Digication ePortfolio :: Writing with Prof. Torg

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

First Year Writing With Prof. Torg

Where Writing Floats on a Sea of Conversation

Professor: William (Bill) Torgerson

Course: FYW 1000C

CRN: 30915

Meeting Time: fully online course / no set meeting times

E-Mail: torgersw@stjohns.edu

Office: This will be the last course I teach at SJU. I have

moved to Indiana. No face-to-face office hours or office

phone.

You will not need a textbook for this course. There will be no tests and no final exam. The main work of this course will be to write and to read the writing of your classmates. You'll be placed into online writing groups and given some instruction on how to respond to your fellow witers.

Late Work: Assignments are due at 11:59 on the day listed on the course assignment schedule. You lose one point per day an assignment is late. Assignments will not be accepted after one week from due date.

This is an online writing workshop class, which means that you need to participate almost daily during the week reading and commenting on the work of your classmates. You cannot miss a week's worth of work and then expect to catch up at the end.

Instsead of listing objectives, I'll share...

Nine of the Many Beliefs Prof. Torg Has About Writing

Writing is thinking. When you become a better writer, you become a better thinker. If one of the goals of the course is to help you be a better thinker, then it is relevant to your life no matter what you've chosen for a major.
Here in 2017, writing is more than words on a page. Because we do so much reading, writing, and thinking in conjunction with the screens of our devices, we must learn to write using images, video, sound, and links. This is called digital multimodal writing.
To become a better reader, writer, and thinker, you need to read and write a lot. If you want to improve your writing, you have to practice it just like you would with a sport or playing a musical instrument.
This course can’t prepare you to write every conceivable text for every situation, BUT if you can learn to read like a writer noticing how texts work in different contexts for a range of audiences, you will be able to write almost anything well.
Writing is not just for reporting what we know. Writing can also be a tool for knowing. We’re not sure. We write and we discover something new about our thinking because we have written.
A powerful tool for the development of a writer can be for him or her to listen to an audience discuss something the writer has written. Experiencing an audience (thinking about a specific audience as one writes) can be a powerful learning experience for the writer.
Writing is not always a one-shot deal like with a state or SAT test or a college entrance essay. A text/thought can evolve over time through the acts of reading, writing, talking with others, rethinking, and rewriting.
Texts seek to exert power on readers, especially on the screens of our electronic devices. There is a lot at stake: votes are won and lost, money changes bank accounts, and voices are heard and suppressed. To become more literate is to become a more powerful presence in the world. Social media has made it possible for more ordinary folks like you and me to have a voice that can be heard in conversation with big business or government. The less you know about reading and writing texts, the more easily you will be unconsciously manipulated by them.
Reading and writing can be exciting when you have choices about your work.

Tips for Success in the Course

Post your work on time. Comment on your classmates work as instructed. People don't get poor grades or fail this class for bad writing. When students do poorly in this class, it's because they don't keep up with posting their work on time.
Read carefully. In this world that encourages us to skim texts, it seems harder and harder to slow down and read carefully. My suggestion is that you don't read emails from me or the website on your phone. Sit down at a computer when you have time to concentrate on what you are supposed to do.
When you are reading assignments for a certain due date, read the assignment directions all the way through, then go back and do the work.
Be a good communicator. Check your SJU email daily. Read your messages carefully. If I write you, write me back and let me know you received the message. If you write me, I’ll write you back within 24 hours except for maybe over the weekend.

On plagiarism: You will work with sources (from tweets to personal interviews to articles published in journals) and I will help you to give those sources credit. You’re in trouble (commiting intentional plagiarism) when you take something somebody else made or wrote and try and pass it off to us here in the class as if you did the work.The University Liberal Arts Faculty Council has approved the following recommended procedure for handling plagiarism cases:

I. First Instance of Plagiarism

1. Student given an F for the assignment.

2. Note sent to student’s Dean with copy of plagiarized assignment and proof.

3. Student required to take Multimedia Integrity Teaching Tool.

4. Student not permitted to complete another assignment until MITT is

completed.

II Second Instance (in same course)

Student given an F for the course.
Note sent to student’s Dean with copy of plagiarized assignment and proof.
Dean is notified that this is second instance of plagiarism in same course and that the student received an F for the course.

Points and Your Grade

Because I am more of a “words” than “math equation” kind of person, I have made each point in this class equal to a percentage. So 1 point equal 1 percent. As much as possible, I hope that we’ll forget about grades the best we can and just get caught up in our work because we’ve become intellectually engaged with it. When you add up the points listed for each assignment below, the total equals 100. Here is the grading scale I’ll use:

(A) 94-100; (A-) 90-93; (B+) 88-89; (B) 83-87; (B-) 80-82; (C+) 78-79

Here is a list of your assignments and point values. Detailed guidelines will be posted online for how to successfully complete these assignments.

(40 points) Regular Posts / Daily Assignments: You have eight posts worth five points each. You lose points for incomplete or late posts.
(10 points) About Me Essay: You will receive a grade so far on your first post with one chance to revise it by the final portfolio due date.
(10 points) Feedback to Classmates: You are to use your reading of the Peter Elbow Remix Article and the instructions on the class site as your guide for how to respond to each other's writing.
(20 points) I Search Paper: You will receive a grade so far on your first draft with one chance to revise it for a better grade.
(10 points) Narrative Course Reflection: This is your reflection about the work of the course in which you tell the story of your learning, reading, and writing.
(10 points) Final Electronic Portfolio: You should change the background and header for the portfolio. Do what you can to make it your own. The images and headings used should match the theme and content of your writing. You must take all pictures yourself or else give credit (with a caption?) to the sites or creators where you obtainted the images. The portfolio should be easy to read when it comes to spacing, bolded headings, colors used, and anything else related to the design of the ePort in relation to the readers' experience reading it.

The assignment schedule and guidelines for completing assignments is posted on this site. Click here to go back to course assignment schedule.

Please email Prof. Torg at <torgersw@stjohns.edu> if you have any questions.

Syllabus