Term: Spring 2017

EWPC 107H: Academic Reading and Writing (T/R 12:00)

Instructor Information Instructor: Kirk Robinson Office: 176 Office Phone: 219 473 4308 (This is the single worst way to reach me! Send me an e-mail!) Office Hours: TBA E-mail: krobinson@ccsj.edu (This is the best way. I'll get back to you within 24 hours.) Instructor Background: I’m entering my 19th year of teaching at the university level. I worked at University of Illinois at Chicago (seven years) and The Ohio State University (four years), and I’m entering my eighth year at Cal College. My background is in composition, poetry, and 19th and 20th century American literature. I’ve worked as a freelance writer, a medical writer and editor, and for a time I was a card-carrying member of the UAW. I also once sold oil paintings door to door in London, England. My poems have been published in a number of nationally distributed magazines. I’m married, with four children.

Course Information Required Books and materials: -- A good Dictionary (American Heritage recommended!) -- They Say, I Say; Graff and Birkenstein (any edition) -- Other texts for our class will be distributed in class and supplied on our Blackboard site and found in the Specker Library, either physically or through databases. Learning Outcomes: The students will write at least 10-pages of source-based writing that states and defends a thesis, that uses and correctly cites reliable sources to bolster their arguments, and that acknowledges and adequately responds to opposing opinions. Students will write at least one evidence-based, inquiry-driven academic essay. The students will know how to write using sources, gracefully blending quotations and paraphrases into their own writing and correctly punctuating both in-line and block quotations.

• The student will use the library to find sources, efficiently searching the electronic catalog, Internet search engines, and electronic databases.

• The students will effectively evaluate Internet resources, accurately judging the reliability of websites and other online resources.

• The students will use online resources to properly format research writing in MLA style as well as an appropriate citation style for majors.

The students will summarize non-fiction texts, identifying their main point or thesis and summarizing the main idea and argument.

• The students will effectively read a variety of academic sources: books, abstracts, newspapers, magazines, and articles in academic and popular journals.

• The student will know how to systematically skim and pre-read the title, the table of contents, preface, introduction, and index of a book.

• The students will actively read non-fiction texts, using effective annotation and highlighting techniques. • The students will analyze an article, outlining its major divisions and showing how the parts work together to

support its thesis.

The students will understand the conventions of academic argument. • The students will understand the elements of an argument (including claim, reasons, evidence, and

warrants) and analyze the arguments of sources. • The students will identify and avoid fallacies of reasoning, including equivocation, either/or, hasty

generalizations, faulty analogies, begging the question, argument ad hominem, red herrings, etc. • The students will understand ethical and emotional appeals in persuasive writing and the importance of

adjusting argument and style for particular audiences. Course Description: This course teaches students the concepts and skills needed to read and write with sources. Students learn how to find, read, summarize, and respond to a variety of college level texts. It teaches students print and electronic search techniques, analytic and synthetic reading skills, and the conventions of academic argument, culminating in ten pages of source-based writing. A Note on Our Section of the Course: This is a thinking, reading, and writing course, three skills that will help you navigate the world. But, you can't think, read and write without having some kind of content. Our content is Economic Mobility in America. Most students, after all, say they are going to college for reasons that have everything to do with money. The course itself is about the power that comes with thinking, reading, and writing well ... but if you can do these things well, you will make money, too. A key skill in academia is “active reading” and we’ll use it as a stepping-stone toward complex thinking and incorporating academic sources in our own texts. We’ll also integrate what we read into clear, conscious, concrete writing of our own; toward the sort of writing that makes for success in college and in the world. Essentially, we will be working toward writing as a reader, and reading as a writer -- towards getting out of the passenger seat and into the driver’s seat. Our theme is education, and most of the texts we read will provide a background for your final research paper. Learning Strategies: This class is taught in a process-based, participatory workshop environment. Students will be asked to read, reflect, write and revise in a recursive set of course assignments and activities. Students will be evaluated on their questions and upon their answers, on their process as well as their product. Experiential Learning Opportunities: We will practice the synthetic and analytical skills of undergraduate research and learn the basic techniques of peer-reviewed library research. We will play with games and simulations that demonstrate some of the fundamental ideas of the course. Our assessments are based on problem-solving and the major assessments are project-based. In short, we will be doing what's called "experiential learning." The best experience of all would be to present this research at external research conferences.

