WRT 104- M[918]: Introduction to College-Level Writing

Reading Pop Culture

Instructor: Karrieann Soto
Email Address: ksoto@syr.edu
Class Meetings: HBC 035
Class Time: M-Th- 10:00-11:45 am
Office: HBC 008
Office Hours: Mondays 1:00-2:00
http://areyoufrank.com/about_blog/2012-year-in-review-what-pop-culture-can-teach-us-about-erp-success

There's something good about the essayist's stance: surely we can applaud when people try to rise above self-interest, cultural conflict, and
emotional involvement to find common ground. But there is something bad as well: people do not exist without culture, self-interest can often
be cloaked in seemingly rational and neutral language, and emotion is not really the opposite of reason but often required for its application
(it is hard to write about what you do not care about). (Gee and Hayes, 27-28)

Course Description:
This course is designed to help you improve your writing skills so that you are better prepared for the writing that
you will do in your college-level courses. While the course title refers to college-level writing, the truth is that
there is no single kind of essay, genre, or writing practice that fully encompasses the various kinds of writing that
you will do inside and outside of the college classroom. Instead, this course will focus on giving you the space to
practice and develop a variety of writing techniques, strategies and practices that will help you develop your skill as
a writer and help you better meet the demands of college-level work. We will focus heavily on practicing critical
reading skills that will help you develop a deeper understanding of academic arguments and begin to engage with
those arguments in your writing. At the same time, we will work on putting sources into conversation with one
another, articulating strong arguments, experimenting with style, and engaging different aspects of the writing
process (such as invention, drafting, and revision).
Our topic of inquiry is based on the textbook that we will be using: Reading Pop Culture. We will engage with
various readings that provide us with different perspectives about the status of pop culture in our societies. There
are ongoing academic debates about the impact of mass media and their role on our day-to-day interactions, as well
as how these reflect, and potentially perpetuate, particular ideologies. In order to evaluate these different positions,
we will critically read the articles in the textbook and reflect upon their applications in our own lives. In addition,
we will be reading other examples of more contemporary discussions and you will be encouraged to bring in other
examples as well. Overall, we will be working towards formulating our own position(s) in regards to particular
media and their role in our lives.
Required Texts
Ousborne, Jeff. Reading Pop Culture: A Portable Anthology.
Additional readings will be available on our class Blackboard site under the Contents link. Please make sure that
you have each days readings with you in class, either by printing out a hard copy or by ensuring that you can
digitally access the reading in class.

Grading and Assignments

Definition Essay

20% of final grade

Critical Response
Essay

25% of final grade

Editorial Essay

25% of final grade

Multimodal Group
Project

15% of final grade

Class Journals

15% of final grade

After considering different

positions of what pop culture
entails, in this essay you will begin
to articulate your own definition,
based on your own experiences.
This essay asks you to critically
engage with one or two of our
shared readings and to use the
course texts to begin to develop
and articulate your own ideas
about any particular topic
discussed in the readings.
In this essay, you will develop and
defend an original argument about
the impact/cultural repercussions
of contemporary pop culture
media. You will be asked to craft a
clear thesis that goes beyond
simplistic pro/con or good/bad
statements, and you will need to
support that statement with
responsible source work.
For this project you will produce a
multimodal text in which you
present on one of the topics
included in the textbook. This text
can be digital (like a movie) or
print (like a zine). Regardless of
the medium, you will want to
outline some of the most
important points discussed in the
readings and apply them to
contemporary examples that
matter to your generation. Your
group will present your project to
the class on the last day of the
term.
Throughout the course, you will
keep a journal where you will
write informal responses to our
class texts and discussions, develop
ideas for your essays, and reflect
on your experience with writing. I
will collect your journals once a
week and they will be graded for
completion.

Due in class
Wednesday, July 10

Due in class
Monday, July 22

Due in class
Thursday, August 1

Due in class
Thursday, August 8

Due every Monday.

Your journal for the last
week will be due on the
last day of class.

Turning in Assignments:
All of your assignments should be printed out and submitted in hard copy form. The format of your papers should
follow MLA guidelines that Ill introduce at the beginning of our summer session. Journal entries will be posted
online (through blackboard). All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day they are due.

