English 289: Intermediate Composition

Reading What We’re Eating

T H 2:00 PM 3:15 PM CCSTUDNT 245

Instructor Joel Peckham

Course English 289-004

Meetings Location 272B Snyder

Office hours Tuesday and Wednesday 3-6pm

E-mail joel.peckham@yahoo.com

Phone (513)558-1249

REQUIRED TEXTS

I. Bartholome, David, and Anthony Petrosky. Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Boston: Bedford Books-St. Martin's P, 1993.

II. Pollan, Michael, The Omnivores Dilemma. Penguin Books, 2007.

III. Supplementary Handouts Available through Blackboard, Course Documents and Web Documents

REQUIRED MATERIALS

You will need to budget some money for photocopying—both your own work and critical texts. You will also need to have consistent computer access to view student work prior to workshops and handouts available only through “Course Documents” and “Web Documents”

COURSE DESCRIPTION

General:

Using specific themes drawn from broad disciplinary fields, this intermediate level, general education course builds upon and enhances the writing and reading skills developed in first-year writing courses (English 101 & 102). The course emphasizes critical reading and writing, more advanced research and argumentative skills and rhetorical understanding of discourse as it is used in different disciplines and discourse communities. This course will bridge students’ learning about writing from the first-year sequence to more advanced writing in their chosen disciplines in upper- level courses. Prereq.: 34ENGL102.

Specific to this section:

For this course we will focus on food and its relationship to culture, politics, ethics, pleasure, class, psychology, and economics. Using Ways of Reading to deepen our understanding of how we read and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dillemma as a model of how to articulate those understandings in a clear and compelling manner, we will explore how we read our world, looking at it from a number of different approaches and within various contexts. Then we will employ the researching and writing skills we have learned in 101 and 102 to express our deepened understanding.

OUTCOMES FOR THIS COURSE

By the end of this course, students will be able to

analyze, compare, and evaluate rhetorical strategies specific to a discourse community
interpret, assess, and write within a variety of genres to understand how meaning is made, communicated, and debated
identify and distinguish among kinds of evidence used in a given discourse community
locate, evaluate, and integrate source material appropriate to research inquiry
produce clear, organized texts appropriate to situation, purpose, and audience
reflect on connections among ideas within the course and their own academic, personal, social, and professional lives
write and revise drafts and integrate feedback using drafting, revising, and editing strategies
use appropriate technologies to research and communicate findings

READING RESPONSES AND QUIZZES

Over the course of the quarter, you will read a wide range essays. They all have something to teach us about reading our world and understanding it more deeply. Every other Thursday you will have either a short Comprehension Quiz or a Reading Response due for the reading assigned for that day. The quizzes are merely checks to see if students are keeping up with the reading materials and to make sure that any terms covered in the book have been absorbed through the reading process. The Reading Response will be a short but focused response to a reading assigned for that day. For these responses students will be asked to either respond to a reading by placing it in one of the contexts we are exploring, or by showing how the author him or herself employs those contexts and approaches. Should a student miss a Tuesday quiz, he or she must contact me immediately via email to receive a topic and write a one to two-page reading response, covering the material assigned for that day. This response can be turned in on Thursday and the student may receive full credit. Otherwise the student will receive a zero for a grade on that quiz. Students are required to turn in scheduled Reading Responses via e-mail before class on the day that they are due—unless there is a medical reason for why the work cannot be completed.

Note:

Quizzes will be graded out of 10 pts and will be averaged together to form 10% of your overall grade

Reading Responses will each be graded out of 20 points, and then averaged together to make up 20% of your overall grade.

ESSAYS

Students will be required to turn in three essays and revise all three of them. Topics for these essays will be selected by the students but must come from three of the four approaches to reading covered in this class: 1) biology and psychology, 2) history and culture, 3) class and economics, and 4) ethics and politics. Students must sign up in advance for the essays that they want to attempt and must adhere to their decisions. To do otherwise is to cause an organizational nightmare. These sign-ups will occur in week two of the class. There are hard deadlines for each of these essays, coinciding with workshops. Essays will always be due on Tuesdays and Workshops will occur on Thursdays of the following week.

There will be detailed individual assignment sheets for all six essays available through course documents at Blackboard.

Note: Each essay will be graded out of 20 points and, individually is worth 20% of your overall grade. Together, the essays add up to form 60% of your overall grade.

For each essay, students will be given a thorough assignment sheet, with guidelines. So that you may begin thinking about possible topic, however, here are some brief comments on each possible topic area. All assignments have the same research burden, length requirement, and general grading criteria.

