Schedule

This schedule is subject to change in order to meet instructor and student needs.

Week 1

Tuesday, Jan. 15

Introduction to the course, texts, and Internet materials.
Logon to Nicenet using class key. Peer introductions and "My grammatical experiences" conference on Nicenet.

Homework: Visit the Preposition and Split Infinitive Myths links at Nicenet (you might have to access these using Explorer if Netscape cannot find the files).

Thursday, Jan 17

Group work: Putting together our own list of grammatical and stylistic errors. The grammar police.  Social/political attitudes toward "error" Nicenet conference: United Negro College Fund ad. How is first graffiti artist/writer depicted? How is second graffiti writer (copyeditor) depicted? What does this say about the perceived relationship between grammatical correctness and intelligence, worth, morality, belonging, the purpose(s) of written communication?

Homework: Williams' "Phenomenology of Error" handout. Read your classmates' responses to the conference topic and respond to, at least, one of their posts.

Journal entry: Pick up course pack at Rapid Print (basement of Old Union)

Week 2

Tuesday, Jan 22

Discussing and copyediting Williams. What is error?

Optional Internet Conference Topic: "Why 'To Who it May Concern'?"  Why not a comma splice, fragment, parallel construction error? Is the first writer viewed as having/making/being able to make a choice with regards to language use in this message to his/her community?

Homework: Prescriptive and Descriptive grammar links at Nicenet

Thursday, Jan 24

What is Grammar? How does it mark a language user?
Continuation of online discussion of United Negro College Fund ad. ("To Who It May Concern")

Homework: Hartwell in course pack. Read your classmates' responses to conference topic, and respond to one of their posts.

Journal entry.

Week 3

Tuesday, Jan 29

Discussing Hartwell's grammars 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Internet conference: look over how Hartwell positions Jan Neuleib's attitudes regarding instruction in grammar. Neuleib designed our 244 course, so read the university's description of the course goals (posted to nicenet), look to Hartwell's description of grammar 3, review my course description and goals, and discuss how this course is--might be viewed as--the practical application of Neuleib's  theories about grammar instruction.

Homework: grammar links and "Why Shakespeare didn't know Grammar" at Nicenet, bring in examples of published grammatical or stylistic "errors" for class discussion. Read your
classmates' responses to conference topic.

Thursday, Jan 31

Grammar handbooks and the complaint tradition Metaphors, Similes, and Pictures..."(Standardized, formal) Grammar is..." conference onNicenet

Homework: Read Hawhee in course pack, read your classmates' responses on Nicenet

Journal entry

Week 4

Tuesday, Feb. 5

Hawhee and grammar guides

Group work and presentations: Making collages to visualize the binaries (and blur them?)

Standardized, formal Grammar and/or/vs Nonstandardized, informal Grammar

Instruction in "Correctness" and/or/vs Instruction in Communication

Intuitive Grammar (Grammar 1) and/or/vs School Grammar

Descriptive Grammar and/or/vs Prescriptive Grammar

Homework: Read Williams Lesson 2 & Glossary (I'm told the books won't be in for another month, so I put copies of Lesson 2 and the glossary in your course packs)

Thursday, Feb. 7

Williams and Correctness (how Williams discusses correctness, how he deals with the parts of speech and language of grammar and why he chooses this approach) Q & A about the project proposal draft Optional Internet conference: using metaphors, similes, and pictures "Language is..." and/or analogies of the binaries above or of "Standardized Grammar is to Language as" or "Language is to Standardized Grammar as" Internet Conference: thinking about the final project.

Homework: Cooks Intro, Chapter 1, & Appendix A. Read your classmates' responses to the conference topic "thinking about the final project"...hit reply and respond to, expand upon, explain, analyze one of their responses.

Journal entry

Week 5

Tuesday, Feb. 12

Due: Journals Discussing Cooks...how does she discuss the parts of speech and why?

Homework: Cooks Chapter 2. Bring in a work (paper, essay, article, letter, story, etc.) to
copyedit during class on Thursday

Thursday, Feb. 14

Discussing and applying Cooks chapter 2.  High-level and low-level copyediting discussion. Copyedit with a peer. When you have finished copyediting and discussing the changes, brainstorm/conversing/sketch approaches to the project proposal with your peer.

Homework: Cooks Chapters 3 & 4

Journal entry

Week 6

Tuesday, Feb. 19

Discussing Cooks Due: Draft of project proposal for peer reviews. We'll do more than one with  each peer reviewer responding in writing (as a Nicenet message) to your work. When you respond to a peer's proposal, send a copy of the response to yourself as well (just click on the writer's name and your name when you draft the message). The responses you write to your peers will be a part of the packet of materials you turn in at the end of the semester, but they might also provide you with an idea for your own proposal and/or final project.

Homework: Re-write project proposal & write exam questions

Thursday, Feb. 21

Exam Review Day Due: Project proposal

After exam review and Q & A, go to Nicenet, Internet conference topic: Strunk (who wrote some professionally revered grammar and style guides) believes that "you have to know the rules to break them." Freewrite on what this claim might mean. Think back to some of the binaries we've discussed so far. Think back, in particular to our discussions (and the wonderful collages) of the binaries and, especially, to the prescriptive/descriptive and intuitive grammar/school grammar distinctions. What assumptions does Strunk make about rules and about writers?

Journal entry

Week 7

Tuesday, Feb. 26

Exam

Thursday, Feb. 28

Project Proposals Returned (hopefully) and Q & A
Discussing Cooks--APA and MLA comparison exercise (from exam).

Comparing language usage and the assumptions that inform our language practices (activity from Maurice Sharton's homepage): passive and active voice, nominalization, left-loaded and right-loaded sentences, placement of parentheticals, coordination and subordination, hedging, reader/writer relationships, community discourses and communal purposes.

Homework: Cooks Chapter 5, Williams Appendix: Punctuation (in Coursepack also)

Journal entry

Week 8

Tuesday, March 4

Discussing Punctuation

Homework: Read "Teaching Punctuation as Rhetorical Tool" in Coursepack

Pick up copy of Williams' Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace... the bookstore assures me it will be in by March 2

Thursday, March 7

Optional conferences about final projects, etc.

Homework: Williams lesson 1 & 3

Journal entry

Thursday, March 21

NO CLASS, research day (I'm at a professional conference, but I will check my email & Nicenet every day if you need/want to get in touch with me)

Journal entry

Week 10

Tuesday, March 26

Discussing Williams Due: Journal

Homework: Williams Lessons 6 & 7

Thursday, March 28

Discussing Williams

Homework: Williams Chapter 8

Journal entry

Week 11

Tuesday, April 2

Exam Review Day Due: 3 copies of paper for workshopping

Thursday, April 4

Exam

Homework: in Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, read 163-180

Journal entry

Week 12

Tuesday, April 9

Paper workshopping day Due: 1 page comments for each paper
Homework: In Handlist, read Repetition: Words and Repetition: Clauses, Phrases, and Ideas

Thursday, April 11

No Class: Optional Conferences

Journal entry

Week 13

Tuesday April 16

Discussing Rhetoric and grammar and style

Homework: Williams Chapter 9

Thursday, April 18

Presentations

Last journal entry

Week 14

Tuesday, April 23

Presentations Due: Journals

Thursday, April 25

Presentations

Week 15

Tuesday, April 30

Due: "almost final" hard copy of paper for copyediting

Thursday, May 2

Last Day of Classes & Presentations.

Due: Final Project with all drafts.