Writing 100 (Spring 2007)

Sections: WRT 100D (MWF 10:10 a.m.-11:05 a.m.) and E (MWF 11:15 a.m.-12:10 p.m.) || DUNL 207M

Instructor: Dr. Erin Karper || E-mail: ekarper@niagara.edu || AIM: ProfKarper || Office: Dunleavy 350 || Office Phone: 286-8631 || Office Hours: MWF 12:30-2:00 p.m.; by appointment

Download Syllabus (PDF File) || Download Course Schedule (PDF File)

Monday, April 30

Today we’ll meet in peer review groups to discuss drafts. Then we’ll discuss and practice strategies for revising for structure and organization.

Assignments For Next Class

Work on revising position paper.

Wednesday, May 2

Today we’ll discuss thesis statements, development, and revising for use and attribution of sources.

Assignments For Next Class

Continue revising; bring a clean copy of your draft to class.

Friday, May 4

Today we’ll discuss how to revise your drafts in order to make them more concise and to correct patterns of error.

Assignments For Next Class

Final draft of position paper due: please attach the instructor’s comments and your peer review comments to your final draft.

Monday, April 23

Today we’ll discuss integrating research into papers in order to support claims and reasons.

Assignments For Next Class

Write sample paragraph of paper; bring it to class.

Wednesday, April 25

Today we’ll discuss paragraphing strategies as well as strategies for building introductions and conclusions.

Assignments For Next Class

FIRST DRAFT OF POSITION PAPER DUE: BRING THREE COPIES TO CLASS.

Friday, April 27

Today you’ll exchange drafts in peer review groups. We’ll practice peer review with a sample paper and then you’ll work on reviewing the papers of your group members.

Assignments For Next Class

Work on position paper peer review.
Read pp. 209-212 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Monday, April 16

Today you’ll turn in the final drafts of your annotated bibliographies. Then we’ll review the academic paper assignment and discuss what information you still need in order to write the paper.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 93-102 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Wednesday, April 18

Today we’ll discuss developing thesis statements and structuring arguments in your position papers.

Assignments For Next Class

Read “A Modest Proposal.”

Friday, April 20

Today we’ll discuss taking a position and creating arguments and appeals for use in your position papers.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 358-369 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Wednesday, April 11

10:10 a.m. class: Guest professor visits class; receive annotated bibliography drafts from instructor.

11:15 a.m. class: Peer review discussion and revision strategies for your annotated bibliographies.

Assignment For Next Class

Work on revising your annotated bibliographies. Instructor will be in her office all day Thursday if you have questions.

Friday, April 13

10:10 a.m. class: Peer review discussion and revision strategies for your annotated bibliographies.

11:15 a.m. class: Guest professor visits class.

Assignment For Next Class

FINAL DRAFT OF ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE.

Monday, April 2

Today we’ll review your sample annotations for content and form, and then discuss and practice using MLA style to make citations.

Assignments For Next Class

FIRST DRAFT OF ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE; BRING THREE COPIES TO CLASS.

Wednesday, April 4

Today you’ll exchange annotated bibliographies for peer review and provide a copy to the instructor for feedback.

Assignments For Next Class

Complete annotated bibliography peer review.
Work on revising your annotated bibliographies.

Monday, March 26

Today we’ll discuss evaluating sources and review and practice critical reading and note-taking strategies.

Assignment For Next Class

Locate sources for your project.

Wednesday, March 28

Today we’ll work on accessing sources for your projects in the library. CLASS MEETS IN LIBRARY BASEMENT.

Assignments For Next Class

Bring list of sources and one actual source to class.
Read pp. 112-119 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Friday, March 30

Today we’ll discuss and practice writing annotations.

Assignments For Next Class

Bring sample annotation and citation to class; also bring list of sources for annotated bib.
Read pp. 375-376 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Need to see last week’s agenda?

Monday, March 19

Today we’ll work on refining your research questions to make them as specific as possible. Then we’ll start to generate ideas about the types of possible sources you might need to gather to answer your research questions.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 340-353 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Wednesday, March 21

Today we’ll discuss the ethical use of sources and how to avoid plagiarism.

Assignments For Next Class

Locate sources for your project.

Friday, March 23

CLASS MEETS TODAY IN THE LIBRARY BASEMENT. There, we’ll learn more about searching for and assessing the quality of sources.

Assignments For Next Class

Locate sources for your project.
Read pp. 313-328 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

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Jump to: Topic || Research || Annotated Bibliography || Position Paper

What’s this project about?

You are in the process of committing a number of years of your life to learning about a particular discipline, such as English, Elementary Education, Accounting, Tourism Management, Physics, History, or Biology. You may also have specific career plans for when you leave Niagara.

For this project, you will investigate, analyze and argue about a topic related to your major or future career which focuses on these questions:

• How do people make knowledge in your field of study or in your career?

• What happens when experts disagree? When and why do they disagree?
• How do you sort through all of the evidence surrounding a controversial question or idea and decide what your position is?
• How do you create a solid argument and respond to counter-arguments?

This assignment asks you to identify a controversial issue in your field, research multiple perspectives on this issue, and to decide which perspectives you agree and disagree with.

You’ll write an annotated bibliography (10 entries) and an position essay (8-10 pages) aimed at people outside of your field.

You will be expected to work both individually and in-groups to complete these assignments, as well as to complete multiple drafts and to show significant evidence of revision on the final versions. You will also be expected to pay attention to deadlines and to check the course Web site and the weekly agendas for the most current information about assignments, deadlines, and other vital information.

You may not “recycle” a paper or an annotated bibliography that you have written for another class for this assignment. If you wish to work on the same topic that you are pursuing in another class, that may be acceptable; please talk to the instructor.

