Eng Comp I00

Any writer’s relationship to the state of ‘not-knowing’ is Tracy Haack, MA, MFA
complicated. One response is to rush in quickly and fill up the UW-Green Bay
scary silence and space. And while intense, white-water Contact: haackt@uwgb.edu
sensibilities can astound in many other cases, writing born of Office: MAC B324
this response, this impulse to fill all gaps, feels instead eager to Office Hrs: TuTh 11-12 or by appt.
get the job done. Such a drive, the precise opposite of Negative Class Time: 8-9:20
Capability, is often marked by an insular, fussy density, reliance Credits: 3
on a Big Story (to the exclusion of say, lyrical lingering and Class: Eng Comp 100-0008 (3144), lecture
curious reflection), and, very often, a forcing of pattern instead of
Classroom: CL 102
an authentically discovered series of alignments.

Lia Purpura, “Silence and Not-Knowing”

 Spring 2
Learning Outcomes
English Composition I Aims
-Learn and use key Dear English Comp I Student,
rhetorical concepts
through analyzing and English Comp I is a thinking course that uses writing to work through questions and
composing a variety of communicate with real audiences. We won’t read Charles Dickens, but we will
texts research, write, and ask a lot of questions through various types of writing. Writing
looks different in different places, and because of this, our course is designed to
-Gain experience help you practice different kinds of writing. By focusing on rhetoric and modes
reading and composing of communication, I hope you learn to account for connections across campus and
in several genres in your life outside of college.

-Understand and use a Writing is often one of the primary ways we communicate (email, text, Facebook,
variety of technologies blog, news, etc.), and also one of the primary ways we make sense of our lives.
to address a range of With this in mind, I will be working to help you make sense of how to read and
audiences and tasks understand the moves various writers are making, and then how to make writing
moves of your own in a variety of genres.
-Develop knowledge
of linguistic structures, Writing is also an act of exploration. Learning to write from a position of ‘not
including grammar, knowing’ is challenging when we often use writing as a way to communicate our
punctuation, and answers. It can be difficult to ask questions and experience new ideas when we
spelling, through focus too much on our prior knowledge and expectations. Here, however, I want us
practice in composing to be usefully critical, constantly exploring the ideas we surface, as well as our pre-
and revising conceived ideas in order to surface more and more questions.

We’ll use small group work, workshops, digital tools, and class discussions in an
effort to investigate how written, recorded, and visual communications work to say
Catalog Description something using the various techniques of genre. By closely considering our
rhetorical situation as well as the context out of which all sorts of writing emerges,
Emphasis on writing as we will explore our assumptions about writing, what we think counts as writing, and
a process and on how writing is made. In short, we will use the tools of 21st century to create and
techniques used in convey meaning.
academic writing. Also
emphasizes essay Each of us will do localized research, asking questions to establish a complicated
structure, informative understanding of an issue. Writing will not merely be a way to communicate
writing and persuasive knowledge made elsewhere. Rather, we’ll spend our time together writing, reading
writing, and locating, our writing, reflecting, and revising to better surface meanings and communicate
evaluating, integrating, new ideas. Such an investigation requires us to balance an awareness of our own
and citing source position, our limitations, and our biases. We will need to consider sensitivity and
material, including absolute statements.
multimodal sources.
Reviews conventions The goal of this course is to learn how others are experiencing the world differently,
of paragraph and all around you, here at UWGB. A daunting task for sure. In doing this, I hope you
sentence structure, learn about writing with specificity, research, and rhetorical awareness.
punctuation, grammar,
and usage as needed. Soon,
 Spring 3

Projects
Small Assignments (25%)
Discussions, responses, drafts, and quizzes all fall under small assignments.

25%
Process
All of this work acts as the invention work behind your larger projects.
Work
These assignments cannot be made up or turned in late.
Polished

75% Projects
Major Assignments (75%)
1. Immersive Journalism
In this project, you will discover a local topic by participation. You will
summarize and problematize your topic. To do so, you will need to use
sources to gain a larger understanding of your topic, AND compose an
‘essay’ that helps readers unfamiliar with your topic understand why it is relevant. But, importantly, you’re not
convincing them of anything. You only need to help an audience feel interested. The article will be posted to
medium.com for an online reader.

2. Taking a Position
Unlike our other projects, this assignment is meant to give you practice with the conventions of high style
research, writing, and documentation. You will write a thesis-driven paper that argues a position based on your
previous explorations. To do so, we will practice making meaning with sources, MLA citation style, and polite
source integration. You will complete the paper with a reflection.

3. The Podcast
This assignment is the culmination of everything you’ve done this semester. But this doesn’t mean you are
saying the same thing as you were at the beginning of the semester. Your project has—hopefully—evolved!
Podcasts are exploratory genres that require you to develop good questions, research, interview, and compose in
both written text and audio. We will write a script and use audacity to compose. The final project will be
submitted via soundcloud.

93-100=A 72-78=C
Grades
In most learning situations outside of school, grades are never given.
89-92=AB 69-71=CD The learning that occurs in yoga studios, martial arts dojos, or cooking
83-88=B 60-68=D classes, doesn’t use any grading. In these “studio” cases, it seems
meaningless to give students grades, and yet, without any grades, those
79-82=BC 0-59=F students get better at yoga, better at martial arts, and better at cooking.