Assessment Grading breakdown Reading/Vocabulary Quizzes and informal writing assignments - 30% Writing Project #1 - "Four to One" Objective Summary - 5%

Writing Project #2 - Presentation and "Debate" - 15% Writing Project #3 - Synthesis/Analysis Research Writing Project #1 - 10% Writing Project #4 - Annotated Bibliography (3-4 pages) - 15% Writing Project #5 – Synthesis/Analysis Research Project #2 - 25% (including all drafts, abstract, and an oral presentation) Final Grading Scale: Subjective grading for in-term projects will follow these general guidelines: A Range (90 – 100%) = Excellent; all expectations met or exceeded; explicitly demonstrates thorough understanding and careful execution of project; no substantive shortcomings or only minor shortcomings; presentations, oral work, or documents are well organized, help other students learn course content, and add value above existing course content; writing is well organized and adheres to rules of grammar, spelling, and syntax with no or very few exceptions B Range (80 – 89%) = Good; most or all expectations are met; explicitly or implicitly demonstrates good and accurate (if not thorough) understanding; only minor substantive shortcomings; presentations and oral work are well organized and help other students learn course content; writing is generally well organized and mostly adheres to rules of grammar, spelling, and syntax C Range (70 – 79%) = Satisfactory; most expectations of the assignment are met but with at least one or more significant shortcomings; despite any shortcomings, demonstrates basic level of understanding and accomplishment; presentations and oral work demonstrate understanding of the content but do little to help other students learn the content; writing is organized well enough and with enough technical accuracy to be understandable D Range (60 – 69%) = Passing, but less than satisfactory; expectations of assignments are only partially met; more than one significant shortcoming; deficiencies indicate only the most rudimentary level of understanding; presentations demonstrate poor preparation and do not contribute to other students' learning; and/or writing is difficult to understand F (0 – 59%) = Failing; not completed or directions not followed; deficiencies indicate lack of understanding; presentations waste others' time; and/or incoherent writing Signature Assignments at CCSJ: This General Education class will help you prepare for CCSJ's Signature Assignments, a common written and oral assignment that students complete in Introduction to Social Justice as freshmen, Religious Studies as sophomores, and Philosophy as juniors. Signature Assignments are assessed for

Grade Points A 100-92 A- 91-90 B+ 89-88 B 87-82 B- 81-80 C+ 79-78 C 77-72 C- 71-70 D+ 69-68 D 67-62 D- 61-60 F 59 and below

written communications, oral communications, and critical thinking. You must meet required scores in Religious Studies to move ahead to Philosophy, and in Philosophy to complete your General Education program.