You can earn a total of 400 points for all of the assignments in this unit plus 25 points for peer review activities; the amount of points for each component are available next to each component, as well as explained on each assignment sheet and on the course syllabus. Grading rubrics will be distributed with the final version of each project.What do I have to do to complete this project?

Choose A Topic and Form A Research Question

First, you’ll choose a topic and form a research question that you can use to help guide your research. Your topic should:

• Be related to your major or career OR to a major or career that you want to explore.

• Be about an issue in your field of study that has multiple perspectives or some controversy attached to it.
• Be a topic on which you can locate academic, trade, and popular sources.

The topic cannot be a “generic issue” such as abortion, gun control, the death penalty, stem cell research, lowering the drinking age, legalizing drugs, or other common social issues, unless you can show exactly how these controversies are dealt with in your academic field. Your topic should be as specific as possible, and you should be able to articulate clear research questions about it to help you look for sources and develop a thesis.

Here are some possible topics that would fit the assignment guidelines:

• Should elementary school students be taught how to use computers, or does teaching computer skills at a young age actually hinder their learning? (Education)

• What are the best strategies for dealing with prison overcrowding? (Criminal Justice)
• Does building a casino in an area cause economic harm, or does it benefit the area? (Tourism Management)
• Are electronic voting machines or paper ballots a better practice for elections in the United States? (Political Science)
• Is it possible to train employees to engage in ethical business practices, or is unethical behavior just a part of business culture? (Business)
• What are the best therapies for treating breast cancer? (Medicine)
• Do cognitive behavior therapy or anti-depressants work better in treating depression? (Psychology/Medicine)
• What really happened to the lost colonists of Roanoke Island? (History)

On March 7 and March 9 we’ll work on choosing topics and forming research questions.

BY MARCH 19 , YOU SHOULD E-MAIL THE INSTRUCTOR (EKARPER@NIAGARA.EDU) WITH A DESCRIPTION OF YOUR CHOSEN TOPIC AND YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION. 

If after you have started researching, you discover that you need to change your topic because you cannot find sources, you must notify the instructor by e-mail or in person by March 26.

Conduct Research in the Library and Online

After you choose a topic and formulate a research question, you will conduct research in the library and online between March 19 and 27. During your research, you should locate at least ten (10) sources and complete research worksheets for each source.

At least six (6) of your sources should be from the following categories:

• Books or essay collections

• Academic journal articles (from library databases, Web sites, or print journals)
• Trade journal articles (from library databases, Web sites, or print journals)
• Academic, educational, or professional Web resources

Four (4) of your sources can come from the following categories:

• Interviews with experts in your field

• Popular newspaper or magazine articles (from library databases, Web sites, or print journals)
• Commercial Web sites
• Specialized resources from your field, such as encyclopedias
• Other sources (please check with the instructor)

You can use encyclopedias such as Wikipedia or textbooks from your major courses as a reference for identifying controversial questions and perspectives, but you cannot use them as sources in the assignment because they do not provide enough depth and breadth. However, you can look up and use the references they cite as part of your research.

Make sure that you give yourself enough time to locate sources. Also make sure that you consult with the instructor or with a librarian if you are having trouble locating ten sources.

Write an Annotated Bibliography

After you have located research on your topic, you will write an annotated bibliography where you annotate at least ten (10) sources and summarize, assess, and reflect on each source.

To complete the assignment, you should:

• Write ONE introductory paragraph for the annotated bibliography that presents your research question and explains what you’ve discovered in your research. (You do not need to write an introductory paragraph for each citation.)

• Create a citation for each source as if you were going to cite it in a works cited list. Alphabetize your citations (and their annotations) as if they were in a works cited list.
• Under each citation, write two paragraphs for each source where you:
  • Summarize the source’s content: What are the main points being conveyed?

  • Assess the source’s credibility and importance: Why is this a reasonable and useful source for your project?
  • Reflect on why this is a relevant source for your project: Why is it important that you use this information in your project instead of some other source? (You can talk about how this isn’t a good source for your project if you don’t think it will be useful.)
• If you quote directly from any source in your annotation, attribute the quotations using MLA style conventions.
• Write with care and attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

You only have to write two paragraphs for each source; however, you must make sure that you summarize, assess, and reflect on the source in each annotation. See the sample annotated bibliography in the printer-friendly version for an example of what the project should look like.

Grading Criteria

This project will be graded on the following criteria:

• How well you use MLA style to create a citation for each source.

• How well you summarize, assess, and reflect on each source.
• How well you use appropriate conventions for written English (grammar, spelling, punctuation, style and tone).

The first draft of the annotated bibliography is due on April 4; The final draft is due on April 13. You can earn a maximum of 150 points for the annotated bibliography.

Write A Position Paper

You’ll use the sources that you’ve collected and presented in your annotated bibliography to help you write a long academic essay where you take a position on the issue and use your research and your own ideas and opinions to explain and argue for your position.

Specifics

In the essay, you should:

• Describe the issue you have chosen to research.

• Describe the different positions which people in your field have on this topic using research and your own knowledge.
• Provide a clear and explicit thesis statement which explains your position and your reasons why this position is the best choice.
• Develop an argument for your position with reasons and evidence from outside sources as well as your own opinions.
• Use at least ten (10) sources of information in your paper. These sources should include some of the sources from your annotated bibliography.
• Connect your ideas using transition words and phrases.
• Write in an academic style. (You can use first person, but your language should be precise, concise, and more formal than other types of writing.)
• Create sentences that are precise, concise, and correct.
• Show evidence of revision in your final draft.
• Pay attention to English conventions for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Formatting

The essay should:

• Have a heading on the first page with your name, your section, and the date. (A title page is not necessary.)

• Have a title that is centered on the first page under the heading.
• Contain page numbers on all pages but the first.
• Be 8-10 pages long (double-spaced; twelve-point font), including your works cited list.
• Use MLA style to give credit to sources by providing in-text citations, attributive tags, and a works cited list.

