ENG2150 / Spring 2015

OVERLAND PARK, KS—Appearing stunned and unsettled as they entered her classroom Wednesday, students from Ms. Frederickson’s fourth-period social studies class were reportedly overcome with panic upon discovering that, oh God, all the desks had been arranged in a giant circle. “I have no idea what’s going to happen here, but it can’t be good,” said a visibly shaken Katie Wahl, 11, who according to reports began steeling herself for whatever god-awful group project, class discussion, or sharing of personal experiences the sixth-grade teacher might have in store for them. “We’re definitely going to have to go around one by one and talk or read aloud. God, we might even have to break into teams and debate something. This really, really sucks.” At press time, sources confirmed that, damn it, the only seats still available in the circle were the ones directly on either side of the teacher.

(Article available here.)

Two articles published this past week struck me as relevant to our topic:

“Decoding the Rules of Conversation” in The New York Times takes on the differences between French, English and American modes of conversation.

“A Note on Call-Out Culture” from Briarpatch Magazine pinpoints and questions the rules of of what we might call political correctness policing.

Next Tuesday’s class is cancelled. For Thursday, please finish the Larsen and read the Slessinger and the Parker. Please also pick one of these texts to prepare an SLD on (but keep in mind that I reserve the right to administer pop quizzes!).

Also, here are the rules for the rewrites, due next Thursday to turnitin.com by midnight unless I’ve told you otherwise:
1) Include a cover letter of at least 100 words explaining what changes you made and why. Your cover letter should be formatted like a letter, with a salutation, a sign off, the works.
2) Italicize all changes unless you change more than 75% of the essay.

Hi class,

Please print out and bring a draft of your essay to class on Tuesday. This draft will not be graded or evaluated by me in any way, so there is no need to change it from its current state (which is to say, it doesn’t have to be a complete draft; it can even be exactly what you brought on Thursday). However, this will be another opportunity to get feedback on your work, and the more you have done, the better that feedback will be.

Let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

Best,
Professor Priest

Discussion:

• Mediator: SLD leader or professor.
• Allow other classmates to finish speaking before you begin. Advocate for those who have been interrupted.
• Discussion leaders may decide if they want hands raised or free form discussion.
• Try to help with dead space in SLD’s by putting out a discussion question or volunteering to read your opening paragraph, especially if it’s relevant to what has been recently discussed.
• Don’t be afraid to be controversial.
• Don’t be afraid to suss out ideas out loud, even if they don’t make sense at first.

Writing Critique:

• Be open to constructive criticism.
• Offer suggestions instead of shooting people down.
• All critiques must be accompanied by suggestions.
• Make sure to pay attention to the grammar.
• Please be prepared with an honest draft of the correct length.

General:

• Be respectful and polite. Don’t make fun of anyone.
• Disagree respectfully. No ad hominem attacks.
• Be open to agreeing to disagree.
• Try to always begin with a compliment.
• Ask questions if you don’t understand instead of jumping to conclusions.

Welcome to Writing II! You will find the course schedule, syllabus, readings, and assignments on this site. I will also post any relevant information and links to this site, so please check back periodically.

I’m looking forward to our class. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns, or just want to chat. My contact information can be found under the ‘Syllabus’ tab.