So, here’s one of the biggest hurdles I’m trying to overcome: Using conventional grading structures to compute
course grades often leads you to think more about your “A” or your “C” than about your writing and learning;
to worry more about pleasing or fooling your teacher than about figuring out what you really want to learn, or
how you want to communicate something to someone for some purpose. Because of all this, I’m working from
a point system that values your project’s ability to communicate (sure) but also your labor – in other words, the
time and effort you put into your work. I’m always working toward simplicity and clarity, so my expectations
for your work are detailed in Project Rubrics on Canvas. Our Canvas grade book is also always available to
you, and you can see your grade throughout the quarter. Small Assignments are weighted as 25% of your grade.
These include: responses, drafts, quizzes, workshops, etc. Polished Projects are weighted as 75% of your grade.
 Spring 4

Policies, Resources, & Miscellaneous

Materials
Always come to class with access to your current project materials. This includes class readings and drafts. You
will be expected to use canvas, medium.com, audacity, soundcloud, unsplash, raumroot, and other online tools.
Our textbook for this course is the reading I provide and A Pocket Style Manual, 8th edition, by Diana
Hacker and Nancy Sommers.

Email
Email is the easiest way to contact with me. On a weekday, I will check my inbox. Allow time for a response. I
will not respond to emails in the evenings or on weekends. To discuss specific draft issues, I prefer to meet in
person. Let’s set up a meeting! When emailing, get in the habit of using complete sentences and a:
1. subject header that includes course title
2. greeting that isn’t “Yo” or “Hey”
3. specific message (Need help or a response?)
4. closing and full name

Attendance and Participation (See also: page 6)

English Composition I is a lecture with workshop components, so students who are active in class tend to pass.
Being active in class means more than just showing up! It means participating, coming with completed work,
volunteering thoughts, discussing writing, and actively engaging. Not actively engaging means that you are not
mentally in class, and I’m marking you absent for attendance and participation (Every semester, I see a
correlation between active participation and grades.) You are allowed to miss three days without penality to
your overall class grade; however, please know that you can’t make up in class writing activities no matter how
many times you’ve missed class. After the third absence, your final grade will decrease by a half step for each
additional day. (IE: An ‘AB’ becomes a ‘B’ after the fourth absence. A ‘B’ becomes a ‘BC’ after the fifth
absence.) If you do miss class, instead of emailing me to talk about what you missed, contact classmates. I’m
happy to speak with you during office hours where you are always welcome. Don’t hesitate to ask for help early
rather than waiting until the end of a unit. If you experience a serious illness, a birth, or a death, I need to know
before it impacts your performance. I can make adjustments if you talk to me before scheduled due dates. Please
don’t email me with the question: “Did I miss anything important in class?” The answer will always be “yes.”

You can find UWGB’s inclement weather policy here: http://www.uwgb.edu/provost/policies/storm.asp and the
bereavement policy here: http://www.uwgb.edu/dean-of-students/assistance-advocacy/bereavement-policy.asp/
In case of a snow storm, please check your email in the morning! We will hold class online.

Are you a veteran? UWGB is a veteran-friendly campus. Speak with me if you will miss class for active duty
trainings. I’m happy to work with you on deadlines.

Late Work
All work must be turned in at the beginning of the hour on the due date. All Canvas assignments should be
turned in before the start of class unless otherwise specified. Out of fairness to your classmates, I do not accept
late assignments. If you know you’ll miss class, turn the assignment in before the missed due date.

Technology: the Myth of Multi-tasking

Multi-taskers are not splitting attention but starting and stopping tasks. Just be present for 80 minutes. Keep
cell phones and laptops put away during lectures. If technology becomes a problem, I will let you know and
then ask you to leave. My goal is to never need this policy. Technology issues are not valid excuses for not
turning in work; back up your work in two locations. If you need help with a technology-related issue, call the
 Spring 5
Computer Services Help Desk at (920) 465-2309. Do not bring work/readings on cell phones. Don’t turn in
screen shots. Avoid pages files. They are incompatible with canvas.

Diversity Statement
Individual differences can deepen our understanding of one another and the world around us. In this class,
people of all ethnicities, gender identities, religions, ages, sexual orientations, disabilities, socioeconomic
backgrounds, regions, nationalities, and political affiliations are strongly encouraged to share their rich array of
perspectives and experiences. If you feel your differences may in some way isolate you from our community or
if you have a need of any specific accommodations, speak with me about your concern and what we can do to
help you become an active member of our class. Finally, great projects are those that complicate our
understandings with evidence. Not those that mirror my own thoughts. Write where the evidence takes you!

Americans with (Dis) Abilities (ADA) Statement

Consistent with federal laws and the policies of the University of Wisconsin, it is the policy of UW-Green Bay
to provide appropriate and necessary accommodations to students with disabilities. If you require any academic
accommodations due to a disability, please contact the Disability Services (DS) Director (phone: 920-465-2841;
email: dis@uwgb.edu; website: www.uwgb.edu/ds) to register and/or request services. If you have already
established accommodations through the ACCESS program through the DS Office, please communicate your
approved accommodations with me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.

Classroom Climate, Academic Integrity, and Plagiarism

• Be prepared for all classes with current course materials
• Be working on the current classroom activity during worktime
• Be respectful of others, including thoughtful engagement in group work
• Actively contribute to the learning activities in class
• Avoid texting, instant messaging, snapchatting, doing work for other classes, sleeping on the desk

Please see UWGB’s Academic Integrity policy here:

http://www.uwgb.edu/deanofstudents/policies_procedures/students/pdfs/uws014.pdf.]

UWGB has an extensive definition of plagiarism here: https://libguides.uwgb.edu/plagiarism. Additionally,

your course textbook and Purdue OWL are great resources: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html.

Counseling and Health Services

College life can be stressful. For additional emotional support, visit: https://www.uwgb.edu/counseling-health/.

SOS
Ask for help. Struggle and question and ask for help. Work with me. Work with friends. Visit the Writing
Center on the second floor of Cofrin Library. The library has a series of resources for you to use here:
http://www/uwgb.edu/library/.

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