Tutoring Practicum: Theories and Practices of Writing
Professor: Jeff Rice
ENG 6010
W: 3:00 - 5:55 PM
Office: 10150
Phone:
Email: jrice at wayne.edu
Website: http://www.english.wayne.edu/People/faculty/ricej/index2.html
Office Hours: W: 2:00 - 3:00 PM or by appointment
ENG 6010 prepares students in the theories and practices of writing instruction. In this course, we will examine some of the major theories produced by composition studies in order to develop our own methods for teaching writing. Our purpose will be to place these theories in conversation with one another so that we may:
1. Understand the different methods and ideas which circulate in composition studies.
2. Understand how conflicting theoretical positions can produce pedagogical practice.
3. Construct our own pedagogies for the classroom.
Our model will be inquiry, not expertise. In other words, we will use the course as means towards questioning as well as discovering theories which can inform our future teaching – whether in composition or in literature. The goal is not that you master any one position regarding
writing instruction, but that you acquire a number of tools you can apply to any given assignment in your future as teachers. Thus, the “how-to” aspect of this course is not as much instrumental (steps to take) but
theoretical (why take those steps/what is it meant to transfer ideas to practice).
As a teacher, any time you decide to assess students by their writing, you are teaching writing regardless of the content of the course. English Studies often uses writing as a primary means of assessment, yet the field often trivializes the theoretical issues at stake regarding the teaching of writing. Teaching writing does not mean simply asking students “to write.” We have to understand the complex issues involved
when an individual attempts to demonstrate knowledge through writing.
This course, therefore, is meant to assist both composition and literature graduate students become better teachers of writing
in general so that they can become better teachers.
Texts:
A Guide to Composition Pedagogies eds Greg Tate, Amy Rupiper, and Kurt Schick - available at Marwil's
Readings on Electronic Reserve at the library.
Other readings available in
Teaching Composition, a collection of essays which I will give to you.
Rules and Requirements:
1. Attendance is mandatory. Class discussion depends on the entire class being present. Because this course meets once a week, you are allowed one unexcused absence throughout the course. After that, your final grade will drop by one letter grade for each additional absence. Prolonged absences due to illness or absences due to having to attend a university sponsored event (athletics, theater, music, field trip) will be excused if you provide me with proper documentation from an appropriate authority. You are responsible for all work due for any missed class as well as for the readings and work for the following class. You are also responsible for any work covered during the class you missed. You should get the phone numbers of a couple of your classmates in case you miss a class. You can also contact me by e-mail.
2. Don't be late to class. The class depends on your presence in order to conduct peer review and other in class activities. Three tardies will count as one unexcused absence.
3. Assignments are due on the class day they have been assigned for. Late work will not be accepted.
4. All assignments (unless otherwise noted) must be typed on white 8 1/2 X 11" paper, be double spaced, have 1" margins, and be according to MLA style.
5. All students are expected to honor the University's Honor Code. All work must be your own. Copying work without giving credit is considered plagiarism. Evidence of plagiarism will be dealt with according to the university's regulations.
6. Turn off your cell phones when you come to class. There is zero tolerance for cell phones going off in class and points will be deducted from your final grade if your phone does go off.
7. Many different opinions will be expressed in this class. Students are expected to respect the views of other students. Sexist and racial hate speech will not be tolerated. A difference of opinion will naturally result and is expected and encouraged. But students must still respect the view points of the other students in the class.
8. The classroom is not a space for public grievances. If you are upset with a grade or some other class related issue, you should make an appointment with me so that we can discuss the problem. If you are not satisfied with the results of that meeting, you can then follow university procedures for grievances. Do not, however, make the class space or the email listserv a place for your complaints. Doing so will result in grade penalties. Anyone who uses the class listserv in order to complain about me, a grade, class, or other students will be removed from the listserv and given a 0 for email as well as a 0 for participation.
Assignments
1. Syllabus (100 pts). Using any number of theoretical assumptions outlined in class readings, you will design a syllabus for a future 1020 course. Because GTAs must teach from College Writing Online, your syllabus should reflect working with the online textbook.
And because GTAs can also select from one of these three readers
Literacy, Technology, Society - eds. Hawisher and Selfe.
