Semester Calendar
Syllabus/ Course Policy Sheet
Narratives, or stories, are not only a way to entertain ourselves, but are also the way humans connect to one another. A good story encourages an audience to pay attention to what you have to say, to empathize with you and your message, and to remember your message even after the story has finished. Whether Amazon reviews, courtroom documents, medical research, or real estate, all career paths utilize the art of storytelling in order to execute their goals.
Narrative genres are used alone, but they can also be embedded inside both informative and persuasive genres in order to enhance those genres.
Basically, narratives make everything better.
Over the next 15 weeks, we will examine narrative genres and how they are used in informative and persuasive genres. Through this, you will develop an understanding as to how to connect with a specific audience.
This is NOT a creative writing class, but you will be writing creatively. You will also be writing persuasively and informatively. You be writing in many ways you have not before. If you peruse the upcoming assignments, you will see how you will learn you to: dissect a composition in order to understand how and why it works, write a professional proposal, curate a collection of online artifacts, perform scholarly research, and develop a full creative campaign which includes a original narrative composition, promotional materials, and social media blitzes. We will be looking at scholarly articles, Tweets, commercials, YouTube videos, podcasts, songs, and Instagram posts to determine why they are successful, captivating, and sharable.
FAQs
How will this help me with my degree?
All degrees and all careers require you to communicate your ideas in verbal, visual, or text-based form. This class will give you the skills to ensure you communicate those ideas clearly.
What do you mean by "critical thinking" skills?
Critical thinking is the ability to process the information provided for you and determine how much of it you can trust. If you find a survey in a psychological journal which states that 5 out of 10 Atlanta residents believe that left-handed humans are more imaginative, doesn't mean that left-handed people are more imaginative, or that left-handed humans who live in Atlanta are more imaginative. It's a survey, which means that it is a compilation of opinions. You would use your critical thinking skills and determine this information is not factual.
If I turned the assignment in on time and met the word count, don't I get all the points?
Anyone can write random words vaguely on a topic before the due date. The assignments are to show what you are learning in our class. I review and grade everything on whether you understand the topics in our class and are utilizing critical thinking skills.
I feel good about my first draft. Can't I just use the same draft for Conference, Peer Review, and Final grade?
Turning in the same draft each time is not participating in the recursive writing process. You do not get points for submitting a draft if I do not see a substantial revision.
What should I call you?
Instructor B. or Instructor Bradley.
What is ENC2135: Narrative & Supporting Genres about?
Required texts for ENC2135
Need a Print version of this Syllabus? Click here:
Final Grades
A: 93 – 100
A-: 90 – 92
B+: 87 – 89
B: 83 – 86
B-: 80 – 82
C+: 77 – 79
C: 73 – 76
C-: 70 – 72
D+: 67 – 69
D: 63 – 66
D-: 60 – 62
F: 0 – 59
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The Bedford Book of Genres: A Guide and Reader for Florida State University, Second Edition 2nd Edition; Amy Braziller; Elizabeth Kleinfeld; Bedford/St. Martin, 2019.
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Supplementary readings on Canvas and Course Wix blog: https://bwb15b.wixsite.com/classwix/blog
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Class-dedicated Twitter account
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A Wix website. Set it up at wix.com
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A Gmail account to access Google Drive and Google Hangout.
General:
When determining and calculating grades, I use the 4-point system described in the Academic Regulations and Procedures for FSU, including +/- grading. Keep in mind that at the university level, C-level work means “average” in that it meets the basic requirements of an assignment; B-level work goes beyond the basic requirements to demonstrate an above average or “good” level of development and completion; and A-level work shows an “excellent” level of development and completion.
A is the highest grade a student can get in this course. FSU does not award A+ grades.
College Level Writing Requirement
To demonstrate college-level writing competency as required by the State of Florida, the student must earn a “C-” (2.0) or higher in the course, and earn at least a “C-” average on the required writing assignments. If the student does not earn a “C-” average or better on the required writing assignments, the student will not earn an overall grade of “C-” or better in the course, no matter how well the student performs in the remaining portion of the course.
How are grades determined?
Projects:
Main projects will receive a letter grade. For each major assignment, you’ll be assessed on your arrangement, style, delivery, audience-awareness, genre awareness, rhetorical strategies, and ability to defend your rhetorical decisions. For Projects #1-3, I will give you feedback and a grade. Because these assignments will appear on the Wix/ePortfolio, each project will be part of the overall Wix/ePortfolio grade.
While I understand that circumstances may arise that could prevent you from turning an assignment in on time, I do penalize late work severely. For every day (24 hour period, not class meeting) a major assignment is late, I will deduct a letter grade.
