College Writing Program

Reasoning & Writing in the College:
CAS 105
Fall 2001

Writing About English Language and Literature

Shakespearean Adaptation: The Culture Politics of (Re)writing the Bard
Instructor: Jennifer Ailles, Department of English
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12212

The Shakespeare ‘industry' -- as it impacts on educational systems, the critical discourses, and the theatrical culture of a society -- often operates in ways that sustain ideas, values, and even epistemologies.

H. Gilbert and J. Thompkins

The works of William Shakespeare have been re-written and re-presented extensively over the last 400 years by people throughout the world. What is it about Shakespeare's works that inspires so many writers, playwrights, and other artists to use his creations to make their own? In this course, we will address, through class discussion and written assignments, some of the issues, particularly those surrounding race, gender ethnicity, and class, that are raised through examining adaptations of Shakespeare. What do changes to Shakespeare's works tell us about the make-up of Shakespeare's social and political world and about the contexts of those who adapt his works to the contemporary world?

The process of re-writing Shakespeare's works are directly related to the processes of writing and revision that occurs in academia, and particularly in literary studies. Thus the same questions can be applied to both adaptations and to our own work in the classroom. Namely, why do we write or re-write Shakespeare? What should be emphasized or excised to make the most effective arguments or narratives? Who are our audiences? And perhaps most importantly, what rhetorical structures and assumptions underlie our critical and creative thoughts? Focusing on a few core plays, namely Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Tempest, along with some of their associated adaptations (particularly contemporary ones such as the The Klingon Hamlet, Shakespeare in Love, 10 Things I Hate About You, This Island's MineÉ), we will explore the cultural politics of adapting Shakespeare. Students will be required to engage critically with the material and to strengthen their argumentative skills through their in-class and written assignments. No previous knowledge of Shakespeare's works is necessary to engage fully with the course material. Those who have done previous work on Shakespeare will be able to expand their knowledge by focussing their major research writing project on adaptations from their Shakespearean "source" play of their choice. Ultimately, students will be encouraged to see their own work as part of the continuing historical and culturally political dialogue between critical and creative voices that engage in Shakespearean adaptation.

Poetry, Politics, Polemics
Instructor: Anjili Babbar, Department of English
MW 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 12171
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12203

We are all familiar with the stereotypical image of the modern poet, dressed in black and shouting his objections to social and political injustices to a coffeehouse crowd. Perhaps this figure seems ridiculous to us. Perhaps we have the sense that, in modern or postmodern culture, literature does not have a place within the context of social and political realities. Our modern poet is a presumptuous dreamer, attempting to inhabit a world in which he does not belong. And yet, some suggest that poetry and literary works in general, which do not serve the interests of a particular government or ideology often more accurately represent social and political circumstances than seemingly more "objective" sources, such as news reports and other non-fictional writings. Is it possible for social and political commentary in literature to be edifying to current and future generations of readers? Or should literary works and social or political commentary be kept separate and distinct? Are works of literature too subjective to be edifying or historically representative? In this course, we will consider the place of literature with regards to social and political issues, examining works by authors such as Langston Hughes, William Butler Yeats, Franz Kafka, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Through historical research, we will attempt to decipher to what extent these works either reflected or affected the sentiments of readers at the time and place in which they were produced, and through our own discussions, reactions, and arguments, we will attempt to come to some conclusions regarding their relevance and instructional value for modern readers. We will begin by jotting down reactions to each of the texts which, through revision, editing, peer workshops and class discussions, will be developed into short papers. One longer, final research paper will consider the historical context of a text of your choice.

Identity Matters
Instructor: Koren Bakkegard, Department of English
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 12061

Write What You Know...and Know Thyself. These are common axioms in our discourse, but how do they relate to each other? This course takes up such questions of identity-what it is, how it's formed, why it matters. We will begin by considering who we are and what factors influence our sense of identity and then ask how we engage our identities in writing. Readings from a variety of disciplines (literature, social science, biology, philosophy) and a variety of genres (fiction, biography, academic writing, editorials, film) will address this theme of self-perception in relation to a range of identities (racial, sexual, ethnic, religious, political, disciplinary). These texts will frame an on-going discussion about how writers construct, present, and negotiate their identities and how readers, in turn, interpret and respond to them.

Students will themselves write in a number of genres, ranging from personal narratives to formal position papers. Classroom meetings consist primarily of seminar discussions and peer-review writing workshops, wherein students respond to their classmates' writing and receive feedback on their own work. Assessment is based upon a portfolio system that emphasizes process, revision, and self-evaluation and that allows the student unlimited opportunities to revise.

