WRITING NATURE:
DISCOURSES OF ECOLOGY
Syllabus
GOALS OF THE PROGRAM IN WRITING AND RHETORIC
The goals of PWR , Stanford's first-year writing program, are simple to state: we aim to guide Stanford's first-year students in writing academic arguments and research-based essays, using rhetorical principles that will enable them to enter courses in many fields, analyze the discourses they find there, and, on the basis of their analyses, begin to participate effectively in those discourses, whether oral or written. Find PWR's web site at http://pwr.stanford.edu.
What place do human beings occupy in nature? To what extent do we conceive of nature as "Other," as separate from ourselves? And what does mistreatment of nature have to do with mistreatment of marginalized human groups?
Fundamental questions about nature and ecology, science and technology, social justice and community provide the thematic content around which course readings and writing topics will revolve. Readings will serve as sources of information and provocation, as subjects of rhetorical analysis, and as writing models. In the progression of writing assignments, we will move from relatively personal to more public discourse through a variety of rhetorical situations, and deeply into research-based writing.
This class will encourage you to
understand and practice the process behind the written product;
read and write, listen and speak with attention to audience and purpose and with sensitivity to nuances of argument;
consider interdisciplinary approaches to thinking, writing, and research;
explore various strategies of research, analysis, organization, and argumentation and apply them to your writing;
engage in personally compelling and relevant research, and bring personal perspective and voice even to academic writing;
maintain intellectual control in research and writing with sources;
develop a comfortable and confident prose style in writing and presence in oral delivery, well suited to various audiences and purposes;
develop revision and editing skills within a community of writers through intensive peer review;
understand that knowledge in general and writing in particular (including student writing) are real, having value and consequences.
This course includes a CWP component. In partial fulfillment of the writing requirement for this class, students will research and write documents for local community non-profit organizations. My desk will not be the sole destination of your writing in this class, and a grade will not be its sole purpose.
The Community Writing Project brings the philosophy and practice of service-learning to this class. You will find other service-learning courses across various disciplines throughout the University, but in the context of this PWR class service-learning focuses definitely and specifically on writing. While satisfying a portion of the writing requirement of this class, CWP offers you the opportunity to write something of specific and tangible use for a non-profit organization outside the university. CWP writing is generally distributed to a much larger audience, and to different kinds of readers, than college writers are accustomed to. With the Community Writing Project, you make a contribution to the larger community, and your writing stands to have a real effect on people and policies.
Our class will be offered placements with local non-profit or governmental organizations that need writers to complete a variety of writing tasks, possibly including newsletter articles, press releases, interviews, profiles, histories, reports, fact sheets, reviews, grant proposals, and various kinds of writing for organizations' web sites. After we discuss possible placements, you will be assigned one agency to work with, based to the extent possible on your preferences. The writing that you ultimately produce for your organization, if it is good enough according to the agency's standards, will appear in print or be incorporated into important in-house documents or programs.
The Community Writing Project involves independent work and requires a very high degree of reliability on your part since it is essentially an internship, and your agency will be counting on you to fulfill a real writing need. In addition to contributing in important ways to the work of area non-profit organizations and hence to the well-being of the community, past CWP projects have, at the very least, made impressive additions to students' résumés and, in many cases, have led to internships and other work opportunities.
Click here for more about Community Writing.
Click here for examples of students' past Community Writing projects.
Required Texts and Reading Assignments
Carolyn Ross. Writing Nature: An Ecological Reader for Writers. St. Martin's Press, 1995. (See abbreviated, annotated Table of Contents.)
Diana Hacker. A Pocket Manual of Style. St, Martin's Press, 2000. 
Andrew Harnack and Eugene Kleppinger. Online!: A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources. St. Martin's, 2000. Please complete readings by the dates assigned -- the quality of your written work and of class discussions will depend upon your doing so.
Our primary text, Writing Nature, is both an anthology of writing within the course theme and a rhetoric -- or a text about writing. Some readings will be distributed in handout form. You are responsible for assigned readings in whatever form.
All three texts -- Writing Nature, A Pocket Style Manual, and Online! -- will help guide you through the research process and will serve as handbooks to documentation style.
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In choosing the writing assignments that I have this quarter, I have in mind certain learning objectives, but for the most part specific topics will be up to you. The exception to open topics, of course, will be the Community Writing Project. The topic of your CWP project will be determined by your agency in accordance with its needs. When topics are open, determining your own topic is a crucial step in the writing process; if you are not actively involved at the point of topic selection, the chances for a compelling piece of writing growing out of it seem pretty slim. Topics not directly related to your Community Writing Project should arise from your interest and a sense of purpose -- from the questions you ask yourself, and out of your need or desire to know.
Your first writing for the quarter will be an essay for yourself and for the class. The second writing will be the Community Writing Project. The third will be the research paper. (If the opportunity exists within an agency and the project is comparable to a complex, academic research paper, the second writing and the research paper may be dedicated to Community Writing.) You will also be asked to include in your writing portfolio, submitted at the end of the quarter, a cover letter and brief project introductions, assessing your own learning and progress as an academic and community-based researcher and writer in the class.