1) Biology and Psychology: For this essay, students might explore the reasons for why we are drawn to each certain kinds of food by researching the biology and psychology related to them. For example, one might ask, “what makes that fast-food hamburger so enticing?” or “Why are certain foods considered erotic?” One might also explore questions like “What is the relationship between food and pleasure?” You might explore the affects of certain foods on brain chemistry or psychological well being. For example, people have been exploring gluten-free diets as a treatment for autism. Why? You might also explore the physical and psychological affects of certain diets. Students may also explore specific food-related psychological conditions here as they relate to eating disorders.

2) History and Culture: Michael Pollan argues that the United States has never had a stable food culture. But we certainly do have food subcultures. For this essay, a student might explore food from a cultural standpoint. Why, for example, does certain community eat certain foods and how do they eat them? How do those foods and how they are eaten reflect geography, climate, value systems. How does this culture’s attitude toward food reflect its other attitudes—toward health, gender, the land itself, religion, family etc.? A student might also explore a particular food-related event, like a rib-fest or a lobster-fest from the same standpoints, exploring the history of the event itself and the food it represents while commenting on what the event and the food tells us about a group of people.

3) Class and Economics: How does food relate to poverty and wealth. What foods are considered high-class or blue-collar. A student might explore the grocery-store and examine the relative cost of a healthy vs. and unhealthy diet. He or she might also explore the relationship between food-related illnesses like obesity, heart-disease, and diabetes and relative wealth or poverty. Are the poorest communities consuming the most unhealthy diets? Can and should anything be done about this? What classes are more likely to shop at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s?

4) Ethics and Politics: One can argue that every decision one makes in life is ethical and political—that is, you not only are what you eat, you make a statement about your values and beliefs through what you choose to eat. One approach to this assignment is to explore your favorite meal by examining how each element of that meal is related to a political or ethical statement or decision. Another approach would be to look at an actual political issue that relates to food in America. For example, should the government subsidize corn? Should unhealthy foods be taxed? Under what circumstances should a food producer, distributer or provider be legally responsible for the nutritional content of its products or for the health risk associated with the consumption of those products. To wit: is there anything unethical about the production and sale of a chicken nugget and if so, should there be legal restrictions or consequences for that production and sale? Are we properly educated about what is in our food so that we can make informed decisions? If not, is it the responsibility of a society to educate its citizens regarding that information? How is sustainable farming a political act and what political point of view does it most clearly reflect?

A WORD ABOUT INDIVIDUAL APPOINTMENTS

UNLESS YOU ARE SIGNED UP FOR A FULL-CLASS WORKSHOP OR YOU ARE NOT WRITING A PAPER FOR THAT WEEK’S APPROACH, you will sign up for an individual appt with me in my office to discuss your work when you turn it in at it’s deadline. These appointments serve many purposes. First, they give you an opportunity to get individual attention and feedback. Second, they allow the student the opportunity to ask questions about that feedback and to clear up any confusion. Third, they give the student the opportunity to revise their work based on the feedback he or she receives for a completely new grade. Finally they allow me to get to know my students better and to better track their development as writers. Please note that this is a requirement of only 40 minutes of your time over the course of a 12-week session. If you cannot make it to any of the available time slots for an appointment, I can schedule a phone session or reply to the work by email. If you miss a meeting, you miss the opportunity to get individual feedback. In that event I will use the time to reply to your paper via email but will not reschedule the appt. Students will still have the opportunity to revise their work, but the missed appt. will count as an absence.

A WORD ABOUT WORKSHOP

At least once during the quarter you will be asked to share your work with the class for a full-class workshop. If you have a full-class workshop coming up, you must submit your essay to me as a doc file through the digital drop-box on blackboard on the day that it is due. All students must then read the 2 to 3 essays being workshopped and prepare a peer-evaluation form in response to the essay. This form must be completed by the beginning of class on Workshop day. Peer evaluation forms will be available as handouts and on the course documents section of Blackboard. Group workshops will occur the week following an essay deadline.

The real benefit of any workshop is the access it allows the writer to a body of readers in the flesh—readers who have invested their time and energy in contemplating what the work is doing and where it might go next. What to expand. What to leave out, reconsider. And you will do the same for them, keeping in mind that the point isn't to impose our own styles and aesthetics on each other, but to recognize what each work is doing and to aid each other in that purpose. At least once during the quarter, you will be asked to share your work with the class

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOLDER

The personal responsibility folder is a document that you turn in at the end of the quarter. It should contain the following items in the following order: all graded papers, all revisions of those papers, all graded reading responses, all graded quizzes and all graded peer review sheets. You should bring this folder with you to class every day and you should protect it with your life since you must turn it back in at the end of the quarter. If you lose a portion of your folder or all of it, contact me immediately so we can plan what to do.

GRADING

Practicing artists and writers face constant evaluation of their work. Such criticism—if it’s constructive and insightful—can prove to be quite helpful and productive for the writer at every level of ability. We are here to help each other improve as readers, thinkers, and writers, after all. In this class you will receive feedback from both your professor and your peers. This will lead to two separate levels of evaluation. Below are the rubrics by which I will grade your reading responses and your major essays.

