ENGL 5010 Syllabus (FA23)

teaching writing
FALL 2023:ENGL 5010:NATHANIEL A. RIVERS
ENGL 5010 | teachingwritingatslu.tumblr.com | Nathaniel A. Rivers | nathaniel.rivers@slu.edu | TR 11 00 -12 15
Image still from
Anastasia Vodianko’s
music video for
Asaf Avidan’s
“The Labyrinth Song”
“Indeed the
walker in the
labyrinth, having
no goal, no end
in sight, always
waiting, ever
present,
exposed yet
astonished by
the world
through which
he fares, has
nothing to learn
and nothing to
teach.”
-Tim Ingold
Introduction
Welcome to English 5010. This seminar has three primary goals:
1. prepare you to teach English 1900 in SLU’s Writing Program
2. cultivate you as a university-level teacher
3. enculturate you into the field of rhetoric and composition
We will primarily meet these goals by attentively working through the major assignments of English 1900 itself. The
best way for someone to learn to teach the course is to actually try it and see how it works. Additionally, we will
achieve these goals via a number of means:
• reading pedagogical, theoretical, and student texts
• writing, collectively and individually, in response to this reading
• discussing key concepts, ideas, and themes
• practicing responses to actual student texts
• meeting with the instructor to discuss progress
By the end of the course, we will have achieved the following outcomes. You will be able to:
• prepare your own adapted version of English 1900
• justify it theoretically, both in writing and in speaking
• plan and deliver lessons and writing assignments
• respond formatively and summatively to student writing
In addition to these specific goals, we will explore what it is to teach and what it is to learn. This exploration will of
necessity be far reaching: any discussion of teaching and learning is also a discussion of environment, embodiment,
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and cognition. Sociality and identity are also present and at stake here. How do we come to know both our worlds
and ourselves? How can we come to help others know themselves and their worlds? There is, then, a profound
ethical component to teaching. The word educate, etymologically, means to lead out, to draw out, to bring forth. We
will thus ask to where are we leading them, what are we drawing out, and who are we bringing forth?
Course Texts
• The Animal Who Writes by Marilyn Cooper
• Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future by Asao
B. Inoue [Free Online]
Additional readings and documents are shared via our Google Drive folder.
Course Elements
Social Annotation & Participation
We cultivate and collect our thoughts on course readings using Hypothes.is, an online annotation application.
Annotations vary from person-to-person, but our overriding goal is to share reactions, questions, interests, and dis/
beliefs through annotating our readings together. Annotations take the form of comments, questions, intra- and
inter-connections, and links. Annotations, crucially, add to the readings—they set them in motion.
Research Binder
At the conclusion of this course, you will submit a research binder. This binder will include every piece of paper you
generate over the course of the semester. The binder is thus an archive. As an archive, it should have an
organizational scheme that makes it accessible to both you and your instructor. Individual entries should be dated
and described (e.g., quiz, reading-journal, notes, etc.). In addition to labeling individual entries, the binder itself
should be organized in a coherent, compelling and accessible way. As an archive, it should trace the work of
cultivating yourself as a teacher. Your binder should archive the following items:
1. In-class Writing/Take-Home Assignments: Occasionally, you will be asked to write in class, and
sometimes you’ll be asked to do short writing assignments at home.
2. In-Class Notes: Follow this format for your in class-notes, using the affordances of your double-docket
legal pad or GoogleDoc. This format requires you to annotate your own notes as one might annotate
readings. These annotations serve both a formative and an archival purpose.
Annotations (after class)
What Aristotle means is that the
rhetorician can see how people might
think through possibilities specific
situation.
Every situation is different, a different
context and a different audience. So
the way you talk about something will
be different in those different
situations. Rhetoric doesnt deal with
universal problems…it deals with
specific problems.
I have to ask about this tomorrow!!!
August 28, 2019
Notes (in class)
Available Means: Rhetoric is the ability to see the available means
of persuasion in every given case
Aristotle: Greek philosopher 384-322. Came up with idea of
available means.
Connotation vs. denotation: connotation is how a word feels;
denotation is what a word means.
●
School vs. education…one has a more sophisticated
connotation.
●
Romance vs. relationship…they can refer to the same thing,
but the words will have different feelings, different attitudes.
3. In-Class Presentation: Several weeks into the semester, you will select a set of assigned readings to
present on. Your presentation will shape our discussion of those readings and it should include
supplemental materials such as a handout, a slide deck or an exercise.
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Dissoi Logoi
Continues a venerable rhetorical practice of asking students to argue on both
sides (or multiple sides) of a given case. By so doing, you are better able to
understand an argument from all sides. In place of a traditional research paper,
in which one usually argues one thesis and supports it with research sources,
you will adopt at least two theses—if not more—and support both of them with
sources. You might do this by composing multiple essays, or even a single essay
that (simply) lays out the competing arguments.