Being Digital/Digital Writing
Instructor: Brandon Barr, Department of English
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 12275

"Computing is not about computers anymore," writes Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab. "It is about living." As we work and live in our increasingly digital age, we tend to ignore the gigantic transformations that are taking place. Sure, our correspondence is moving faster with e-mail, and 50 cable channels have exploded into 500. But the really important transformations are both more basic and more revolutionary than all that. As computers change the way we live, they will change the way we talk to one another, and they will alter the ways in which we write. This course will explore the possibilities of being digitalÑand, perhaps more importantly, writing digitally. Our readings—many written by researchers of computer technologies—will speculate on the social and artistic implications of technology. The class will experiment with different methods of writing both on- and off-line to determine the key principles for interesting and effective writing. Those experiments will be explored in three shorter papers and one longer research paper—all of which will be aimed at developing confidence as writers and thinkers in the new millennium. This course will be using computers throughout the semester, but no prior special knowledge of computers is expected.

Genre and Expectation in Writing
Instructor: Bob Barrick, Department of English
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 12087

This section of CAS 105 is structured around two simple beliefs: 1) that all writing has enormous practical value beyond the University, and 2) that every writer is born into a world already structured by expectations. Every bit of writing (from a grocery list to a love letter) carries with it some combination of expectations, and these presumptions can be most clearly defined when juxtaposed with exceptions to the rules. We will explore, through texts on the margins of various genres, what assumptions a writer confronts when he or she sits down to compose some prose. We'll examine the defining characteristics of a wide variety of writing, and, more importantly, the ways in which an understanding of your audience can both enhance logical communication and allow for some playful twists of creativity.

Although this isn't a creative writing class we'll be stressing interesting and innovative approaches to our material. Many of the short assignments, the 6-8 page paper, and the final research paper will have "open" topics. With this flexibility we can reach beyond the syllabus and include related materials you want to bring into the discussion (films, authors, music, or other works) and remind ourselves how the issues we'll be looking at extend far beyond the University.

Class meetings will cover a wide range of topics, from the necessary nitty-gritty details (such as punctuation) to speculation on grander questions about writing and the world. Each class will also involve a lot of discussion, so come prepared to talk about your writing and share your insights with your colleagues.

Beauty and Precision - Writing with Style
Instructor: Anne Birien, Department of English
TR 11:05 - 12:20 CRN 12109

A reader's mind is filled with verbal memories, successions of solemn encounters with language, as it were. Among the most pleasant memories are hours spent reading the works of achieved stylists. Authors whose words the reader relishes in and treasures are the best models for writing; in their works, feelings and ideas are conveyed most precisely and beautifully. If such endeavors humble aspiring writers, they can also empower them. Literature, as Toni Morrison remarked in her Nobel Lecture, is language kept alive; language turned "instrument through which power is exercised." Language is not merely the writer's primary material; it is also the "instrument" he/she uses to shape the material. Like any precision tool, it requires sharpening and frequent care . . . for fear that it might lose accuracy or become unusable. In this light, we will focus on the close readings of texts, mostly but not exclusively- literary; we will analyze different authors' (Morrison, Mansfield, James, Camus, Whitman...) stylistic strategies and discuss the efficiency of rhetorical choices -as applicable in your own writing.

This class rests on the students' regular, rigorous and enthusiastic commitment to both written assignments and oral participation; there will be no final exam.

Characters, Roles, and Models: Interacting with Beings of Language in Literature, Play, and the World through Writing
Instructor: Marty Boyden, Department of English
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12267

The character is arguably one of language's greatest feats. Through it, words on a page have produced emotional responses in readers akin to their feelings when in the company of dear friends or loathed enemies. Written scripts are capable of prompting the body and voice of an actor into a variety of roles distinct from the actor's "real" life and personality. And if you think about it, how else do we come to ultimately express and understand our own "real life" roles and personalities but through language?

In this course, we will investigate how characters function in a variety of ways: as formal parts of literary works, as reflections of people in the world out of which the literary work was made, and as potential models through which readers and audiences may understand and fashion their own lives. To do this, we will "read" a variety of materials: literature, art, music, playthings, academic publications, games, and popular media. However, the most important subject matter for this course is you, the CAS105 student and your writing. To phrase the goals of this course in accordance with its theme, one may say that the character on whose development we will spend the most time is the university student writer and your performance in the variety of writing roles which the university and the larger world will ask you to play.

