Writing and Rhetoric II: Sherlock Holmes Past and Present

 

Class: ENG 3080J | MWF 3:05-4:00pm | Ellis 31

 

Introduction

This course is meant to provide training and practice in composing and revising writing that is well organized, logically coherent, and effective for its purpose and audience. This course focuses on skills in writing a variety of genres (i.e. rhetorical analysis, research-based argument, report, etc.). Coursework includes learning to read rhetorically and effectively and using strategies for searching academic databases and evaluating sources. Additionally, this course focuses on using correct documentation and mechanics.

 

To aid our development of these skills, and also because I firmly believe that strong readers make strong writers, this course will include a lot of reading. Our main reading for this course will be the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and subsequent writing about these stories. We will also be viewing a number of episodes from the recent BBC adaptation Sherlock.

 

Required Texts

• Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Sign of Four. Ed. Shafquat Towheed. Ontario: Broadview, 2010. Print. ISBN: 978-1551118376

• Doyle, Arthur Conan. Sherlock Holmes: the Major Stories with Contemporary Critical Essays. ed. John A. Hodgson. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 1994. Print. ISBN: 978-0312089450

 

Required Materials

• new composition notebook

• writing utensil

 

Course Work

This course involes a great deal of work. The major projects are listed below. Most of the time, a hard-copy of the projects will be submitted. Sometimes, assignments will be submitted through dropbox. Please see the schedule for details. For each project, a page on this site will provide a more detailed description and grading criteria.

• Mystery of the Mutilated Middlemarch project

• Creative Writing story of case

• Monograph 1

• Monograph 2

• Extended Monograph

• Final Project

• Commonplace book and other small assignments

 

Attendance & class participation

Attendance in this class is mandatory. You may miss four classes without it affecting your grade. The fifth and subsequent absences will lower your grade by 1/3 of a letter (For example, if you would otherwise earn a B in the course, 5 absences would make this a B-, 6 a C+, etc.). Late arrivals and early departures—within 15 minutes of the class’s beginning and ending—will be counted as absences. Failure to bring the material necessary to participate in class (for example, the reading for the day, or writing which will be peer-reviewed in class) may also result in an absence for that day. I do not differentiate between “excused” and “non-excused” absences. Exceptions to this policy will be determined on a case-by-case basis. If you know of an absence in advance, I am much more lenient if you contact me in advance to make up the work. At the end of the semester, anyone who has fewer than four absences can turn in those "absence tokens" for 5 points each towards their paticipation grade.

 

If you are absent, your work is still due. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to contact another student to obtain notes from class. Unless we have made previous arrangements, any work that I do not receive by class time will be counted late.  If a hardcopy of the assignment is due, email me the assignment by the deadline.

 

Participation is essential to the success of this class.  You should regularly participate in class discussions, group work, group assignments, etc. Since completing the assigned reading for the day is so critical to participation in class, reading (and viewing) assessments will be given regularly. Each assessment will be worth 10 points. I will drop the three lowest scores. The remaining total will be factored into your participation grade along with the commonplace book.

 

Included in your participation grade is your keeping of a journal, referred to as a commonplace book.  In this notebook, you will write all of your notes and small assignments for this class. I will give you specific tasks to complete inside, but you are free to write anything and everything beyond those specific instructions. Think of it as a "thinking log" where you write down words you don't know, things you find interesting or don't understand, or quotes that your particularly like. You can also brainstorm for your monographs inside. Each short story, novel segment, and video that we read or watch I want you to:

• title the story (or essay) and date the entry

• write down any words or phrases you did not know or understand

• write any particular sections or quotes that you really liked or disliked or found interesting and explain why. You must have at least one quote/section with explanation.

• summarize the text (or video) in 4-6 sentences

• any other thoughts, questions, or concerns

I will collect these notebooks periodically to check in. Check the schedule for collection dates and deviations from the routine.

 

The commonplace books will be graded on a √, √+, and √- system based upon the new entries evaluated upon collection. Your grade at the end will be based upon the following scale:

A: A preponderance of √+ and no √-

B: Mostly √ and no more than one √-

C: Two or more √-

D: Mostly √- and a missing entry

F: Two or more missing entries

 

Grading

I hate grades. I believe that they are often-times subjective, arbitrary, and involve a ranking that is classist and unfair for students. But unfortunately, I have to evaluate your work. Therefore, I will do my best to communicate my expectations and criteria for assigning grades. Grading will be based upon form and content (presentation of an interesting, thought-provoking thesis, clear organization of your argument, convincing display of textual evidence, capable use of secondary sources when applicable), as well as mechanics (competent handling of grammar, sentence structure, word choice, spelling, punctuation, citations). Students will have the opportunity to revise each writing assignment except the final. I will also gladly read drafts of assignments in advance if given adequate time and notice.

Breakdown of coursework:

Participation and Commonplace book: 15% 

Case of the Mutiliated Middlemarch: 10% 

Creative story of case: 10% 

First Monograph: 15% 

Second Monograph: 15%

Extended Monograph: 15%

Final Project: 20%

 

Major projects will be graded on an A-F scale:

A = 95                          C = 75

A - = 92                       C- =72

B+ = 88                       D+ =68

B = 85                         D = 65

B- = 82                        D- = 62

C+ = 78                       F = 55

 

Final course grades will be counted numerically and a letter grade assigned accordingly:

A = 93-100                              C = 73-76

A - = 90-92                              C- =70-72

B+ = 87-89                              D+ =67-69

B = 83-86                                D = 63-66

B- = 80-82                               D- = 60-62

C+ = 77-79                              F = 0-59

 

Late Work: Generally speaking, I do not accept late work for minor assignments. For the larger projects, for each day that your work is late, your grade will be lowered by one letter from what it normally would have received. For example, if you turn in an "A" paper two days late, that paper will receive a "C." This policy does not include extensions that were arranged  in advance before the deadline.