You will receive feedback on your assignments via Canvas. You are expected to review that feedback in order to make improvements on your projects or to improve future projects.
Short Assignments and Informal Writing:
Short assignments will be assigned to help you complete the major assignments. Informal writing assignments will give you an opportunity to define and think through the course’s key terms. These assignments are graded. If you follow the instructions, meet the word count requirement and completed the assignment time, you will earn full credit. If you are late with the assignment, you will only receive half credit. If you do not fully complete the assignment, you will only receive half credit. Not turning in the assignment will result in a zero. All of these assignments will appear on your Wix/ePortfolio. This means if the assignment is not on the Wix/ePortfolio, you will not receive credit for completing the assignment.
I expect to see multiple revisions on Project 1, Project 2, and Project 3. However, short assignments do not go through the same revision process. Short assignments are designed to make the Project process easier.
Digital Workshop Feedback and Participation:
Our class will participate in digital workshops. Throughout the semester, you will upload drafts of your work for feedback from your peers. To receive full workshop participation credit, you must upload a revised draft on time and provide effective/helpful feedback to your peers.
You will see two grades: one for your draft and one for the quality of feedback. Your peers will evaluate the quality of the feedback. I will determine whether your draft meets the requirements.
If you fail to upload materials on time, you will earn a zero for that workshop as well as for the draft of the paper being workshopped. Furthermore, if you fail to provide substantial feedback to your peers, you will receive a zero for your workshop grade.
How do late assignments work?
In this class, you will post all assignments on your Wix page. To receive credit for the assignment, you must upload the correct link to your assignment to Canvas. The Canvas timestamp will determine whether your assignment qualifies as late. Please contact me if you are unsure how an assignment should be turned in.
The word counts listed in the assignment descriptions are minimums. You may exceed the minimum. Projects that do not meet the minimum word count get an automatic ZERO.
All papers must be formatted in MLA format. If you do not know how to format in MLA, examples are provided on page 374 in the Bedford Book of Genres.
I will not accept email submissions. Emailing me an assignment before the deadline because you cannot upload to Canvas still counts as late.
Back up all of your work for this class. It is a good idea to keep copies of your work on Google Drive, Dropbox or a flash drive, as well as on your computer’s hard drive. I will not give extensions or exceptions for lost drafts.
How does attendance work in an online class?
Attendance will be determined by participation
FSU’s Composition Program maintains a strict attendance policy to which this course adheres: more than four absences in an MW/TTH or six absences in MWF course is grounds for failure. This course will post readings and assignments every Monday and Wednesday which qualifies it under the same rules as an MW class.
IF YOU MISS FOUR ASSIGNMENTS (TWITTER, SHORT ASSIGNMENTS, or PROJECTS) THAT WILL COUNT AS A FOUR ABSENCES AND POSSIBLE FAILURE OF THE CLASS.
This policy includes missing conferences. We will be conducting three conferences through video chat sessions via Google Hangout. Not participating in the video conference counts as (2) absences and you receive a ZERO for your draft. I will only reschedule missed conferences for extenuating circumstances with documentation (such as a doctor’s note or police report).
Save your absences for when you get sick or for family emergencies.
Please note that I DO NOT EXCUSE ABSENCES. Do not email me notes from doctor's. In emergency situations, YOU should contact Undergraduate Studies (644-2451). When you do that, they will contact me on school letterhead by FSU. This means that even if you have a doctor’s note or tell me you will miss the assignment, the absence will still be counted. Even if you make up the assignment in order to receive your grade, the absence will still count.
I will occasionally make changes to the syllabus and/or weekly calendar. These changes will be announced on Canvas. If you drop off the grid for any reason, you are responsible for any missed announcements, daily calendar changes, and assignments.
If you have an excellent reason for going over the allowed number of absences, you should call Undergraduate Studies (644-2451) and make an appointment to discuss your situation with them. If you can provide proper documentation of extreme circumstances (for example, a medical situation or some other crisis that resulted in you having to miss more than the allowed number of classes), Undergraduate Studies will consider the possibility of allowing you to drop the course and take it the following semester.
Important Note: FSU’s Composition Program Attendance Policy does not violate the University Attendance Policy that appears in the “University Policies” section later in this syllabus. The Composition Program Attendance Policy simply specifies the number of allowed absences, whereas the University Attendance Policy does not.
What is thoughtful revision?
You are expected to thoughtfully revise second and third drafts. Thoughtfully revising means reviewing the feedback you receive on assignments and critically considering your intentions for the paper and how your readers interpret those intentions. Then you should revise your content based on those considerations. Changing, moving, deleting or adding only a few words and/or sentences does not count as a thoughtful revision. You will not improve your grade without thoughtful revision.
