ENGL 131
Section D
TuTh 10:30-12:20
MGH 238
Winter 2010
Edmond Chang
University of Washington

Download the PDF version of the course policies and syllabus.

"I always advise children who ask me for tips on being a writer to read as much as they possibly can. Jane Austen gave a young friend the same advice, so I’m in good company there."
--J.K. Rowling


"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all."
--Oscar Wilde






THE CENTRAL QUESTIONS for our class are: What is academic writing? What is close reading? And what might Harry Potter, when read through the critical lenses of James Loewen or Mary Louise Pratt, tell us about our world? Much like gazing into the Mirror of Erised, what does reading, thinking about, and writing about J.K. Rowling’s famed series--both books and films--offer us? What do we see, know, desire? Can we read Harry Potter as more than children's literature or fantasy? How do we engage Harry Potter as an academic text, an object of analysis? Harry Potter, here, serves as the occasion for academic inquiry, research, and writing. In the first half of the quarter, we will engage the question of why teach Harry Potter at the university in the first place, and in the second half of the term, we will develop critical approaches to and arguments about Harry Potter as a cultural text.

A REQUIREMENT for this class is a well-developed curiosity about the world, about the culture we live in, and about the cultural productions we imagine, produce, and consume. Martin Lister and Liz Wells, authors of "Seeing Beyond Belief," argue for just this kind of curiosity, a methodology for unpacking cultural productions. They say, "Cultural Studies allows the analyst to attend to the many moments within the cycle of production, circulation and consumption of [a text] through which meanings accumulate, slip and shift" (459). They argue that our understandings of identities, meanings, and power, as well as the intersections of cultural and social locations like race, gender, class, nation, and sexuality, can be excavated through the analysis of the texts we create and consume. This class will spend the quarter reading, thinking, writing about various academic perspectives routed through Harry Potter, and how and what these texts argue, reveal, narrate, hide, perpetuate, and complicate the world we live in.

What is English 131: Composition?

Ursula K. Le Guin once wrote, "First sentences are doors to worlds." In a manner of speaking, English 131 is the first sentence of your university experience. This class is a first step, a first look, and often a first in-depth exploration of academic writing, of reading for writing, of scholarly research, and of rhetoric. The class takes as a basic assumption that writing is a skill and that, like any skill, it can be improved through guided practice. In this class, we will work to develop, challenge, and enhance the writing skills you already possess into the skills and intuitions necessary for academic and professional success. In a fundamental way, English 131 is a gateway class, a class that will set a critical and analytical standard and inform and influence and hopefully enrich your other courses.

English 131 promises a quarter of writing, reading, discussion, library research, asking questions, more writing, revision, more reading, more discussion, critical thinking, analysis, fun, and even more writing and revision. It is a writing class after all. We will engage texts small and large, everyday and theoretical and pay close attention to the tactics of writing and rhetorical devices the authors employ. This particular incarnation of 131 also promises a healthy inclusion of popular culture, everyday media, film, technology, cultural studies, politics, everyday activism, and experiential learning. Through all of these things, you will learn the principles behind academic arguments, claims, evidence, and analysis; you will develop rubrics of proofreading, revision, workshopping, research, and MLA citation; and you will learn how to apply these skills in your writing persuasively, responsibly, thoughtfully, and stylistically. By the end of the quarter, the goal is that you will be well versed in the English 131 course outcomes and be prepared to face the writing and reading challenges you encounter with the confidence and competence of a critical reader, writer, student, and citizen.
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"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
--Albert Einstein



Required Course Texts & Materials

• Readings on e-reserve (access via MyUW or the library website).
• Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. 1997.
• Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. 1999.
• Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 1999.
• Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Scholastic, 2000.
• Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. 2003.
• University of Washington. Situating Inquiry. 2008.
• Lunsford, Andrea A. The Everyday Writer. 2005.
• A full-sized college-level dictionary.
• Approximately $30 for making copies/printing.
• A sturdy two-pocket folder.
• Web access and an active UW email account

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
--William Butler Yeats



"Through joy and through sorrow, I wrote. Through hunger and through thirst, I wrote. Through good report and through ill report, I wrote. Through sunshine and through moonshine, I wrote. What I wrote it is unnecessary to say."
--Edgar A. Poe

For many, the prospect of taking English 131 is less than ideal. The course, over the years, has grown in both renown and infamy. English 131 is a difficult class, a time-consuming class, a meticulous class, a challenging class. It is a skills class. And at times it is a hard class. For many, it is only a required class that must be suffered and survived. Hopefully, though, English 131 will be more than just a requirement. Hopefully, you will come to realize that it is necessary and a foundation-building class with benefits that reach into your other classes, your time at the university, and beyond.