We’ll work together in class to help you develop all parts of your paper. You’ll also have an opportunity to give and receive feedback with your classmates on your first draft, as well as receiving comments from the instructor.

The first draft of the essay is due on April 25; the final draft of the essay is due on May 7.

Grading Criteria

This paper will be graded based on how well it:

• Describes the issue and explains the different perspectives.

• Takes a clear position and justifies the this position.
• Presents a specific thesis statement with a claim and reasons and has a clear focus.
• Presents and incorporates information, including using the works of others and the opinions and experience of the writer.
• Includes the minimum of ten sources.
• Organizes and presents information, including making transitions and connections between ideas.
• Uses MLA format to attribute information and format the paper.
• Shows evidence of revision by the writer.
• Presents information using strategies for clarity and conciseness.
• Uses appropriate conventions for academic written English.

You’ll receive comments on your first draft, and a grading rubric with your final draft that explains how your paper met the assignment guidelines. You can earn a maximum of 250 points for this paper. When you turn in your final version of the paper, you should also turn in your first draft and the peer review sheets you received. The peer review will be graded and worth 25 points.

The Writing Center, in the Seton Presidential Lounge, offers free tutoring in writing; you are encouraged to bring a draft of your paper there as well. You can make an appointment to see a tutor by calling 286-8075. 


What will I learn during this project?

As you work through the components of this project, you will:

1. Use writing for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating what you have learned from your research and to justify a position that you have taken.

2. Respond appropriately to a rhetorical situation which asks you to conduct academic research and create two types academic writing.
3. Demonstrate control of generic conventions for annotated bibliographies and argumentative academic essays including structure, development, paragraphing, tone, mechanics, and design.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of writing as an open, collaborative, and social process and work through the stages of the writing process: invention, drafting, revising, and editing.
5. Critique and edit your own work and the works of others.
6. Develop a specific research question or focus to respond to a writing assignment.
7. Identify a need for information and access, evaluate, use, and attribute primary and secondary sources in your work.
8. Integrate the words and ideas of others into your work and avoid accidental or deliberate plagiarism.
9. Write with clarity, brevity, coherence, and control of conventions such as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
10. Use technologies to conduct research and to draft, revise, edit, and design documents.

Dates to Remember

• Topic Due By Email: March 19

• Research Time: March 21-28
• Last Day for Topic Changes: March 26
• Annotated Bibliography First Draft: April 4
• Annotated Bibliography Final Draft: April 13
• Academic Paper First Draft: April 25
• Academic Paper Final Draft: May 7

Need to see last week’s agenda?

Monday, March 5

Today we’ll conduct in-class peer review of your brochures and discuss how you could revise them to improve their text, use of images, and design features.

Assignments For Next Class

FINAL DRAFT OF BROCHURE DUE.

Wednesday, March 7

Today you’ll turn in the final drafts of your brochures. Then we’ll go over the guidelines for the Investigating Your Field assignments and begin brainstorming ideas for possible topics.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 199-204 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Friday, March 9

Today we’ll discuss how to refine a topic from general to specific and work on developing research questions for your topics.

Assignments For Next Class

EMAIL RESEARCH QUESTIONS TO INSTRUCTOR (ekarper@niagara.edu).
Read pp. 354-357 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Need to see last week’s agenda?

Monday, February 26

Today you’ll turn in the final versions of your analysis papers. Then we’ll introduce and discuss the brochure assignment, and discuss characteristics of brochures and their text.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 453-463 in Norton Guide; answer questions on pp. 453-454 as they apply to your brochure.

Wednesday, February 28

Today we’ll discuss the visual characteristics of brochures, including using images and designing layout.

Assignments For Next Class

Work on your brochures.

Friday, March 2

Class won’t meet today so that you can spend time working on producing your brochures. The instructor will be in her office if you have questions.

Assignments For Next Class

FIRST DRAFT OF BROCHURE DUE: BRING THREE COPIES TO CLASS.

Need help fixing patterns of error in your draft? Here are some links that can help you figure out how to correct problems.

• Words are misspelled. Fix this by correcting the spelling.
  


• Word choice is incorrect (for example: using “to” instead of “too”). Fix this by choosing the correct word.
  

• Words are missing. Fix this by adding the correct word(s).
  

• Sentence is not actually a complete sentence (this is called a sentence fragment). Fix this by connecting the fragment to an existing sentence or changing the fragment to make it a complete sentence.
  

• Sentence is actually two or more sentences stuck together (this is called a run-on sentence or a fused sentence). Fix this by separating the sentences into two sentences, by adding a conjunction such as and, but, or, nor, or so, or by adding punctuation such as a semi-colon between the sentences.
  

• Sentence is actually two or more sentences stuck together with a comma (this is called a comma splice). Fix this by replacing the comma with a semi-colon, by adding a conjunction such as and, but, or, nor, or so, or by separating the sentences into two sentences.
  

• A comma is needed after an introductory phrase or clause. Fix this by figuring out where the introductory phrase or clause ends and adding a comma.
  

• Punctuation is missing. Fix this by figuring out which punctuation mark is needed and inserting it in the proper place.
  

• The sentence contains a list, but the parts of the list don’t start with the same type of word (this is called parallelism or parallel structure). Fix this by changing the beginning word in each part of the list to the same type of word.
  

• The pronoun used to address the reader changes in the middle of a sentence or paragraph. (For example: “Urban legends are an important part of one’s culture. You can see this in this story…”) Fix this by choosing a pronoun to address the reader with and sticking to it.
  

• Other problems:
  • Subjects and verbs don’t agree.
  • Sentence is unclear.

Need to see last week’s agenda?

Monday, February 19

Today you’ll turn in the first drafts of your analysis papers. We’ll discuss and practice peer review strategies before starting the peer review process with your papers.

Assignments For Next Class

Complete peer review sheets; bring them to class.