Writing Youth: The Making and Re-making of Youth Identity in American Culture, or From the Mouths of Babes
Instructor: Barbara Brickman, Department of English
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 12327

An article entitled “The Global Teenager” in the Winter 1989 issue of Whole Earth Review found that by the mid-1990's over half the world's population would be under the age of twenty. So, who are these people? What does it mean to be a “youth” in the U. S.? One's youth, or particularly one's teen years, is a time of making one's identity, solidifying who you are. This class will investigate how the choices made by the “youth” reflect and perhaps influence changes in American culture. How do “youth” view, react to, and live the overwhelming influence of mass media, the reliance on computer technologies, the change in gender roles, the status of the university, etc. We will use popular essays, some literature and film, and critical essays to examine these questions and more about youth and the present state of American culture. You will be expected to write several essays on the topics discussed, and some class time will be devoted to writing workshops, as well as peer reviews and revisions, as ways to develop and clarify ideas or arguments. There will be no final exam.

Reading the World Around You
Instructor: Amy Fenstermaker, Department of English
MWF 1:00 - 1:50 CRN 12185

The subject for this writing class will be the cultural artifacts around us, and is based on the belief that these artifacts express something worthwhile. We will explore what the literature, advertisements, television shows, and music of our society have to say, and how, in some cases, they manipulate us. The focus will be how to interpret these various texts, develop an argument, and use evidence to support it. Students will write four papers over the course of the semester, one on each of the subjects mentioned, of about 3-5 pages in length. The last paper will be a longer research paper. Some class time will be devoted to writing workshops, as well as peer reviews and revisions, as ways to develop and clarify ideas and arguments.

Waters's World: Hollywood, the "Independents," John Waters and Cinematic Form
Instructor: Joseph Cameron, Department of English
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12123

Despite the cliché "just a movie," films prescribe and shape worldviews for their spectators. Fundamentally, this course will engage the techniques films use to represent the world around us through a conversation between the Hollywood and "Independent" (an amorphous category) styles of film-making and the cinematic work of an individual director, John Waters. Waters's cinematic corpus is important in that it both directs the perspective of this course and comments on conventional modes of film-making both explicitly and implicitly. The course will be divided into four sections corresponding to each of the four formal papers students are required to compose considering questions of cinematic construction of meaning, ideology, treatment of "taboo" subjects, and celebrity status. Throughout the course we will critically evaluate films (without resorting to "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" assessments) and utilize these films as catalysts for enhancing our reasoning skills. Simultaneously, we will implement these reasoning skills both orally and, in particular, in written form (through formal and informal writing assignments). In doing so, we will reevaluate and reconsider our own perspectives in favor of a larger, inclusive outlook. Throughout the course of the semester, students will engage diverse readings on cinematic form's relation to culture as well as reviews used to spark students' consideration of particular films.

Reading the Tradition: University of Rochester Writers
Instructor: Jay Lavigne, Department of English
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 12160
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 12352

When you think of Rochester, what immediately comes to mind? Writers? Probably not. Yet Rochester has inspired the imaginations of generations of writers. Did you know that Shirley Jackson, the author of the short story, "The Lottery," studied here as an undergraduate? Or that the University claims among its students and faculty, past and present, a long list of award winning writers, including Pulitzer Prize winning poets W.D. Snodgrass, Anthony Hecht, and Galway Kinnell? Or that one of the most promising young novelists today, Joanna Scott, teaches in our own English Department? Over the course of the semester you will have the opportunity to become more familiar with the myriad voices that make up the University's literary tradition. We will be reading short stories, novels, poems, memoirs and essays written from the mid-1940's to present day, all in an attempt to gain a better understanding of this literary legacy and, perhaps, to gage our own place in it.

This course takes writing seriously, both as a field of inquiry, and as a necessary skill for all university students. This means class time will be spent not only discussing the quality or value of the literature at hand, but also considering the effectiveness of your own and your classmates writing. Assignments will include weekly critical response papers (1-2 pages), a letter of inquiry to a Rochester writers, a formal essay that will be presented to the class, and a final research paper on a figure/work/topic relevant to the concerns of this course. There will be no final exam.

Mongrel Aesthetics: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Literature
Instructor: April Miller, Department of English
MWF 1:00 - 1:50 CRN 12192

This course will be guided by the belief that literature is not created in a cultural vacuum; every literary "event" has its own context. With this in mind, we will use the works we study as windows into the historical and cultural periods in which they were originally composed. While this course will focus on written texts, we will also consider a selection of 'non-literary' art forms, such as film, visual art, and writing from the popular press, in order to understand how writing is created within wider cultural and historical contexts. By examining numerous narrative forms, students will develop the critical reading, writing and research skills necessary to construct a diverse portfolio of writing, including an extended argumentative essay and a final research paper. Through peer evaluation, editing seminars and on-going revision, students will strengthen this portfolio throughout the term. Assessment will emphasize the importance of the revision process and participation in class discussion and writing workshops. The goal is to have students emerge from this class as more confident writers who are capable of handling the diverse tasks in composition they will be asked to perform as both students and professionals.