What are the course goals (Course Outcomes)?

1. To demonstrate an awareness of the strategies that writers use in different writing contexts.

• The writing employs style, tone, and conventions appropriate to the demands of a particular genre and situation.
• The writer is able to demonstrate the ability to write for different audiences and contexts, both within and outside the university classroom.
• The writing has a clear understanding of its audience, and various aspects of the writing (mode of inquiry, content, structure, appeals, tone, sentences, and word choice) address and are strategically pitched to that audience.
• The writer articulates and assesses the effects of his or her writing choices.

2. To read, analyze, and synthesize complex texts and incorporate multiple kinds of evidence purposefully in order to generate and support writing.

• The writing demonstrates an understanding of the course texts as necessary for the purpose at hand.
• Course texts are used in strategic, focused ways (for example: summarized, cited, applied, challenged, re-contextualized) to support the goals of the writing.
• The writing is intertextual, meaning that a “conversation” between texts and ideas is created in support of the writer’s goals.
• The writer is able to utilize multiple kinds of evidence gathered from various sources (primary and secondary--for example, library research, interviews, questionnaires, observations, cultural artifacts) in order to support writing goals.
• The writing demonstrates responsible use of the MLA (or other appropriate) system of documenting sources.

3. To produce complex, analytic, persuasive arguments that matter in academic contexts.

• The argument is appropriately complex, based in a claim that emerges from and explores a line of inquiry.
• The stakes of the argument, why what is being argued matters, are articulated and persuasive.
• The argument involves analysis, which is the close scrutiny and examination of evidence and assumptions in support of a larger set of ideas.
• The argument is persuasive, taking into consideration counterclaims and multiple points of view as it generates its own perspective and position.
• The argument utilizes a clear organizational strategy and effective transitions that develop its line of inquiry.

4. To develop flexible strategies for revising, editing, and proofreading writing.

• The writing demonstrates substantial and successful revision.
• The writing responds to substantive issues raised by the instructor and peers.
• Errors of grammar, punctuation, and mechanics are proofread and edited so as not to interfere with reading and understanding the writing.
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"Thought flows in terms of stories—stories about events, stories about people, and stories about intentions and achievements. The best teachers are the best storytellers. We learn in the form of stories."
--Frank Smith



"Make it new."
--Ezra Pound


"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action."
--William Shakespeare

Course Requirements

Final Portfolio:
4-6 Short Papers
1 Major Paper
Cover Letter
(70%)

Class Participation:
Prepared for Class
In-Class Discussion
Readings Presentation
Class Blog
Conferences
(30%)


Do I Have to Come to Every Class?

Come to class. If you miss a class, you miss explanations, clarifications, assignments and exercises, peer reviews, workshops, and the class as a learning community. You are expected to be in class on time. Class will start immediately at the appointed time. If you come in after I start class, even by only a few minutes, you are late and it will be noted.

Chronic or conspicuous attendance problems will negatively affect your class participation grade. If you miss class, please let me know (via email), provide any pertinent documentation, get class notes and what you missed, and we will make any reasonable accommodations. If you miss a great deal of the quarter, you are recommended to take the course during a quarter in which you can more easily attend class.

What do I need to get an ‘A’ in this class?

Improving your writing requires working simultaneously on different skills in different ways. This course combines several different activities and exercises to teach, improve, and illuminate the reading, thinking, and writing process. It is the hope that the strategies, practices, and experiences you learn in this class will transfer to your other classes and other work. Your grade should not be the sole exigence or motivation for this class. Hopefully, you walk away from English 131 with something more. Find some pleasure and some edification and some knowledge from this class (or any class really) and success is usually not far behind. With that in mind, your grade will be a reflection of improvement, engagement, and effort. Your grade is made up of two parts: your writing portfolio and class participation.