1. Project #1. Contextual Analysis: The Progressive (or Leap-of-Faith) Essay. This essay will provide practice in blending personal and analytical writing, drawing upon visual and written texts. Length of finished essay: 5-6 pages; part #1 due 1/9; part #2 due 1/14; part #3 due 1/16; complete draft due 1/23; peer review conferences on 1/24 and 1/27; revision due 1/31.
2. Project #2. The Community Writing Project. Approximately 1000 words; draft due at conferences on 2/20 and 2/21; revision due with final portfolio on 3/13.
3. Project #3 : The Research Paper. (related directly or indirectly to the CWP project and our broad course theme): approximately 12 pages (no fewer than 10 pages, no more than 15), excluding footnote and bibliography pages. This is a documented argument, analysis, or interpretation, using at least 10 outside sources and incorporating 2 or more media beyond words on the page.
Increments of research project:
3 topic ideas due 1/28
Research proposal and Research Topic Form due 1/30
Library Workshop, 2/4 (meet at 11:00 in the lobby of Green Library)
Working annotated bibliography due 2/6
Outline with tentative thesis due 2/27
Research paper draft due 3/6
Revised research paper (see overview assignment sheet) due 3/17
4. Project #4: Multimedia Oral Presentation. In this 10-minute presentation to the class, you will present an oral argument based on your research or Community Writing project. Use multimedia (Powerpoint, video, audio, for example) to help illustrate, demonstrate, and persuade. Due on 3/11 and 3/13.
5. Portfolio Cover Letter and Introductions. to each of the four major projects, describing your learning process and your development as a writer/speaker. Due with writing portfolio (described below) on 3/17.
6. Informal Writing: Participation in the Class Newsgroup (meaningful contributions at least twice weekly).
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Each student will be asked to give a five-minute presentation on one key reading (to be determined early in the quarter, by lottery) to initiate, focus, and illuminate class discussion. Students are urged to use simple PowerPoint slides to aid them in giving these presentations. (See Reading Presentation assignment sheet for details.)
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I will collect students' portfolios at the end of the quarter. (See Portfolio Checklist.) In evaluating your work, I will use your portfolio to reference the full range of your performance and progress in each assignment and in the class as a whole. Obviously, it is important that you save all work for the class in an organized sequence and special location (a three-hole binder works well) so that you can access it all easily at the end of the quarter. Portfolios should include
Project #1 (Progressive/Leap-of-Faith Essay), including parts/exercises, draft (with instructor's and peer's comments) and revision (with instructor's comments and narrative evaluation);
Project #2 (Community Writing Project), CWP contract, project notes, email correspondence related to your project, drafts (with instructor's, mentor's, and peers' comments), project in its final form, and your CWP evaluation;
Project #3 (The Research Paper), including all increments: your three preliminary topic ideas; formal research proposal, with librarian's and instructor's (if applicable) comments; working annotated bibliography with assessment sheet; outline or very rough draft with comments (if applicable); complete research paper draft with peer reviewer's and instructor's comments; research paper revision
Project #4 (Multimedia Oral Presentation), including notes and multimedia materials; and
Portfolio Cover Letter and Introductions to each of the 4 major projects.
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TECHNOLOGY IN "WRITING FOR REAL"
In "Writing Nature," technology will facilitate community outreach, research, writing, and class discussion in many ways. As a matter of course, please have up-to-date copies of your work accessible to you in class and elsewhere on campus (available to ftp from your Leland space or stored on a floppy disk or CD). I may ask you to submit some of your writing in electronic as well as in print form, since some of my comments may be in the form of typed annotations. All major assignments will contribute to an enhancement of technological literacy, asking that you integrate multimedia elements with traditional text or spoken delivery. Everyone will be asked to submit at least one project to post on our class web site at the end of the quarter.
Our Class Web Site: I am making every effort to drastically reduce paper consumption in this class. You will find class materials posted on the class web site http://www.stanford.edu/~cbross/WNindex.html. These materials include the course syllabus, calendar of due dates, schedule of reading assignments, project assignment sheets, supplements to assignments, conference schedules, links to our class newsgroup, other information and a number of other useful resources.
The Class Newsgroup: A newsgroup is an electronic discussion area for people interested in exchanging information and ideas about a subject of common interest -- in our case, our course readings and films, as well as the writing issues that we encounter in this class. All students should plan to read and participate meaningfully in our class's newsgroup discussions at least twice a week. Our newsgroup discussions should reveal in advance of class some important directions for class discussion. You can access the class newsgroup from our home page http://www.stanford.edu/~cbross/WNindex.html.
Email: We will be using email to communicate outside of class on a regular basis -- so make sure that you have an email account, and check your email regularly.
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Conferences, Peer Review, and Revision
There will be three scheduled conferences this quarter. The first is a peer review conference (to include you, me, and your peer review partner) in which we will discuss drafts of the Progressive/Lap-of-Faith Essay. The second conference will be an individual or small group conference -- depending upon whether your Community Writing Project is individual or collaborative &endash; to discuss your Community Writing Project draft. The final conference will be a peer review conference to discuss research paper drafts. Attendance at all scheduled conferences is required. Rescheduling missed conferences is usually impossible, so make note of the time you sign up for, as well as the conference location, and show up on time please.