Imagination and Literature Today
Instructor: Chuck Ripley, Department of English
MW 6:15 - 7:30 CRN 12256

Through weekly writing, including multiple reports, papers, peer reviews, and self-assessments, this course will give students an introduction to college reasoning centered around literary analysis. The major focus of this course will be to ask how the kind of story-telling usually associated with literature and myths of the past can still matter today. In an attempt to answer this question, we will take as our central text large excerpts of the Sandman, a 75-issue comic published from the late 1980s to the mid-90s that chronicles the life of Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams. Using the Sandman as a springboard, we will investigate what is the place for imagination and dreams in today's society, exploring how the Sandman invokes literature and myths in a way that is believable to a contemporary audience and how it uses its medium as a foundation for its fantastic vision and mythology in today's world. Our other texts will include literature invoked by the Sandman: Shakespeare's Midsummer's Night Dream and The Tempest, excerpts from Milton's Paradise Lost, the early chapters of Genesis, Aeschylus's Emenides, Mark Twain's “The Leaping Frog of Calaverous County,” and Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an Opium Eater. We will also use texts that raise similar issues of medium: Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience, Windsor McCay's Little Nemo, and Art Spiegelman's Maus; and to help the writing process, a college writing guide.

Attendance for this class is required. This is a writing intensive course, and will require a serious engagement with one's own writing. As noted, students will be responsible for weekly reports, peer reviews, and several analytical essays, including a research paper.

Humor: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Instructor: Ann Robinson, Department of English
MW 6:15 - 7:30 CRN 12374

“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” - Gene Fowler (1890-1960)

Learning how to write well is an admittedly long and arduous process, requiring determination and practice, practice, practice. As we develop the skills which will prove invaluable to you as you complete (successfully, of course) your academic career, we will explore the phenomenon of humor from the perspectives of disciplines as various as anthropology, literature, medicine, and sociology. From Chaucer to Freud to Life in Hell, we'll examine the many functions of humor in our lives. How do we define humor? Why do humans laugh? Is humor universal? Timeless? What role does language play? Culture? What triggers us to recognize humor? What is the role of humor in communication? In community? While we learn to read closely and critically and write clearly and effectively, we will examine humor as a social phenomenon, exploring the historical and cultural constructs that govern our use and understanding of humor. Using humor as our vehicle, this course will focus on recognizing and developing an argument, organizing writing effectively, identifying writing for a specific audience, and developing an academic voice. You will emerge from this course a more competent and more confident writer. After all, writing is easy.

The Heroic Ethos of Anglo-Saxon Literature
Instructor: John Sutton, Department of English
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 12316

This course centers around the world of the comitatus, a Latin term referring to the social organization of aristocratic males in early medieval Germanic cultures; the comitatus was a fellowship of warriors in which men provided their lord with loyalty and military service and, in return, received treasure and a place in the lord's hall. The theme of a tightly-knit warrior-band is prominent in medieval Germanic writings, particularly in the literature of our language's earliest ancestor, which we call "Old English" or "Anglo-Saxon."

My goals for this course are to introduce students to the heroic ethos of Anglo-Saxon literature and to assist them in honing their skills at writing about literature and literary criticism. Our class discussions will encompass such themes as the construction of gender and gender roles, male homosocial bonding, conflicting loyalties, monstrosity, outcasts and Others, the place of women in this male-centered world, and the influence of Christianity upon the heroic ethos. Students will explore these and other issues in their written assignments (four formal papers, each with peer reviews and self-assessments, as well as daily in-class writing exercises). The syllabus will include an array of texts ranging from elegiac poetry to medieval chronicles; some of the more well-known works include The Battle of Maldon, The Wanderer, and the most famous of Old English poems, Beowulf (our edition will be the recent, widely-praised translation by Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney). We will, of course, study all of these texts in translation, but I will read a great deal of Anglo-Saxon aloud so that students can hear what the ancestor of our language probably sounded like. Other assorted requirements for this course include class participation and faithful attendance; there will be no midterm or final exam.

