A. Required Texts:
 

Eschholz and Rosa, Subject and Strategy. St. Martin's Press, 1996.

Raimes, Keys for Writers: A Brief Handbook. Houghton Mifflin, 1996.

The American Heritage College Dictionary, 3rd edition.
 

B. Course Description and Objectives:
 

(i) to help the student achieve profiency in different writing styles, ranging from narration and description through comparison, contrast, classification, definition, explanation of cause and effect to argumentation;
 

(ii) to train the student to acquire a firm grasp of the elements involved in the process of writing: invention, planning, drafting, revising and editing;
 

(iii) to develop the student's ability to yield a finished written product which includes the following characteristics: a clearly defined thesis; logical organisation and development of ideas; economic, precise and fluent expression; appropriate tone and regard for audience and context; sound use of evidence and appropriate documentation of research; correct grammar, punctuation, syntax and spelling; a polished style.
 

(iv) to develop the student's capacity to read closely and critically.
 

C. Course Requirements:
 

(i) a journal, to be submitted in the penultimate week of the semester. This will consist of a series of paragraph or page-length assignments given by the instructor as well as your responses to readings in the texts;

(ii) three papers (600 words minimum), the topics of which will be announced in class;

(iii) a Writing Assistant will be assigned to your course (in addition to the instructor), to give you individualised instruction on your specific writing. problems. You will be required to arrange a schedule of conferences with the Writing Assistant, who will be avilable during regularly scheduled hours at the Learning Resource Center and will attend a number of classes. The instructor will determine the number of conferences likely to benefit you. After each conference, the Assistant will transmit a report on your progress to the class instructor. Failure to see the Writing Assistant will be reflected in your grade;

(iv) a final examination, to be held on Tuesday, December 15, 9:00-12:00.
 
 

D. Schedule of Assignments:
 

UNIT ONE: NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION
 

Tues Sept 1 (Wed Sept 2):

(1) Introduction to course; explanation of syllabus and requirements. On this first day it is essential that you (a) establish discipline and convince the students that they will be held to the syllabus requirements; (b) stress that, provided they make an effort, you are there to help them; (c) remind them of the importance and varied uses of writing; (d) explain briefly the stages of the writing process: inventing, outlining, drafting, revising and editing. It's not a good idea simply to lecture, even in the first class. You need to encourage the students to participate from the outset, asking them about their experiences of writing and talking through their (inevitably) negative dispositions toward composition classes.

(2) Reserve the last 15 minutes of class to give the students some guidance on the process of narration (Eschholz, pp. 37-50).

(3) Assign reading: Article by Paul Roberts, "How to Say Nothing in 500 Words," in Eschholz, pp. 173-184; answer "Questions on Subject" 1-4, p. 185, in journal. Although this is a lengthy reading assignment, students are likely to find it interesting because it is germane to their previous experiences of writing.

(4) Tell students that in the next class they will be given an in-class writing assignment based on this passage.
 
 
 

Thurs Sept 3 (Fri Sept 4):

(1) Discuss reading and students' responses to questions; in particular, evince parallels with the students' own experiences.

(2) Remind students of (i) stages of the writing process and (ii) guidelines on process of narration.

(3) In-class writing assignment 1: Narration: Recount ONE of your own negative experiences of writing, allocating due attention to the following: purpose, context, viewpoint, selection of events, organisation and dialogue. Two sides of double-spaced writing. Collect papers at end of class.

(4) Assign reading for next class: "Salvation" by Langston Hughes, in Eschholz, pp. 60-62; answer "Questions on Subject" 1-2, and "Questions on Strategy" 1, 2 and 4, p. 62, in journal.

(5) Tell students that in the next class they will be given an in-class writing assignment based on this passage.
 

Tues Sept 8 (Wed Sept 9):

(1) Return papers with comments; allow students at least 10 minutes to read comments and ask questions. Collect papers.

(2) Discuss assigned reading and students' answers.

