Department of English and Journalism

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

English 180 is the first in a series of required writing courses in the educational programs at Western Illinois University. Writing is fundamental in the academic life, for in the process of writing a person can discover and clarify information, ideas, judgments, different ways of understanding, and even at times passions and convictions that matter most to him or her. In writing, a person also effectively communicates the information, ideas, judgments, ways of understanding, or convictions to others.

This effective communication of thought is the hallmark of a university education, and in one way or another it is the goal of most courses in the curriculum. English 180 is intended to help students develop strategies for effective writing and clear thinking so that they may more readily achieve the goals of their own course of study at the university.

Official Course Objectives

Texts for Sections 19 and 23:

• Charles Bazermann, Involved
• Primus reader for English 180
• Diana Hacker, The Pocket Style Manual
• This syllaweb

Course Requirements:

1. Faithful attendance (see my attendance policy)
2. Completion of all reading assignments. (Class lectures and discussions will not replicate the readings; rather, you need to do the reading to be prepared for class.)
3. Six major writing assignments (to be posted on the Schedule Page)
4. Additional shorter writing exercises
5. Email postings to the class list four times a week including responses to readings, to points raised in class, to one another's ideas and questions. All posts should observe standard netiquette conventions.
6. Participation. We will be acting as a discourse community, writing and talking in order to discover meaning. Your participation in the class discussion is essential.

Tentative Schedule

Class Meetings:

Grades:

Major papers: 70%
In-Class Writing: 10%
Email: 10%
Participation and exercises: 10%

Computer Access:

All students in the class will get an internet (ECN) account and use Pine or Eudora to post email messages to the class listserv list.

You will need to spend a great deal of out-of-class time at the computer. There are four computers in the Writing Center (Simpkins 341), though they are usually in high demand. Your best bet is to use the labs in Stipes, Morgan, the Library, or a residence hall. If you have a modem for a home computer, you can access the internet and ECN. The Academic Computing office in Stipes Hall can provide instructions.

Being Assimilated

The focus of our attention this semester will be the ways our knowledge, our beliefs, even our sense of ourselves, is derived from the groups we identify with. I've used the Borg as my metaphor for this group affiliation because I believe that we all have all been assimilated already into various groups. With this class you will begin (or continue) your assimilation into the academic community. Resistance is futile.

Borg Recruitment Center

Where to find me

Escape clause: This syllabus is subject to revision as circumstances dictate. You can expect additional links to be added with some regularity--check it often!.

Special needs: If you have a condition which requires physical accommodation in the classroom or which may interfere with your ability to complete course requirements, please let me know at once. If you have an emergency which keeps you from class, notify me by phone or email. If fasting for Ramadan or Lent causes problems, let me know about that too. Finally, if you feel you are falling behind at any time or failing to work up to your potential, come in to see me.