Portfolio (70%)

In this course, you will complete two major assignment sequences, each of which is designed to help you fulfill the course outcomes. Each assignment sequence requires you to complete a variety of shorter assignments leading up to a major paper. These shorter assignments will each target one or more of the course outcomes at a time, help you practice these outcomes, and allow you to build toward a major paper at the end of each sequence. You will have a chance to revise significantly each of the major papers using feedback generated by me, peer review sessions, and writing conferences. Toward the end of the course, having completed the two sequences, you will be asked to compile and submit a portfolio of your work along with a portfolio cover letter. The portfolio will include the following: one of the two major papers, four to six of the shorter assignments, and a cover letter that explains how the selected portfolio demonstrates the four outcomes for the course. In addition, the portfolio will need to include all of the sequence-related work you were assigned in the course. A portfolio that does not include all the above will be considered incomplete.

Participation (30%)

A classroom is a community. Both classroom and community provide support, safety, shared resources, conversation, and interaction. All students are expected to come to class prepared with readings and work done and to engage in the discussion and activities. Moreover, working in groups is one vital skill that this course hopes to foster. Collaborative learning and collaborative teaching add interest and investment in any classroom. Peer reviews, workshopping assignments, and general group work will help you brainstorm, learn and teach concepts, analyze examples, and develop the basic skills required to constructively critique other students’ work. Preparedness and participation forms a large component of your final grade. It is essential that you prepare for class, attend class, and participate. Missing class may seriously compromise your ability to do well in this class. Again, negative participation will hurt your participation grade. Participation is determined by 1) your respectful presence in class, 2) your willingness to discuss, comment, and ask questions, 3) your preparation for class, which includes bringing required materials to class and doing all of the assigned reading for class, 4) your engagement in group work, 5) your use of the class blog, 6) and your interactions with me and other students. Finally, failure to turn in homework, incomplete assignments, or late papers will negatively impact your participation grade.

Beyond the formal written assignments, you will participate in the class web log. Please bookmark the blog address:

https://catalysttools.washington.edu/gopost/board/changed/14240/

Check the site regularly, and feel free to comment and post regularly. The class blog will be used for announcements, assignment reminders, updates to the syllabus, as well as questions, inquiries, provocations, and an extension of in-class discussion. Treat the class blog as you would the classroom. Be courteous, be respectful, be on topic. Blog commenting and posting will be taken into account in evaluating class participation. See the class blog for details on blog etiquette and rules of engagement.

Finally, this course requires that you meet with me individually twice during the quarter to discuss your papers and your progress. Conferences give you the opportunity to get individual feedback and to express any concerns or questions or suggestions. Conferences are mandatory and if missed will affect your class participation and must be made up.
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Download the PDF version of the course policies and syllabus.






"To write is to write is to write is to write is to write is to write is to write is to write."
—Gertrude Stein



"Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without ever noticing it, live your way into the answer."
--Rainer Maria Rilke



"I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about."
--Arthur C. Clarke


"You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."
--Jack London



Late Assignments

All assignments must be done completely and turned in on time. Lateness will subtract from your overall class participation grade and work must be turned in by the next class meeting after the original due date. Note that I will not comment on late work. However, you still need to complete late work or you will receive a zero. If you miss class on the due date of a paper, you must notify me and make arrangements to get the paper to me as soon as possible. Unless previously arranged, I do not accept assignments via email. Furthermore, all work must be seen and checked in by my to be eligible for your portfolio! Remember that a paper has not been officially handed in until it is in my hands. Never turning anything in late is always the best policy.

What do the assignments look like?

All papers must be typed or produced on a word processor. Word processing is preferable because it makes the mechanics of revision--rearranging, adding, and deleting--easy. If you do not have your own computer with word processing capability, computer labs are available on campus with a variety of software that is easy to learn. All documents should be saved in Microsoft Word format, preferably in Word format; if you do not have access to Word, then save your documents in RTF or Rich Text Format.

All papers must follow the manuscript format outlined by the assignment. All papers must use MLA citation and documentation conventions. All papers must be neatly printed (in black), stapled in the top, left-hand corner if necessary, and not be three-hole punched.