Statement of Purpose
Marks the intervention stage of the rhetorical project. In this assignment, you
adopt a position and argue for it to a particular audience and in a particular
situation. In this document, you articulate a purpose, an audience(s), and a
particular context or situation. This assignment does not perform so much as
offer a blueprint for a rhetorical performance. In this way, the statement of
purpose should also outline the media you will work in and why.
Social Annotation 20%
Research Binder 20%
Dissoi Logoi 15%
Statement of Purpose 10%
Multimedia Assignment 15%
Class Observations 10%
Teaching Statement 10%
Total 100%
Multimedia Assignment
Performs the intervention outlined in the statement of purpose. You do this in some medium, whether visual, aural,
digital, or some combination thereof. The choice depends on the purpose, audience, and context you are
addressing. To explain and justify the choices, you will also write a “Process Paper,” which essentially offers an
analysis and defense of what you’ve done for your multimedia project.
Class Observation/List of Readings
By Week 12, you will complete a class observation of another graduate instructor. You will meet with the instructor,
discuss that instructor’s plans for the day in question, observe the class, take basic descriptive notes, and then write
up your observations. The 1,000-word observation should analyze what you saw, and should connect those thoughts
to 2-3 course readings. Use these readings to organize your thinking about the class meeting you observed. (The
purpose of this assignment is not simply to describe the class.) Alongside your observation, you will submit a list of
possible readings for your own course:
• collect 8-10 readings that you might want to assign for your own English 1900 theme
• assess resources already in the Writing Program folder
• talk to some of the instructors who are already teaching in that theme
• select your readings and articulate readings in terms of conflicts/resonances
Teaching Statement
The teaching statement is a 1,500-word document that outlines and advocates for your theory of a writing course.
The document presents an argument justifying the way you approach teaching first-year writing. Teaching statements
normally layout several guiding principles that are elaborated through concrete examples of those principles in
action. You will compose your teaching statement throughout the semester using Google Drive: this public
composition will allow opportunities for ample feedback. As teaching statements are an important job search
document, this assignment also aims at your professionalization. (For MA students: your teaching statement can be
included as the professional document in your portfolio.)
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Attendance
Regular attendance is welcomed, expected, and mandatory. Being in class and on time, working constructively with
your colleagues, and taking part in class discussions are all equally important. You may have one unexcused absence
over the course of the semester. Starting with your third absence, your final course average will be lowered by 9
points. So, if you have three unexcused absences, you lose 9 points. In that case, if your average were an 84, it
would then become a 75.
Special Course Policy
In addition to standard course policies and expectations, ENGL 5010 has a policy unique to itself: no complaining
about students. Let me explain.
• Complaining about or being critical of our students often works as a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is,
regular complaints about students encourages teachers to expect complaint-worthy students. It doubles
down on negativity rather than working as a relief valve.
• Complaints about students, as a pedagogical practice, do little to make us better teachers. They shift the
critical gaze and the burden of responsibility on to the students rather than the teacher. Students might
very well be terrible (my mantra, after all, is that nothing ruins good pedagogy like students), but we
learn nothing, gain nothing, by saying so.
Generosity all around is expected. We interact with our students during but a fraction of their lived experience: we
see them on particular days, at particular times, in particular circumstances, and during a particular point in their
lives.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is honest, truthful and responsible conduct in all academic endeavors. The mission of Saint Louis
University is “the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity.” Accordingly, all acts of
falsehood demean and compromise the corporate endeavors of teaching, research, health care, and community
service through which SLU fulfills its mission. The University strives to prepare students for lives of personal and
professional integrity, and therefore regards all breaches of academic integrity as matters of serious concern. The full
University-level Academic Integrity Policy can be found on the Provost's Office website here.
Additionally, each SLU College, School, and Center has its own academic integrity policies, available on their
respective websites. The College of Arts and Sciences policy can be found here.
Title IX Statement
Saint Louis University and its faculty are committed to supporting our students and seeking an environment that is
free of bias, discrimination, and harassment. If you have encountered any form of sexual harassment, including sexual
assault, stalking, domestic or dating violence, we encourage you to report this to the University. If you speak with a
faculty member about an incident that involves a Title IX matter, that faculty member must notify SLU’s Title IX
Coordinator that you shared an experience relating to Title IX. This is true even if you ask the faculty member not to
disclose the incident. The Title IX Coordinator will then be available to assist you in understanding all of your options
and in connecting you with all possible resources on and off campus.
