Required Texts:

Atwan, Robert and William Vesterman, eds. One Hundred Major Modern Writers. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1984.

Garrison, Roger H. How A Writer Works. Rev. ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1985.
.
Gefvert, Constance. The Confident Writer: A Norton Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1988.

Roth, Philip. The Ghost Writer. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1979.

Selected Readings: English 102:31/2. Purchase at Kinko's, 1667 Mt. Hope Ave., 271- 0454. Readings contained in this book will be indicated in the schedule below by (SR).

Course Objectives:

This course might be more accurately titled "Thinking, Reading, Researching, and Writing," for it is designed so that you can master these powerful skills. You will learn to analyze and synthesize information; to read essays, fiction, and poetry critically; and to do research efficiently and effectively. The course will give you experience writing abstracts, summaries, reviews, essays, and research papers. You will also learn to develop a paper using a variety of methods. By the end of the semester, you should have improved your mastery of written Standard English, the dialect of educated American prose.
The class will be conducted as a seminar, rather than a series of lectures. In this intimate atmosphere, we will--as a group--work to write correct, clear, appropriate, and distinctive Standard English prose. The class will vividly discuss various issues and energetically tackle writing and revision exercises. Occasionally you will be asked to present information to the class or to work cooperatively with other students on various projects.

Grading: Five Essays and their corrections or revisions 45%
Research Project (includes abstract and summary) 20%
Class Work (exam, oral reports, writing, etc.) 35%

Note: Extensions will be granted to students in emergency situations: illness, personal crisis, unpreventable accidents, etc. Students may negotiate for an extension of the Research Paper Draft (Extended Due Date: Tuesday April 6). Late papers will drop one-third of a letter grade per day.

Attendance: The work that you will do in class is essential. Along with the final exam, it will fulfill 35% of your grade. This work includes the preparation and training necessary to produce papers of high quality. Thus, absences not only hurt your grade, but slow your development as a writer. Moreover, they show a disrespect for your fellow classmates. All students, however, have the right to fail. As I do not enjoy failing my students, I strongly encourage you to drop this course if you miss more than two weeks of class. While perhaps exceptional academic brilliance may enable you to overcome the loss of two to three weeks of instruction, all students missing four weeks of class will fail.

Tentative Class Schedule

T 1/24: Introductory Class: The Power of Thinking, Reading, Researching, and Writing
In-class Writing: Writing Questionnaire
Homework: Library Assignment

Th 1/26: Mastering Library Research
Research Orientation Session in the Library
Readings: How A Writer Works, Chapter 13; The Confident Writer, pp. 15-30
Due: Library Assignment

T 1/31: Mastering the Definition Paper
Oral Reports: Short Reading Reports
Readings: "How Dictionaries are Made," S. I. Hayakawa
"The Comet is Coming," Nigel Calder
"Water," Elizabeth Janeway
"What Does That Mean," How A Writer Works, pp. 63-5
"Definition," The Confident Writer, pp. 62-3
In-class Writing: Defining a Basic Thing
Homework: Definition Assignment (Oral Report)

Th 2/2: Mastering the Definition Paper
Oral Reports: Short Reading Reports
Researching the Definition Paper
Readings: "The Essayist," E. B. White
"Sport and the `Bitch-Goddess,'" Lewis Mumford
The Confident Writer, pp. 45-8 and 55-6
Revision: Using Appropriate Language
Due: Definition Assignment

T 2/7: The Power of Language: Revising for Effectiveness
Revision: Avoiding Discriminatory Language
In-class Writings: Sexist Language
Grammar Questionnaire
Readings: "Choosing Words That Do Not Discriminate," The Confident Writer, pp. 394-7
"Guidelines for Nonsexist Language in APA Journals" (SR) "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell
Due: Definition Paper (500 words)

Th 2/9: The Power of Thinking: Revision
Revision: Rethinking the Paper
Readings: How A Writer Works, Chapters 1-9; The Confident Writer, pp. 119-32

T 2/14: The Power of Thinking: Classification
Oral Reports: Short Reading Reports
Readings: "University Days," James Thurber
"Emotional Reality," Jose Ortega y Gasset
The Confident Writer, pp. 64-6
In-class Writing: Using Ortega y Gasset's Scale of Emotional Reality to Respond to Art Homework: Classification Assignment (Oral Reports)

Th 2/16: Mastering the Classification Paper
Oral Reports: Short Reading Reports (2)
Classification Paper Topic
Readings: "Science Fiction Films: The Imagination of Disaster," Susan Sontag "The Nature of Symbolic Language," Erich Fromm Revision: to be announced
Due: Classification Assignment
Corrections or Revisions of the Definition Paper

T 2/28: The Power of Research: The Topic and the Thesis
Revision: to be announced
Due: Classification Paper (750 words)
Homework: Topic/Thesis Assignment (Oral Report)