1) 1" margins top, bottom, left, and right on each page.
2) Double-spaced, using a standard font (preferably Times Roman), using a font size no larger than 12 pt.
3) Number all pages except for the first page in the top right-hand corner; no title page.
4) Stapled once at the top left corner.
5) At the top of the first page, include your name, your course section, my name, date, and title; this name block is single spaced.
6) Correct MLA citations and bibliography; papers with fundamental citation problems will not receive credit.
7) Include any exercises or additional material required by the assignment.

Papers that do not follow these format guidelines will not be accepted. They will be returned unread to you. Papers will be regarded as late until they are resubmitted in the proper format. Again, late papers will negatively impact your class participation grade.

Always make a backup copy of every paper you turn in, lest you be one of the unhappy people whose paper is eaten by the computer. You may even want to take the precaution of e-mailing your paper to yourself as an attachment at least a couple of times during the drafting process and certainly BEFORE you exit the document for the last time and leave the computer lab, your friend’s computer, or even your own computer. This way, even if you lose your disc or your paper gets mysteriously erased, you still have a copy in your e-mail files.

What is the rubric of evaluation?

Grading in English 131 is reserved till the very end of the quarter for your Portfolio assignment. The focus of assessment will be on commenting, evaluating rhetorical success, steady progress and improvement over time, and most importantly, revision. It may be disconcerting not to get letter or number grades on each assignment, but the methodology and pedagogy of 131 is to your advantage. First, withholding grades encourages revision and discourages “I can live with that” attitudes. Second, the portfolio gives you choice over what you think represents your best work. Finally, you will be graded on finished, revised, polished work. Practice makes perfect, after all. Over the course of the quarter, assignments will receive feedback and comments that will identify what you are doing well and what still needs improvement. Consider the following evaluation rubric as signposts or a kind of legend to your progress:

Outstanding (3.7-4.0): Offers a very highly proficient, even memorable demonstration of the trait(s) associated with the course or assignment goal(s), including some appropriate risk-taking and/or creativity.
Strong (3.1-3.6): Offers a proficient demonstration of the trait(s) associated with the course or assignment goal(s), which could be further enhanced with revision, additional support, and creativity.
Good (2.5-3.0): Effectively demonstrates the trait(s) associate with the course or assignment goal(s), but less proficiently; could use revision to demonstrate more skillful and nuanced command of trait(s).
Acceptable (2.0-2.4): Minimally meets the basic course or assignment requirement, but the demonstrated trait(s) are not fully realized or well-controlled and would benefit from significant revision.
Inadequate (1.0-1.9): Does not meet the course or assignment requirement; the trait(s) are not adequately demonstrated and require substantial revision on multiple levels.
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"All I knew then was what I wasn’t, and it took me some years to discover what I was. Which was a writer. By which I mean not ‘good’ writer or a ‘bad’ writer but simply a writer, a person whose most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on pieces of paper...I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear."
--Joan Didion, "Why I Write"


Contact Ed

Office:
B33 Padelford
Office Hours:
Tu 12:30-1:30 PM
or by appointment
E-mail:
changed @ u.
AIM:
EDagogy







"If you're going to have a complicated story you must work to a map; otherwise you'll never make a map of it afterwards."
--J.R.R. Tolkien


"Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences."
--Anne McCaffrey


"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope and that enables you to laugh at life's realities."
--Dr. Seuss

Finding Help

My office and office hours are listed at the front of the course policies. I am available during that time and by appointment to help you. I encourage you to come see early in the quarter even if it is just to talk about the class, about the assignments, or about school in general. I may ask you to meet with me when I think a conference would be useful. My office is located in the ground floor of Padelford Hall (northeast of the HUB), Room B-33. See http://www.washington.edu/home/maps/northcentral.html?pdl.

I am also available electronically by email and the course blog: https://catalysttools.washington.edu/gopost/board/changed/14240. Email and the blog are the best means of contacting me. I will do my best to answer your emails and blog posts, usually within twenty-four hours. If there is an emergency and you need to reach me, please contact the Expository Writing Program office in A-11 Padelford.

