English 108 02 01
Advanced Composition: Computer Science Learning Community
Documenting Rhetorics, Documenting Reality
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: HEAV 120
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Alexis E. Ramsey, Instructor
aramsey@purdue.edu
web.ics.purdue.edu/~aramsey
Office Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 1:30-2:30
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English 108 is designed as a student-driven, writing intensive introduction to the demands of college-level writing. The course is based upon the notion of rhetoric or the awareness of the specific demands of each writing situation. Using rhetorical awareness, the students will learn to identify appropriate topics, audiences, genres, and styles for the three writing assignments in the course and when writing generally.
Another basic premise of this course is that the ability to write well and with confidence is an essential skill, one that extends far beyond the college environment. Writing occurs everyday and in a variety of forms. Every piece of writing is addressed to a certain audience, be that the writer him/herself or some other larger audience. Class activities and writing assignments stress the varying demands of different writing situations and work to show students that writing is much more than a five-paragraph essay.
Our theme this semester is Documenting Realities. We will be exploring the various methods (both verbal and visual) that we use in order to document the world around us and communicate our understanding of that world to others. Every time we communicate our perspective to others we are offering our interpretation of the topic or event under consideration. Moreover, on any single topic, there may be many points of view and therefore a variety of interpretations about how to understand that topic. Thus, in effect, we represent different realities to one another by producing different ways of understanding our shared reality. In this course we will be looking at how our rhetorical decisions and choices of strategies – from the claims we make to the images and language we use – affect how we document reality and therefore how our audience understands the reality we are presenting to them. As a Science Connections Learning Community, you will be encouraged to explore how the field of Computer Science documents particular realities and uses certain composing strategies to communicate its understanding of the world both within the discourse community of the discipline and to those outside of that community.
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Course Website
All information for the course--including meeting times and places, assignments and their due dates, research resources, daily course topics are available on-line. Students should consult the website first with any questions about the class or assignments.
Attedance
Attendance is mandatory and will be taken at the beginning of class. Students may miss up to three class before their final grade starts to plummet. After three absences the grade will drop by one letter grade per each additional absence. If you are more than ten minutes late you are considered absent.
Office Hours
My office is on the second floor of Heavilon Hall, right next to the center stairwell and down the hall from the conference rooms. Please feel to drop in during my office hours if you have any questions or concerns. My office hours are Tuesday and Wednesday, 1:30-2:30. Also, feel free to email me (aramsey@purdue.edu). I try and respond within 24 hours. If I don’t, email me again.
Cell Phones, IMing, and all that tech stuff
Cell phones and ipods must be turned off prior to the start of class. A ringin cell phone equals an absence; likewise, if you email or IM during computer lab time, you will be asked to leave and considered absent for that day.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is not accepted. Since we will be discussing how to acknowledge and cite sources, you should be able to learn to avoid accidentally plagiarizing anyone else’s work. If you are in doubt, please ask me, since the consequences of plagiarism are severe for this and any other class you will take at Purdue. The university policies about plagiarism include penalties ranging from failing the class to expulsion from the university. In this class, anyone caught plagiarizing will fail the course and will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students.
Note
While the above policies are a template for how the class will be conducted and how grades will be determined, ultimately grades are at the discretion of the instructor. All assignments and due dates are subject to change.