Education Narratives
Instructor: Anne Zanzucchi, Department of English
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12248

This course will provide opportunities for you to consider and evaluate your own educational experiences as you draft and revise a series of argumentative essays and a final research paper. These writings will respond to the overall question, "What does it mean to be educated?" In particular, we will focus on people who have been excluded from educational institutions and have struggled to become educated. The readings will include a selection of nineteenth century literature responding to the rise of national education and the development of human rights. These authors will include: Mary Wollstonecraft, William Wordsworth, Mary Shelley, Fredrick Douglass, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy.

Writing about History

Writing with the Masters: Russian Literature beyond Dostoevsky
Instructor: Tatyana Bakhmetyeva, Department of History
TR: 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 12340

“There is no royal path to good writing; and such paths that existÉlead through the jungle of self, the world, and craft.” - Jessamyn West.

As this citation suggests, writing is an active process, a journey, and not simply a product of momentary inspiration. We will begin our journey by asking ourselves questions: How do we write? Why do we succeed and why do we fail in our attempts at writing? What is successful writing? It is by answering these questions that we will move along our path to the ultimate goal of this course: “better writing” defined in the academic context. We will conquer the inevitable stumbling stones that lie on this path by developing sensitivity to the audience, practicing skills of thesis invention through various pre-writing exercises and finding the structure of an argument through multiple revisions of assigned papers. Since every traveler needs good companions for an enjoyable trip, we will be making our journey in the formidable company of Russian literary masterpieces. Critical reading and analysis of short stories by famous Russian authors will stimulate class discussions and writing assignments. Reading selections may include stories by Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, and Gogol. Additional interdisciplinary readings related to the topics of Russian history, literature and culture will introduce the students to the rhetorical conventions of the academy and provide an opportunity to exercise critical reading and writing skills on non-fictional texts.

Truth-Tellers and Other Rabble-Rousers: Dissident Voices from Totalitarian Europe
Instructor: Julia Goodwin, Department of History
MWF 1:00 - 1:50 CRN 12076

In the totalitarian political climate typified by Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, and its Eastern Bloc satellites, words, especially words committed to paper, could be a life or death matter. Despite rigorous censorship and threats of imprisonment, exile and execution, creative individuals like Russian poet Anna Akhmatova and Czech Playwright Vaclav Havel dared to think and write critically. Placing personal conscience above dogmatic loyalty to the State they and their fellow dissidents revealed a deep-rooted need to bear witness to the life-shattering events of their time and reaffirm the power of truth. Students in this course will have the opportunity to explore the literature of dissent by reading, discussing, and most importantly, writing about representative works encompassing a variety of literary genres (poetry, essays, memoirs, and novels). Written assignments will include in-class writing, response papers, and three short papers designed to help students interact with the material as well as place it in political and historical contexts. Peer review and revision of these shorter assignments will be an intrinsic part of the course leading to a final research paper, which will enable students to build upon their earlier work, thereby further facilitating the revision process essential to effective writing.

EVERYONE GETS AN ‘A' IN THIS COURSE!! (and other lies): Writing about the History of American Advertising
Instructor: Mary Henold, Department of History
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 12301

Now that I've caught your attention, allow me to give you my pitch. In this class we will explore the evolution of American advertising, from the late nineteenth century to the present day. We will use advertisements as primary sources to examine not only advertising strategy and style, but more importantly the role advertising has played in American culture. We will approach these sources as historians do, investigating their context and then writing about their significance. You will analyze essays by historians and other academics to explore how scholars develop strong arguments based on evidence. You will then begin a process of research, writing, peer review and re-writing in which you will practice the skills you will need to develop and articulate arguments of your own. For most writing assignments, including the research paper, you will have the opportunity to choose primary sources from time periods and subject areas that interest you, as long as your essays address questions about advertising and its function in American culture.

Writing the History of One's Own Life
Instructor: Patrick LaPierre, Department of History
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 12093

How would you write the history of your own life? Autobiographies have loomed large in the construction of American History. Yet, the posthumous significance of autobiographies is no simple story. Autobiographies, unlike diaries or journals, involve the reconstruction of one's own life after having reflected on its meaning and significance. As such, many autobiographers write with an audience in mind and seek to assemble an image of themselves based on what others have thought of them or how they wish to see themselves remembered. All these elements offer challenges to historians who wish to use autobiographies as primary source material. Looking at the autobiographies of such figures as Benjamin Franklin and James Weldon Johnson, among others, we will examine the written construction of these works and how historians have approached them as historical texts. Course requirements will include three short papers which will be reworked and refined in revision workshops. Finally, students will be assigned one longer research paper (8-10 pages) that has, as its central topic, one of the autobiographers discussed in class and which uses the subject's autobiography to probe the difference between the portrait the author has painted of him or herself, and how posterity sees them.