Anna Kratky is the Title IX Coordinator at Saint Louis University (DuBourg Hall, room 36; anna.kratky@slu.edu;
314.977.3886). If you wish to speak with a confidential source, you may contact the counselors at the University
Counseling Center at 314.977.TALK or make an anonymous report through SLU’s Integrity Hotline by calling
1.877.525.5669 or online. To view SLU’s policies, and for resources, please visit the following website.
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Disability Accommodations
Students with a documented disability who wish to request academic accommodations must formally register their
disability with the University. Once successfully registered, students also must notify their course instructor that they
wish to use their approved accommodations in the course.
Please contact the Center for Accessibility and Disability Resources (CADR) to schedule an appointment to discuss
accommodation requests and eligibility requirements. Most students on the St. Louis campus will contact CADR,
located in the Student Success Center and available by email or by phone at 314.977.3484. Once approved,
information about a student’s eligibility for academic accommodations will be shared with course instructors by email
from CADR and within the instructor’s official course roster. Students who do not have a documented disability but
who think they may have one also are encouraged to contact to CADR. Confidentiality will be observed in all
inquiries.
University Writing Services
Students are encouraged to take advantage of University Writing Services (UWS); getting feedback benefits writers at
all skill levels. Trained writing consultants can help with writing projects, multimedia projects, and oral presentations
through one-on-one consultations. For more information, visit their website or call the Student Success Center at
314.977.3484.
Basic Needs Security
Students in personal or academic distress and/or who may be specifically experiencing challenges such as securing
food or difficulty navigating campus resources, and who believe this may affect their performance in the course,
are encouraged to contact the Dean of Students Office (via email or 314.977.9378) for support. Furthermore, please
notify the instructor if you are comfortable in doing so, as this will enable them to assist you with finding the
resources you may need.
Assessment & Submission of Work
The Saint Louis University Department of English is committed to excellent and innovative educational practices. In
order to maintain quality academic offerings and to conform to relevant accreditation requirements, we regularly
assess our courses and programs for evidence of student learning outcomes achievement. For this purpose, we keep
on file representative examples of student work from all courses and programs such as: assignments, papers, exams,
multimedia presentations, portfolios, and results from student surveys, focus groups, and reflective exercises. Thus,
copies of your work for this course—including exams, presentations, submitted papers or other assignments—may
be kept on file for institutional research, assessment and accreditation purposes. All samples of student work will be
anonymized before they are used in assessment exercises. If you prefer that the Department of English does not
keep your work on file, you need to communicate your decision in writing to your instructor.
Course Schedule
We are going to take advantage of the twice a week schedule to thread the needle that is this course, which is part
seminar and part practicum. The seminar and the practicum are two pedagogical forms that do not always work well
together, but which are nevertheless forms this course needs to do its work. We need both time to think through—as
in a seminar—the various historical trajectories and theoretical frameworks that shape the teaching of rhetoric and
writing. Likewise, we need to spend time developing and honing—as in a practicum—the pedagogical repertoires
that you will need to teach this course. To that end, Tuesdays will be enculturation days and will function as seminars
wherein we discuss the field of rhetoric and composition and how it manifests in ENGL 1900. Thursdays, then, will be
practica dedicated to cultivation and wherein we rehearse the key components of ENGL 1900 and how to teach the
course: developing lesson plans, assessing student work, and facilitating workshops.
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enculturation
cultivation/preparation
August 24 | Introducing ENGL 5010
• Read: Boyle, “…something like a reading ethics…”
• Read: Cooper, The Animal Who Writes: 1-44
• Read: Ingold, ”The Maze and the Labyrinth”
• Read: Ingold, “Education and Attention”
• Read: Readings, The University in Ruins (selections)
August 29 | The Animal Who Writes August 31 | Introducing ENGL 1900
• Read: Cooper, The Animal Who Writes: 44-248
September 5 | Writing Research
• Read: Lynch & Hardin Marshall, “English 1900: A Writing
(and Writing Program) Laboratory
• Read: Cooper, “How Bruno Latour Teaches Writing”
• Read: Norgaard, “Embracing Uncertainty”
• Read: ENGL 1900 Syllabus
• Read: EP Textbook, “Writing in, with, and through” &
“Eloquentia Perfecta”
• In-Class: Summarize ENGL 1900
September 7 | Introducing Dissoi Logoi
• Read: EP Textbook, “Chapter 10 - The Dissoi Logoi Project”
• In-Class: Brainstorm Possible Dissoi Logoi Projects
September 12 | Responding to Writing Part 1 September 14 | Responding to Writing Part 2
• Read: Lunsford & Lunsford, “‘Mistakes Are a Fact of Life’”
• Read: Williams, “The Phenomenology of Error”
• Read: Hartwell, “Grammer, Grammer, and the Teaching of
Grammar”
September 19 | The Rhetorical Situation Part 1
• Read: Bitzer,”The Rhetorical Situation”
• Read: Vatz, “The Myth of the Rhetorical Situation”
• Read: Consigny, “Rhetoric and Its Situations”
• Read: Haswell, “Minimal Marking”
• Read: Wilhoit, “Responding to Student Writing”
• Read: Anson et al., “What Do We Want in this Paper?”
