Reading, Writing, and the Struggle of the Self:

A Seminar on Writing as a Disciplinary Tool

Advanced Expository Writing

English 249W Section 2

Tues Thurs 12:30-2:00

Instructor:           Randall Cream

EMail:  randall.cream@uconn.edu

Office:  149 CLAS           486-2583

Office Hours: TU/TH 8:30-9:30 & by appointment

WebPage: http://sp.uconn.edu/~tec/249/

Class Description

The goal of the Advanced Expository Writing course is to teach students at an advanced level to write analytical, expository essays in an academic setting. This course presumes a substantial amount of preparation in basic composition.

There are two foundational principles guiding the pedagogy of this course. First of all, I believe that good writing requires good thinking. One can’t write well without thinking well. Accordingly, we will spend a considerable amount of time this semester thinking– through discussions, writings, and readings. Secondly, this class uses a practice-based model of learning. Its central tenet is that the only way to develop one’s skill at a given task is to undertake that task. You will undertake the task of expository writing each week, from beginning to end. I will consistently push you to develop yourself as a thinker and as a writer. The primary modes of this communication will be the brief responses I give to your written work, and equally importantly, the out of class comments I make via email and in conference.

The class this semester uses a thematic approach to center the practice-based model of learning. The theme for this semester is writing as a tool for self-discipline. We’ll read some complex philosophical theory about the relationship between writing and the self. We’ll also read some writing that engages in self-discipline in an overt way. The material we read will come from an array of historical periods: contemporary French philosophical theory, writings from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and literary works from the 17^th and 18^th century in Great Britain. This variety of writings will work together to frame a common understanding for our group. Throughout the semester our focus will be toward using what we read to inform what we write.

The Readings

In order to help you to write essays that are thought-provoking, insightful, and sophisticated, we’ll read material that is thought-provoking, insightful, and sophisticated. The readings, therefore, will be quite difficult. This semester you will read a complex mix of philosophy, literary theory, historical writings, and literature. Often, you will struggle to make sense of the connections between these texts. Difficult or complex readings, however, produce complex and substantial essays. Our task as a class will be to find ways to think through the readings, to make sense of the materials in order to produce insightful, original, critical essays that articulate a well-thought out position.

The Discussions

We will spend time each week thinking through the major issues of the readings. Participation is an important component of this class. If you are unwilling to participate, you should drop the class.

The Writing

As we discuss the readings, we’ll spend time in class writing on some of the important issues in the texts. This writing will help solidify our understandings of the texts, and provoke us to develop our ideas more fully. The weekly writing will take the form of short essay questions that will ask you to explain and defend a position on the reading. At a bare minimum, in order to receive a passing grade on the weekly writing you must have read and thought about the assigned texts.

Unalterable Policies

Attendance at each class is expected of all students. To be successful you must attend regularly. In order to encourage attendance, I will engage in frequent, unannounced in class writings. These can’t be made up if missed, and they constitute an important component of your grade. If you find that you have missed a class, seek out a classmate for information on what you have missed; do not expect me to tutor you in your absence. Late essays will lose a letter grade each calendar day not submitted.

Course Grade

            Shorter Essays                                                40%

            Longer Researched Essay                               20%

            Book Review                                                  10%

            Annotated Bibliography                                 10%

            Weekly Writings                                            20%

Materials

All assigned readings will be available online via the class web page. If you don’t have a personal printer, the university has printers available for 7 cents per page.

Assignments

Essays

You will write two types of essays for this class: shorter essays which are primarily expository and which use of the texts available in class, and a longer expository essay which relies on source material from outside of the class. Regardless of length, the essays you submit must be expository, or seeking to provide a path of meaning through the topic you’ve selected. The essays will be judged according to the insights they provide and the strength and skill of the arguments they employ to support those insights. There are several handouts on criteria and style available on the website.

Weekly Writings (In-Class)

Each week you will be asked to write on a prompt in class. These prompts are expository in nature, meaning they ask you to explain and interpret some aspect of the text we are working through. To encourage prompt attendance, these writing assignments will be given at the start of class. Each of these assignments will ask you to think through and articulate your understanding of some important moment of the text(s) of the class. These are short (approximately 1 page ) and to the point, without introduction or conclusion. Instead, these in class writings are brief, introductory analyses of the important issues of the texts. They will also serve to guide our discussions of the texts.

Book Review

I’ll ask you to select a book from a list of 6 or 8 and review it. Your review should be evaluative and analytical, and it should succeed at two important tasks: Evaluating the success of the book, and understanding the book via the rubric of the theory of writing we’ve covered in this course. The book review is a very short assignment that asks you to exercise care in your sentences to avoid wasting words needlessly. As all writing in this course, it is a thesis based, expository writing assignment.

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a bibliography which explains and evaluates its sources. I will ask you to write an annotated bibliography before the researched essay is due. This is a bibliography of approximately 10-15 sources with a few sentences or a paragraph evaluating each source. In order for your research to be fruitful and your evaluations be focused, you will need to develop a thesis for this assignment. That thesis then becomes the tool for evaluating the research within the annotations. While we are working through this assignment, I will hold instruction times in the library for conducting scholarly research.

Tentative Schedule

Week 1 (Jan 20/22) Class Introduction

Week 2 (Jan 27/29) Theory I

Week 3 (Feb3/5) Theory I

Week 4 (Feb 10/12) Writing I

Week 5 (Feb 17/19) Writing I

Week 6 (Feb 24/26) Essay I

Week 7 (Mar 2/4) Theory II

Spring Break

Week 8 (Mar 16/18) Theory II Book Review

Week 9 (Mar 23/25) Writing II

Week10 (Mar 30/Apr 1) Writing II Essay II

Week 11 (Apr 6/8) Theory III

Week 12 (Apr 13/15) Theory III/Writing III Annotated Bibliography

Week 13 (Apr 20/22) Writing III

Week 14 (Apr 27/29) Essay III

Important Dates

Mon Feb 2          Last day to Drop/Add

Mon Mar 29          Last Day to Withdraw

Fri Apr 30           End of Classes

May 3-8           Finals