The drafting process
First Draft
The first draft is the draft you will upload to Wix for me to review.
I will provide you with a grade in progress. To earn full credit for the first draft, it should meet the minimum word count and fulfill the parameters of the prompt.
You will upload your completed draft on the deadline listed on the calendar before we meet for our conference. We will talk via Google Hangout and share screens in order to provide feedback. DO NOT EMAIL ME YOUR DRAFT.
Our time is limited to 10 minutes, so please have concerns or questions prepared before our conference. If you do not appear for conference, you will receive a ZERO for your draft. If you have any questions about my comments after our meeting, you are responsible for emailing me and/or setting up an appointment with me to talk about your questions.
Second Draft
The second draft is the draft you will upload to Wix as a Google doc to be reviewed by your peers.
Your formal writing for this class is nearly always public writing in the sense that others will be reading, hearing, and commenting on it.
You will read each person in your group's drafts twice to correct any errors and mark any confusing words, sentences, phrases, statements, incorrect punctuation, or lack of clarity.
Once you review each of your Peers' Drafts, you will fill out assessment forms for each peer to help provide more detailed feedback on the draft overall.
Instructions on how to make comments on each other's drafts will be provided in the class lectures.
I will set up a Google Drive folder for your group which will include your group members Gmail address. This is where you will save changes, submit Feedback Forms, and Evaluation Sheets.
Third Draft
This draft will determine your grade for the assignment. You will upload the draft to Wix and post the correct link to Canvas. I will provide your grade and further instructor feedback. If I have to contact you to resubmit your Wix link, you will lose one letter grade. Every day (not class session) your paper is late, you will lose one letter grade. Assignments that do not meet the required word count or are not submitted will receive a ZERO and will NOT be allowed be revised for the final Wix/ePortfolio.
Final Revisions
If you are not satisfied with your grade, you can revise your paper again for a higher grade. You have that option. You must email me that you will be revising and contact me for a Google hangout meeting to discuss revisions. The Final draft will be uploaded to Wix before the deadline posted on the class calendar. Each draft you complete must appear on your Wix page. This means, if you revise, you will have 4 drafts total.
Third Person Writing
In this course, First person writing is not acceptable. No: I, Me, My, or We. Only: He, She, It or They.
Why take ENC2135?
ENC 2135 fulfills the second of two required composition courses at Florida State University. While continuing to stress the importance of critical reading, writing, and thinking skills emphasized in ENC 1101, as well as the importance of using writing as a recursive process involving invention, drafting, collaboration, revision, rereading, and editing to clearly and effectively communicate ideas for specific purposes, occasions, and audiences, ENC 2135 focuses on teaching students research skills that allow them to effectively incorporate outside sources in their writing and to compose in a variety of genres for specific contexts.
The course is composed of three main units, each one focusing on helping students develop research skills and compose in a genre appropriate for a specific context. The first unit asks that students write a report in which they begin to develop the strategies they will need to rhetorically analyze genres in order to later use different genres and to explore the ways in which genres function in their composing processes. The second unit asks students to compose in an academic genre: the research paper. Students will use 10 peer-reviewed sources in this paper. In addition to drafts of the essay, students are asked to submit a research proposal and two research-in-progress reports. The third unit asks students to use the research conducted within their second project and to launch a creative campaign directed at using the information from Project #2 to craft a narrative genre. This campaign will be completed through additionally composing supporting genres to promote the narrative utilizing social media. In addition, students are asked to write a rationale that explains the rhetorical choices they made in each genre and how they see those choices as rhetorically effective for their context and audience. Throughout the semester, students will work on a digital portfolio, into which they will deposit and reflect on drafts of major assignments as well as class assignments and blog posts. This portfolio will culminate in a reflection about the course’s key terms and what students learned throughout the course.
Liberal Studies for the 21st Century
The Liberal Studies for the 21st Century Program at Florida State University builds an educational foundation that will enable FSU graduates to thrive both intellectually and materially and to support themselves, their families, and their communities through a broad and critical engagement with the world in which they live and work. Liberal Studies thus offers a transformative experience. This course has been approved as meeting the Liberal Studies requirements for English and thus is designed to help you become a clear, creative, and convincing communicator, as well as a critical reader.
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Analyze compositions to understand the choices the composer made and determine if it is effective
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Perform scholarly research
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Write a Project Proposal
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Write an exploratory paper based on a research question
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Construct a publication schedule
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Navigate social media conventions
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Brand yourself & your projects
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Build a website
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Compose outside of a text-based mode
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Launch a media campaign