All readings below refer to selections from the course textbook Reflections on Language unless otherwise indicated. Page numbers for each reading are in parentheses following the author's name and the essay title.
Unless I inform you otherwise, all drafts of all papers for this class should be emailed to Jan.Cooper@oberlin.edu as a Microsoft Word 6 (or higher) attachment.
Some weeks I have scheduled time for individual appointments with each class member, and some weeks I have not. Whether or not individual appointments are scheduled for a week, however, please feel free to make an extra appointment to talk to me if you need it.
NOTE: Attendance and coming to class on time are especially crucial in this course, given how much work is scheduled for each class meeting. If you are absent from class or miss an appointment with me, I expect you to contact me as soon as possible to explain the absence and to turn in writing or pick up materials you may have missed. If you are late to class, I expect you to explain to me why at the end of the period, and if (for some dire emergency only!) you have to leave early, I expect you to explain why that will happen at the beginning of the class meeting.
Mondays--discuss readings
Tuesdays--email paper drafts as Word 6 attachment to Jan.Cooper@oberlin.edu by 6pm
Wednesdays&emdash;work on skills, in-class collaborative work
Fridays--workshop drafts in pairs, small or large groups, or individual appointments
Additional individual appointments, small group meetings or meetings with tutors will be scheduled as needed.
Introductions
readings Kurt Vonnegut's "How to Write With Style" (xxxvi-xxxix)
Mon., Feb. 7 Names, course introduction, in-class writing
Tues., Feb., 8 Email your course schedule as a Word attachment to Jan.Cooper@oberlin.edu by 6 pm
Wed., Feb. 9 Paper 1 Assignment; discuss Vonnegut reading; learn to send and download email attachments in Word 6
Thur., Feb. 10 Send "Initial Definitions of a Writing Vocabulary" and "Dictionary Definitions of a Writing Vocabulary"as email attachments (not messages!) to Jan.Cooper@oberlin.edu
by 6 pm
Fri., Feb. 11 Group work
Semantics
readings "A Dictionary of Local [Oberlin] Usage"
(website located at http://www.oberlin.edu/~english/courses/fall99/
english339/dictionary339-f99.html),
Lurie's "The Language of Clothes"(143-148)
Mon., Feb. 14 Discuss readings, Paper 2 assignment handed out
Tues., Feb. 15 Group Paper 1 revisions due by 6pm
Wed., Feb. 16 Individual appointments with Jan
Fri., Feb. 18 Discussion of Group Paper 1 revisions
Voice
readings Rodriguez's "Public and Private Language" (283-288),
Mellix's "From Outside, In" (340-349),
Shen's "The Classroom and the Wider Culture: Identity as a Key
to Learning English Composition" (385-389)
Jan will make group reading assignments the week before
Mon., Feb. 21 Discuss readings in small groups; reading assignments for the following week made
Tues., Feb. 22 Paper 2 due by 6 pm
EVERYONE IS REQUIRED TO TAKE THEIR PAPER 2 DRAFTS TO THE EXPOSITORY WRITING TUTORS IN MUDD 210 FOR ADVICE SOMETIME DURING THIS WEEK. You are also required to mail Jan a description of what happens in this meeting.
Wed., Feb. 23 Large group discussion of "voice," readings for the following week handed out
Fri., Feb. 25 Workshop Paper 2 drafts
Metaphor
readings handouts (poetry, sports writing, and science)
Mon., Feb. 28 Discuss readings; sign up for individual appointments with Jan during this week
Tues., Feb. 29 Revisions of Paper 2 due by 6 pm
Wed., March 1 Discussion of the uses of metaphor in academic writing
Fri., March 3 Workshop Paper 2 revisions
Grammar/Mechanics
readings Roberts' "Something About English (316-325),
and Hairston's error classification (handout)
Mon., March 6 Discussion of readings
Tues., March 7 Further revisions of Paper 2 due by 6 pm
EVERYONE IS REQUIRED TO TAKE THEIR PAPER 2 REVISION TO THE EXPOSITORY WRITING TUTORS IN MUDD 210 FOR ADVICE SOMETIME DURING THIS WEEK. You are also required to mail Jan a description of what happens in this meeting.
Wed., March 8 Discussion of Copyreading and keeping a Copyreading Guide
Fri., March 10 Workshop papers
No readings except papers for workshopping this week.
Mon., March 13 Appointments with Jan
Tues., March 14 Any further revisions of Paper 2 due by 6pm; Personal Copyreading Guides due by 6 pm
Wed., March 15 Workshop Papers
Fri., March 17 Workshop Papers
No readings except papers for workshopping this week.
Mon., March 20 Workshop Papers
Wed., March 22 Midterm course evaluation discussion
Fri., March 24 Midterm Folders due by noon at King 139-D (Jan's office) NO CLASS THIS DAY
March 25-April 2 SPRING RECESS&emdash;NO CLASSES
Communal Tropes
readings Tan's "The Language of Discretion" (291-298) and
Wardhaugh's "The Social Basis of Talk" (164-171)
Mon., April 3 Discussion of tropes; Paper 3 assignment handed out; sign up for midterm appointments
Tue., April 4 First stage of Paper 3 due by 6pm
Wed., April 5 Small group work; reading assignments for the following week made
Fri., April 7 Discussion of readings
Understanding the Linguistic Roots of Conflict
readings Farb's "Verbal Dualing" (173-177)
plus one of the following (according to groups assigned by Jan the week before):
Lakoff's "Language and Woman's Place" (214-224),
Tannen's "Sex, Lies, and Conversation" (225-230),
and August's "Real Men Don't, or Anti-Male Bias in English" (243-254)
Mon., April 10 Discussion of readings
Tues., April 11 Paper 3 due by 6 pm
EVERYONE IS REQUIRED TO TAKE THEIR PAPER 3 DRAFT TO THE EXPOSITORY WRITING TUTORS IN MUDD 210 FOR ADVICE SOMETIME DURING THIS WEEK. You are also required to mail Jan a description of what happens in this meeting.
Wed., April 12 Group work
Fri., April 14 Workshop paper
Documentation
readings EXPOS OWL website on documentation
(see URLS handed out in class )and
David Rathenberg's "How the Web Destroys the Quality of Students' Research Papers" (595-597)
Mon., April 17 Discuss documentation in academic writing
Tues., April 18 Paper 3 revision due by 6pm
Wed., April 19 Group work; Paper 4 assignment handed out
Fri., April 21 Appointments with Jan
Negotiating Academic Controversy
readings Courtney Leatherman's "At Texas A&M, Conflicting Charges of Misconduct Tear a Program Apart" handout
Mon., April 24 Discuss readings and conventions of documentation, Oberlin's Honor Code
Tues., April 25 Paper 4 due
Wed., April 26 Group work
Fri., April 28 Workshop paper
No readings except papers for workshopping this week.
Mon., May 1 Workshop paper
Wed., May 3 Revision of Paper 4 due
Fri., May 5 Group work, Workshop paper
No readings except papers for workshopping this week.
Mon., May 8 Workshop paper, course evaluation
Wed., May 10 Workshop paper
Fri., May 12 Final course evaluation discussion
Tues., May 16, noon Final Folders due by noon at King 139-D (Jan's office)
Hirschberg, Stuart, and Terry Hirschberg. Reflections on Language. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Leatherman, Courtney. "At Texas A&M, Conflicting Charges of Misconduct Tear A Program Apart." Chronicle of Higher Education. 4 November1999: A18-A20.
Dictionary of Local Oberlin College Usage http://www.oberlin.edu/~english/courses/fall99/english339/dictionary339-f99.html
Three readings on metaphor to be handed out in class.