Utopia in History and Fiction
Instructor: Tara McCarthy, Department of History
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12114

Have you ever thought about living in a co-op or international community? How would you organize the ideal community? The search for utopia is a recurring theme in history and literature. This course will explore various historical and fictional designs for perfecting society. We will read influential utopian novels, learn about their historical contexts, and compare them to real experimental communities in American history, with particular attention to the influences of religion, socialism, and feminism. Students will develop critical reading and writing skills through a series of short papers, reflecting on the writing process by revising their own work and offering constructive criticism to their peers. Course readings may include novels by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Edward Bellamy, and B.F. Skinner, as well as articles on the utopian movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Witches and Witch-Hunts
Instructor: Neal Palmer, Department of History
MW 6:15 - 7:30 CRN 12137
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12146

Witches and witchcraft have long been a part of European and American culture. But what do you really know about them? This course will use various techniques of writing, including revisions, peer reviews, and research, as the bases for exploring and learning about witches, witchcraft and witch-hunts. Students will learn the history of witches and witchcraft, the role they played in early modern civilization, and discuss the continuing attraction of this form of worship in the modern world. The related phenomenon of the witch-hunt will also be discussed. Students will learn about the dynamic behind early modern witch-hunts and how they are related to modern events such as the "Red Scare" in 1950s America. The class will read historical scholarship, primary source material such as proceedings of actual witch trials, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, and Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon. The class will also watch two recent movies about witchcraft. Students will complete several writing assignments in which they will practice and enhance their ability to form a clear written argument and present textual evidence to support that argument. The writing assignments will consist of three 4-6 page papers and a longer research paper, all of which will be subjected to peer review and revision.

The Birth of Consumer Society
Instructor: Henry Sommerville, Department of History
MWF 9:00 - 9:50 CRN 12158
MWF 1:00 - 1:50 CRN 12395

Have you ever been told, “These days everyone demands instant gratification”? Pundits may blame our impatience for pleasure on Coca-Cola, MTV, or the internet, but some historians are asking if the present abundance of material goods has really changed our values and made us different from people in the past. This class will explore historical explanations for the rise of a consumer society and a culture characterized by shopping malls, television advertisements, credit cards, and, of course, instant gratification. The class will read current scholarly and popular writings and look at artifacts from the past, including advertisements, early sociological writings, and fiction. The course will stress writing, an activity in which gratification is sometimes long delayed. Students will write and revise several short essays and a longer research-based paper. They will develop their college writing skills through self-evaluation, writing workshops, and peer review.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Instructor: Lisa Szefel, Department of History
TR: 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 12281

This course will focus on developing critical writing skills by analyzing radical movements of the 1960s in America. We will look at issues of sex (the women's liberation movement, STDs, the Pill), lies (by John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon), and videotape (as used in Presidential elections, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War). Analyzing these topics will illuminate current attitudes toward politics and gender relations. Such issues also, ultimately, probe questions about identity: about who we are as individuals and as a nation. Students will learn how to use evidence to build arguments in clear, creative, compelling narratives. Readings will include articles and book excerpts written by both journalists and historians. Assignments will include short papers, a research essay, and an oral history interview, all of which will be reviewed by peers.

Campaigns and Elections
Instructor: Christian Grose, Department of Political Science
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 12338

Is voting rights reform needed to fix alleged irregularities from the 2000 presidential election? Is the American electoral system in need of campaign finance and voting reform? What roles do campaign advertising and spending play in the election of members of Congress? These are the types of questions that have been analyzed by scholars and raised by political practitioners. In this course we will discuss and analyze American campaigns and elections. Students will learn and write about presidential and congressional elections, voting rights, the electoral concerns of representatives, campaign finance issues, and campaign advertising. The writing requirements for the course will include the following: informal writing exercises in class; formal papers with clear theses and evidence that support the paper's main argument; short papers that will focus on critical analysis where students will analyze what factors drive members of Congress to take particular positions on these issues; and a longer research paper where students will formulate a research question, accumulate evidence, and supplement this evidence with arguments and conclusions. These papers will be anonymously peer-reviewed in class and through a course listserv. Participation in class discussion will also be expected.

