Sample Course Syllabus
Last Updated: September 15, 2003
Instructor(s):
- Bruce Erickson --- Bruce's Contact Information
Students will:
- Learn to understand the relationship between the context of writing and conventions governing writing in business and government.
- Learn strategies for analyzing the discourse conventions of business and governmental texts and incorporating those conventions into their own writing.
- Learn to write well, according to conventions governing language use within business and government.
- Understand the relationships among writing within various discourse communities including business and governmental ones.
- Build on their ability, developed in Language and Composition I and elsewhere, to write flexibly for different audiences, forums, and purposes, including multinational ones.
- Develop analytical, critical, organizational and other writing skills that will facilitate students' continuing mastery of the discursive conventions of their chosen fields.
- Consider the ethical and legal implications of language use in the fields of business and government.
- Understand the importance of creating texts that incorporate a variety of elements (sub-heads, tables, graphics, etc.) in a manner that is visually appealing, rhetorically appropriate, and audience friendly.
- Demonstrate the ability to make a brief oral presentation based on a written text.
Required Texts:
- Course Packet for ENG 145.13. Eastside Rapid Print.
- Department of English at Illinois State University. Language and Composition II: Course Guide for English 145. Urbana, IL: Stipes Publishing. 2003.
- Williams, Joseph M. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace . 6th edition. New York: Longman, 2000.
- Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. The Business Writer's Handbook. Seventh Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martins. 2003.
- Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. The Business Writer's Handbook. Seventh Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martins. 2003.
Minimum Writing Requirements
Projects
Students will complete a carefully constructed sequence
of assignments designed to achieve the course goals. They will write
an average of at least 1000 revised words per week, resulting in several
exercises and six finished papers.
- Five project papers (each at least 2000 words in length) will be written in drafts or stages.
- All papers will require the use of reference or source materials and appropriate citation and documentation. Use of field research is optional and must be approved in advance by the instructor.
- The sixth project paper will be an analytical essay on the development of work done to meet course requirements and the improvement of the student as a writer.
Students will complete eleven executive summaries of various types:
- Four executive summaries will correspond to chapters in a required text
- Five executive summaries (project executive summaries) will be submitted as part of the project documentation
- Two executive summaries (article summaries) will be based upon relevant articles
RAM Papers
Students will complete several RAM Papers during the first half of the semester.
These specialized papers will focus on chapters of a required class text.
Projects Log
Students will keep a personal journal about their writing
experiences. This journal (called a Projects
Log) should be brought to each class, and it may be either hand-written
or typed.
Late or Incomplete Work
While many types of documents will be created and submitted
by students in the course, only project work can be late or incomplete.
- There are six projects in the course, and the goal of each project is to create a paper for each student's portfolio---preferably a paper of exception quality, suitable for presentation to a specific academic or professional discourse community.
- Requirements of the projects presentations can be found at Project Requirements.
- All project deliverables must be submitted in a project packet.
- Late or incomplete project packets must be redeemed through a specific redemption process.
Policies in effect for English 101, which are published in the Course Guide for Language and Composition II, will be in effect for English 145.
Grading
Each student will be responsible for submitting at the
end of the course a portfolio of work created to meet the requirements of
the course.
- Portfolios must contain all required project papers in multiple drafts, evidence of response and revision, and an analysis of the work in the course.
- Portfolio grades will be based on the criteria published in the Course Guide for Language and Composition II. In brief, those criteria address the following areas:
- The quality of the writing
- The quality of the writing process (i.e., evidence of drafting, revising, copyediting, etc.)
- The quality of the student's contributions and responses to the work of his/her peers
- The completeness of the portfolio
- A complete portfolio will contain:
- Six (6) complete projects (including presentation materials)
- Six (6) RAM papers
- Four (4) executive summaries
- Two (2) article summaries
- Exercise # 1
- Exercise # 2
- The portfolio grade will constitute the grade for the course.
All writing for this course must be word processed and accessible via in the hardware and software used in the course. Students will be responsible for solving any compatibility problems between their student-owned hardware/software and the hardware/software of Illinois State University.
In addition to the paper copy of the portfolio, all students will submit a electronic copies of the documents they submit for the portfolio except for a Projects Log. A Projects Log may be submitted either as hardcopy or electronic file.
This course will make extensive use of Webboard, a software program that will allow students to post documents online in order for their classmates to respond to them (also online). Access to the Webboard for this course will be controlled by a password. Students should be sure to make note of the password and protect it appropriately.
Planning
Each student (or student group) is responsible for planning
how to go about completing the work assigned. The Course Schedule should provide adequate information
pertaining to assignment due dates. Links from the Course Schedule should
provide adequate information regarding assignment content and requirements
(except with regard to writing conventions).
With regard to writing conventions:
- General guidelines are provided at What Your Instructor Expects
- Discipline-specific writing conventions will be identified by each student during the semester and submitted as part of Project # 5
Please make the course instructor aware of any learning difficulties or physical challenges you experience that could affect your performance in the course. Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accomodation for a documented disability should contact Disability Concerns ar 350 Fell Hall, 438-5853 (voice) or 438-8620 (TDD).
Link to the Course Schedule
Link to Project Packet Information
Link to Project and Presentation Requirements
Link to What Your Instructor Expects
Link to Notes for Students Adding the class