The Call to Write

I. WRITING AND READING. Introduction: The Call to Write. 1. What Is Writing?: Analyzing Literacy Events. Writing in Everyday Life. Writing in the Workplace. Going On-line: Napster and Intellectual Property. Writing in the Public Sphere. Writing in School. Ethics of Writing. Analyzing a Literacy Event. Passage from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Passage from Eudora Welty, One Writer's Beginnings. Passage from Margaret J. Finders, Just Girls: Hidden Literacies and Life in Junior High. Writing Assignment: Analyzing a Literacy Event. 2. Reading Strategies: Analyzing the Rhetorical Situation. Previewing. Reading Strategies. Underlining. Annotation. Stephen Jay Gould, "Alfred Binet and the Original Purpose of the Binet. Scale." Summarizing. Exploratory Writing. Ethics of Reading. Analyzing Writing. Jonathan Kozol, "Distancing the Homeless." Outlining. Describing the Writer's Strategy. Analyzing Facts and Claims. Evaluating the Writer's Evidence. Analyzing the Rhetorical Situation. Going Online: Evaluating Web Sites. Analyzing the Writer's Language. Sample Analysis of a Rhetorical Situation. Kevin Powell, "My Culture at the Crossroads." Rhetorical Analysis of "My Culture at the Crossroads." Writing Assignment: Rhetorical Analysis. 3. Persuasion and Responsibility: Analyzing Arguments. Understanding Argument. What Is Argument? Dealing with Reasonable Differences. What Do Readers Expect from Arguments? Ethics of Argument. Entering a Controversy. Analyzing Issues. Types of Issues. Taking a Position: From Issues to Claims. Developing a Persuasive Position. What Are the Rhetorical Appeals? Constructing an Appropriate Rhetorical Stance. Making an Argument. What Are the Parts of an Argument? Putting the Parts Together. Going On-line: Following a Thread. Negotiating Differences. How Are Pro-and-Con Arguments Limiting? Beyond Pro and Con. Dialogue with Others. Recognizing Ambiguities and Contradictions. Locating Common Ground. Sample Rhetorical Analysis of an Argument. Writing Assignment: Analyzing an Argument. II. WRITING PROJECTS. Introduction: Genres of Writing 4. Letters: Establishing and Maintaining Relationships. Thinking About the Genre. Readings. Letters Home. Letters to the Editor. An Exchange of Letters. Open Letter: James Baldwin, "My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew." Visual Design: Letter of Appeal from Doctors Without Borders. Writing Assignment. Invention. Planning. Working Draft. Revising. Writers' Workshop. Michael Brody, Letter to the Editor. Michael Brody's Commentary. Reflecting on Your Writing. 5. Memoirs: Recalling Personal Experience. Thinking About the Genre. Readings. Gary Soto, "Black Hair." Annie Dillard, from An American Childhood. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., "In the Kitchen." Visual Design: Records of the Past. Going On-line: Visiting Others' Home Pages. Writing Assignment. Invention. Ethics of Writing: Bearing Witness. Planning. Working Draft. Revising. Writers' Workshop. Jennifer Plante's Commentary. Jennifer Plante, "Sunday Afternoons." Reflecting on Your Writing. 6. Public Documents: Codifying Beliefs and Practices. Thinking About the Genre. Exploring Your Experience. Encounters with Public Documents: Abraham Verghese, from My Own Country and Ellen Cushman, from The Struggle and the Tools. Ethics of Writing: Plain Language. Manifestos: "First Things First Manifesto 200" and The Mentor, "Hacker's Manifesto, or the Conscience of a Hacker." Proposition 215, Medical Use of Marijuana, California State Ballot, 1996. Council of Writing Program Administrators, "WPA Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition." Visual Design: Paula Scher, "Defective Equipment: The Palm Beach County Ballot." Looking at the Genre: Further Suggestions for Discussion and Analytical Writing. Going On-Line: Fiding On-Line Documents at Your College. Writing Assignment. Working Together: Writing a Class Charter. Invention. Planning. Working Draft. Peer Commentary. Revising. Writers' Workshop: Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Honesty, Proposal for an Honor Code. Reflecting on Your Writing. 7. Profiles: Creating a Dominant Impression. Thinking About the Genre. Exploring Your Experience. Molly O'Neill, "A Surgeon's War on Breast Cancer." Mike Rose, "I Just Wanna Be Average." Jon Garelick, "Kurt Cobain 1967-94." Ethics of Writing: Responsibility to the Writer's Subject. Visual Design: Profiles in Advertising. Pfizer Ad. "Inmar Hernandez and the Shame in Our Nation's Capital." Going On-Line: Visiting Corporate and Non-Profit Web Sites. Looking at the Genre: Further Suggestions for Discussion and Analytical. Writing. Working Together Analyzing Celebrity Profiles. Writing Assignment. Invention. Research. Planning. Working Draft. Peer Commentary. Revising. Writers' Workshop. Richard Quitadamo, Working Draft of "A Lawyer's Crusade Against Tobacco." Quitadamo's Note on his working draft. Reflecting on Your Writing. 8. Fact Sheets, Brochures, and Websites: Informing and Explaining. Thinking About the Genre. Exploring Your Experience. Fact Sheets/FAQs: Living Wage and Habitat for Humanity. Broch Brochure: What You Should Know About Anorexia. Website: Visual Design: Massimo Vignelli, Everglades National Park brochure. Further Suggestions for Discussion and Analytical Writing. Writing Assignment. Working Together: Constructing a Chronology. Ethics of Writing: Establishing Trends. Invention. Going On-Line: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Planning. Peer Commentary. Revising. Writers' Workshop Reflecting on Your Writing 9. Commentary: Identifying Patterns of Meaning. Thinking About the Genre. Exploring Your Experience. Eric Liu, "Remember When Public Spaces Didn't Carry Brand Names." Commentary on Shannon Faulkner's Resignation from the Citadel: "Sadness and Shame at The Citadel." Susan Faludi, "Shannon Faulkner's Strength in Numbers." Capt. Erin Dowd, "Ex-Cadet's Actions Didn't Match Her Words." Michael Rock, "Since When Did USA Today Become the National Design Standard?" Lundy Braun, "How to Fight the New Epidemics." Ethics of Writing: In Whose Interest? Going On-Line. Visual Design: Parody. Further Suggestions for Discussion and Analytical Writing. Working Together: Assembling a Casebook. Invention. Planning. The Working Draft. Peer Commentary. Revising. Writers' Workshop. Rachel Smith, "Socially Accepted Discrimination?" Interview with Rachel Smith. Reflecting on Your Writing. 10. Proposals: Formulating and Solving Problems. Thinking About the Genre. Exploring Your Experience. Leon Botstein, "Let Teenagers Try Adulthood." Barbara Ehrenreich, "Stop Ironing the Diapers." Shonda Andersons, "Female Boxing: A Fieldwork Proposal for Soc. 215 Participant Observation." Going On-Line: Requests for Proposals. Henry Jenkins, "What Congress Doesn't Want to Hear About Youth and the Media." Ethics of Writing: Problems and Conflicts. Visual Design: Advocacy Group Appeals. National Urban League, Open Letter. Federation for American Immigration Reform, "A Moratorium on Immigration." Further Suggestions for Discussion and Analytical Writing. Working Together: Advocacy Group Proposals. Writing Assignment Invention. Planning. Working Draft. Peer Commentary. Revising. Writers' Workshop. Proposal for a Campus Coffee House. Writers' Commentary. Reflecting on Your Writing 11. Reviews: Evaluating Works and Performances. Thinking About the Genre. Exploring Your Experience. Karen Durbin, "Razor Thin, But Larger Than Life." Stephen Holden, "After 20 Years It Still Comes Out Swinging." Alan A. Stone, Excerpt from "Report and Recommendations Concerning the Handling of Incidents such as the Branch Davidian Standoff in Waco, Texas." Superbowl Matchup. Thomas George, "Why the Giants Will Win" and Mike Freeman, "Why the Ravens Will Win." Visual Design: CD Player Ratings from Consumer Reports and "The Fifty Greatest Game Shows of All Time" from TV Guide. Ethics of Writing: Reviewing as a Partisan Activity. Going On-Line. Further Suggestions for Discussion and Analytical Writing. Working Together: Course Review. Writing Assignment Invention. Planning. Working Draft. Peer Commentary. Revising. Writers' Workshop. Denise Sega, Working Draft of "More Than Just Burnouts." Reflecting on Your Writing. III. WRITERS AT WORK. Introduction: Managing Your Writing Projects. 12. Case Study of a Writing Assignment. Collaborating on Your Writing Projects Exploring Your Experience. Case Study of a Writing Assignment. Invention. Assessing Your Purpose. Understanding Readers. Exploring the Topic. Planning. Drafting. Peer Commentary. Describe the writer's strategy. Ethics of Collaboration: Responsibilities of Writers and Readers. Analyze the organization. Evaluate the argument. Revising. Krista Guglielmetti, "Family Life and Television" (student writing). Final Touches. Directions for Editing. Directions for Proofreading. Talking to Teachers. Going to the Writing Center. 13. Working Together: Collaborative Writing Projects. Guidelines for Collaborating in Groups. How to Work Together on Collaborative Writing Projects. Organizing the Group. Organizing the Project: The Proposal. Productive Meetings. Progress Reports. Confidential Self-Evaluation. Drafting, Revising, and Editing. Giving Credit. Final Presentation. On-Line Collaboration. Ethics of Writing: Giving Credit and Taking Responsibility. Identifying the Call to Write: Types of Projects. 14. Crafting Writing. Thinking About Form. Arrangement. Paragraph Development. What Is a Paragraph? Unity and Coherence. Topic Sentences. Strategies. 15. Communicating Online: Writing in the Age of Digital Literacy. Exploring Your Experience Word Processing. Steven Johnson, "How the Computer Changed My Writing." Interactivity: Communicating Online. Going Online: Finding Newsgroups and Listservs. The Ethics of Writing in Cyberspace: Netiquette. Creating Cyberselves. Camille Sweeney, "In a Chat Room, You Can Be NE1: Constructing a Teenage Self On Line" Virtual Community and Geek Culture: Two Views on Life in Cyberspace. Howard Rheingold, from The Virtual Community, and Jon Katz, "More From the Hellmouth: Kids Tell About Rage." IV. GUIDE TO RESEARCH. Introduction: Doing Research. Donna Gaines, Introduction from Teenage Wasteland. 16. Research Projects: Using Print and Electronic Sources. Overview of the Research Process. Getting Started. Preliminary Research. Developing a Research Question. Evaluating a Research Question. Writing a Proposal. Finding Sources. Keeping a Working Bibliography. The Library Catalog. Bibliographies. Periodical Indexes Online Sources. Electronic Databases. Government Publications. Reading and Evaluating Sources. Taking Notes. Evaluating Sources. Keeping an Open Mind. Planning and Drafting. 17. Field Research. Observation The Process of Observation. Conducting Observations. Analyzing Your Notes. Interviews. The Interview Process. Planning. Setting Up the Interview. Conducting an In-Person or Telephone Interview. After the Interview. Analyzing the Transcript. A Final Note on Interviews. Questionnaires. The Process of Designing and Conducting a Survey. Compiling, Analyzing, and Presenting Results. Performances, Museums, and the Media. Performances. Museums. Media. V. PRESENTING YOUR WORK. Introduction: Communicating with Your Readers. 18. Research Papers: Using MLA, APA, and COS Styles. Using Sources in Academic Writing. Integrating Sources. Paraphrasing. Summarizing. Quoting. Sample Paraphrase and Summary. Citing the author. Ethics of Citation: Avoiding Plagiarism. Working with Quotations. Long Quotations. Short Quotations. Phrases and Clauses. Fitting Quotations to Your Sentences. In-Text Citations. Works Cited (MLA) and References (APA). Books. Articles in Periodicals. Miscellaneous Sources. On-Line and Electronic Sources. Modern Language Association. American Psychological Association. COS Guidelines for Internet Sources. Sample MLA and APA Research Papers. Checklist of Manuscript Preparation for MLA- and APA-Style Research Papers. Brion Keagle, "Blues Songs and the Devil's Music." Jenny Chen, "Defining Disease: The Case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. 18. Visual Design. Purposes of Visual Design. Identification: logos, trademarks, icons. Information. Persuasion. Design Principles. Proximity. Alignment. Repetition. Contrast. Working with Type. Type and White Space. Typeface. Visual Design Projects. Preliminary Considerations. Working Sketches. From Sketch to Document: Some Examples. Flyers. Newsletters. Brochures. Web pages. 19. Essay Exams. Preparing for Essay Exams. Analyzing Exams. Surveying the Format. Analyzing Exam Questions. Planning Your Answer. Writing a Good Answer. Sample Essay Answers. 20. Writing Portfolios. What Should You Include in a Portfolio?. Amount of Writing to Include. Type of Writing to Include. Some Options for a Writing Portfolio. A Reflective Letter. Revised Writing Assignments. A Case Study. Peer Commentary. Commentary on Collaborative Writing. Samples of Exploratory Writing. Miscellaneous. On-Line Portfolios. VI. GUIDE TO EDITING. Introduction: Why Writers Edit. 22. Working with Sentences. Composing Sentences. Coordination and Subordination. Modification. Active and Passive Voice. Diction and the Use of Jargon. Editing Sentences. Editing for Clarity. Editing for Emphasis. Editing for Variety. Ethics of Writing: Using Nonsexist and Nondiscriminatory Language. Proofreading Sentences: Ten Common Problems. 1. Sentence Fragments. 2. Comma Splices and Fused Sentences. 3. Subject-Verb Agreement. 4. Verb Shift. 5. Pronoun Agreement. 6. Pronoun Reference. 7. Modifiers. 8. Mixed Construction. 9. Faulty Predication. 10. Parallelism. Ten Common Problems for Second-Language Writers. 1. Subject/Pronoun Repetition. 2. Articles. 3. This, That, These, and Those. 4. Adjectives. 5. Prepositions: At, On, In. 6. Participles: -ing and -ed Endings. 7. Present Tense: Third-Person -s Endings. 8. Auxiliary Verbs: Do, Does, Did and Have, Has, Had. 9. Conditional (if) Clauses. 10. Idiomatic Two- and Three-Word Verbs. Logical Fallacies