Writing about Philosophy

Introduction to Philosophy
Instructor: Nathan Nobis, Department of Philosophy
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 12229

This course is designed to improve your ability to write clear, simple, organized, and understandable argumentative essays. We will read, discuss, and write, revise, edit, and rewrite in attempt to reasonably answer some (but probably not all) of these questions in the core areas of philosophy: (1) What is the nature of good reasoning? [Logic] (2) What is knowledge? Do we know anything? [Epistemology] (3) Is there a God? Is there good reason to believe there is a God? [Philosophy of Religion] (4) What is the nature of persons? Are we completely physical objects or do we have immaterial souls? [Philosophy of Mind] (5) Are we determined to do what we do, or are we free (or are we both determined and free?) [Metaphysics], and (6) What is the nature of morality? What's right and wrong? [Ethics].

Students interested in these topics and serious about working to improve their writing are encouraged to enroll. Here is some early advice on writing and a hint at what kind of writing will be cultivated in this course: You should strive to write for a reasonably intelligent audience unfamiliar with the material. In other words, someone who has never taken this course should be able to understand your paper. One good way to ensure this is to let a roommate or friend (who isn't taking the course) read your paper. If she can make sense of it and can explain what's going on to you, you're on the right track. If not, you should strongly consider rewriting your paper until she can make sense of it. You should think of yourself as trying to teach the material to the reader.

The rationale for this requirement is as follows: most of the writing you do in your professional life will be for people who ask you to answer a question because they do not know the answer. They won't be satisfied with your work if they have to guess at what you mean because your sentences are unclear or ungrammatical. Your job is to present your answer in a clear, concise way that anticipates and responds to questions and objections that might arise in the reader's mind. This ability is essential to good analytical and expository writing. A primary goal in this course is to improve your ability to do this kind of writing.

Writing about Visual and Cultural Studies

Visual Culture
Instructor: Jonathan Finn, Visual and Cultural Studies Program
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12230

Images surround us at work, school, and home, and all points in between and beyond. Much of what we know about the world comes from our ability to interpret, or read, images. Textbooks, magazines, newspapers, billboards, television, film, the visual arts and the Internet all depend on images to communicate information to their audience. As such it has become increasingly important to be able to think critically and communicate about the position and role of images in our own lives and in society at large. Using this visual culture as the subject of study, this course will provide instruction and practice in writing at the college level. Through this course we will examine and write about the function of images within the arts, sciences and in everyday life. This interdisciplinary approach will enable students to think and write critically about their own fields of interest. In addition to continued informal writing exercises, students will produce two short papers and will participate in peer evaluation and class discussion. To strengthen and formalize writing and communication skills, students will be responsible for an oral presentation and a longer research paper.

The Written Word Responds to the Motion Picture
Instructor: Daniel Humphrey, Visual and Cultural Studies Program
TR 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 12369

Through its duel focus, this course gives students a valuable overview of two of the most important forms of modern discourse: The written essay and the feature film. From journalistic reviews to historical analyses, from social criticism to theoretical ‘readings' of films, students will learn the various strategies for researching, analyzing and writing about a variety of different kinds of movies. As we discuss structure and rhetorical style, we will also engage in some of the most exciting debates of our age: How film communicates, promulgates, distorts, and illuminates various crucial issues involving race, class, sexuality, gender, nationalism, and disability. The course will involve weekly reading assignments, occasional film screenings, writing workshops, discussions and, of course, a series of written assignments to be crafted according to the essay types discussed.

Architecture and Society
Instructor: Daniela Sandler, Visual and Cultural Studies Program
TR 9:40 - 10:55 CRN 88700

How to look at architecture? How to write about it? Intuitive as this may seem, since we all use built spaces, it is often hard to describe the ways we perceive and interact with buildings. Not only do spatial analyses involve formal readings, but they also include historical context, social impact, cultural meaning, and function. The critical understanding of Architecture brings together all of these aspects. In this course, we will study contemporary architectural production and criticism. You will use writing in order to engage with images and texts, and formulate your own questions. You will relate your texts to existing critical writing from newspapers, books and journals. Feedback from the instructor and from the class will contribute to the development of your skills through workshops and peer reviews of formal and informal writings.

Critical Art History in the Twentieth Century
Instructor: Norman Vorano, Visual and Cultural Studies Program
MWF 1:00 - 1:50 CRN 12383

Although Georges Braque said “There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain,” art historians persistently endeavor to interpret and explain art of the twentieth century. How have art historians debated concepts of style and notions of “universal beauty”? How can we give meaningful consideration to social factors such as class, race, gender and sexuality when we think and write about visual art? The aim of this course is to introduce students to a broad range of critical approaches to twentieth century art history, and to sharpen their ability to think and write critically about art-works. Students will not only use internet sites, read books/journals and newspaper articles, but they will gain practical experience by looking at slides and visiting art exhibitions. In addition to class discussions, the students will respond to assigned readings in a class newsgroup. They will write and workshop two short essays, 5 pages each, which may stem from their informal newsgroup responses. In order to develop an ability to write a sustained, researched argument, there will be a final, long essay (10-12 pages) and a corresponding short class presentation (15 minutes).