You are, of course, welcome to come see me at other times; if you can't make it during office hours, I will be more than happy to arrange an alternate time with you.
Each student will give and receive a written and spoken peer review of the Leap-of-Faith Essay and the research paper at the draft stage. You will be provided with peer review guidelines.
Having the opportunity to revise your work after feedback is crucial. Everyone will have the opportunity to revise Project #1 (The Progressive/ Leap-of-Faith Essay), Project #2 (The Community Writing Project), and Project #3 (The Research Paper) following peer, agency mentor, and/or instructor review and discussion of drafts in conference. It is essential, with the Community Writing Project, that you get feedback from your agency mentor before you submit your final work. With all three assignments, you will be graded on your revisions.
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All written work (including drafts and journals) submitted over the quarter, with the exception of peer reviews, must be typed. Finished essays must be titled, and all essays (including drafts) must be double-spaced with numbered pages. Depending on the nature of the assignment, I may ask you to include a one-paragraph statement of audience and purpose with your essays.
***Please try to print all work (including revisions) on recycled paper or on both sides of the page!*** Back to Top
CLASS, PWR, AND UNIVERSITY POLICIES
Unless you have received my permission at least 24 hours in advance of the due date, late work will be graded down, at the rate of one full grade per class meeting. After one week, I reserve the right not accept late work at all. You will not pass this class unless you submit each of the four major assignments.
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The PWR attendance policy is strict. It reads as follows:
Because PWR courses make use of writing activities, in-class workshops, and small group discussion, your consistent attendance is crucial to your success. If you must miss a class for religious holidays, medical reasons, or valid University-related activities, you must let your instructor know as far in advance as possible of the absence and obtain information about the work you must do to keep up in class. If you miss a class for any other reason (sudden illness, family emergency, etc.), you should get in touch with your instructor as soon as possible and arrange to make up the work missed. If you do not take responsibility for communicating with your instructor about absences, your instructor will contact you by phone or email and issue a warning about your standing in the course. Should you miss a second class, your work in the class will be seriously compromised, and a continued pattern of absences may jeopardize your enrollment in the class. The best policy, therefore, is to be in class, on time, every day!
The specific policy for this class is as follows. One unexcused absence is allowed. At the second unexcused absence, students will receive no credit for class participation. With three unexcused absences, students must drop or they will not pass the class. Please let me know of anticipated absences in advance.
Students who are late to class also put their grades at risk. If you are late to class 3 times, you will receive no credit for class participation.
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The PWR policy on plagiarism reads as follows:
PWR Policy: Students are responsible for living by the Honor Code and for maintaining honesty in scholarship. Work submitted for a course must be the student's own (or a group's work, if students have collaborated on an assignment). The use of someone else's words or ideas without acknowledgement and as your own contradicts PWR goals and principles. As such, PWR will take reasonable precautions to prevent it and all measures prescribed by the Stanford Judicial Affairs Office for remedy and redress.
Any written work submitted to PWR classes may be sent by the PWR instructor to one or more databases for the noncommercial purpose of checking the writer's use of sources. These databases check student writing against published works and other submitted student writing to ensure academic integrity, specifically that works and ideas have not been borrowed without appropriate citation.
You are expected to be familiar with and to abide by Stanford's Honor Code and Stanford's Fundamental Standard.
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Unless you specifically request that I do otherwise, I will not assign letter grades to individual assignments. Instead, I will give written narrative evaluations of each of the major assignments at their revised stages. (You may further revise your work from early in the quarter, if you wish and if there is time, for inclusion in your portfolio.) Narrative evaluations, along with conferences, should give you a pretty clear picture of how you're doing and how specifically you might improve your writing. If you would like a grade along with a narrative evaluation, please indicate this when you hand in revisions.
At the end of the quarter, I will assign a letter grade to your portfolio of writing for the entire quarter, and this will account for approximately 80% of your final grade. At that time, I will also assign a letter grade for class participation (which includes class and conference attendance, in-class participation, and participation in conferences and peer reviews); class participation will account for 10% of your final grade. I will also assign a letter grade for informal writing (including newsgroup participation), which will account for 10% of your final grade.
In assigning portfolio and final grades, I will take into account your effort and engagement, the demonstrated development and improvement of your individual writing skills and style over the quarter, and your overall accomplishment relative to that of others in the class.
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The PWR policy concerning grade disputes reads as follows:
If you have a complaint about this PWR course or wish to question a grade, please write a memo to the Director of PWR, Andrea Lunsford (lunsford@stanford.edu), and the Associate Director of PWR, Marvin Diogenes (marvind@stanford.edu), explaining the problems you are having with the course, the reasons for your dispute, and so on. You may arrange to meet with them to discuss your dispute. You may want, for example, to ask them to read an assignment again, reconsidering your work in light of points you have made about it. Many misunderstandings or problems can be worked out in such a meeting.
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RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS
Take advantage of the many resources available to you, in general and as Stanford and PWR students! Follow the link to some of the more pertinent ones.
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