EVALUATION OF MAJOR ESSAYS AND READING RESPONSES

I have often heard teachers say that in a perfect universe there would be no grading. This is baloney. The purpose of a grade is to give students a sense of how they are progressing in their learning. In truth, all writers, especially professional writers are graded. An acceptance is an A, a nice rejection letter, a C, a form letter, an F. Writers need to develop a thick skin so that they can learn how to respond to both positive and negative feedback on their work.

Reading Responses

Though reading responses are, like the essays, graded out of 20 pts., they are averaged together for a cumulative grade. Also, the lowest reading response grade is dropped. Reading responses cannot be revised.

"A"-level response

(18-20 pts.)

"B"-level response

(16-17 pts.)

"C"-level response

(14-15 pts.)

"D"-level writing

(12-13 pts.)

The author has fully answered the question, using specific abundant evidence from the reading and shows through the response that he or she has carefully read the entire assignment. The response does not have grammatical errors that impede an understanding of the response. The work meets or exceeds the length requirement and fulfills the assignment (1 ½ pages). The paper is formatted appropriately using MLA citation methodology.

The author has understood and attempted to answer the question, using some evidence from the reading and shows through the response that he or she has read the entire assignment. The response does not have grammatical errors that impede an understanding of the response. The work meets or exceeds the length requirement and fulfills the assignment (1 ½ pages). The paper is formatted appropriately using MLA citation methodology.

The author did not fully answer the question, and has not used enough evidence from the reading to prove that he or she has read the entire assignment. The response might have have a few grammatical errors that impede an understanding of the response. The work might not or exceeds the length requirement and fulfills the assignment (1 ½ pages). The paper might not be formatted appropriately using MLA citation methodology.

The work seems sloppily or haphazardly written. There is no organizational principle and there are many grammatical errors throughout. The insights are obvious and/or do not seem to connect in an obvious way to the material. There is little evidence that the reading has been carefully read (if read at all). The paper is not correctly formatted.

Major Essays

I do grade essays. But, unlike most professional writers, you get the chance to re-submit your work again and again and improve it along the way. This is all part of the learning process. I should also note that there are times when I refuse to give a grade on an essay. This occurs when a student has turned in a work that is simply incomplete and therefore not ready for a grade or when a student misunderstood an assignment completely. In these cases I will still meet with the student about the paper and will try to give constructive feedback, but the student must turn in a new copy in order to receive a grade.

"A"-level writing

(18-20 pts.)

"B"-level writing

(16-17 pts.)

"C"-level writing

(14-15 pts.)

"D"-level writing

(12-13 pts.)

The author has achieved a sophistication of style and clarity of purpose, He or she has fully explored and examined the complexity of his or her subject matter and has done so with a clear approach and within an illuminating context. Evidence and language appropriate to the discourse community is present. The material is well organized and shows a flair for balancing scene and commentary or observation and analysis. And the author uses rhetorical devices that engage the reader’s interest throughout. The work meets or exceeds the length requirement and fulfills the assignment. The paper is formatted appropriately using MLA citation methodology.

The author writes cleanly and with occasional flair. The piece contains genuine insight and has a clear organizational principle. There is an approach and the material has been placed within an appropriate context. There is some evidence of an awareness of the discourse community. The material is generally interesting and is presented using rhetorical flourishes that sustain a reader’s attention. The work meets or exceeds the length requirement and fulfills the assignment. The paper is formatted appropriately using MLA citation methodology.

The author is still mastering sentence style and structure. There may be some paragraphing issues and the work rarely dips below the most obvious of insights. The approach may not be clear or the context appropriate. There might not seem to be an awareness of discourse community. Often there are problems with the organization and focus. The work meets the length requirement but might not fulfill the assignment. The paper is formatted using MLA citation methodology but may contain errors.

The work seems sloppily or haphazardly written. There is no organizational principle and there are many grammatical errors throughout. The insights are obvious and/or do not seem to connect in an obvious way to the material. There is no real awareness of audience or discourse community and the approach has not been well-researched or considered. The paper is not correctly formatted.

Numerically, here’s how the grading breaks down.

1. Basic Individual Activity Percentage of total grade:

· Quizzes 10

· Reading Responses 20

2. Major Individual Activity:

· Three major essays 60

3. Class Participation 10

· Attendance

· Group discussion/Peer Evaluation

· In-class writing exercises

· Ability to give and receive constructive

criticism as evidenced in class and during appts.

____

Total: 100%

Withdrawal dates

Withdrawals are subject to the standard University of Cincinnati procedures and dates. The student, not the professor, is responsible for completing the appropriate withdrawal procedures.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. This is the University’s definition of plagiarism:

•Submitting another's published or unpublished work, in whole, in part, or in paraphrase, as one's own without fully and properly crediting the author with footnotes, citations or bibliographical reference.