Furthermore, when time permits, I will supplement my office hours with virtual hours via instant messenger (AIM or Google Talk nickname: EDagogy); if I am logged in, during reasonable hours, you are more than welcome to discuss the class or ask questions. Please, when you initiate an IM conversation for the first time, please identify yourself to me; also, be patient because my responses may not be immediate.

The English Department also provides a grammar help and writing help website called Ask Betty: http://depts.washington.edu/engl/askbetty/, which includes an online workshop on reading instructor margin comments, help for ESL students, frequently asked questions about grammar, and other online resources. Furthermore, make good use of your writer’s handbook, The Everyday Writer by Andrea A. Lunsford, and its companion website: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/everyday_writer/.

You can find additional writing help at the Odegaard Writing and Research Center (OWRC), which is a good resource for this class and other classes. OWRC is located on the third floor of Odegaard Library and offers a variety of services including help with papers, brainstorming ideas, help with reading, and research. See http://depts.washington.edu/owrc/ for more information.

Moreover, the Center for Learning and Undergraduate Enrichment (CLUE) is also a good resource. CLUE is located in Mary Gates Hall Commons and offers tutorial sessions for most freshman lecture courses, skills courses, access to computer labs, and drop-in centers for math, science and writing. See http://depts.washington.edu/clue/ for more information.

Further resources, both on- and off-campus can be found on the Links page of the course website: http://staff.washington.edu/changed/131/links.html
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"I feel that by writing I am doing what is far more necessary than anything else."
--Virginia Woolf, “A Sketch of the Past"


"If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities."
--Maya Angelou



"The world I create in writing compensates for what the real world does not give me."
--Gloria Anzaldua


"We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down."
--Kurt Vonnegut



"I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil."
--Truman Capote



"I'm a rewriter. That's the part I like best...once I have a pile of paper to work with, it's like having the pieces of a puzzle. I just have to put the pieces together to make a picture."
--by Judy Blume

Accommodations

If you have a registered disability that will require accommodation, please see me immediately. If you have a disability and have not yet registered it with Disability Resources for Students in 448 Schmitz Hall, you should do so immediately. Please contact DRS at 206-543-8924 (Voice) or 206-543-8925 (V/TTY) or 206-616-8379 (FAX) or via their website at http://www.washington.edu/admin/ada/dss.htm. I will gladly do my best to provide appropriate accommodation you require.

Academic Dishonesty

Plagiarism, or academic dishonesty, is presenting someone else's ideas or writing as your own. In your writing for this class, you are encouraged to refer to other people's thoughts and writing -- as long as you cite them. Many students do not have a clear understanding of what constitutes plagiarism, so feel free to ask questions about these matters at any time. Plagiarism includes:

• a student failing to cite sources of ideas
• a student failing to cite sources of paraphrased material
• a student failing to site sources of specific language and/or passages
• a student submitting someone else's work as his or her own
• a student submitting his or her own work produced for another class

If you have any doubt about how to cite or acknowledge another's writing, please talk to me. It is always better to be safe than sorry. As a matter of policy, any student found to have plagiarized any piece of writing in this class will be immediately reported to the College of Arts and Sciences for review. For further information, please refer to UW's Student Conduct Code at http://www.washington.edu/students/handbook/conduct.html. Play it smart, don't plagiarize!

UW SafeCampus

Preventing violence is everyone’s responsibility. If you're concerned, tell someone. For more information visit the SafeCampus website at http://www.washington.edu/safecampus and keep the following in mind:

• Always call 911 if you or others may be in danger.
• Call 206-685-SAFE (7233) to report non-urgent threats of violence and for referrals to UW counseling and/or safety resources. TTY or VP callers, please call through your preferred relay service.
• Don't walk alone. Campus safety guards can walk with you on campus after dark. Call Husky NightWalk 206-685-WALK (9255).
• Stay connected in an emergency with UW Alert. Register your mobile number to receive instant notification of campus emergencies via text and voice messaging. Sign up online at http://www.washington.edu/alert.
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"I entered the classroom with the conviction that it was crucial for me and every other student to be an active participant, not a passive consumer...[a conception of] education as the practice of freedom...education that connects the will to know with the will to become. Learning is a place where paradise can be created."
--bell hooks


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