Course Description
English 302 is an Advanced Composition course; this section will focus on
the writing and research needs of students in the Natural Sciences. Although
we will make use of technical formats (such as professional
journal articles and peer reviews), the focus will be on conducting secondary
research, organizing the results of the research, and presenting your interpretations
of your findings to appropriate audiences, including interested non-experts.
English 302 focuses on the research process, and for this section our model of
the research process will be the scientific method of gathering data,
forming hypotheses, testing these hypotheses with new data via prediction and
experimentation, and refining the hypotheses. The readings focus on one primary
model of the scientific method: Darwinian evolutionary theory. In the class readings,
we will explore how the theory developed, how it has been applied, and how it
has changed over time. We will see that this one theory has applications in nearly
all of the natural sciences, as well as in computer science and sociology.
In this course, you will not be gathering new data first hand; rather you
are conducting secondary research by reading and analyzing the writings of
others, forming your own opinion (a preliminary thesis, or hypothesis), then
gathering more information via research to support or modify that thesis.
Aside from the distinction between primary and secondary research, the research
method in this course is the scientific method: you develop an idea based
on the material you find, and you modify your ideas as you uncover new information.
The act of interpretation is key; theses, hypotheses, and theories are all
based on facts, but theories are not facts themselves. Facts are raw data,
the building blocks of theories. In the course of constructing a thesis, you
must discriminate relevant from irrelevant data; you must analyze, select,
and conscientiously try to avoid bias. Bias, however, is practically unavoidable.
The very act of gathering information and presenting it requires you to make
decisions as to the importance of certain details. As we shall see in the summary-writing
exercise, even a "simple" task
such as summarizing a difficult passage introduces bias.
In the sciences, and in most professional writing, such biases are alleviated
by the process known as peer-review. Peer review is part of the general scientific
method as well: when a new hypothesis is presented, others in the field try
to disprove it. They aren't just doing this out of professional jealously.
A valid hypothesis is falsifiable; that is, it makes predictions or statements
which can be tested. If a hypothesis can withstand the tests of new data, if
it makes predictions which can be shown to be true or false, then the hypothesis
is accepted. Generally, however, hypotheses require refinement and alteration.
One reason initial hypotheses so often fail is due in part to initial biases.
Some data will be ignored as irrelevant because the researcher assumed it was
unimportant. This "irrelevant" data
often contradicts the hypothesis, and a better hypothesis will be required
to explain as much relevant information as possible. This is the process of revision.
We will also make use of the peer-review process, and you will revise your
theses as you find more information. Information which contradicts your thesis
cannot be ignored if it is relevant (and contradiction doesn't automatically
imply irrelevance). Rather, the thesis will need to explain the apparent contradictions.
Textbook
Phillip Appleman, ed. Darwin: Norton Critical Edition.
Website
http://mason.gmu.edu/~dtaciuch/2008/spring08/302/
Assignments
Summary (10%)
Library Research Assignment (5%)
1st
Essay: Explanatory (15%)
2nd Essay: Analysis (15%)
Research Proposal (5%)
Annotated Bibliography (15%)
Peer Review (5%)
Presentations (10%)
Research Project (20%)
Course Policies
Grading: . Grades on the essays will be based primarily on the quality of the writing. I value clear, focused writing with plenty of examples. The audience for the essays will be the class itself, and I expect the papers to be written with this audience in mind.
Grades on the annotated bibliography will be based primarily on your evaluations of the sources and secondarily on the citations themselves.
I will give all assignments letter grades. I calculate final grades by converting the letter grades to a 100 point scale using the following values:
| A+ 100 | |
| A 95 | C+ 78 |
| A- 90 | C 75 |
| B+ 88 | C- 70 |
| B 85 | D 65 |
| B- 80 | F below 60 |
A note on final grading: You must earn the grade of "C" or better in this course to receive credit for it and to fulfill this portion of the English composition requirement in General Education. A grade of "C-" or below will not be sufficient to receive credit for this course.
Late Assignments: Unless you make prior arrangements with me, late assignments will lose one letter grade per day. The lost grades cannot be made up by revision.
Revisions: The essays may be revised for a higher grade, but they must be substantially revised. You cannot lose a grade by revising, but a higher grade is not guaranteed. I have found that "B" papers (or higher) are often more difficult to revise, since serious revision requires thoroughly changing the essay's structure, and "B" papers usually have a fairly good structure. "C" papers (or lower) often respond more dramatically to revision, since the major changes they require are often more straightforward. I recommend revising "C" papers or lower only. If you plan to revise a "B" paper, please see me beforehand so we can discuss a revision strategy.
All revisions must be submitted by May 1.
Plagiarism: We will discuss the use and re-use of online materials quite extensively in this class. I consider the unacknowledged use of source materials to be plagiarism. Improper citations must be corrected, but improper citations alone will not get you sent to the Honor Committee.
Attendance: I will not take attendance, but it is not possible to do well in this course without regular attendance. In class assignments make up part of your grade. Class discussions of the readings are necessary for the papers, exercises, and the research project. Topics will develop from the class discussions.