ENG 101

Writing Your Way into Western

ENG 101 CRN 42038
Maggie Nelson
Office: HU 342
Office Hours: M: 12-1 , TR: 9-10
Email: nelso277@students.wwu.edu
Class: MWF 10:00-11:20
Classrooms: M,F: MH 112 W: HU 105

By enrolling in ENG 101, you have involuntarily

chosen to join me on an adventure to change the
way we think about English class. No longer will
you be expected to write simply in a style that
remains relevant solely in academia. Instead, you
will be accompanying me on a path to discover
some new things not only about the power within
composition, but also about yourself and your own
role in composition.
This class is centered on collaboration and
community. We are all very different people
coming together in one place, sharing at times,
sensitive information. I want us to build a

comfortable and safe atmosphere in the classroom,

which will require some understanding and effort
from everyone.
Through this course, I want to help you, as students,
professionals, thinkers, readers, composers,
humans, scientists etc. (the list goes on and on)
become successful writers both in and outside the
classroom. You will engage with the places around
you, explore your role within these places, and
examine how composition arises within them. In
doing so, you will learn to write in various forms
and with an array of tactics and tools.

What Materials You N eed No w:

A folder (digital or material) dedicated to this class. Youll be writing observational field notes as well as
smaller assignments which youll turn in to me. I will ask you to bring this to class quite often so try to make
it accessible.
An open mind about what counts as writing and composition
A collaborative mindset and approach to learning

 Course Aims:
Modes and Methods of
Composition
Rhetorical Approach
Writing is about making meaning. The course is
designed to help us strengthen your capacity to
understand, develop, and deploy various strategies
for seeing connections between and across systems
of meaning-making. Such an approach, I hope,
helps you see writing and analysis as a set of
systems that expands beyond individual writers,
which can then expand your professional ethos as
you learn to account for and make connections
among the differing, fast-paced worlds you occupy.
We want to work toward writing that surfaces
connections across and within different kinds of
thinking and texts, and work to create those
important connections. That means Ill push you to
work on developing a sense of genre awareness and
to be attuned to multiple contexts from which
writing emerges.
The Modern Day Writer
You may already consider yourself a writer, or you
may not. Either way, Im hoping you will by the
end of this course. We are going to do tons of
writing in several different genres, ones Im quite
sure you will be uncomfortable with, but thats ok!
Writing looks and works differently today than it
did 10 years ago and that will continue to change. I
want to give you guys the chance to explore several
different genres, many which are in some way
multimodal, and learn how to navigate those
genres. It would be really difficult to prepare you
all to work successfully in every genre, but by
means of exposure to different styles and very
different genres, I am hoping this course will give
you the necessary tool belt to approach new
genres as you make your way through academia
and out into the real world as well!
You may not think you will be writing once you get
out of college, or even once you get out of this
class, but Ill let you in on a little secret: pretty

much everyone is writing, no matter what field you

enter. Writing is changing, and its permeating our
lives through every pore, so having at least some
skills and preparedness in the field will help you, I
promise!
Reading as a Writer!
You may think of a writing class as a place where
you do some close reading, analyze a text, and then
write about it. That is not how things work here.
Yes, we will still be reading and those texts will
vary a lot, but your writing is more about you and
the people reading it than about translating
something you have already read.
You will probably find some of the texts we
approach to be a bit difficult, and that is ok. We are
going to work through these texts together, and see
how they can play a role in both our writing and
our own relationships with people and places.
Asking the Right Kinds of Questions
This might sound pretty silly, but the right kinds of
questions can make or break a piece of writing. We
will be doing a lot of exploring, reflection, and
rhetorical analysis, which means questions will be
shaping most of the work we do.
You might find yourself a little frustrated at times
in this course because answers will not be as
straight forward as you like or are used to. I am
asking you to embrace the weirdness and
discomfort you experience here to explore and ask
questions, because that is the best place to start.
Research
Research may even look differently than what you
are accustom to. As we work in various genres, you
will have to consider what kind of research is
appropriate to that genre and similaraly that
specific audience.
-Locating, evaluating, and using print and online
information selectively for particular audiences and
purposes
- Triangulating sources of evidence
-Selecting appropriate primary research methods
such as interviews, observations, and surveys to
collect data.