Writing about Science and Technology

From Political Punk to Corporate Pop: What is This Thing We Call Music? Instructor: Drew Abrams, Department of Physics and Astronomy
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 12294

This course will look at what we consider to be music and how the idea of what music is has changed as technology has advanced. We begin by asking, “What differentiates music from noise?” and that will be used as the central question throughout the course. We will look at music as a medium for getting a message across and ask, "Is it still music when the original intent was to transmit an idea and the secondary intent was to create something that sounds pleasing to the ear?" This course will look at the scientific definition of music and how that definition has been modified as new technology has been introduced. This current battle over music on the internet will be examined and we will explore how increasing technology has had an effect not only on the creation of music, but also on the idea of music ownership. This course will emphasize writing throughout with workshops, peer-evaluation, student journals and, in particular, critiques on various musical genres and songs and an analysis of the message the songwriter is trying to send through his/her music.

Extended Courses (CAS 105E)
Permission of the College Writing Program required.

Exploring Discourses of Science and Technology
Instructor: Pam Bedore, Department of English
TR 12:30 - 1:45 CRN 12400
(Students must register for recitation #12498 when registering for this section. REC: F 9:00 - 9:50)
TR 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12411
(Students must register for recitation #12479 when registering for this section. REC: F 10:00 - 10:50)

Bill Joy, president of Sun Corporation, has recently spoken out against blindly accepting new technologies without fully examining their potential dangers. He is joining an ongoing critical conversation about the technologies that affect virtually every area of our daily lives. In this course, we will examine the communication strategies most commonly used in science and technology writings of various kinds. Students will be exposed to critical essays, popular media, and fictive narratives that deal with issues of technology. Although our class will begin by discussing pre-selected examples of technology writing, students will be encouraged to analyze and emulate science writing in an area of their own choosing in the second half of the semester. Areas may include information technologies, reproductive technologies, medical technologies, robotic technologies, etc. Students will learn critical thinking skills and writing strategies that will be beneficial throughout their academic careers in the sciences or the humanities.

American Gothic
Instructor: Gina D. Tonogbanua, Department of English
TR 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12457
(Students must register for recitation #12425 when registering for this section. REC: M 12:00 - 12:50)

Elizabeth Terry writes, "it's harder to say which is more frightening - the shapes that we really see by the light of the fire, or the figures we try to convince ourselves are not out there in the dark waiting and watching." From "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" to "The Yellow Wallpaper," we will examine the appeal of the gothic, what its appeal says about us and the way we think, and what the "American" in American Gothic means. You will be asked to formulate questions about the assigned text and lead class discussion. Course requirements will consist of a weekly two-page response paper in addition to a number of longer writing assignments and a final research project. This class will also focus on drafting and revision; you will be expected to read and respond critically to writing produced by other class members.

Lifted Voices: Originals and Imitations
Instructor: Brian O'Sullivan, College Writing Program
MW 2:00 - 3:15 CRN 12466
(Students must register for recitation #12482 when registering for this section. REC: F 12:00 -12:50)
MW 3:25 - 4:40 CRN 12433
(Students must register for recitation #12444 when registering for this section.REC: F 11:00 - 11:50)

"Lifted voices" can mean a couple of things: voices raised with inspiration, expressing authentic feeling, or voices deftly acquired, impersonated, or even ripped off. These two meanings, though seemingly opposite, are inseparable; all writers build upon the work of others in producing their own "original" work. In this course, we’ll work together to clarify the crucial lines between outright theft, uninspired copying, and creative use of sources. We’ll read texts that meditate on originality, and texts that call their own originality into question, including parodies, adaptations, and translations. Some of our readings will pair an "original" with an "imitation," such as Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway with Michael Cunningham’s The Hours. We’ll ask what gets lost and what gets added in the "secondary" texts. You’ll also produce "original imitations." You’ll model some of your papers after some of our readings, and you’ll practice strategies of summary, paraphrase and quotation. Through peer critiques, you’ll have the opportunity to incorporate your classmates’ perspectives and suggestions into self-assessments and extensive revisions of your own writing. Your work in this course—including discussion, informal writings, formal essays and a final research paper-- will add to your skill and confidence in controlling the sources you use and the models you imitate.

Last updated 04/18/2001