• In-Class: Grade Sample Dissoi Logoi Essays
September 21 | Peer Reviewing the Dissoi Logoi
• Review: Dissoi Logoi Rubric and Samples (EP Unit 7)
• Review: Dissoi Logoi Peer Review Sheet
• In-Class: Dissoi Logoi Project Peer Review
September 26 | The Rhetorical Situation Part 2 September 28 | Responding to Writing Part 3
• Read: Biesecker, “Rethinking the Rhetorical Situation”
• Read: Edbauer, “Unframing Models of Public Distribution”
October 3 | The Rhetorical Situation Part 3
• Read: Rickert, ”In the House of Doing”
• Read: Stormer, “Rhetoric by Accident”
• Read: Harris et al., ”Introduction"
• Read: McMilian, ”Students Write to Students"
• Read: Warnock, ”The Low-Stakes, Risk-Friendly Message-
Board Text”
• Read: Harris, "Workshop and Seminar"
• Read: Wilhoit, ”Presenting Material in Class"
• Read: Lindemann, ”Designing Writing Courses” &
"Developing Writing Assignments”
• In-Class: Grade Sample Dissoi Logoi Essays
October 5 | Introducing the Multimodal Project
• Due: Dissoi Logoi Essay
• In-Class: Introduce Statement of Purpose
• In-Class: Brainstorm Possible Projects
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October 10 | Digital Rhetoric Part 1
• Read: Ong, "Writing as Technology That Restructures
Thought"
• Read: Boyle et al., “The Digital”
• Read: Rice, “Rhetoric's Mechanics”
• Read: Shipka, "A Multimodal Task-Based Framework for
Composing”
October 17 | Theories of Argument Part 1
• Read: Bizzell, ”Persuasion and Argument: Coterminous?”
• Read: Lynch et al., “Moments of Argument”
• Read: Corder, “Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love”
October 24 | Digital Rhetoric Part 2
• Read: Laquintano, Schnitzler & Vee, “An Introduction to
Teaching with Text Generation”
• Read: Any two chapters from TextGenEd
• Read: Rivers, “Sophistic Parrots and the Problematic of
Machine Intelligence”
October 12 | Assessing the Multimodal Project
• Read: Multimodal Project Prompt
• In-Class: Tour Compass Lab
October 19 | Fall Break
No Class
October 26 | Assessing the Multimodal Project
• Read: Multimodal Project Rubric
• In-Class: Grade Sample Multimodal Projects
October 31 | Visual Communication November 2 | Responding to Writing Part 4
• Read: Compass Lab Field Guide to Visual Communication
• Review: Visualization Information for Advocacy
November 7 | Theories of Argument Part 2
• Read: Foss & Griffin, ”Beyond Persuasion”
• Read: Jarratt, “Feminism and Composition”
• Read: Kopelson, “Rhetoric on the Edge of Cunning”
• Read: Inoue, Antiracist Writing Assessment: 1-118
November 9 | Workshopping the Multimodal Project
• Read: Multimodal Project Prompt
• Read: Multimodal Project Rubric
• In-Class: Peer Review Multimodal Projects
November 14 | Responding to Writing Part 5 November 16 |
• Read: Inoue, Antiracist Writing Assessment: 119-300
November 21 | Jesuit Pedagogy
• Read: Ratio Studiorum
• Read: “Characteristics of Jesuit Education”
• Read: “Ignatian Pedagogy: A Practical Approach”
November 28 | Generative Complicity
• Read: Easterling, Medium Design
• Read: Miller, “The Arts of Complicity”
• Read: Le Guin, “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction”
• Due: Class Observation/List of Readings
• In-Class: Introduce Teaching Statement
• In-Class: Review Sample Process Logs
November 23 | Thanksgiving Break
No Class
November 30 | Introducing Teaching Statement
• Due: Multimodal Project
• In-Class: Discussion of Teaching Statement
December 5 | Practicing Practice December 7 |
• Read: Boyle, “Rhetoric and/as a Posthuman Practice”
• Read: Lynch, “Shadow Living”
• In-Class: Teaching Statement Peer Review
• In-Class: Research Binder Peer Review
• Due (December 16 by 5:00 p.m.): Research Binder
• Due (December 16 by 5:00 p.m.): Teaching Statement
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