Course Projects
As I mentioned earlier, we will be working in several different genres, so dont expect to be writing several
5-paragraph essays. Some of these projects might look like they are coming out of left field, but they all
work together to shape some foundational concepts for this class, such as writing is a meaning making
activity, which requires a level of collaboration in the writing process. I hope by the end of this course you
will see how all of these projects fit together. We will begin in an exploratory genre and end in a more
argumentative genre. We will use these projects as a means for mapping and connecting places.
Activities and Drafts
If you are a little hesitant about one or all of these
genres, dont fret. We are going to spend a lot of
time in and out of class working on drafts. This
class is highly scaffolded, so you will never be
thrown to the dogs without some level of
preparation. I am also happy to give one-on-one
help anytime throughout the quarter.
Similarly, we will be working in class on these
drafts a lot. Peer review can be stressful and a little
scary at times, but by the end of this quarter it will
be as smooth as riding a bike or tying your shoes. I
am hoping that by the end of all of this you will see
how useful and easy peer review can be.

Read this part twice: A Note

on Late Work
The work due each class builds on what came
before it and sets us up for whats next. Because of
this structure, in order for you to get the full benefit
of each assignment you must be in class, with a
copy of the completed assignment in hand (whether
material or digital)when I ask for you to bring it
to class. For this reason, I do not accept late work
for credit. Please note, partial work is considered
incomplete. The assignment must be complete
according to my criteria by the time it is due in
order to receive credit.
Having said that, if a serious and unavoidable
problem arises, you should contact me prior to any
deadline to determine what we can do. The answer
to any problems you run into is always come and
talk to me as early as you can.

I will describe each assignment in detail on Canvas

and in class. All of your assignments will also be
available on Canvas so you can access that
information at anytime. If you ever need
clarification please feel free to contact me!

Your Culminating Project:

Exploring a Local Place or Issue via
Podcast, Review, and Proposal
You will choose a place that you will be observing
and reflecting on all quarter. The 3 large projects
will revolve around that place and will take place in
the order of Podcast, Review, and lastly Proposal.
You will begin with the Podcast. This might sound
intimidating, but dont worry. This class is not a
sound design class, but I will be working with you
to help develop those skills (because those are
important and helpful skills).
This is an exploratory genre, so you will not be
reaching any solution or arguing any point. This
genre of podcast will define a driving question and
ask more questions to develop that original one.
This will involve a lot of reflection and observation
of your place.
Next, we will move onto the Review. You will be
stepping out of the exploratory genre and into a
more evaluative one. There are two parts to this
review: the Western Review and the Medium
Review. I want to spend most of our time focusing
on the Medium review, a digital version, which will
reach a larger audience.

Your last large project will be the Proposal. This

project is arguably the most formal and academic of
the genres, but we will be focusing on applying
what we know about genre into this project. By this
time your place will have surfaced some kind of
problem, which we will set out to fix in the
proposal.
The last project you will do is the Webtext, my
favorite of all the projects. You can think of this as
a kind of portfolio, but not just any portfolio. This is
a chance to put all of your work together in a
reflective manner. It is also a chance for you to get
comfortable working in electronic mediums. You

will connect everything youve done in this class,

do some reflecting on what you saw happening, and
put it all together in a cohesive electronic opus on
Weebly or Wix.
My goal for all of you is to gather a set of skills to
navigate several different genres. I want you to at
least get mildly comfortable with using
collaborative research methods, sound design
programs, electronic mediums, and a few cohesive
writing strategies. But, what I hope overall is that
you see how these mediums both limit and allow
possibilities for your writing, and especially how
these genres can be blurred.

The Nitty-Gritty: Requirements,

Responsibilities, and Participation

Electronics

Preparation

I dont want cell phone use to be disruptive in

class. So if you are distracted by your phone or
could be distracting someone else with it, please
put it away. You are all adults, I expect you to be
able to make these judgments on your own, but Ill
help if need be.

As we work in new communication technologies

and discuss complex ideas, some things are going
to be challenging in this class, and I understand
that. But what I am expecting of you, as adults, is
to come to class ready to explain where you
became confused and what you think is causing
that confusion (this can be as simple as a few
questions)
Be ready. When we have a reading due, I expect
you to have read it and engaged with the ideas in it,
even if that means you dont understand them. The
ideas and theories were encountering and building
from in this class cannot be separated out from the
practices they entail and even demand. Be ready to
go through some kind of act, some kind of process
nearly every class.

Attendance and Timeliness

Attendance is required at all scheduled meetings
(that means class and any required conferences).
And when youre teamed up for a project, you will
be required to attend any scheduled out-of-class
meetings with your partner(s). As youll learn fairly
quickly, a lot of information can be processed in
class. Since sickness and other circumstances can
sometimes make it difficult to make it to class each
day, you are permitted 3 absences with no
explanation needed. If you miss more than three
class sessions, you will lose a stipulation for each
missed class, and of course, I will talk to you about
what is going on. I hate to be interrupted so please
make it to class on time. 3 late arrivals equal 1
absence (late arrival is 5 minutes or later to
scheduled class time).

