109 W20 Cameron

University of Waterloo

Department of English

ENGL109-013

Introduction to Academic Writing

Winter 2020
T/Th 8:30-9:50 am, HH 138

Instructor Information

Instructor: Christopher Cameron
Office: PAS 1232
Office Hours: T/Th 10:00-11:00 am, or by appointment

Email: c25cameron@uwaterloo.ca

Course Description

This course is designed to help each of you gain greater fluency, confidence, and control as writers through an exploration of your own lives, communities, and cultural experiences. You will use writing as a way to learn and to critically examine the world around you, but also as a way to communicate what you have learned to others. You will use language to discover connections between yourselves and the broader world, and between your ideas and those of others. To this end, each of you will be asked to write in multiple genres, including memoir or profile, editorial, proposal, public service message, and research article.

Course Goals

Through your work in these genres, you will learn how to engage in all aspects of the writing and revision process, how to read and think critically, how to engage in a variety of kinds of research, and how to think about audience, purpose, and rhetorical situation. The course will provide each of you with many opportunities to interact with each other and to explore issues and ideas that are important to you through the act of writing; these opportunities are designed to help you acquire the necessary habits of mind to communicate in meaningful ways within today's society.

Learning Outcomes

To think critically and communicate effectively
• To learn and practice a variety of strategies for inventing, drafting, and editing texts
• To learn and practice writing in a variety of academic genres
• To learn to read critically
• To learn to write persuasively by effectively employing elements of formal argumentation • To give and receive useful feedback on writing for the purposes of revision
• To learn and practice communicating to a variety of academic audiences

Required Text

• Bullock, Richard Francine Weinberg. The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Handbook, 5th ed. W.W. Norton and Company, 2019

• Set aside $20.00 for photocopying your own work

Course Requirements and Assessment

Research Packet

At about mid-term, you will be asked to develop a research packet around a trend you have identified. In this packet, you will write about how you chose this topic, consider the potential of the topic as a subject to research, develop research strategies, and demonstrate that you have engaged in finding and evaluating information for your topic. In other words, you will think about whether your topic is appropriate, think about the appropriate research strategies to use, and demonstrate that you have both found material and thought about its relevance to your topic.

Research Article

After mid-term, you will be asked to hand in a research article in which you explain a trend. In this article, you will be expected to prove the trend exists, analyze its causes and/or effects, and contextualize it for your audience. Along with the research article, you must include a research narrative that details the connections between your research process and the research article you produced.

Class Participation

You are expected to be prepared to actively participate in all class activities, including peer workshops, writing activities, and class discussions. As well, you will be expected to attend and be prepared for all writing conferences. Each member of the class is vital to everyone's learning experience and regular and active participation is crucial. The grade for class participation will be comprised of in-class participation, attendance and preparedness for writing conferences, and weekly use of the writing and research notebook. These elements are weighted equally with each worth one third of the participation grade.

Writing and Research Notebook

Each of you will keep a notebook in which you can explore topics for writing and develop and pursue research questions. You will be expected to use this notebook every week; periodically you will be given prompts to help you think and write in this notebook. The writing in this notebook will give you the space to try out ideas, ask questions, and think critically about your research and writing. This writing is informal, but will be taken in periodically and will form part of your class participation grade.

Weekly Writing/Research

You will be expected to write or research at least four (4) hours per week. You will get substantial feedback on your writing and research from the other members of the class and from your instructor throughout the semester. Remember that as you write, you are working towards the creation of a final portfolio of material.

Final Portfolio

Your final portfolio will consist of polished versions of four types of writing; memoir or profile, editorial, proposal, and public service message. The final portfolio must be organized coherently and must also include a learning letter in which you discuss your progress as a writer over the course of the semester, provide detailed descriptions of the revision choices you made, and analyze how each piece of writing addresses issues of context, purpose, and audience. More information on the final portfolio will be provided in the next few weeks. The final portfolio is due April 9th.

Course Outline

Late Work

Assignments submitted late shall be penalized 2% per day.

Electronic Device Policy

Electronic devices are permitted, but please be respectful of your classmates and use them properly during class time. Electronic devices being used improperly are a distraction to students around you. For this reason, if you are using an electronic device, please sit in the back two rows of the class so as not to distract others with the device.

Attendance Policy

I shall not grade attendance, but bear in mind that 20% of your final grade is Class Participation.

Institutional-required statements for undergraduate course outlines approved by Senate Undergraduate Council, April 14, 2009

Cross-listed course

Please note that a cross-listed course will count in all respective averages no matter under which rubric it has been taken. For example, a PHIL/PSCI cross-list will count in a Philosophy major average, even if the course was taken under the Political Science rubric.

Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline.

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4.

Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or penalty in a decision made under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than regarding a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline if a ground for an appeal can be established. Read Policy 72 - Student Appeals.

Other sources of information for students

Academic integrity (Arts)

Academic Integrity Office (uWaterloo)

Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

Note for students with disabilities: The AccessAbility Services office, located in Needles Hall Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the AS office at the beginning of each academic term.