English 615 is the Seminar in Composition. Our seminar topic this semester is Technologies of Writing. The premise is that all writing depends on technology, whether the chisel for carving stone, the glue for binding books, or the browser for displaying web pages. The different technologies create different possibilities and expectations about the appearance, purpose, form, and content of the writing,

English 615 will be taught in seminar fashion. We will read several books dealing with the history and theories of technology and writing. Members of the class will be responsible for leading the discussion of each of the books. We will also make extensive use of computers as a medium for reading and writing. There will be a major seminar project in addition to some shorter writings. The interactive web portion of the course uses Blackboard.

Texts

• Naomi Baron: Alphabet to Email
• Adrian Johns: The Nature of the Book
• James J O'Donnell: Avatars of the Word
• Geoffrey Nunberg: The Future of the Book
• Todd Tayler and Irene Ward: Literacy Theory in the Age of the Internet
• Jay Bolter: Writing Space
• Constance Hall and Jessie Scanlon: Wired Style

Requirements:

1. Faithful attendance. Serious illness or family emergency are the only reasons for absence.
2. Equally faithful completion of reading assignments on time.
3. Group-led discussion of each of the texts
4. Seminar paper
5. Shorter exploratory writings
6. Postings to the class bulletin Board (in class Blackboard site) at least three times a week. Postings can include responses to readings, to points raised in class, to one another's ideas and questions. All posts should observe standard netiquette conventions.
7. 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.
8. Exploratory reading. I expect everyone to read whatever you can get your hands on relating to writing technologies, especially the Internet, email, hypertext, World Wide Web, etc. Share what you discover on the bulletin board.

Class meetings: Mondays 5:30-8:00

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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!.

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