings need to be taken up before papers, proposals, and planning the term paper.

* WSU has a policy for academic integrity that uses services that check papers for plagiarism by comparing them to thousands of other papers. Your papers will be checked for plagiarism, so be aware of what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid a serious situation.

Plagiarism: A paper in which you fail to appropriately document use of other peoples work will receive an "F" for that paper. For example, if the first draft of your research paper contains plagiarized writing, 20% of the total course-grade will be "F." Hacker (2003) provides detailed descriptions of plagiarism, including the following:

* Your research paper is a collaboration between you and your sources. To be fair and ethical, you must acknowledge your debt to the writers of these sources. If you don't you are guilty of plagiarism, a serious academic offense. Three different acts are considered plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words (p. 261).

* You are guilty of plagiarism if you half-copy the author's sentences--either by mixing the author's well-chosen phrases without using quotation marks or by plugging your own synonyms into the author's sentence structure (p. 331-334).

Note: The readings generally will provide background in advance of an upcoming class. The Massey readings are available on reserve at the library.

April1: Syllabus Intro, What is research?

April 3: English Proficiency Exam

April 8: library research--Librarian presentation

April 10: Hacker pp. 242-279 Quiz on syllabus; Punctuation

April 15: Hacker pp. 17-23 Report analysis

Massey pp. 10-20 discuss/write response "Stories" Gerbner

April 17: Massey pp. 55-58 discuss/write "Dumb-Down" Gitlin

April 22: Massey pp. 80-83 paper #1 due

discuss/write "Holiness, Royalty" Martin

April 24: Hacker pp. 51-93 Preparing to write

Brainstorming, proposals

April 29: Hacker pp. 3-11 Proposals due

May 1: Hacker pp. 164-214 Relative pronouns; Sentence construction

May 6: Hacker pp. 11-16, 23-48 Outlining and planning;

May 8: Hacker pp. 97-122 Parallel construction

May 13: Hacker pp. 325-397. Agreement, Paragraphing, Transitions

May 15: Works Cited due and Paper #3 due Individual meetings

May 20: Individual meetings

May 22: Draft I due; Editing and revising. Individual meetings

May 27: Individual meetings

May 29: Individual meetings

June 3: Final Draft Due; English Proficiency Exam

June 5: LAST CLASS

June 10: Tuesday. 8:00-10:00 a.m. Final Exam Period