You are Here - Durst
The World is a Text - eds. Silverman and Rader
Your syllabus may also reflect reading choices from one of these texts. Your syllabus will have all the required information, schedule of activities, lists of readings, and list of writing assignments.
2. Assignment Designed and Performed (200 pts). You will create one major writing assignment for a 1020 course and do the assignment as well. The purpose of doing your own assignment is to give you a better understanding of what you will expect from students, what students will experience (success and frustration), and what might be improved by the time you actually assign it. Your assignment should reflect a goal you have established for your course, and it should be based on at least one (but possibly more than one) theory we have read about.
3. Presentations (100 points/50 points each) You will give two
presentations on pedagogical approaches read about in class readings.
Presentations should teach us something we haven’t yet learned from the readings and/or problematize the approach in light of some other idea or pedagogy. Class size will dictate how long each presentation will be. In principle, they will be around 20 minutes each, hopefully interactive, and informative.
Time will also be allocated for discussion afterwards. Presentations are not summaries.
4. Email (100 pts)
You are required to post at least 2 emails each week on the class listserv: 6010@lists.wayne.edu.
Some posts you will make in response to specific assignments given in class. Other posts you will make on your own accord. The listserv will help us talk about the readings and the work we are doing. It is an open forum for collaboration and idea sharing. Frivolous emails with no substance (such as writing only "I like/don't like this reading" or "class was good" with no reason or justification) don't count. No personal grievances or attacks on the instructor or classmates will be tolerated. If such attacks occur, the guilty part will be removed from the listserv and given a 0 for email.
The listserv archives are at: http://www.wayne.edu/archives/6010.html
5. Participation (100 pts)
Come to class ready to participate. Take notes on readings and bring ideas to discuss. This class is not a lecture class, so your participation is mandatory. Pedagogy is a collaborative experience, and your participation will strengthen that experience for yourself and others.
6. Weekly Summaries (20 pts each)
Over six weeks you will turn in a summary of one or more of the week’s readings (or combination of the week’s readings). A summary reflects your understanding of the reading, your reaction to the reading, and your ability to situate the reading with other ideas. The summary is not a rehash of what you read or a series of general acceptance/rejection remarks (i.e. “X makes a good point, but that would never work for me”). Instead, your summaries recontextualize the readings with other positions (complimentary or not), theories, ideas, and/or teaching points.
Grading Scale
A 670-720pts
B 620-750pts
C 570-620pts
D 520-570pts
E 520 -
Schedule
Week One
September 8
Intro to Writing Theory
Week Two
September 15
Methods
A Guide to Composition Pedagogies
Week Three
September 22
Methods
A Guide to Composition Pedagogies
Week Four
September 29
Somebody say Grammar?
Joseph Williams “Phenomenology of Error”
Patrick Hartwell “Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar”
Nancy Sommers “Responding to Student Writing”
Week Five
October 6
Inventing Which University?
David Bartholomae “Inventing the University”
Geoffrey Sirc “Never Mind the Tagmemics, Where's the Sex Pistols”
Kathy Blake Yancey and Michael Spooner “Petals of a Wet, Black Bough: Textuality, Collaboration and the New Essay”
Joseph Harris “Revision as Critical Practice”
Week Five
October 13
Presentations
Week Six
October 20
Presentations
Week Seven
October 27
Cultural Studies/The Postmodern
James Berlin “Poststructuralism, Cultural Studies, and the Composition Classroom.”
Victor Vitanza. “‘The Wasteland Grows’: Or, What is ‘Cultural Studies for Composition’ and Why Must We Always Speak Good of It
And online talk of same name:
http://www.uta.edu/english/V/berlin/vjvcultstudies.html
Marshall Alcorn. “Changing the Subject of Postmodernist Theory: Discourse, Ideology,
and Therapy in the Classroom.”
Susan Miller “Technologies of Self? – Formation.”
Week Eight
November 3
Poststructuralism/Writing
Cynthia Haynes "Writing Offshore: The Disappearing Coastline of Composition Theory"
Gregory Ulmer "Kubla Honky Tonk"
Week Nine
November 10
Presentations
Week Ten
November 17
Presentations
Week Eleven
November 24
Syllabi
Week Twelve
December 1
Syllabi
Week Thirteen
December 8
Assignment Presentations
Week Fourteen
December 15
Assignment Presentations
Dec 15 classes end
Syllabi examples.