This workshop is designed to help you write clearly, accurately and effectively in both an academic and a professional environment. In class, we analyze various forms of writing and address problems common to advanced speakers of English. We will often read one another's work.

Syllabus

Required Texts

•  Raimes, Anne. Pocket Keys for Writers. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. ISBN: 0618445463.
• Course Packet for 21F.227/228 - available in lecture notes.
• A paper portfolio in which to keep all the work you hand in for a grade.
• Handouts from class.

Recommended Texts

For students needing additional work in reviewing English grammar:

• Azar, Betty Schrampfer. Understanding and Using English Grammar: Chartbook: A Reference Guide. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Pearson Publishing Group. ISBN: 0139587039.
• An English/English dictionary of your choice.
• A dictionary of synonyms or a thesaurus.

Criteria for HASS CI Subjects

Communication intensive subjects in the humanities, arts, and social sciences should require at least 20 pages of writing divided among 3-5 assignments. Of these 3-5 assignments, at least one should be revised and resubmitted. HASS CI subjects should further offer students substantial opportunity for oral expression, through presentations, student-led discussions, or class participation. In order to guarantee sufficient attention to student writing and substantial opportunity for oral expression, the maximum number of students per section in a HASS CI subject is 18.

Course Description

This workshop is designed to help you write clearly, accurately and effectively in both an academic and a professional environment. In class, we analyze various forms of writing and address problems common to advanced speakers of English. We will often read one another's work. I will sometimes use your sentences as examples to work on, because I believe revising your own writing is an effective teaching tool. I will not identify you as the writer. If this is a problem for you - that is, you do NOT want your work used in class - please let me know privately or via email.

Attendance

I expect you to attend every workshop. More than 3 absences will affect your grade. If you feel you cannot make this commitment, then you should probably reconsider taking the class.

If you must miss a workshop, please inform me ahead of time on email and be sure to contact another member of the class so that you come to the next class prepared.

Participation

Attendance in class, preparation and participation count for 35% of your grade. Those who do not prepare, contribute to discussions, complete assignments on time and attend class regularly can expect their final grade to suffer.

Grades

Your grade will be based on:

No late papers or homework, please. If there is a dire emergency, speak to me personally so we can work something out. Please don't just disappear or simply fail to turn something in. Always talk to me and ask for an extension.

Procedures

Editing work: We will do in-class editing. Depending on the class size, I may put you in permanent editing groups. Then it will be your responsibility to get your paper to the members of your editing group in advance, so that they can read through it and have their comments ready before coming to class. We will decide on this together.

The Writing Center

Take advantage of the MIT Writing Center, where qualified staff will work with you one-to-one on both papers and oral presentations . The Center is free to MIT students. You must make an appointment ahead of time, however, so schedule your appointments in advance. I strongly advise you to take advantage of this option—it's free, and it's a wonderful service.

Plagiarism

Do not copy work from the Web, do not submit papers you have already submitted for other classes*, do not give your papers to native speakers to edit. I will talk more about the seriousness of plagiarism as we move along, but for now please be advised that any writing you submit must be completely your own. There are severe sanctions for students who plagiarize—including loss of degree and/or termination from the Institute.

*you may work on a paper you are currently writing for another class, however—(a chapter of your thesis, for example)

Personal Requests

• Avoid eating in class. It's distracting for everyone. Try to eat before you get here.
• Turn off your cell phones, please.
• Use laptops only for related work, please. It's distracting to have students using laptops while class is in session.
• Assignments due in class are to be typed and printed out on paper according to the guidelines in the course packet.

The Language Learning and Resource Center

I occasionally put videos in the LLARC that may be of interest. It is also a wonderful resource for working on issues of grammar, punctuation, etc. Or, if you are really feeling homesick, you can check out movies in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, or Chinese and watch them there—sorry, no other languages. Just the ones taught at MIT.

Calendar

This section contains documents that could not be made accessible to screen reader software. A "#" symbol is used to denote such documents.

This section features a list of activities and daily topics for the course.

Instructions for the writing assignments and presentation can be found in assignments.

Course calendar.

SES #	ACTIVITIES	KEY DATES
1	Overview of course; what and why of assignments Academic and Professional Writing: audience and purpose. Writing task in class. Homework: Read student definitions
2	Defining a term for a general audience Word choice/tone. Adjective clauses and punctuation Appositives In-class work on definition Homework: Write Extended Definition
3	Punctuation workshop Homework: Read about resumes and cover letters (please see the "Resumes and Cover Letters" section in lecture notes).	Extended Definition (2 pages) due in class (bring 3 copies) - Peer Review
4	Resumes and cover letters: cultural differences Strategies for cover letters Homework: Pick up Career Development Workbook  in the Career Center. Find a job description/internship position for which you can apply online or in print - bring 2 copies to class.
5	Workshop: Issues from Definition Papers Homework: Read/Critique student resume and cover letter samples	Copies of Job Description/Internship Position due in class (2 copies)
6	Discuss student samples in class Workshop on resumes and cover letters
7	Clarity: using active voice, verbs Conciseness: eliminating excess	Resume and Cover Letter due in class (3 copies) - Peer Review
8	Overview of Research Paper Place/purpose of literature review Avoiding Plagiarism Paraphrase and Summary - work in class. Citing sources - styles. Decide which style you wish to use. Homework: Read "The Upside of Gentrification."
9	Discuss "The Upside of Gentrification" in groups. Verbs of reporting, agreeing, disagreeing. Reaction sentences. Quoting vs. paraphrasing. Homework: Write Summary and Critique Paper
10	Introduction to Proposals. Homework: Read about proposals (please see the "Writing a Proposal" section in lecture notes)	Summary and Response Paper due in class (3 copies) - Peer Review
11	Proposal Memos: form and content 3-move strategy Discuss Student Proposals Homework: Write Proposal Memo with References page.
12	Workshop: Issues from Summary/Response Papers.	Proposal Memos due in class (3 copies) - Peer Review/Edit
13	Abstracts and Introductions: 3-move strategy again
14	Workshop: Issues from Proposals. Homework: Read about abstracts and introductions (please see "Abstracts and Introductions" section in lecture notes).
15	Discuss Student abstracts and introductions. Citing sources: interior citations, notes, references page.
16	Discussion	Abstracts and Introductions due in class (3 copies)
17	Constructing an Outline Homework: Read about articles (see articles in the "Clarity, Grammar, Punctuation" section in lecture notes)
18	Articles workshop (a, an)	Outlines due in class (3 copies)
19	Discussion (cont.)	Portion of final paper due in class (3 copies)
20	Focused work on drafts of final paper in class. Workshop on issues from drafts.
21-25	Individual conferences with students.
26	Course evaluations. Presentations
27	Presentations (cont.)	Final Paper and completed portfolio due in class