101syf97.htm

Signs of Life:

Readings on Popular Culture

College Writing I --Sections 26, 30

Dr. Nancy Barta-Smith
Office: 312Q Spotts World Culture Bldg
Office Hours: TR 1-2:30; W3-5
Phone: (412) 738-2360
E-mail: nancy.barta-smith@sru.edu

We Will Use a Grading Contract for Assessment

You will earn credit for your work in College Writing I when it is ready for final assessment and depending on the level of commitment you are willing or able to make to our class. Be sure to note that you need not only to complete work, but to earn credit on it (CR). You should reread the contract grading guidelines below throughout our semester's work to assess your progress. To earn credit the work must at least show evidence of a process and be edited to meet standard conventions of English usage. I, along with your peers, will be commenting on your work and giving you suggestions for revision as you develop your ideas. Do not be discouraged if you do not earn credit immediately. It is one of the myths of English Studies that good writing springs forth like Athena from the head of Zeus. The birth of an idea requires gestation, during which the idea is nourished and your various points are "wired up" like our neural pathways! Your writing is a process of thinking. We never know what we think until we've had a chance to see what we say. Many of your problems as a writer may have occurred because you handed in a draft for final assessment. The keys to success are starting early and working progressively in consultation with others. Open any book and you will see an acknowledgements page in which formal and informal readers of early versions are thanked for their help. I encourage you to set up a conference with readers at the Writing Center (301 SWC) or come to see me to discuss revisions of your work.

When you receive credit on an assignment, your paper will be given a "CR." You will have the satisfaction of knowing you have successfully completed part of the final portfolio.

Descriptions of Possible Grades

A, B, and C grades are available to you in College Writing I. They build on each other so that each successive grade assumes the others as a baseline, as explained below.

To Earn a“C”

1. Please participate fully in daily activities and attend your scheduled conferences.
2. Be sure to turn in typed, written assignments (including drafts) on time as announced, so that I have time to read and return your work before the revision date.
3. Remember to hand in your final portfolio and double check your project against your table of contents and the guidlines for what to include, as follows:
a. Four Problem-Solving Papers which have received credit, along with all drafts and readers' responses..
b. All in-class and homework writing completed in addition to the problem-solving papers.
c. A mid-term and self assessment letter.

To Earn a “B”

1. Please participate fully in daily activities and attend your scheduled conferences.
2. Be sure to turn in typed, written assignments (including drafts) on time as announced, so that I have time to read and return your work before the revision date.
3. Meet with me in conference to plan an additional revision beyond the earned credit. Your revision may integrate two completed papers or approach your previous idea in a different way.
4. Remember to hand in your final portfolio and double check each project against your table of contents and the guidlines for what to include, as follows:.
a. Four Problem-Solving Papers which have received credit, along with all drafts, and readers' responses.
b. All in-class and homework writing completed in addition to the problem-solving papers.
c. A mid-term and final self assessment letter.
d. Your additional revision beyond the credit requirement.

To Earn an “A”

The portfolio requirements for an “A” in our course are the same in quantity as the requirements for a “B.” An "A" portfolio is different qualitatively, however. It shows special excellence in material, organization, expression, or appropriateness for audience and purpose. I urge you to consider "excellence" in editing as a minimum standard of acceptability for all of your finished work, since correctness is not the most important feature of your work, yet no workplace you will ever inhabit will knowingly send your documents out if they do not meet current standards of usage and correctness in every respect.

Your Writing Assignments

Problem-Solving Papers
You will carry four problem-solving paper through the process of inventing, drafting, revising, and editing. These papers will be shaped by the units we will read in Signs and will be distributed throughout the semester.

Peer Response Sheets
You will respond to many pieces of writing during the semester. Response sheets received for your own work should be kept in your portfolio and used when you revise. At the end of the semester, organize responses received on your own writing so they appear with your drafts and final work of each project.

Reflections on Your Writing
Each time you ask me to assess a problem-solving paper for credit, you should include a brief analytical reflection on how it is organized and why it has taken this shape. You can also mention how it has benefited from the responses of your readers, your main points, and what you like best about it.

Short Response Writings
As we work to dialogue with the readings and with each other, you may be asked to write during class or as a homework assignment. This material will be part of the thinking out of the final work for the unit and should be kept in the portfolio..

E-mail Discussions
You will participate in e-mail discussions in addition to our on-going classroom conversations. The e-mail discussions may include conversations with students in other classes. In particular, Dr. DiMarco and I have worked together to develop this course.