NOTE: All reading assignments for this course will be available in the packets I will hand out in class, which you are expected to bring to each meeting. When possible, I’ve provided links to online versions of the reading assignments in the calendar below. I believe reading online can enhance your experience in this class but will expect you to read on paper (in the packets) as a required part of this course.
There will be a total of 3 reading packets: 2 packets of articles and 1 containing Grammar work. Assignments below marked “GB” are in the Grammar Book.
| Class | Work Due |
| M 8/27 | Media Analysis. Review OpenLab site, Syllabus, Course Calendar, & Intros (in pairs, as a group). |
| W 8/29 | Sign up for OpenLab & join the course site via my OpenLab courses. Access Essay 1 Assignment and Course Notes document. Read Wortham, “My Selfie…” ; “Sentence Writing (part one)” (GB); and “Narration.” In class: “Active Reading Outline.” |
| M 9/3 | No class. |
| W 9/5 | Read Turkle, “The Empathy Gap” (excerpt) and Bunn, “How to Read…” In class: Discuss blog entries, how “online identity” can be more than a “selfie”. |
| Th 9/6 | Read “Triptych: Texas Pool Party” by Namwali Serpell and “Subject-Verb Agreement (GB)” and “Verb Tense (GB)” |
| M 9/10 | No class. |
| W 9/12 | Read Turkle, “Romance” and read “Quoting and Paraphrasing.” In-class: paraphrasing and quotation workshop. |
| M 9/17 | Library workshop during Lab Hour. Go to 4th floor Atrium.
Read Jacoby, “Weiner’s Women” and Paruolo, “Writing with and about Texts” & “Sentence Structures for Incorporating Sources”. In class: “Planning and Outlining Your Essay.” |
| W 9/19 | No class. |
| M 9/24 | Read Walzer, “A Freudian Analysis of Sexting” and “Coordination and Subordination (GB)”. Photos of notebook (in-class writing assignments) due via e-mail. Lab workshop: Using Google Docs Collaboratively |
| W 9/26 | Conferences and film screening : Kriegman and Steinberg, Weiner (2016) Essay 1 Outline (hard copy) due in class. |
| M 10/1 | Conferences and in-class workshop. Essay 1 (draft) due. Print and bring to class. Also share and submit Google Doc link prior to class. |
| W 10/3 | Read Smith, “Addiction to the Internet ‘is an illness’” and “Definition” |
| M 10/8 | No class. |
| W 10/10 | Read Lane, “Addicted to Addiction” and Graf, “Yes, No, OK, But…” |
| M 10/15 | Read Thompson, “Texting isn’t the First Technology Thought to Impair Social Skills” and “Run-On Sentences” (GB; last part of “Sentence Writing”) |
| W 10/17 | Grammar Test #1 |
| M 10/22 | Read Introduction to Summary Writing.
Print, read, and bring in your research article. Grammar Test Review & Midterm Prep. |
| W 10/24 | MIDTERM EXAM. Bring your print copy of your research article to class. ESSAY 1 REVISION DUE. Share and submit Google Docs link via this online form. Here are Instructions for formatting and submitting drafts. |
| M 10/29 | Read Essay 2 Assignment Sheet. Also read Paruolo, Writing a Research Paper and Developing a Research Question. Begin reading Naughton, “We’re All Being Mined for Data” Lab: Read Organizing Research and Research Notes. |
| W 10/31 | Finish reading Naughton, “We’re All Being Mined for Data”. Also read Paruolo, Conducting Research, Databases, Keywords and Searching, Assessing Sources |
| M 11/5 | Begin Reading, “The Anxieties of Big Data” by Kate Crawford. Complete several Project 2 article searches using online Library Databases. |
| W 11/7 | Finish reading “The Anxieties of Big Data” by Kate Crawford. Read Nijhuis, “The Pocket Guide to Bullshit Prevention.” |
| M 11/12 | Begin reading “Rape Culture and the Feminist Politics of Social Media” by Carrie Rentschler. Also skim “Explaining Quotations” by Gerald Graff. In class: Group workshop on reading and writing about scholarly articles. |
| W 11/14 | Finish “Rape Culture and the Feminist Politics of Social Media” by Carrie Rentschler. In class: Group workshop on reading and writing about scholarly articles. |
| M 11/19 | Read “Academe’s Poisonous Call-Out Culture,” by Suzanna Walters. Also read: “Planting A Naysayer in Your Text” by Gerald Graff. |
| W 11/21 | Read “The Space Between Mourning and Grief” by Claire Wilmot. In class: Student Presentations of Project 2 Research. –Photos of notebook (in-class writing assignments) due via e-mail. |
| M 11/26 | Conferences & group work on Essay 2. |
| W 11/28 | Conferences and in-class workshop on MLA formatting. Essay 2 (draft) due. Print and bring to class. Also share and submit Google Doc link prior to class. |
| M 12/3 | Read Sedaris, “Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa.” Review Essay 3 assignment. Student Presentations of Project 2. |
| W 12/5 | Read Naylor, “A Word’s Meaning Can Often Depend on Who Says It.” In class: Student Presentation (1) of Project 2 Research. |
| M 12/10 | Grammar Test #2. Course Evals. Review & Study Grammar Test #1. |
| W 12/12 | No class. Reading day. |
| M 12/17 | Read Dunn & Norton, “Hello Stranger.” In-class: Review Grammar Test & Final Prep. |
| W 12/19 | FINAL EXAM. ESSAY 2 REVISION & ESSAY 3 DUE. Share and submit Google Docs link via this online form. Here are Instructions for formatting and submitting drafts. |
