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CLBR-090-02
Fall 2008
Advanced Academic Writing
Mr. Ken Benoit |
Lynn 101A |
Office Hours: 2:30-3:30 M, W, F
and by appointment |
Phone: (206) 296-6064 |
Classroom: ADMIN 324
Days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday Time: 1:30 – 2:20 pm |
E-mail: kbenoit@seattleu.edu
Phone calls will be returned and replies to e-mail messages provided within 48 hours (except on weekends). |
Texts
American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective by Edward C. Stewart and Milton J. Bennett
A Brief Guide to Writing from Readings (Fourth Edition) by Stephen W. Wilhoit
Course Description and Objectives
The goal of the course is to provide students an understanding of American cultural assumptions and values in order to increase their awareness of and improve their effectiveness in American academic environments. The course is structured both as overviews of human perceptual processes, the influence of culture on language use, cultural dimensions of communication, and their cross-cultural implications. The assignments will focus on translating cultural values and assumptions into specific and practical applications. The course aims to develop students' ability to produce appropriate modes of formal academic writing. Strategic reading skills and sentence-level grammar are also included as ongoing course goals.
Course Concepts
Cultural values and presuppositions:
- An overview of American cultural values and their manifestations in speech, writing, interaction, and many other diverse aspects of human functioning
- Individualist and collectivist cultures and diverging orientations
Aspects of academic writing:
- Implications, overstatements, understatements, and hedges
- Cohesion devices, and discourse moves and markers
- Text organization and textual coherence
- Reader- and writer-based prose as a manifestation of cultural values
- Thesis-driven analytical and expository prose
Course Components
Three major written assignments, based on two drafts. Assignments may be reporting information, and/or synthesizing and analyzing data, as well as readings. Each major assignment should be between 4 and 6 typed pages, double spaced, with appropriate citations of readings and materials.
Three in-class writing tests, based in readings and information synthesis.
Out-of-class readings, grammar and sentence-level exercises, vocabulary work, and textbook homework exercises.
Active participation in class discussions and activities is essential. Verbal communication in today’s professional world is highly valued and the university expects students to engage in active discussion so that students can increase their learning and be prepared for their professions.
Course Policies
ALL WRITING must be completed ON TIME to receive credit for the course.
NO LATE PAPERS will be accepted. All assignments are due at beginning of the class hour on the day they are due. If a main written assignment is not completed on time, the course grade will be reduced by one grade point (letter grade).
REGULAR ATTENDANCE of classes during the quarter is mandatory. Students who miss three classes during the quarter will have their grade lowered by one grade point (letter grade). Arriving late to class three times is considered equivalent to one absence.
ASSIGNMENT AND COURSE GRADING:
Writing or presentation assignments and participation are graded subjectively and receive letter grades.
A -- |
Writing demonstrates very strong organizational, academic, grammar, and vocabulary skills. |
B -- |
Writing demonstrates good organizational, academic, grammatical, and vocabulary skills, but has some errors. |
C -- |
Writing demonstrates generally satisfactory rhetorical, grammatical, and vocabulary skills, but contains some consistent errors. |
D -- |
Writing demonstrates some organizational, academic, grammatical, and vocabulary skills, all of which require improvement. |
F -- |
Writing demonstrates only basic organizational, academic, and grammatical skills; vocabulary is limited, and the ideas difficult to understand. |
C is the lowest passing grade, and those who earn a lower course grade will have to repeat the course. In this case, F letter grade will appear on student transcripts.
The first two assignments carry an equal weight of 15% in the final grade computation, whereas the last is weighted at 20%. Similarly, each of the first two in-class writing tests represents 15% of the course grade, while the last is worth 20% (i.e. 50% of the total course grade). With the major assignments, the quality of the first and second drafts carries equal credit.
After the class ends, students can pick up their papers at my office or leave a stamped and self-addressed envelope for the papers to be mailed in. Assignments not collected within two weeks after the end of the quarter will be discarded.
A Special Note on Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as using the ideas and words of another individual without giving credit or acknowledging their work. If a student submits an assignment as his or her own, but it in part or whole represents someone else's work, the student commits a serious academic offense. In U.S. universities, plagiarism represents a transgression of rules of academic conduct. According to the policy of academic honesty outlined in the Student Handbook, the instructor will determine an appropriate course of action or penalties.
There will be no class on the following days: Wednesday, November 19 (University Mission Day) and Wednesday and Friday, November 26 and 28 (Thanksgiving Recess)
Last day of class: Saturday, December 6
Note: This syllabus is only a general guideline of course policies and goals. The instructor reserves the right to modify the course objectives, concepts, and components during the quarter. If subsequent changes in the course goals or policies occur, students will receive updated information and syllabus revisions.
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