Student Responsibilities Attendance: You cannot succeed in this class if you do not attend. We believe that intellectual growth and success in higher education occur through interaction in the classroom and laboratories. However, we do not want to penalize students for participating in college-sponsored events. When you miss class because of a college event, you must give notice of your absence in advance, and you are responsible for all missed work. Being absent doesn’t excuse you from doing class work; you have more responsibilities to keep up and meet the objectives of this course. This section of English 107h is a process-based, participatory writing workshop environment. As such, attendance is required -- actual attendance, both physical and mental. In other words, pay attention and be involved in the course. When you are attending to your cellphone, Ipod or hovercraft, you are not attending the class. Students who are more than five minutes late to class will be charged with the equivalent of half an absence. In accordance with English program policy, any student missing more than NINE (9) hours of class will receive an F. These nine hours include both excused and unexcused absences. Please be aware that these hours include any and all time taken off for illness, work, sports events, and personal / family celebrations. If a problem arises with your absences, please come and talk to me immediately. In addition to the above, the key to truly attending the class is being present in an active way that, while totally enhancing your own opportunity to learn, also enhances the learning of your classmates. Respectful, thoughtful discussion that integrates our source material is human, and necessary. Students who don’t enhance the experiences of others will often be tolerated. Students who actually detract from the learning experience of others will not be tolerated, and will instead be removed from the class at my discretion and often without warning. What to do if you suddenly and unexpectedly miss class: When you miss class, your responsibility goes up, not down. Begin to take that responsibility as soon as you can. You are going to want to know "what did I miss?," and I will certainly want to tell you, but I won't be doing so in an e-mail. It took an hour and a half for that course session to happen, in class. I won't be able to capture our activities in an e-mail. If you come in to my scheduled office hours, we can talk about what you missed. If the scheduled office hours can't work for you, then make an appointment and we'll sort it out. What to do when you know at least 36 hours in advance that you will miss class: If you've got a road game, or a court date, or a wedding or funeral, you'll know well in advance. If you let me know in advance, I can arrange an alternative assignment or due-date for you. I'm happy to do this, but I can only do it with at least 36 hours of notice. While there are no "make-up" quizzes, there are alternative assignments ... IF it they are arranged in advance. Late Major Assignments: All five formal writing projects (see above) are due at the beginning of class on the assigned date, when a hard copy of the assignment will be collected within the first ten minutes of class. Any formal writing projects collected after that (again, hard copy only) will be assessed a penalty of ten percent per day, from that ten-minute point onward. Eleven minutes late is the same as a day late. I will only make exceptions to this policy in cases of documented emergencies or 24 hours or more before the deadline. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that pencils break, computers crash, cars break down, and flash drives malfunction -- it happens to all of us! -- but these are not emergency reasons for late work. They just happen. Save and backup often. And if it's late ... take your 10% penalty with dignity. No stories please!

Missed Quizzes or Missed Homework: When you miss a quiz, you've missed it. They can't be "made up" later. The same goes for homework assignments other than our debate and five major writing projects. Our daily work is meant to reinforce (and assess) what we are doing in class at the time, and it makes no sense to do this after the fact, in other ways. It would be like holding practice AFTER the big game. Each of these low-stakes assignments is part of our whole project, and missing one or two won't hurt your grade at all. Here's why: I drop the lowest two quiz or daily assignment scores at the end of the term when calculating your semester grade. Electronic Devices and Social Media: The classroom is a community. So, please turn off all cell phones, pagers, personal toasters, hovercrafts, etc, for the full duration of each class. (See “Attendance,” above.) If you know you will need to communicate with the community outside our classroom, (e.g. illness at home, work situation), and you must use electronic devices during class, please speak to me about it before the class meets. Of course, if you have a baby at home, you need your celphone on at all times. So, put it on some silent mode. I do recognize that we live in a digital age, and I will often provide a “text-break” or a “Farmville” break in the middle of class so you can tend to your flock. If your attention to social media distracts my attention, however, I will count you absent for that particular class and dock your participation grade accordingly. What to do if class is unexpectedly cancelled: It snows a lot around here. Also, I've got three kids in elementary school and a tiny baby. I once got caught in one of our elevators for two hours. A million things could happen that could unexpectedly cancel a class. In these cases, tune in to our class Blackboard site before midnight on the day of the cancelled class. There will be at least one short written assignment due online BEFORE the next class period in order to keep us on track toward our class goals. Missing these assignments will be like missing any other. Other news about deadlines and responsibilites will be available in Blackboard announcements. Reaching me Online or Outside of Class: While I won't take any work via e-mail -- I'll be very happy to talk to you about it via e-mail. In fact, I'll answer any questions about the course (or anything else, really) via e-mail, usually within less than 12 hours. I love to talk about the stuff we are doing, and what college is all about. Drop me a line. Also, drop by my office hours, where the work of the course CAN be usefully customized to suit your particular needs. Office hours are a great place to talk through questions or problems. If you are coming in during scheduled office hours ... just come in. You don't need an appointment. If the office hours don’t work for you, send me a note and we’ll work something out. I’m on campus nearly all the time.