Late Work
As I mentioned earlier, because of the structure of
the course I do not accept late work for credit (see
Course Projects for more information).

I will, however, allow for 2 rewrites (that

includes all drafts). You will have 24
hours to get the rewrite to me after you
receive my comments.

Academic Integrity

Accommodations

WWU students and their instructors are expected to

adhere to guidelines set forth by the Dean of
Students in "Academic Honesty Policy and
Procedure," which students are encouraged to read
here.

Students with documented disabilities have the

right to reasonable accommodations. Please click
here for the resources available to you.

Course Evaluation: Contract Grading

Contract Grading: I want to value your labor!

Im using a form of evaluation that may seem
foreign to you, but I have faith that it allows me to
value your labor and effort in these projects and
assignments. Furthermore, it allows you to try new
things and get creative in ways you may not have
been able to before, without being punished for that
exploration.
I am hoping you will feel comfortable enough in
this grading system to explore your own writing
style. I want this course to begin blurring the lines
between art, life, and composition, and I believe
this grading system sets up a good foundation to
allow you to blur those lines.
In order to receive a B in the course, you must
fulfill the stipulations in the following contract.
Simply, if you meet the expectations in this
contract, doing all the work as each assignment
stipulates, you will have earned a B in the course.
You can also earn a higher or lower grade (see next
page).

The Contract:
Think of this like a job. I am expecting you
to fulfill a set of stipulations. If you do not
meet these then you have not fulfilled your
requirements, and I am obligated to give
you credit accordingly.

o Attend class regularlynot missing more

than 3 classes. Attend all out-of-class
meetings you agree to attend with your
classmates (Every missed class beyond
those 3 is a missed stipulation)
o Meet due dates for all assignments,
fulfilling all the project criteria that I put
forth in each assignment (If you dont
understand a criterion, ask me about itI
dont want to keep anything secret from
you)
o Complete all out-of-class informal, low
stakes assignments to the stipulations I posit
in those assignments (e.g. Drafts, Letters
Reading Responses, design plans, etc).
These are always written on our calendar.
There are a lot of these and they each count
toward stipulations.
o Make substantive revisions in accordance
with the feedback you get from me and your
peers. In other words, the revision work you
encounter in this course will be about
extending or changing the thinking and/or
organization of your projects not just
editing or touching up. You are required to
revise and, often, explain those revisions in
letters to me.
o Prepare for and attend conferences with me
to discuss your work.

Again, what this contract means for you is that you

earn a B grade entirely on the basis of what you
do, or as Peter Elbow says, based on your
conscientious effort and engagement with your
work in the course. That means that I dont have
to measure your work against some obscure,
predetermined set of dominating criteria that dont
account for you as a person working to balance
various genres in your life as you enter new
communities of practice.
This evaluation style gives us both the opportunity
to take real risks and to really care about our own
processes for generating meaning in your writing
and in your life experiences.

getting a B begins dropping. Heres how it

works:

How to go the extra mile!

If you do not fulfill 5 items on the contract

then you start at a CAgain, this is straightforward. If you do not
complete all the stipulated criteria for 1-2 items on
the contract, then I would start you at a B-, which
means you could still earn an A- in the course.
There are three steps up from any grade you
start from. That is, if you missed 5 items on the
contract, you would start at a C-, but you might
produce really exceptional work, which could get
you back up to B. Note: it is extremely difficult
to do exceptional work after missing 5 items on
the contract.
If you started with B because you completed the
contract, there are three steps up to an A. That is,
the easiest way to approach the evaluation in this
course is complete the contract and work hard on
the projects. Youll make stuff that you can use as
portfolio work examples, and youll start to figure
out that, indeed, writing looks and works different
in different places.

Grades higher than a B are still possible, but only

when projects are of exceptionally high quality.
This sounds very obscure and subjective, but really
all I am asking you to do is to go beyond the
criteria in a mindful and rhetorically effective way.
Exceptionally high quality work will often show
clear signs of careful revision and carefully
constructed language that responds to the kinds of
audiences the project is geared toward; all this to
say, producing exceptionally high quality work is
difficult.

You can also earn a grade

lower than a B if you dont meet the
stipulations in the contract. There is a little bit of
wiggle room, but you are all starting out with
nothing, and in order to get a B you have to meet
all the stipulations. If you dont turn in assignments
or miss more than three classes, your chance of

If you do not fulfill 1-2 items in the contract

(e.g. dont turn in a draft or a reading
response that meets all the criteria, miss
more than 3 class sessions), then you start at
a B-

If you do not fulfill 3 items on the contract,

then you start at a C+

If you do not fulfill 4 items on the contract

then you start at a C

v Here is a table to help clarify your maximum possible grade based on missed stipulations: