Course Syllabus

*This is a tentative syllabus, so it is subject to change, as I may adjust it according to our progress. If I make any changes, I will inform you in advance. You can also find a PDF copy of the current syllabus here: English 111Syllabus Ver.2-2.pdf 

Course Texts

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, ISBN: 9780141439495, Publisher: Penguin Classics

1984 by George Orwell, ISBN: 9780451524935, Publisher: Signet Classic

Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, ISBN: 1982155752, Publisher: Scribner

Grading

1. Portfolio (70%)

After working through the two main assignment sequences, you will have the chance to revise significantly one (or both) of the major papers using feedback generated from my comments, peer review sessions, and writing conferences. A complete portfolio is required for passing the course. The portfolio will include:

• well-considered final revisions of 3 short projects
• well-considered final revisions of 1 long project
• a written reflection covering all the work you have done
• all of the sequence-related writing you were assigned in the course (both major papers and all the shorter assignments from both sequences)

Because you will not be turning in your portfolio until the end of the quarter, you will not be graded on any of your assignments until that time. Do not feel anxious if you are not confident about your writing at the moment; you will have time to revise and your grade will be based on how well you address the course outcomes by the end of the quarter.

2. Participation (30%)

Due to COVID-19, I will no longer use the conventional method of enforcing attendance as means to grade your participation. If you are feeling sick, have been in contact with someone who is sick, are experiencing mental health issues due to the current situation, or encountered any other emergency, please prioritize your physical and mental well-being. However, if you miss a class, it is your responsibility to make up for the missed material, either by borrowing notes from your classmates, or by attending my office hours, offered both on zoom and in-person.

Here is a breakdown of your participation grade:

• Reading discussion posts (20%)

By noon before each class when there is reading assigned, you will make a post on a discussion board on Canvas. These posts are merely graded upon completion, so they are a low-stakes way for you to share any thoughts, questions, or speculations about the required reading for the day. I and/or the discussion leaders will take a look over them and address them in our class discussions. You do not need to post anything on the day that you are leading discussions.

I will also be giving two free passes to each student, so if for two classes (a.k.a., a week) you feel unable to keep up with the reading or are feeling unwell, you can miss two discussion posts throughout the quarter without being deducted any participation points.

• Discussion leaders (5%)

At the beginning of the quarter, you will sign up for a day to lead a class discussion of the reading. You and your groupmates do not need to conduct a presentation — rather, you are hosts, picking out interesting points that you think might spark an interesting conversation in the classroom. Feel free to pull questions and quotes from the discussion post that day as inspiration. 

• Conferences (5%)

You are required to meet with me one-on-one two times during the quarter in conferences to discuss your work. These conferences give you the opportunity to get feedback about your papers/projects and to express any concerns, questions, or suggestions you might have about the course or the assignments. Conferences are mandatory and, if missed, will affect your participation grade. I will provide you with a sign-up sheet for these conferences and detailed instructions about how to prepare for them.

Extra Credit

There will be opportunities to make up for work that you missed occasionally. Extra credit is worth 1% of your total grade.

One of the ways you can earn extra credit is by taking your work to the Odegaard Writing & Research Center or CLUE. In order to receive extra credit for meeting with a writing tutor, you should turn in a reflection that answers the following questions in at least 250 words: 1. What did you ask the tutor to look for in your paper? 2. What feedback did you receive? 3. How will you incorporate this feedback into this (and future) work?

Another way is by uploading your notes twice onto the course google drive. You can find the link to the drive in the "getting started" module.

A third way is by responding to one of my feedback comments on Canvas.

More extra credit opportunities may arise as the course progresses.

Late Work Policy

If you need an extension for any assignment (with the exception of the final portfolio), feel free to reach out — I usually will grant extensions without any questions asked. However, although I will not deduct points off late work, in order for me to grade the papers in time, late work will receive little to no feedback. Papers submitted more than 3 days late will receive limited feedback, and those submitted more than a week late will receive no feedback.

If your work does not receive feedback due to lateness, you must take initiative in your revision processes, either through peer feedback, attending conferences, or seeing me in office hours.

Citation and Academic Integrity

Unless otherwise specified, all assignments should be formatted with MLA style. This includes: 12 pt. Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double-spaced, page numbers with last name in header, works cited page for any external sources. You can find a full guide to formatting your papers at Purdue OWL. As always, feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

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. We will practice in class how to cite sources. As a matter of policy, any student found to have plagiarized any piece of writing in this class will receive a grade of 0 in this course and be immediately reported to the College of Arts and Sciences for review.

Official University Covid Policy

Students are required to follow the University’s COVID-19 Face Covering Policy at all times when on-site at the University, including any posted requirements in specific buildings or spaces. If a student refuses to comply with the policy, the student can be sent home (to an on or off-campus residence). Student Conduct offices are available for consultations on potential violations of student conduct if needed. University personnel who have concerns that a student or group of students are not complying with this policy should speak with their supervisor, a representative of the academic unit, or report it to the Environmental Health & Safety Department.  

All UW students are expected to complete their vaccine attestation before arriving on campus and to follow the campus-wide face-covering policy at all times. You are expected to follow state, local, and UW COVID-19 policies and recommendations. If you feel ill, have been exposed to COVID-19, or exhibit possible COVID symptoms, you should not come to class. If you need to temporarily quarantine or isolate per CDC guidance and/or campus policy, you are responsible for notifying your instructors as soon as possible by email. If you have a known exposure to COVID-19 or receive a positive COVID-19 test result, you must report to campus Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S).

All UW community members are required to notify EH&S immediately after: Receiving a positive test for COVID-19; being told by your doctor that they suspect you have COVID-19; learning that you have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. You can notify the COVID-19 Response and Prevention Team by emailing covidehc@uw.edu or calling 206-616-3344.

Accommodations

Disability Accommodations

• If you need accommodation of any sort, please let me know so that I can work with the UW Disability Resources for Students Office (DRS) to provide what you require. This syllabus is available in large print, as are other class materials. More information about accommodation may be found at http://www.washington.edu/students/drs/.

Religious Accommodations

• Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available atReligious Accommodations Policy..  Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form.

Complaints

If you have any concerns about the course or your instructor, please see the instructor about these concerns as soon as possible. If you are not comfortable talking with the instructor or not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may contact the following Expository Writing Program staff in Padelford A-11: Director Stephanie Kerschbaum, kersch@uw.edu; or Assistant Directors Francesca Colonnese, fcolonne@uw.edu; Missy González-Garduño, mimgonz@uw.edu; Joseph Wilson jwils@uw.edu. If after speaking with the Director or Assistant Directors of the EWP, you are still not satisfied with the response you receive, you may contact English Department Chair Brian Reed, (206) 543-2690.

Course Outcomes

Outcome 1

To compose strategically for a variety of audiences and contexts, both within and outside the university, by

• recognizing how different elements of a rhetorical situation matter for the task at hand and affect the options for composing and distributing texts;
• coordinating, negotiating, and experimenting with various aspects of composing—such as genre, content, conventions, style, language, organization, appeals, media, timing, and design—for diverse rhetorical effects tailored to the given audience, purpose, and situation; and
• assessing and articulating the rationale for and effects of composing choices.

Outcome 2

To work strategically with complex information in order to generate and support inquiry by

• reading, analyzing, and synthesizing a diverse range of texts and understanding the situations in which those texts are participating;
• using reading and writing strategies to craft research questions that explore and respond to complex ideas and situations;
• gathering, evaluating, and making purposeful use of primary and secondary materials appropriate for the writing goals, audience, genre, and context;
• creating a ‘conversation’—identifying and engaging with meaningful patterns across ideas, texts, experiences, and situations; and
• using citation styles appropriate for the genre and context.

Outcome 3

To craft persuasive, complex, inquiry-driven arguments that matter by

• considering, incorporating, and responding to different points of view while developing one’s own position;
• engaging in analysis—the close scrutiny and examination of evidence, claims, and assumptions—to explore and support a line of inquiry;
• understanding and accounting for the stakes and consequences of various arguments for diverse audiences and within ongoing conversations and contexts; and
• designing/organizing with respect to the demands of the genre, situation, audience, and purpose.

Outcome 4

To practice composing as a recursive, collaborative process and to develop flexible strategies for revising throughout the composition process by

• engaging in a variety of (re)visioning techniques, including (re)brainstorming, (re)drafting, (re)reading, (re)writing, (re)thinking, and editing;
• giving, receiving, interpreting, and incorporating constructive feedback; and
• refining and nuancing composition choices for delivery to intended audiences in a manner consonant with the genre, situation, and desired rhetorical effects and meanings.

 

Course Calendar (reading schedule)

*Subject to change

Week 1

Sep. 30 Introduction

 

Week 2 – Escaping from monsters (alienation)

Oct. 5 Gulliver’s Travels, Book 4, Ch 1-6 (P.205-236)

Oct. 7 Gulliver’s Travels, Book 4, Ch 7-12 (P.237-271)

*Short Assignment 1 Due Oct. 8, 11:59 PM

 

Week 3 – Escaping from words (history and textuality)

Oct. 12 1984, Book 1, Ch 1-6 (P.1-69)

Oct. 14 1984, Finish Book 1 + Book 2 Ch 1-4 (P.69- 136)

*Short Assignment 2 Due Oct.15, 11:59 PM

 

Week 4 – Escaping from totalitarianism (dystopia)

Oct. 19 1984, Book 2 Ch 5 -  Half of Ch 9 “Winston began reading” (.P136- 184)

Oct. 21 1984, Finish Book 2 (P.184- 224); Orwell's letter (On Canvas)

*Short Assignment 3 Due Oct. 22, 11:59 PM

 

Week 5 – Escaping from freedom (freedom of will)

Oct. 26 1984, Finish Book 3 (P225-298)

Oct. 28 “Why ‘1984’ Is a 2017 Must-Read” + “Orwell Revisited” (On Canvas)

 

Week 6 – Prep for MP1

Nov. 2 No reading--mini class conference

Nov. 4 NO CLASS - writing conferences

*Major Project 1 Due Nov. 5, 11:59 PM

 

Week 7 – Escaping from prison (mass incarceration) pt.1

Nov. 9 Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption P. 1-50; (On Canvas) 

Nov. 11 NO CLASS - Veteran’s day

*Short Assignment 4 Due Nov 12, 11:59 PM

 

Week 8 - Escaping from prison (mass incarceration) pt.2

Nov. 16 Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption P. 50-111; “Mass incarceration in America, explained in 22 maps and charts” (On Canvas)

Nov. 18 No reading--Shawshank Redemption film screening

 

Week 9 – Escaping from prison (mass incarceration) pt.3

Nov. 23 No Reading

Nov. 25 NO CLASS - Thanksgiving

*Major project 2 Due Nov 26, 11:59 PM

 

Week 10 – Escaping from slavery (race)

Nov. 30 No reading—Get Out film screening

Dec. 2 No reading—introduction to portfolio

 

Week 11 – Wrapping up

Dec. 7 No reading—Peer review/ guided work session

Dec. 9 NO CLASS – Conferences

 

*Portfolios Due Dec. 13, 11:59 PM