 

Contacting Me

If you need to contact me, email is the best method. I will try to respond as quickly as possible, but it may take several hours if it is in the evenings or on weekends. You may also contact me via the contact page on our class website. At specified times, I will also be online for chat and skype.

 

Classroom Etiquette

• Everyone in our class, including me, must remain civil and courteous at all times. We will often have the opportunity to share our opinions and beliefs, but no racist, sexist, heterosexist, or any other negative communication harmful to an individual or group will be tolerated. Whether something is offensive or not will be determined by the people whom it might offend. I am not perfect; if I ever say something that you consider offensive, please courteously make me aware of it and I, likewise, will do the same for you.

• I value learning and I expect you to do the same. Therefore, activities that demonstrate that you do not value learning, such as using your cell-phones for personal activities, listening to music (other than during independent work times and even then, quietly), or doing any non-class related activities on and off the computer may be counted as an absence.

• If you have any doubts or concerns about acceptable and not-acceptable class practices, please do not hesitate to ask. It is very important to me that my classroom remains a safe, encouraging space that fosters discussion and learning.

 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism: Cheating—whether by claiming another’s ideas or work as your own (fraud) or making up or falsifying information (fabrication)—will result in a course grade of F and a report to Community Standards. You are at all times responsible for handling sources ethically by acknowledging the author and source of directly borrowed ideas and language in your writing.

Academic Dishonesty:  Plagiarism is defined by the Ohio University Student handbook as a Code A offense (10); this means:

• [a] student found to have violated any of the following regulations will be subject to a maximum sanction of expulsion, or any sanction not less than a reprimand…Plagiarism involves the presentation of some other person’s work as if it were the work of the presenter.  A faculty member has the authority to grant a failing grade. . . as well as referring the case to the director of judiciaries.

Academic Misconduct Info for Students: http://www.ohio.edu/communitystandards/academic/students.cfm

 

If you are not sure how to avoid plagiarizing, see your instructor or a trained writing center tutor.

 

 

ADA: Classroom Accessibility

Please let me know as soon as possible if you need an accommodation in order to work successfully in this class. This classroom strives for full accessibility, and it is not necessary for you to have an official accommodation letter from Disability Services in order to request changes to the classroom that will better serve your needs as a student, although you are encouraged to explore the possible supports they can offer if you are a student with a disability.  Both able bodied students and students with disabilities are encouraged to suggest any improvements to the learning environment.  

Self-Advocacy: This classroom strives to be an inclusive space in which all students, both able-bodied and those with disabilities, have the right to expect that their individual needs will be met.  To this end, students with specific needs are encouraged to act as self-advocates, actively working with the instructor to identify barriers to the student’s full participation in the classroom. Opportunities for self-advocacy might include identifying a need to have class notes made available online, negotiating an extension on a due date, or letting the instructor know she needs to speak more slowly and distinctly in lecture.  It should be noted that not all requests can be met, and that requests for significant changes to the syllabus—such as exemptions from the attendance policy—will require the self-advocate to make a compelling argument of need, show an ongoing willingness to engage meaningfully in the work of the class, and identify the ways in which the accommodation can be managed without harm to either the student or the classroom community.

 

Your continued enrollment in this course constitutes your acceptance and understanding of the policies outlined in this syllabus and all attached OU or English Department policies and your commitment to adhere to all policies and employ your best efforts to accomplishing course objectives and outcomes.

 

Course Outcomes (this is what the University says that you are supposed to be able to do by the end of the semester)

 

Write: write for specific purposes, audiences and situations;
o show ability to quote, paraphrase, summarize, analyze, synthesize, and critique;
o compose original arguments using rhetorical strategies, such as appeals to ethos, logos, pathos;
o show ability to utilize and/or analyze visual texts along with alphabetic texts and to compose in a variety of digital media
o practice writing in a variety of genres
o approach writing as a recursive process
o use various activities to generate ideas for creating texts, including class discussion, group work, debates, focused learning logs, freewriting, etc.
o use informal writing as a tool for developing critical thinking skills
o revise at both global and local levels;
o use correct documentation, grammar, spelling, and punctuation;
o compose a minimum of 20 pages of formal, graded writing, not including revised writing.
o allow students to revise some of their work based on feedback from their peers, tutors, or their instructors

Read: read a variety of texts and genres, such as articles from academic journals and popular magazines, visual texts or film, creative writing (e.g. poetry, memoir, literary journalism) and student texts);
o differentiate between primary and secondary sources;
o analyze and/or evaluate texts according to the audience, purposes, and writing situations;
o understand and use a variety of concepts or theories to analyze different texts (i.e. use use rhetorical theories of composing or classical rhetorical appeals, feminist theory, use of literary elements such as, metaphor or symbolism; when appropriate, use concepts from film studies, and visual analysis, etc.
o understand and use rhetorical concepts (ethos, logos, pathos, kairos) to analyze texts;
o read own texts reflectively to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas needing improvement;
o respond to peers' texts constructively at both global and local levels.

Research: search a variety of academic databases using appropriate and effective strategies;
o evaluate the quality and validity of sources using clear criteria (e.g. online sources, journal articles, books, etc.);
o understand what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it;
o document sources correctly using an assigned documentation style or a documentation style from the students’ field (i.e. MLA, APA, Chicago);
o demonstrate ability to develop a good question for research (i.e. open-ended, current or relevant, focused, etc.).