Wednesday, February 21

Today you’ll meet in your peer review groups to exchange drafts and discuss your reviews. Then we’ll discuss revising for structure and organization, development and use of sources.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 57-58 and pp. 213-218 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Friday, February 23

Today we’ll discuss revising for use of sources as well as style, tone, and conventions in your analysis papers.

Assignments For Next Class

Final Draft of Analysis Paper Due: Please attach instructor comments and peer review comments to your final draft.

Need to see last week’s agenda?

Monday, February 12

Today we’ll discuss planning strategies for your papers by thinking about the necessary “parts” of an essay and the types of writing that you’ll be doing in your paper.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 205-207 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Wednesday, February 14

Class was cancelled due to the weather.

Assignments For Next Class

Keep working on your papers.

Friday, February 16

Today we’ll discuss additional drafting strategies for your papers, with a focus on integrating research into your drafts.

Assignments For Next Class

FIRST DRAFT OF ANALYSIS PAPER DUE: BRING THREE PRINTED COPIES TO CLASS.

Need to see last week’s agenda?

Monday, February 5

Today you’ll turn in your research plans. Then we’ll discuss strategies for locating sources about your urban legend and strategies for recording and citing information as you do research.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 319-328 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.
Skim article given out in class.
Locate and bring at least one source of information about your myth to class.

Wednesday, February 7

Today we’ll discuss and practice evaluating sources for credibility, usefulness, and appropriateness to a rhetorical situation. We’ll also practice analyzing sample sourcesyou’re your own sources to extract their arguments and consider them in context and in relation to other sources.

Assignments For Next Class

Continue gathering and evaluating information for your paper.

Friday, February 9

Today we’ll discuss strategies for developing a focus and thesis statement and apply these strategies to develop a focus for your paper. Then we’ll discuss and practice various organizational strategies.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 54-57 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.

Need to see last week’s agenda?

Monday, January 29

Today we’ll continue to discuss the research methods that people use when investigating urban legends as well as how the researchers establish credibility. Then we’ll talk about how these tactics and principles might be applicable to other types of research.

Assignments For Next Class

SHORT DISCUSSION PAPER DUE. (Need to read the guidelines?)

Wednesday, January 31

Today you’ll turn in your short discussion papers. Then we’ll go over the guidelines for the analysis paper, and begin brainstorming possible topics.

Assignments For Next Class

Email instructor with chosen topic. (Need to read the guidelines?)
Read pp. 44-54 in Norton Field Guide to Writing; answer rhetorical situation questions on pp. 51-52.

Friday, February 2

Today we’ll finalize topics for the analysis paper and start generating ideas for what you need to know about your urban legend and how you might find that out through research.

Assignments For Next Class

Read pp. 331-339 in Norton Field Guide to Writing.
RESEARCH PLAN DUE. (Need to read the guidelines?)

Monday, January 22

Today we’ll go over the guidelines for the Busting a Myth topic and assignment set, focusing specifically on the guidelines for your information literacy paper. Next, we’ll discuss the two readings that you did for today in terms of their rhetorical situations and the larger issues they raise. Finally, you’ll analyze the rhetorical situation for your short information literacy papers papers and begin brainstorming ideas.

Assignments For Next Class

Work on short information literacy paper.
Read “What Are Urban Legends?”, “Preface,” (Brunvand) and “Introduction” (Craughwell), which were given out in class.

Wednesday, January 24

Today we’ll begin discussing how people define, describe, research, and examine urban legends. We’ll compare the definitions and research methods in the readings that you did for today, and we’ll examine another example of defining and researching urban legends and discuss that as well.

Assignments For Next Class

SHORT INFORMATION LITERACY PAPER DUE.

Friday, January 26

Today we’ll continue discussing how people define, describe, research, and examine urban legends. We’ll discuss the content and research methods of the article you read for today, and we’ll examine yet another example of defining and researching urban legends and discuss that as well. Finally, we’ll go over the guidelines for the short discussion paper, which asks you to explain how the people in the examples we’ve looked at in class define and research urban legends.

Assignments For Next Class

Read “Curses! Broiled Again!”, “Email Forwardables: Folklore in the Age of the Internet,” and “Brown Betty” (given out in class)

Download Printer-Friendly Version

Jump to: Information Literacy Narrative || Discussion Paper || Topic || Research Plan || Analysis Paper || Brochure

What does it mean to be information literate? Should you believe everything you read on the Internet? What about everything you hear from the experts? In an age bursting with information, it can be difficult to figure out what’s true, what’s false, and what’s in-between. This assignment asks you to analyze and assess an urban legend and to engage in informative and analytical writing.

Short Information Literacy Narrative

In today’s world, literacy means more than reading and writing; it also means being able to use information and work with technologies. What does it mean to be information literate? How has information literacy shaped your life? This assignment asks you to tell a story about a moment in your life where information literacy was important. It could be a moment where you learned an information literacy skill (such as searching for information on the Web or writing your first research paper), a time when you succeeded or failed due to your information literacy skills (such as locating information to help you solve a problem, or getting a bad grade because you didn’t find enough information or use it correctly), or any other example of how information literacy has shaped your life.

Content

Your paper should:

• Provide a well-told story about a specific moment in your life when information literacy was important.
• Use vivid details to give the reader an impression of the scene.
• Give some indication of the narrative’s significance: explain why this moment is significant.
• Use appropriate conventions for writing a narrative, including creating paragraphs with one main idea, taking a more formal tone than writing an email or a text message, and paying attention to spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Format

Your paper should:

• Have your name, section (WRT 100D or 100E), and date in the upper left hand corner
• Be one or two pages long.
• Be double-spaced in 10 or 12 point font.

YOUR PAPER WILL BE DUE ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 26.

