Tuesdays 4:30-7:10 PM
East Building, Room 134
Professor Chris Thaiss
| Required Texts | Course Schedule | Assignments | Grades |
Understanding the history and theories on which sound teaching practice is based goes hand in hand with good practice. In this seminar we explore some well-known works by reflective teachers that have shaped current practice, as well as some recent work that is developing composition theory in response to changes in culture and technology. My goals in this seminar are (1) to improve our understanding of theories and theorists and (2) to encourage your own building of theory that will strengthen and enrich your practice as writer and as teacher or prospective teacher.
We will proceed by reading and discussing an array of interesting and often controversial work, writing twice-weekly responses (online) to these works, and developing and sharing our own theoretical projects. This project will be a research-based study of a particular theory or theorist of your choice. Indeed, I will encourage you to explore issues and authors of particular moment to your own current teaching or writing.
As one case study in
exploring composition theory, we will also take part in one or more events
of the annual Text and Community program, which this year focuses
on The English Patient, the acclaimed novel by Michael Ondaatje,
who will be speaking on campus on April 12.
NOTE 1/28/04: Because of the shortage of texts ordered by the
bookstore, I have revised the class schedule for the first several weeks.
Please consult the schedule.
Christopher Schroeder,
Helen Fox, and Patricia Bizzell, eds. ALT DIS: Alternative Discourses
and the Academy. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook/Heinemann, 2002.
Michael Ondaatje. The
English Patient. New York: Vintage, 1993.
All texts are at the
GMU Bookstore.
In this seminar, you will also be visiting a number of websites devoted to composition at various places in the U.S. Among local websites of interest are the Northern Virginia Writing Project, the GMU Writing Center, the GMU Writing across the Curriculum homepage, the GMU Nonfiction Writing Universe, and the English Composition homepage.
Of particular interest
to students of composition is GMU's own web-based theory journal, Enculturation,
edited by the English Department's Byron Hawk. For your theory-building
projects, I also recommend the CompPile
database (maintained by Richard Haswell and Glenn Blalock).
Further, if you are not
already a member of the National Council
of Teachers of English, I strongly urge you to visit the NCTE website
and learn about the advantages of and procedures for joining. Students
may do so at a greatly reduced rate.
1/20 Introductions: Beginning Explorations of Theory and Theorizing
***NOTE: (1/28/04) Because of the shortage of the Murphy text in the bookstore, as well as the weather-related cancellation of class on 1/27, I have made changes in the schedule. The schedule you now read is the new schedule.
2/3 History of Writing Instruction and Its Theories, from 5th Century BCE Athens to the 12th Century CE; have read Murphy essays by Enos, Murphy, and Lanham; due: "position" reflections on yourself as comp theorist (min. 500 words) (NOTE: We will meet for the first hour of this class in a lab in Innovation Hall, room 330, to learn Townhall) Before you come to Innovation Hall for our session, PLEASE know your GMU username and password. You will not be able to login to Townhall without this information. Begin Townhall entries.
***Students who were not able to purchase the Murphy text after our first class should prepare the later chapters first, once you have purchased the text, so as to be able to participate in the discussion on 2/10.
2/10 History of Writing Instruction and Its Theories, from the English Renaissance to the U.S. in 1900; have read Murphy essays by Abbott, Ferreira-Buckley/Horner, and Wright/Halloran; due: proposals for individual theory-building projects (1 p.).
***Assuming that the additional copies of the Villanueva text are in the bookstore by 2/13, you should be able to prepare the essays from that collection due 2/17.
2/17 History of Writing
Instruction and its Theories: 1900-2000; have read Murphy essay by Hobbs/Berlin;
Villanueva essays by Kinneavy, Witte/Faigley, and Ede and Lunsford.
2/20 Last day to drop
courses without Dean’s permission
2/24 Contemporary Theories
and Theorists I: "Process" and Cognitive/Developmental; Villanueva essays
by Murray, Sommers, Britton, Emig, Flower and Hayes, and Shaughnessy
3/2 Contemporary Theories
and Theorists II: Social (Epistemic, Cultural, "Post-process")); Villanueva
essays by Rose (p. 547 ff.), Breuch, Bartholomae, Flynn
Spring Break
3/16 Contemporary Theories
and Theorists III: Technique/Technologies; Villanueva essays by Braddock,
Hartwell, and Anson
3/23 Comp Theory Case
I: Alternative Discourses and Academic Writing; have read ALT DIS
essays from Preface through Dobrin.
3/30 Alternative Discourses
and the Academy: have read ALT DIS essays from Fox through Mao. Discussion
with guest theorist Terry Myers Zawacki.
4/6 Alternative Discourses
and the Academy: have read ALT DIS essays from Elbow through Matsuda.