Th 3/2: The Power of the Compare and Contrast Paper
Oral Reports: Short Reading Reports (2)
Readings: "Pure and Impure: The Interplay of Science and Technology," Issac Asimov
"The Keys to Dreamland," Northrup Frye
"Comparison and Contrast," The Confident Writer, pp. 63-4
Revision: to be announced
Homework: Poetry Assignment

T 3/7: The Power of Analysis: Comparing and Contrasting Poetry
Oral Report: Short Reading Report (1)
Readings: "The Relation of the Poet to Day-Dreaming," Sigmund Freud
assorted poems (SR)
"Writing About Writing," How A Writer Works, pp. 82-6
In-class Writing: The Poem as Day-Dream
Due: Poetry Assignment and Corrections and Revisions of the Classification Paper

Th 3/9: Mastering the Research Paper: Outlines and Bibliographies
Oral Reports: Topic and Thesis
Reading: The Confident Writer, Chaper 8
Revision: to be announced
Due: Compare and Contrast Paper (750 words)
Topic/Thesis Assignment
Homework: Thesis/Bibliography Assignment
Annotated Bibliography/Outline Assignment
T 3/14: Spring Break
Th 3/16: Spring Break

T 3/21: The Power of Reading; Mastering the Summary
Reading: "How to Read" (SR)
In-class Writing: Reading Questionnaire
Due: Thesis/Bibliography Assignment
Homework: Summary (250-500 words)
Abstract Assignment (Oral Report)

Th 3/23: Mastering the Abstract
Oral Report: Abstracts
Due: Summary (250-500 words)
Abstract Assignment
Homework: Abstract (50-150 words)

T 3/28: Mastering the Research Paper: Accommodating Information
Reading: The Confident Writer, Chapter 5
Revision: to be announced
Due: Abstract (50-150 words) and Corrections and Revisions of the Compare and
Contrast Paper

Th 3/30: The Power of Writing: The Ghost Writer
Reading: The Ghost Writer
Due: Annotated Bibliography and Outline Assignment

T 4/4: The Power of Writing: The Ghost Writer
Reading: The Ghost Writer

Th 4/6: Mastering a Text: The Ghost Writer
Reading: The Ghost Writer
In-class Writing: Summarizing The Ghost Writer
Due: Draft of the Research Paper (1400-2500 words)

T 4/11: Shaping Content: Authorial Power
Readings: "Red as Blood" OR "When the Clock Strikes," Tanith Lee (SR)
"Rappaccini's Daughter," Nathaniel Hawthorne (SR)
The Confident Writer, pp. 60-1
Revision: to be announced
Th 4/13: The Power of Thinking: Analyzing a Process
Readings: "How I Write My Songs," Donald Barthelme (SR)
"Why God Made Hands," Brian Santo (SR)
"The Raven" and "The Philosophy of Composition," Edgar Allan Poe (SR)
"You Write Instructions," How A Writer Works, p. 65
"Process Anaylsis," The Confident Writer, pp. 61-2
In-class Writing: Directional Process Analysis

T 4/18: The Power of Thinking: Process Analysis and the Arts
Music/Slide Presentation
Readings: "Process Analysis" (SR)
"How We Listen to Music," Aaron Copland
Selections from The Renaissance, Walter Pater (SR)
"I Want to Write A Poem," How A Writer Works, pp. 86-90

Th 4/20: The Power of Persuasion
Readings: "The Boston Photographs," Nora Ephron
"On Sightseeing," G. K. Chesterton
"Small-Town Life," Willa Cather
"You Have A Strong Opinion," How A Writer Works, pp. 65 7
(review) The Confident Writer, Chapter 5
Due: Process Analysis Paper (750 words)
Homework: Argument Assignment (Oral Report)

T 4/25: Mastering the Argument Paper
Oral Reports: Topic of Argument Paper
Readings: "History as a Literary Art," Samuel Eliot Morison
"This is the End of the World: The Black Death," Barbara Tuchman
"I Have a Dream," Martin Luther King, Jr.
In-class Writing: Argue whether or not Tuchman's essay is literary art

Th 4/27: Mastering the Review: Exam Preparation
Readings: "The Boy Scout Handbook," Paul Fussell
"Mrs. Post Enlarges on Etiquette," Dorothy Parker
"Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses," Mark Twain (SR)
"You Have A Deadline," "Making Judgments," and "Writing A Speech," How A Writer Works, pp. 68-71 and 74-5
Due: Argument paper (750 words)

T 5/2: Oral Presentations of Research

Th 5/4: Oral Presentations of Research
Due: Research Paper (1400-2500 words)and Corrections and revisions of the Process Analysis and the Argument/Persuasion papers

Final Exam: Write a review of The Ghost Writer