Grading

You can earn a maximum of 50 points for this paper. Your paper will be graded based on how well it:

• Narrates a clear and well-told story about information literacy (20 points)
• Provides vivid detail for the reader and a sense of the significance of the moment (20 points)
• Uses appropriate conventions for narrative writing (10 points)

The instructor will provide a rubric when she returns your paper which explains the number of points you scored.

Short Discussion Paper

Content
As a class, we’ll read and watch some contemporary legends and some analyses of them and write a short (1-2 page) paper which discusses how people research and analyze urban legends.

Your paper should:

• Explain at least two ways how people investigate the veracity of urban legends and analyze why people tell them to others.
• Provide specific examples to develop your discussion and support your ideas.
• Refer to at least two of the articles, Web pages, or TV show clips that you have read or watched in or outside of class.
• Give credit to the works of others in your text using a citation system. (You may use any citation system that you know and are comfortable with.)
• Use appropriate conventions for academic writing, including creating paragraphs with one main idea, taking a more formal tone than writing an email or a text message, and paying attention to spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Format
Your paper should:

• Have your name, section (WRT 100D or 100E), and date in the upper left hand corner
• Be two pages long.
• Be double-spaced in 10 or 12 point font.

YOUR PAPER WILL BE DUE ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31.

Grading
You can earn a maximum of 50 points for this paper. Your paper will be graded based on how well it:

• Explains how people investigate and analyze urban legends, including providing specific examples and citing the research we have read and discussed in and outside of class. (35 points)
• Uses and cites the works of others in your text (5 points)
• Uses appropriate conventions for academic writing (10 points)

The instructor will provide a rubric when she returns your paper which explains the number of points you scored.

Choosing A Topic

Next, you’ll choose a specific urban legend to analyze. The urban legend needs to meet the definition of an urban legend that we discussed in class: it’s believed and told as true, and it has moral or social implications. Most conspiracy theories (like a second shooter on the grassy knoll or a faked moon landing) and cryptozoology (like the Loch Ness monster or the chupacabra) are not appropriate topics. If you’re not sure about a topic, the “Bust a Myth” links section on the course Web site provides links to various sites that collect urban legends.

You will be expected to do the following with your chosen topic:

• collect examples and variations of your urban legend
• research and prove whether the urban legend is true, false, or indeterminate
• research the urban legend’s origin and causes for why people believe in it and pass it along

E-MAIL A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF YOUR CHOSEN URBAN LEGEND TO THE INSTRUCTOR BY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2. It won’t be graded, but the instructor will respond with some brief feedback about your topic.

Research Plan

We’ll talk about what you might need to find out in order to investigate and analyze your urban legend, and you’ll create and submit a research plan which explains what information you think you’ll need and where you’ll look for it.

Content
Your research plan will:

• Provide a brief summary of your urban legend.
• Explain what you need to find out and how you will find it:
  • Where will you find specimens of your urban legend?
  • How are you going to determine whether or not your urban legend is true, false, or indeterminate?
  • Where will you find information about where the urban legend came from, why people believe it, or why people circulate it?
• Ask any questions related to researching or understanding your topic.
• Use appropriate conventions for academic writing, including creating paragraphs with one main idea, taking a more formal tone than writing an email or a text message, and paying attention to spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Format
Your research plan will:

• Have your name, section (WRT 100D or 100E), and date in the upper left hand corner
• Be between one and two pages long.
• Be double-spaced in 10 or 12 point font.

YOUR RESEARCH PLAN WILL BE DUE ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5..

Grading
You can earn a maximum of 50 points for your research plan. It will be graded based on how well it:

• Summarizes your urban legend (5 points)
• Explains where you will look find information about all three aspects of your urban legend. (35 points)
• Uses appropriate conventions for academic writing (10 points)

The instructor will provide a rubric when she returns your paper which explains the number of points you scored.

Analysis Paper

Next, you’ll use the information you collected and your own ideas to write an academic paper about your urban legend. You will write multiple drafts of this paper, receive comments on your draft from your classmates and your instructor, and revise and edit your work.

Content
Your analysis paper will:

• Present your urban legend (including variations) and discuss where it originated

• Take a position on whether the urban legend is true, false, or indeterminate and provide evidence to support your position.
• Analyze and speculate about why people believe in and circulate this urban legend to others.
• Have a well-organized introduction, body, and conclusion which present your ideas.
• Contain a clear thesis statement that tells the reader what to expect in the paper.
• Cite the works of others to support your arguments using attributive tags and parenthetical citations in MLA format.
• Provide a works cited list in MLA format for the works that you cite in your paper
• Use appropriate conventions for academic writing, including creating paragraphs with one main idea, taking a more formal tone than writing an email or a text message, and paying attention to spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
• Have a first draft which will receive written comments from your instructor and your peers.
• Have a final draft in which you revise your writing based on feedback and edit your writing to make it more clear, concise, and correct.

Format
The final draft of your analysis paper will:

• Have your name, section (WRT 100D or 100E), and date in the upper left hand corner
• Be between five and seven pages long.
• Be double-spaced in 10 or 12 point font
• Have page numbers in the upper right hand corner of each page.
• Include all previous drafts and peer review sheets (attached with a paper clip).

THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR PAPER WILL BE DUE ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16. THE FINAL DRAFT OF YOUR PAPER WILL BE DUE ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26.

Grading
Your first draft will not be graded, but the peer review activities you produce for your peers that they turn in with their final drafts will be graded and worth 50 points. Your final draft will be graded and is worth 200 points.

Your paper will be graded based on how well it:

• Presents, takes a position on, and analyzes your urban legend (50 points).
• Provides a clear thesis statement and develops and organizes information (50 points).
• Attributes information using parenthetical citations, attributive tags, and a works cited list in MLA format (40 points).
• Uses appropriate style, tone, and formatting for an academic paper (20 points).
• Uses appropriate conventions of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage (40 points).