Institutional Policies Intellectual Integrity:

If you turn in work that is in some way or some part not your own, you are subject to judicial review, and these procedures can be found in the College Catalog and the Student Planner. The maximum penalty for any form of academic dishonesty is dismissal from the College. In this class you will use a lot of secondary sources, and you will use standard MLA citation guidelines to document sources and avoid plagiarism. The Library has reference copies of each of these manuals, and there are brief checklists in your Student Handbook and Planner.

Withdrawal from Classes Policy:

After the last day established for class changes has passed (see the College calendar), you may withdraw from a course by following the policy outlined in the CCSJ Course Catalog.

Student Resources

Student Success Center:

The Student Success Center provides faculty tutors at all levels to help you master specific subjects and develop effective learning skills. It is open to all students at no charge. You can contact the Student Success Center at 219 473-4287 or stop by the Library.

Disability Services:

Disability Services strives to meet the needs of all students by providing academic services in accordance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines. If you believe that you need a “reasonable accommodation” because of a disability, contact the Disability Services Coordinator at 219-473-4349.

CCSJ Alert:

Calumet College of St. Joseph’s emergency communications system will tell you about emergencies, weather-related closings, or other incidents via text, email, or voice messages. Please sign up for this important service annually on the College’s website at: http://www.ccsj.edu/alerts/index.html. In addition, you can check other media for important information, such as school closings: Internet: http://www.ccsj.edu Radio: WAKE – 1500 AM, WGN – 720 AM, WIJE – 105.5 FM, WLS – 890 AM, WZVN – 107.1 FM, WBBM NEWS RADIO 78 TV Channels: 2, 5, 7, 9, 32

Emergency Procedures MEDICAL EMERGENCY

EMERGENCY ACTION

1. Call 911 and report incident. 2. Do not move the patient unless safety dictates. 3. Have someone direct emergency personnel to patient. 4. If trained: Use pressure to stop bleeding. 5. Provide basic life support as needed.

FIRE EMERGENCY ACTION

1. Pull alarm (located by EXIT doors). 2. Leave the building. 3. Call 911 from a safe distance, and give the following information: • Location of the fire within the building. • A description of the fire and how it started (if known)

BUILDING EVACUATION 1. All building evacuations will occur when an alarm sounds and/or upon notification by security/safety

personnel. DO NOT ACTIVATE ALARM IN THE EVENT OF A BOMB THREAT.

2. If necessary or if directed to do so by a designated emergency official, activate the building alarm. 3. When the building evacuation alarm is activated during an emergency, leave by the nearest marked exit and

alert others to do the same. 4. Assist the disabled in exiting the building! Remember that the elevators are reserved for persons who are

disabled. DO NOT USE THE ELEVATORS IN CASE OF FIRE. DO NOT PANIC. 5. Once outside, proceed to a clear area that is at least 500 feet away from the building. Keep streets, fire

lanes, hydrant areas and walkways clear for emergency vehicles and personnel. The assembly point is the sidewalk in front of the college on New York Avenue.

6. DO NOT RETURN to the evacuated building unless told to do so by College official or emergency responders.

IF YOU HAVE A DISABILITY AND ARE UNABLE TO EVACUATE: Stay calm, and take steps to protect yourself. If there is a working telephone, call 911 and tell the emergency dispatcher where you are or where you will be moving. If you must move,

1. Move to an exterior enclosed stairwell. 2. Request persons exiting by way of the stairway to notify the Fire Department of your location. 3. As soon as practical, move onto the stairway and await emergency personnel. 4. Prepare for emergencies by learning the locations of exit corridors and enclosed stairwells. Inform

professors, and/or classmates of best methods of assistance during an emergency.

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SPILL/RELEASE EMERGENCY ACTION

1. Call 911 and report incident. 2. Secure the area. 3. Assist the injured. 4. Evacuate if necessary.

TORNADO EMERGENCY ACTION

1. Avoid automobiles and open areas. 2. Move to a basement or corridor. 3. Stay away from windows. 4. Do not call 911 unless you require emergency assistance.

SHELTER IN PLACE EMERGENCY ACTION

1. Stay inside a building. 2. Seek inside shelter if outside. 3. Seal off openings to your room if possible. 4. Remain in place until you are told that it is safe to leave.

BOMB THREATS EMERGENCY ACTION

1. Call 911 and report incident. 2. If a suspicious object is observed (e.g. a bag or package left unattended): • Don’t touch it!

• Evacuate the area.

TERRORISM AND ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATIONS

1. Call 911 and report intruder. RUN, HIDE OR FIGHT TIPS:

1. Prepare – frequent training drills to prepare the most effectively. 2. Run and take others with you – learn to stay in groups if possible. 3. Leave the cellphone. 4. Can’t run? Hide – lock the door and lock or block the door to prevent the shooter from coming inside the

room. 5. Silence your cellphone -- use landline phone line. 6. Why the landline? It allows emergency responders to know your physical location. 7. Fight – learn to “fight for your life” by utilizing everything you can use as a weapon. 8. Forget about getting shot – fight! You want to buy time to distract the shooter to allow time for emergency

responders to arrive. 9. Aim high – attack the shooter in the upper half of the body: the face, hands, shoulder, neck. 10. Fight as a group – the more people come together, the better the chance to take down the shooter. 11. Whatever you do, do something – “react immediately” is the better option to reduce traumatic incidents.

DAILY SCHEDULE: EWPC 107H Due Dates are in Bold. Reading assignments must be completed BY the listed date. Quizzes will appear without notice, and changes to this schedule will be announced on Blackboard.

wk. one 1/10/17 Understanding Distribution (& syllabus)

The Iceberg Model of Culture

1/12/17 Distinguishing "Objective" and "Subjective"

Beginning with "They Say, I Say"

wk. two 1/17/17 Earl Shorris, "Uses of a Liberal Education"; Paid

Education and Economy Narrative Due

1/19/17 Four Levels of Competence, Perception, Building Knowledge

Four On One Summary Due

wk. three Popular and Academic Sources 1/24/17 "The Banking Concept of Education," Paulo Freire

Introducing the Pew Research Center Study; Economic Mobility in America

1/26/17 Objectivity, Subjectivity and Reliability;

Complete IXL on basic composition

wk. four 1/31/17 Bill Moyers, "How America Became a 1% Society"

Introducing the Pew Research Center Study; Economic Mobility in America

2/2/17 Using Full-Text Databases

Popular and Academic Sources

wk. five 2/7/17 "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work," Jean Anyon

Economic Conversions & Comparative Essay due

2/9/17 Useful templates and "The Say, I Say"

Complete IXL on supporting evidence

wk. six 2/14/17 Introducing the Debate: Positions and teams

(Begin research) (They Say, I Say)

2/16/17 Common Ground: Research; logical fallacies I

wk. seven 2/21/17 Logical fallacies II and debate prep

Complete IXL on Logical Fallacies

2/23/17 debates: Rounds One and Two

wk. eight 2/28/17 spring break

3/2/17 spring break

wk. nine 3/7/17 "debate" paper due; Begin Research Journal (inquiry-based research)

3/9/17 Understanding Abstracts; Research Journal

wk. ten 3/14/17 proposal due

3/16/17 Research Journal Work Day

wk. eleven 3/21/17 Research Journal Work Day

3/23/17 research journal due

wk. twelve 3/28/17 Using "They Say, I Say" to imagine counter-argument and "so what?"

3/30/17 annotated bibliography due

wk. thirteen

4/4/17 Humanities week: No classes (conferences by appt)

4/6/17 Humanities week: No classes (conferences by appt) rough draft of research portfolio due Friday by 5:00

wk. fourteen 4/11/17 Work Week

4/13/17 Work Week

wk. fifteen 4/18/17 Research Presentations (throughout week) 4/20/17

final draft of research portfolio due Friday by 5:00

wk. sixteen 4/25/17 Finals Week; No Class Session