Essay Revision:
You have the option of revising one of your three formal essays. Your essay revision will be due at the
end of the term before you leave Syracuse. I expect that any essay revision will be a substantial revision that
seriously engages the feedback you receive on the essay. Only making surface-level or grammatical changes to your
paper is editing work and does not suffice as a substantial revision.
During the last week of class, well spend some time talking about different revision strategies, and you will have
the chance to meet with me one-on-one to talk about your work and your revision plan. If you choose to revise
one of your essays, the grade you receive on the revised version will replace the original grade. (Note: its highly
unlikely that a revised essay would receive a lower grade than the original; however, if this did occur, I would
never replace your essay grade with a lower grade. Your grade can only improve by revising your work.) When
you revise your essay, you will need to submit any previous drafts of your work and a short reflection on the
revision process along with the revised draft. The essay revision is optionalif you are happy with your essay
grades as they are, you can choose not to revise your work.
Resources
Contact: In college, teacher contact is both welcomed and encouraged. I am more than willing to meet with you
outside of class and/or communicate with you via email to address questions, concerns, or thoughts that you have
about the class and about your work. In addition to meeting with you in person, I will make myself available
through AIM (karriesoto@gmail.com) during my office hours as another means of addressing questions you have
about the class. It is your responsibility as a student to ensure that you complete all the reading and writing
assignments on time, as well as to ensure that you are meeting any specific requirements of those assignments.
Given this responsibility, it is especially important that you reach out and take advantage of office hours and my
email to clarify any confusion or questions you might have.
Writing Consultants: There are dedicated Summer College writing consultants who hold regular office hours
Sunday-Thursday in the Writing Center located on the first floor of HBC. Writing consultants can be invaluable
resources as you progress through the next six week of class, offering help that extends far beyond the basic
grammar editing we often associate with getting feedback on writing. You can schedule an appointment with
specific consultants (we will discuss these scheduling procedures in more detail during the first few days of class)
and they will help you at any stage of the writing process, whether you have a fully developed draft of an essay or
are still struggling to brainstorm ideas for your writing. I encourage you to set an appointment with one of the
consultants early on in the course to familiarize yourself with the writing center as a resource. I also encourage you
to schedule appointments early, as they will fill up quickly.
Disability Accommodations: If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact the
Office of Disability Services (ODS), http://disabilityservices.syr.edu, located in Room 309 of 804 University
Avenue, or call (315) 443-4498 for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting
accommodations. ODS is responsible for coordinating disability-related accommodations and will issue students
with documented disabilities Accommodation Authorization Letters, as appropriate, Since accommodations may
require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact ODS as soon as possible.
I expect that each student learns differently, and I expect to make the class materials and class activities flexible to
respond to these differences. For example, you may struggle to write on the spot in class or you may find it

difficult to follow along with a lecture without a visual aid like a handout or PowerPoint. There are a variety of
different ways to work with different learning styles like these. I want this class to be useful and accessible for each
student. I encourage you to talk with me about any learning needs you have or any learning styles that work
particularly well for you so that we can strategize ways to address those needs in the class.
Class Policies
Attendance and Homework: I expect that you will attend all class sessions. Any absences or repeated tardies
will be reported to Binh Huynh, the Director of Summer College. I also expect that you will complete all
homework before class. Completing these assignments on time not only keeps you current with the class content,
but it also helps to facilitate our class discussions and small group activities. If you have any problems with the
work, be sure to take advantage of the resources available to you and seek help from me or from the Summer
College writing consultants. I will only accept late work if we talk (in person or over email) about the assignment
and agree to an extension before the due date.
Technology: For the duration of this class, I expect that you will check your email and the class Blackboard site
regularly to access class readings, assignments, and other information pertinent to the class. There is no excuse for
not completing and submitting work, so be sure that you back up your files and seek help for any technologyrelated problems you encounter. Contact information and service hours for ITS Support Service for students is
available at http://its.syr.edu/supportsvc/index.html.
Academic Dishonesty: Claiming another persons intellectual work as your own is unacceptable. It is your
responsibility to familiarize yourself with the universitys policies on plagiarism and academic dishonesty. You can
find Syracuse Universitys official policy on Academic Integrity at http://academicintegrity.syr.edu. A confirmed
act of plagiarism will result in serious disciplinary action. If you ever have any questions or concerns about
academic integrity, please dont hesitate to ask.