Brochure

Finally, you’ll create a brochure which presents information about your urban legend to a popular audience.

Content
Your brochure will:

• Inform the reader about an aspect of your urban legend, such as its veracity, its origins, or its variations using a less formal tone than an academic paper.
• Provide a list of one or two sources of additional information drawn from your research.
• Contain at least one but no more than four pictures, graphics, or pieces of clip art that help inform and educate your reader. You can draw the graphics yourself or get them from other sources.

• Demonstrate an understanding of how brochures work as a genre by using short paragraphs, bulleted or numbered lists, and headings to organize and present information to the reader.
• Use elements of document design to appeal to your reader.
• Attribute information by providing captions or attributive tags.

Format
Your brochure will:

• Be tri-fold (three part) on both sides of a piece of 8.5”x11” paper.
• Contain information on all folds.

• Be created on a computer or hand-drawn by you.
• Contain your name and section (WRT 100D or 100E) on the front cover.


THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR BROCHURE IS DUE ON MONDAY, MARCH 5. THE FINAL DRAFT IS DUE ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7.

Grading

You can earn a total of 100 points for your brochure. It will be graded based on how well you:

• Present useful and relevant information to the reader and use conventions for writing brochures to arrange your information (45 points).
• Use principles of document design to arrange information on the page (35 points).
• Use an appropriate tone and clear syntax, punctuation, grammar, and spelling (20 points).

Learning Outcomes Covered in This Sequence

These assigments will help you learn how to:

• Use writing for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, communicating, and engaging with the world through the different types of writing that you will do for each assigment.
• Respond appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations and to the needs of different audiences by giving you a chance to write in a variety of rhetorical situations.
• Demonstrate control of generic conventions such as structure, development, paragraphing, tone, mechanics, and design by giving you a chance to analyze, discuss, and produce different genres of writing (academic papers and brochures).
• Demonstrate an understanding of writing as an open, collaborative, and social process and work through the stages of the writing process: invention, drafting, revising, and editing.
• Critique and edit your own work and the works of others through peer review activities.

• Develop a specific research question or focus to respond to a writing assignment through class discussion and through the thesis statement you include in your analysis paper.
• Identify a need for information and access, evaluate, use, and attribute primary and secondary sources via class discussion and activities as well as the content of your short discussion paper, analysis paper, and brochure.
• Integrate the words and ideas of others into your work and avoid accidental or deliberate plagiarism via class discussion and activities as well as the content of your short discussion paper, analysis paper, and brochure.
• Write with clarity, brevity, coherence, and control of conventions such as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling in the written work that you produce.
• Use technologies to conduct research and to draft, revise, edit, and design documents such as your discussion papers, research plan, analysis paper, and brochure.

This online scavenger hunt asks you to do some work online and to e-mail your results to the instructor. It’s designed to help you become familiar with the course Web site and also to give the instructor some necessary information about you.

Send an e-mail to the instructor (you’ll need to find her e-mail address in one of its many locations as part of the scavenger hunt) with answers to the following questions:

1) What’s your name?

2) What’s your phone number?

3) What’s your email address?

4) What’s your major?

5) What’s your favorite color?

6) What link on the site would you click on if you wanted to know what we were doing in class on a particular week?

7) When are the instructor’s office hours, and where is her office?

8) Which link in the “Do Research” category will help you cite your research using MLA style in a research paper?

9) Which link in the “Write a Draft” category will help you write an outline?

10) Which category of links will help you with the first project in the course?

When you’ve finished, be sure to bookmark the course Web site (or add it to your favorites) so that you can refer to it later.

Course Description

“A one-semester freshman course on a variety of topics teaches writing as a means of acquiring, as well as expressing, ideas. Students examine essay components as a way of developing and refining their own ideas; write multiple-draft summary, analysis, argument, and research papers; and learn how to avoid plagiarism.” (Undergraduate Catalog, p. 83)

Course Goals

As one of the foundation courses in the general education curriculum at Niagara, Writing 100 helps you learn how to develop critical thinking, information literacy, and written communication skills. In this course, as well as in other general education courses, you will learn how to:

• seek knowledge and truth by weighing evidence, evaluating facts and ideas critically, and thinking independently

• analyze a problem
• conduct appropriate research
• differentiate between facts and popular misconceptions
• synthesize a solution
• ethically attribute sources of information
• communicate effectively through written means


More specifically, WRT 100 aims to help you develop the skills you will need to write successfully at Niagara University, in the workplace, and in your everyday lives. It introduces you to planning/drafting strategies, revision strategies, and research practices necessary for writing effectively.

At the end of the WRT 100 course, you will be able to:

1. Use writing for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, communicating, and engaging with the world.
2. Respond appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations and to the needs of different audiences.
3. Demonstrate control of generic conventions such as structure, development, paragraphing, tone, mechanics, and design.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of writing as an open, collaborative, and social process and work through the stages of the writing process: invention, drafting, revising, and editing.
5. Critique and edit your own work and the works of others.
6. Develop a specific research question or focus to respond to a writing assignment.
7. Identify a need for information and access, evaluate, use, and attribute primary and secondary sources in your work.
8. Integrate the words and ideas of others into your work and avoid accidental or deliberate plagiarism.
9. Write with clarity, brevity, coherence, and control of conventions such as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
10. Use technologies to conduct research and to draft, revise, edit, and design documents.

The following chart shows how the WRT 100 learning outcomes will help you to accomplish the tasks listed in the general education outcomes for Niagara University.

You will use different learning methods to help you reach these goals: lecture, whole-class and small group discussion, writing both in and outside of class, group work (including peer review), and other active learning strategies.

In this course, you’ll look at two different topics and do different types of writing in each one. The table below summarizes the assignments and requirements for the course and how they meet the goals.

YOU MUST TURN IN ALL ASSIGNMENTS AND MEET ALL COURSE REQURIEMENTS IN ORDER TO PASS THE COURSE.

Busting A Myth

To see the full descriptions of assignments, visit the Assignment Sequence page for this topic.

Should you believe everything you read on the Internet? What about everything you hear from the experts? How do you know when to trust a source of information? How do you verify whether something really happened or is really true? In an overloaded information age, it can be difficult to figure out what’s true, what’s false, and what’s in-between. Some good examples of this phenomenon are contemporary or urban legends, which you may have been told by a friend, received in email, or read on someone’s blog. In this unit, you’ll write analytically and informatively about contemporary/ urban legends.

Research and Writing Activities

First, you’ll write a short (1-2 page) paper which discusses your information literacy practices: how do you identify a need for information, access information, evaluate information, and use information? You can earn 50 points for this paper.

Next, you’ll read some contemporary legends and some analyses of them and write a short (1-2 page) paper which discusses how people research and analyze myths. You can earn 50 points for this paper.

Finally, you’ll choose a myth of your own and conduct some research about it. As part of this research, you’ll write a research plan (1-2 pages) which details which legend you’ve chosen and what information you’re going to look for. You can earn a total of 50 points for your research plan.

Analyzing a Myth Paper

You’ll choose a contemporary legend/urban myth of your own and write a five to seven page paper where you:

• present the myth and any variations

• discuss the myth’s veracity
• analyze the reasons why people circulate this myth and what it says about our culture

The paper should use at least five outside sources including at least two of the sources that we have discussed in class. You will write two drafts of this paper; the first one will receive feedback from your peers and from the instructor. You can earn a total of 200 points for the final draft of the paper.

Presenting Your Findings Brochure

Finally, you’ll create a short brochure which informs the general public about your myth. To create the brochure, you will:

• reformat information and text from your paper

• choose and use appropriate graphics
• apply principles of document design.

You will create two drafts of the brochure; the first one will receive feedback from your peers and from the instructor. You can earn a total of 100 points for the final draft of the brochure.

Investigating Your Field

How do people make knowledge in your field of study or in your career? What happens when experts disagree? How do you sort through all of the evidence surrounding a controversial question or idea and decide where you stand as a future professional or member of a field? This assignment asks you to identify a controversial issue in your field, research it, and write an annotated bibliography, an informative encyclopedia entry, and an argumentative position paper.

Annotated Bibliography

First, you’ll identify a controversial question or issue – something about which experts disagree – in a field related to your major or career. Then you’ll acquire at least ten sources about the disagreement, including academic articles, trade publications, and popular sources.

Next, you’ll write an annotated bibliography where you:

• create an MLA-formatted citation for each source

• write a two-paragraph annotation for each source that summarizes the source, assesses its credibility, and reflects on its relevance to your project
• provide annotations for at least ten sources

You will write two drafts of your annotated bibliography and receive feedback on your first draft. You can earn a total of 150 points for the final draft.

Position Paper

Finally, you’ll use the research that you conducted and annotated (as well as any additional sources for which you’ve identified a need) to write a lengthy (8-10 page) paper where you:

• take a position on the issue you have investigated

• construct logical, emotional, and ethical appeals to support your position
• use the sources you have collected to develop and support your position
• cite sources in MLA style
• follow conventions for an argumentative position paper

You will write two drafts of your position paper and receive feedback on your first draft. You can earn a total of 250 points for the final draft.

Other Assignments and Requirements

You will also be graded on in-class writing and peer review activities (for a total of 50 points), and on course participation, which includes your participation in discussions and in-class activities (for a total of 100 points). If you are not in class, it affects your ability to participate, and so missing classes will have an impact on your course participation grade as detailed in the attendance policy.

Grading Criteria

Specific grading rubrics will be given out with the final version of each assignment which explain the exact criteria for that specific assignment. In general, though, your assignments will be graded based on:

• how well you fulfill the specific criteria for the assignment by selecting an appropriate topic and show that you understand the purpose and criteria listed on the assignment sheet

• how well you demonstrate mastery of the course goals listed on page two of the syllabus
• how well you access, evaluate, use, and attribute information
• how well you pay attention to higher-order concerns in writing including audience, organization, structure, focus, and genre conventions
• how well you pay attention to lower-order concerns in writing, including style, tone, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage

If you have questions about your grade or about grading policies, please see the instructor after class or during office hours. The instructor will not discuss your grade with anyone but you.

Grading Scale

You can earn a maximum of 1000 points in this class. The thousand points will then be converted into a final letter grade using Niagara’s grading scale.

• A+: 970-1000 points

• A: 930-969 points
• A-: 900-929 points
• B+: 870-899 points
• B: 830-869 points
• B-: 800-829 points
• C+: 770-799 points
• C: 730-769 points
• C-: 700-729 points
• D+: 670-699 points
• D: 630-669 points
• D-: 600-629 points
• F: below 600 points

Midterm grades will be calculated for all students and made available via WebAdvisor.

Required Texts

• The Norton Field Guide to Writing and The Norton Pocket Guide to Grammar and Punctuation by Richard Bullock, available at the campus bookstore.

• Additional readings, which will be provided by the instructor either online, in class, or through library reserve. These will help you to learn about specific writing issues or provide material for class discussion and analysis.
• For your writing projects, you will be expected to research and read multiple sources of information. This will be a substantial amount of reading. Please make sure you budget enough time to read and understand the material.

Required Technologies

To accomplish the goals of this course, you will need the following:

• Access to a computer with word processing software and document design software for creating course documents.

• Access to the World Wide Web and other Internet resources for accessing the course Web site and conducting library and online research for course projects.
• Access to e-mail so that you can receive e-mailed feedback on your documents and course announcements.

Course Web Site

Information about assignments, course policies and procedures, weekly schedules, and links to resources and readings will be on the course Web site.

These course policies are intended to accompany the “Rights and Responsibilities of Writing 100” for students, a copy of which has been distributed to you along with this document. The Rights and Responsibilities document sets down policies for all WRT 100 courses, and you are expected to understand and abide by those policies as well as the policies described here. If you have questions about either document, please talk to me, or talk to Dr. Paula Kot, the WRT 100 director.

Attendance

The common WRT 100 policy for absences is: Attend all classes. Being excessively late for class counts as an absence. You are permitted five (5) absences on a MWF schedule or three (3) absences on a TTh/MW schedule. Absences above this limit will affect your final grade. Penalties for excessive absences and/or missing in-class work due to an absence are determined by your instructor and are on your syllabus.

You are permitted five (5) unexcused absences for this course. Any unexcused absence after five absences will result in your course participation grade being lowered by 10 points for each absence. Also, for any absence, you will be unable to make up any graded in-class work from that day unless you have seen the instructor in advance. If you experience personal circumstances that may affect your ability to attend the course regularly, it is your responsibility to inform the instructor as soon as possible.

Attendance in class is taken each day via a sign-in sheet that is passed around the classroom. It is your responsibility to make sure that you sign the sheet each day, as that is your official record of being present in the course. If you do not sign the sheet, you will be marked absent.

Late Work

You are expected to turn assignments in on the date they are due. Assignments that are turned in between one (1) and five (5) days late will receive a deduction of ten (10) points for each day that they are late. After five days, an assignment will no longer be accepted and you will receive zero points for the assignment. If you need to renegotiate a deadline for personal reasons, please consult the instructor as far in advance as possible.

Academic Honesty

According to the Niagara University Undergraduate Catalog:

The integrity of an academic community necessitates the full and correct citation of ideas, methodologies, and research findings to the appropriate source. This is necessary to protect the original work, whether it is found in reference material, other published matter, or unpublished communication from faculty, other scholars, and fellow students. In addition, each student can promote academic honesty by protecting his or her work from inappropriate use. Academic honesty is essential to ensure the validity of the grading system and to maintain a high standard of academic excellence. The principal violations of academic honesty are cheating and plagiarism.

Cheating includes the unauthorized use of certain materials, information, or devices in writing examinations, or in preparing papers or other assignments. Any student who aids another student in such dishonesty is also guilty of cheating. Other possible forms of cheating include submitting the same work in more than one class without permission, and fabricating or altering references or actual research results.

Plagiarism is the presentation of ideas, words, and opinions of someone else as one’s own work. The offense does not extend solely to directly quoted materials presented without documentation. Paraphrased material, even if rendered in the student’s own words, must be attributed to the originator of the thought. Furthermore, if the student adopts a line of reasoning or a point of view adopted or derived from the work of another, such adoption or derivation must also be properly acknowledged. (pp. 48-49)

Examples of plagiarism include:

• Taking a paper or other project from an online paper database or any online or print resource and submitting it as your own work.

• Submitting a paper or other project written by another student, a relative, or anyone who is not you as your own work.
• Assembling a paper or project by copying and pasting (or retyping) entire paragraphs or pages from other documents or sources into a document and submitting the document as your own work.
• Using someone else’s words, images, or ideas without giving them appropriate credit. This could include failing to cite a source, failing to use quotation marks to attribute direct quotations, presenting source material as your own ideas, failing to provide in-text citations or works cited entries for all sources, or failing to make clear where cited material begins and ends.

In this course, you will be working with the words, ideas, and works of others quite often. Part of that work will be learning how to correctly credit the originators of the works you use. If you ever have a question about how to properly attribute information, please ask the instructor or make an appointment with the Writing Center.

Suspected academic dishonesty will be dealt with following the policies and procedures laid out on pages 48-49 of the Undergraduate Catalog.

Technology Use

As part of your work in this course, you will be expected to use technologies in conducting research and producing writing. Also, information about assignments, deadlines, and other course information will be disseminated through the course Web site. Throughout the course, you will be expected to:

• Check the course Web site at least twice a week for information about course projects, deadlines, and other course information.

• Use e-mail and other forms of online communication to communicate with the instructor and your classmates when necessary.
• Confirm that the instructor has received e-mail or other electronic communications, especially assignments. If the instructor has not responded to your email within 48 hours, please follow-up and confirm that she has received your email.
• Use various types of software, including word processors, page design software, and presentation design software, to complete course projects.
• Print and make copies of your work to bring to class.
• Be willing to get help from the instructor or other campus resources to use technologies for course projects and other coursework.
• Pay attention to standards for written English when using computers for communication. This includes using correct grammar, spelling and punctuation in all communications to your instructor and classmates as well as avoiding netspeak-based substitutions such as “u” for “you.”
• Use technologies respectfully and appropriately. This includes complying with Niagara’s Acceptable Use Policies in the Student Technology Handbook, and also being respectful of the instructor and your fellow classmates.

Writing Center Support

The Writing Center, in the Seton Presidential Lounge, offers free tutoring in writing for students who want or need extra help. You can make an appointment to see a tutor by calling 286-8075. All writers benefit from additional feedback on their work; visiting the Writing Center is not a punishment nor an indication of weakness.

Students With Disabilities

Students with documented disabilities who may need accommodations, who have any emergency medical information the instructor should know about, or who need special arrangements in the event of an evacuation, should make an appointment with the instructor as early as possible in the semester, preferably no later than the first week of the semester. Students must also register with the Disabilities Specialist (286-8541 or kadams@niagara.edu) in order to facilitate the provision of needed accommodations.

Counseling Services and Academic Support

The staff of the office of counseling services in the lower level of Seton Hall and the Academic Support staff in the Learning Center in Seton Hall are available to help students manage the stresses of university life. All private consultations are confidential and free of charge. Appointments can be scheduled by calling 286-8536 (Counseling) or 286-8072 (Office of Academic Support).