(3) In-class writing assignment 2: Narration (contd.): Recount a personal religious experience you have had, again paying attention to the suggested components of a narrative essay. In what ways did this affect you? Collect papers.

(4) Give guidelines on process of description (material in Eschholz, pp. 75-87).

(5) Assign reading for next class: Article by Joyce Carol Oates, "State-of-the-Art-Car," in Eschholz, pp. 88-92; answer "Questions on Subject" 1-3 and "Questions on Strategy" 1-2, in journal.

(6) Tell students that in the next class they will be given an in-class writing assignment based on this passage.
 
 

Thurs Sept 10 (Fri Sept 11):

(1) Return papers with comments; allow students at least 10 minutes to read comments and ask questions. Collect papers.

(2) Discuss assigned reading and students' answers.

(3) Remind students of guidelines on process of description; stress also use of examples, since we won't be covering the chapter in Eschholz on illustration.

(4) In-class writing assignment 3: Description: Describe your acquisition of a new car or of any other object which exerted a considerable impact on your life at the time. Collect papers.
 

Mon Sept 14 - Mon Sept 21:

Tues Sept 15 - Tues Sept 22:

Conferences between students and instructors, based on portfolios which should be collected Sept. 18-18. These conferences can productively be held in class:

(1) Give the entire class a journal writing assignment, based on a reading of your choice (possibly, another reading from the section on description). Discuss briefly with them the kinds of errors they made and how their efforts might be improved.

(2) While the remaining students are writing, ask each student individually to sit with instructor, bringing all three of his or her papers.

(3) Give the student an overview of his or her strengths, weaknesses, and general remedial strategies.

(4) Allow most time for students whose writing is poor and advise them of the number of conferences they should arrange with the Writing Assistant. The maximum number should be four or five (for a very poor writer).
 

UNIT TWO: COMPARISON AND CONTRAST/ DIVISION AND CLASSIFICATION:Weeks 4-6:
 

Using the chapter on "Comparison and Contrast" from Eschholz, prepare students for the writing of their first paper, in the following stages:
 

(1) Give students a more detailed account of the stages of the writing process: invention, planning, drafting, revising, editing (the introduction to Eschholz has information on these; further information is available in your teaching handbooks). In particular, explain the purpose and content of a thesis statement. Also explain importance of factors such as audience, purpose of paper and context.

(2) Introduce to the students the notions of comparison and contrast (Eschholz, pp. 211-223). Be sure to elicit information on this from the class, rather than simply presenting it.
 

(3) Give students one or two in-class writing exercises on comparison and contrast; some of these might be read aloud and discussed.
 

(4) Assign the students one of the readings from this section, asking them to answer questions given in Eschholz in their journals. Discuss the central issues involved in each reading and especially the rhetorical structure of each passage, pointing out, for example, its thesis statement, topic sentences, transitional words, introduction and conclusion.

(5) Follow steps 2-4 for "Division and Classification."
 

(6) The students may write a paper centred either on "Comparison and Contrast" or "Division and Classification." With their projected paper in mind, have the students practice invention (by discussion, brainstorming, clustering, nutshelling etc.). Ask them to discuss their ideas in pairs, and follow this up with a brief class discussion of various students' ideas.
 

(7) Ask students to prepare outline of paper in both draft and revised formats. The outline should contain a clear and detailed thesis, and be explicit in its organisation.
 

(8) Ask students to generate a draft paper from their outline. The draft should be submitted and returned to students with instructor's comments.
 

(9) Give students at least another week to submit the final version of their paper.
 

This entire process will involve: group discussion, pair work (where students read and assess each other's thesis, outline, draft), practice in grammatical exercises, as well as lecture-type explanations by the instructor.
 

UNIT THREE: DEFINITION/CAUSE AND EFFECT ANALYSIS: Weeks 7 - 10:
 

Follow a similar process, using the relevant chapters from Eschholz.
 

UNIT FOUR: ARGUMENTATION: Weeks 11-14:

Similar process.
 

PREPARATION FOR FINALS: Week 15.