English 104-22 and 104-25
College Writing and Rhetoric

Instructor: Gordon P. Thomas.
E-Mail: thomas@uidaho.edu.
Home Page: http://www.uidaho.edu/~thomas/

Some Links Useful for this Course:

Course Goals: English 104 is an introductory composition course, designed to improve your skills in persuasive, expository writing, the sort you will be doing in other courses in college and in many jobs. Sometimes this kind of writing is called transactional writing; it is used to transact something-persuade and inform a reasonably well-educated audience, conduct business, evaluate, review, or explain a complex process, procedure, or event.

All your assignments in this course will be built around two complex topics, which I selected because (a) they are important for any educated person and (b) I myself am interested about them and I think you will be too. The first concerns what has been broadly termed "cyberspace"-the term that usually refers to communication on the Internet. Actually, cyberspace has probably existed since the 1840's when it was first possible to send information electronically (by telegraph), but it has only become clear in the past few years how significant this development was, for cyberspace has greatly expanded in the past few years because of computer technology. Previously, it was only very large organizations, such as national broadcasting companies, banks, newspapers, and so forth, that could use cyberspace, and it was not very convenient. Now the ability to send electronic messages and even publish information electronically are available to ordinary people. All these developments carry significant implications for personal literary-reading and writing by the individual. Since this is a course in a particular type of literacy-writing for college-I have selected as one of our texts the book CyberReader, which is a collection of readings on the questions of cyberspace. Three of our major assignments will be drawn from this book, and I will be asking you to do carry out your research and writing activities on the computer. We will learn a good deal about the World Wide Web (WWW), that aspect of the Internet that makes it possible to send and receive graphics and text.

The second topic we will explore is the Holocaust, the nearly successful attempt by the Nazi government during World War II to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies, and other groups it thought to be undesirable. We will do this by reading two very accessible texts about this period, Art Spiegelman's Maus, which is in comic-book format, and Elie Wiesel's short autobiographical novel, Night, with which many of you may already be familiar. Three of your major papers will be based on these books. I will be asking you to inform yourself about this period in general so that you can write knowledgeably about how well these books describe the experience of some of the victims and explore the relevant issues of the Holocaust in general. So, all these assignments will require some research. We will look at some films in class (but I will not be showing you anything that is excessively graphic), and I will assign you some readings that will be in books that will be on reserve in the library. In addition, we will learn how to find sources for this topic on the Internet.

By organizing the course in this way, we will be able to learn something significant about our world, in addition to learning and putting into practice the principles of college writing and rhetoric.

Requirements: There will be six major writing assignments. Here are brief description of the major assignments (more detailed descriptions will follow):

WA 1: Respond to a reading or a set of readings about cyberspace. Length: at least well on to the third page (800 - 1000 words)

WA 2: Analyze or critique an issue related to cyberspace. Length: on to the fourth page (900 - 1,100 words).

WA 3: Analyze on aspect of the book Maus. Length: 4-5 pages (1,000 - 1,250 words).

WA 4: Critique an aspect of the book Night. Length: 4-6 pages (1,000 - 1,250 words).

WA 5: Write a comparison/contrast paper of Maus and Night. Length: 5-7 pages (1,250 - 1,700 words).

WA 6: Write a problem-solution essay on some issue related to cyberspace. Length 4-6 pages (1,000 - 1,250 words).

You must also keep a journal in which you record your initial ideas for papers (including the ones that don't work out) and responses to some of the readings. Your journal will be for you alone; for this reason, I will not be collecting and grading these journals, but I be giving you regular assignments to do in your journal. If you write regularly in your journal, your final papers will be better.

A third type of required writing will be for you participate in the class computer forum at least once a week (preferably more). You will have to go to a computer lab somewhere on campus in order to connect to the newsgroup, unless you have a modem on your computer and know how to use it. This type of writing is part way between personal, informal writing done in your journal and the public, formal writing of your finished papers. It is an opportunity for you to respond to the works of others in your own class and in the other section of English 104 that I teach (both sections will use the same newsgroup). I have more to say about these different kinds of writing in the course pack.

I will determine your final grade as follows:

Attendance is required; normally you should have no more than three unexcused absences throughout the term. More than six absences can seriously jeopardize your chances of passing the course, regardless of your grades in other areas (unless you have a very good reason for your absences, which you have discussed with me). More than four unexcused absences will result in grade being lowered by a whole letter point (from a B to C, for example). I will count an absence as excused for the following reasons: (a) required field trips for other classes; (b) participation, not merely attendance, in university athletics; and, up to a certain point, (c) illnesses for which you have a doctor's excuse (if you are seriously ill for an extended period, it may not be possible to continue with the class). In the first two cases, you will need to provide a letter or note from the department (the Athletic Department or another academic department) that requires your absence from this class. If you know you must miss a class, try to inform me about it in advance. Remember that you are responsible for making up all the work you have missed. It is especially important not to miss conferences in which your writing and that of the other students is discussed.

You are required to do your writing on a computer for this class. I encourage you to use the computers in the English Computer Writing Laboratory in Rooms 11 and 12 of the Psychology Building, but if you have access to another computer that is more convenient and is adequate to your purposes, you may use that one instead. If you are not familiar with these computers, you must attend a computer training session in the lab some time during August 30 to September 3. You should register for a training session by going over to the computer lab some time on August 26 to 30 (Monday through Friday of the first week of class), the earlier the better.

Revision Policy: The grade you receive on the final version of a paper will be based on both your first and final versions of the paper. You may revise the final version of a paper if you hand in the revision within one week of receiving the graded version back. After a paper has been graded once, you may revise only once more. The new grade will be based on the first and most recent version of the paper; it replaces the earlier grade you received.

Plagiarism: This is representing as your own someone else's ideas, words, or phraseology. Please note that it involves not just copying someone else's words, but also their ideas, without giving proper credit. This is a serious academic offense; the penalty for it is receiving a failing grade on the work in question. You must then do the work over again on a different subject. In other words, don't plagiarize.

Textbooks and other Materials: The required texts are as follows:

A good college dictionary.

A box of paperclips.

I also recommend that you buy the following book or share it with someone else:

These materials will be available at the University Book Store, but they may not all be there the first week of class.

Important Dates: We will try to follow the schedule shown below. Any changes will be announced in class. You are responsible for knowing what those changes are.

The last class meeting will be during the time scheduled for a final exam in this class, if there were a final exam.

Last edited September 4, 1996.