Course Description
English 302 is an Advanced Composition course. Although we will make use of technical
formats (such as proposals and professional journal articles), the focus will
be on conducting secondary research, organizing the results of the research,
and presenting your interpretations of your findings to appropriate audiences.
English 302 focuses on the research process. In this course, you will be conducting secondary research by reading and analyzing the writings of others, forming your own opinions and recommendations (a working thesis or hypothesis), then gathering more information via research to support or modify that opinion into a final thesis.
The act of interpretation is key: hypotheses, theories, opinions, and theses are all based on facts but are not facts themselves. Facts are raw data. 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 unavoidable in practice. 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 assignment, even a "simple" task such as summarizing a difficult passage introduces bias.
In business, and in most professional writing, such biases are alleviated by the process known as peer-review, during which your associates, supervisors, editors, and others evaluate and offer suggestions on nearly complete drafts. Initial hypotheses and opinions often require extensive modification during the course of research and review. 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 complicates the working 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
Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody. Penguin.
ISBN-10: 1594201536
ISBN-13: 978-1594201530
$25.95
GMU Writing Center Online
Writing Guides and Online Workshops
GMU Library 302b Wiki
Assignments
Customer Letter (10%)
Summary (10%)
Short Essay (15%)
Wikipedia Assignment (10%)
Research Proposal (5%)
Annotated Biliography (15%)
Peer Review (5%)
Research Paper (20%)
Presentation (10%)
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 July 11.
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.