•Submitting as one's own original work material obtained from an individual or agency without reference to the person or agency as the source of the material.

•Submitting as one's own original work material that has been produced through unacknowledged collaboration with others without release in writing from the collaborators.

We will be working on how to properly cite sources in 103. Therefore, there will be no excuse for plagiarizing in this class.

American with Disabilities Act Policy

The policy of the University of Cincinnati Clermont College requires students with physical or learning disabilities to identify themselves to the coordinator of disability services, Jennifer Radt, in the Student Services Building, for appropriate academic assistance.

Administrative Procedures and Class Policies:

A. Completion of the drop/add process and the withdrawal process is the sole responsibility of the student.

B. Absence Policy: Don’t miss the class if you can avoid it. I don’t allow make-ups for missed quizzes and I don’t allow students to turn in papers that haven’t gone through the entire writing process. You will struggle if you miss this class. Should you need to miss a class, make certain that you check Blackboard to find the assignments for the upcoming class.

C. Tardiness. If you are late, bow your head, enter quietly, find the desk nearest to the door and sit down. Then, after class, apologize to me, personally for disrupting my class. Never disrupt the class in any way upon entering the room.

D. Policy for make-up work for in-class activities. Students are responsible to complete any work they miss during an absence. Missed work can only be made up if the student has a legitimate excuse for missing the class and provides supporting documentation. Legitimate excuses include illness, serious family obligations, and sanctioned college activities for which absence is required.

E. Harassment Policy: I see sexual and racial harassment as a direct attack not only on the victim, but on the entire community. Harassment is any behavior that would either threaten a reasonable person or inhibit that person’s ability to learn or work by creating an uncomfortable environment. Don’t say or do anything to a fellow student that you wouldn’t say or do to your own mother, father, sister, or brother. Sexual or racial comments made in the classroom, even if not directed at anyone in particular and even if made in jest, will be considered harassment. The presence of materials that demean others –inappropriate or offensive t-shirts or magazines for example—will also be considered harassment. Such behavior will directly affect the offending student’s grade for class participation and may result in dismissal from the class for the day or even for the quarter.

F. Late Assignments: assignments should be ready for submission at the beginning of class on the day that they are due. In an age of technology when students can turn in work electronically, and with a course calendar that gives ample time to plan ahead, there is rarely a good reason to turn in late work. Unless there is a documented medical reason that a student cannot complete work on-time, late work will not be accepted. Should a student not be able to attend class on a day when an assignment is due, that student MUST submit the work electronically BY THE BEGINNING OF CLASS on the day that it is due. The work must be submitted through the digital dropbox for the course—not my email account. And the work must be submitted in rtf, doc, or docx format. Work can be emailed to me only on the occasion when all efforts to submit through blackboard have failed.

G. General comportment and things to avoid with this teacher and really, any teacher. Violations of these guidelines will affect your class participation grade.

1) Always treat everyone in the class with respect. Most of what follows relates to that general principle.

2) You are not entitled to special treatment (unless you have a documented learning disability). The rest of what follows relates to that general principle.

3) Do not have conversations during class that do not relate to material being covered in the class. Discussion is encouraged. Responding to questions is encouraged. Disagreement is encouraged. Chatting with your friend about another course, your parents, this week’s party plans, or anything else unrelated to the class is disrespectful. I will confront you about it in front of the class. It will not be pleasant. Ask around if you don’t believe me.

4) Do not send me frantic emails with subject lines in all-caps. Do not expect to get a response to your email immediately just because you wrote HELP!!!! on it. I do not check my email more than twice a day because I have a life (you know—wife, kid, mortgage payment, doctor’s appts). You can expect about 24 hours (at least) between the sending of an email and a response to it. If you can’t wait that long, you need to seek assistance elsewhere.

5) I actually don’t have a big issue with cell-phones being on in the class. I was a single parent for years and would never turn off my phone—for obvious reasons. But please put your phone on vibrate, decide if the call needs to be answered, step out of class, answer it, and return as soon as possible without disrupting the class.

6) Do not do work for other classes in my class. I will confront you about it in front of the class. It will not be pleasant.

7) Do not ask me to change your grade unless I have made a mistake in calculating it. And only do so, after or outside of class.

8) Do not harass anyone.

9) Do not surf the internet in my class.

10) Do not listen to your ipod in class. And no, you can’t listen to it while a test or a quiz.

11) After missing a class, do not ask me “Did I miss anything?” or even worse, “Did I miss anything important?” If you do, you can expect withering sarcasm. Ask, “what did I miss in class.” And only ask that question if you had a legitimate reason for missing, checked the syllabus and calendar already, and spoke with another student in the class about what you missed.

12) Do not complain to me about my colleagues. When you do, you place me in an inherently unprofessional situation. I resent it.