4/13 Comp Theory Case
II: Text and Community Meets Comp Theory--Michael Ondaatje's The English
Patient;
have read the novel, plus T&C web materials; have
attended at least one of the events from the T&C schedule (including
the Ondaatje reading on 4/12 if at all possible). Research mini-presentations
begin.
4/20 The English Patient:
Applications for Comp Theory; research mini-presentations; due:
drafts
of theory-building projects (10 pp. min.)
4/27 Course evaluation;
research
mini-presentations
5/4 Final drafts of projects due at 5 PM in my mailbox in English main office (A487 Robinson).
Theory 'Blog (30
% of course grade) on Townhall Electronic Forum
From the week of Jan.
27 onward you’ll take part in a twice-weekly Internet forum (asynchronous)
based on the topics and readings for that week’s class. I ask you to write
at least one full screen per week as part of a conversation among the members
of the seminar.You’ll be responding both to the assigned material and to
one another’s comments. Hence, I’d like you to log in twice a week, so
you can contribute in the early and more advanced stages of the conversation.
These commentaries should be thoughtful, incisive reflections on the topics
in relation to your own teaching and writing. I’d like the tone of these
remarks always to remain thoughtful and congenial. It’s fine to disagree
with a colleague or with me, but I ask you to do so in the spirit of collegiality.
I'm calling this forum a "'blog," which is short for "web log"; 'blogs
( or just "blogs") are becoming more and more popular in composition and
other classes, as a variable medium for informal writing. This blog will
be atypical, since it's not a collection of individual websites that each
student creates, but a single website to which we all contribute. Feel
free to use your space not only for your written entries, but also to insert
images, links, etc., pertinent to our discussions.
Townhall
is a web-based discussion program that is used by many GMU teachers to
conduct both real-time (synchronous) and non-concurrent (asynchronous)
forums for students.We will devote part of one class (Jan. 27) to a real-time
discussion on Townhall and to instruction in how to use the program for
our weekly online conversations
Theory-Building Project
(30%
of course grade)
From the start of the
semester, think about and plan this culminating project, which asks you
to think, read, and write deeply about a particular question, issue, or
application of composition theory and to build your own theory in relation
to it. You may draw on any of the theorists and practitioners we study
in the course or that you have studied previously, but I also expect you
to read further, though not exhaustively, into the literature (print and
online) closely relevant to the particular topic. The project should culminate
in an essay of at least ten pages. A preliminary proposal is due February
10 (1 page, including a description of the project and a short biblio of
relevant sources); a first, complete draft is due April 20 (you’ll receive
my feedback in class April 27); the revised draft is due May 4 at 5 PM
in my English mailbox. Feel free to consult with me about the work in progress
at any point in the course. Note: no credit can be given to any finished
project that is not preceded by a proposal and a complete first draft on
the dates noted.
Multimedia option: If
you choose, you may develop your project as a web-based or otherwise multimedia
work, incorporating other elements besides word text. To learn various
web skills you'd need to do this, I recommend the services of the STAR
center for student technology; also, the web tutorials of the English Department's
Technology
in the English Concentrations website can be very helpful.
Mini-Presentation
of Theory-Building Research (10% of course grade)
On the last three evenings
of the course (4/13, 4/20, 4/27) we’ll hear brief presentations (10 minutes
each) from the members of the seminar on the theory-building projects in
which all of you have been engaged. Think of the presentation as an outline
of your full project, a summary of its focus, of the main writers who have
influenced your own thinking on the topic, and of your conclusions. Don’t
write a brief version of your paper and read it to us. (If you wish, you
might write such a version as a working tool, but don’t present it.) Instead,
accompany your oral explanation with a one-page handout that helps us follow
along and feel free to use the board, a poster, the overhead projector,
or the VCR/TV as a further visual support.
Seminar Participation
(30% of course grade)
Your full, active, well-prepared,
and thoughtful participation in our discussions is essential toward both
the success of the course and your own success in it. I look forward to
many evenings of productive, intense, enjoyable discussion and to excellent
online conversations as well.
I will grade your performance
holistically at the end of the term on all the above work. Please feel
free to ask me at any time for my assessment of your progress.
B= Satisfactory performance
of all assignments on time and according to stated criteria will earn at
least a B. It should go without saying that all written work should be
carefully proofread and conform to Edited American English syntax (unless
your use of non-standard forms in your theory-building project is part
of conscious production relevant to the topic of your essay).
B+= Outstanding performance
in one aspect of the course and satisfactory performance in all.
A- = Outstanding performance
in more than one aspect of the course and satisfactory performance in all.
A= Outstanding performance
in most aspects of the course and at least satisfactory performance on
all
C= Less than satisfactory performance in any aspect of the course.
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