UWP 1: Expository Writing

Section 005 (CRN 51988)

MW 2:104:00, 1020 Wickson
Fall 2016

Aaron Benedetti
317 Voorhies
Office hours: TBD, or by appt.
abenedetti@ucdavis.edu

This course is designed to help you become a more self-aware reader and writer, to help you
develop and diversify your skills as a reader and writer, and to give you a brief introduction to
the field of writing studies. Our course will be discussion- and workshop-based, so you will work
closely with your peers as you draft and revise your work.
I wont require you to purchase a textbook; instead, all course readings and assignment
materials will be available online or as digital documents via Canvas. I will also distribute print
copies of our assignment materials during relevant class meetings. I will not regularly distribute
print copies of the course readings. However, if you require print (or otherwise non-digital)
copies of these readingsor if you are concerned about having inconsistent access to Canvas
let me know as soon as possible, and I will be happy to supply you.
Assignments
UWP 1 is built around three major composition projects, each of which you will workshop,
revise, and include in a final digital portfolio of your writing. These major projects are the
literacy narrative, the discourse community project (which will include a research proposal
and annotated bibliography), and the portfolio reflection essay. You may compose two of
the three projects in the form of traditional print, but at least one of these projects should
incorporate a medium other than print.
Literacy narrative. This assignment asks you to describe and reflect on your literacy history
and to discuss the relationship between your current literacies and the academic
environments of the university.
Discourse community project. For this project, you will analyze a discourse community to
which you belong, one youre interested in joining, or simply one youd like to study. After
interviewing a community member or surveying multiple members, you will analyze and reflect
on the literacy conventions of the discourse community in question. This project is the largest
of the three assignments.
Portfolio reflection essay. This assignment asks you to reflect on the reading, writing, and
research you have conducted over the course of the quarter in order to make an argument
about the extent to which you have fulfilled the UWP 1 learning outcomes.
In addition to these major composition projects, your informal writing will include a writing and
research journal, a class blog, a literacy profile, an annotation practice assignment, and
various low-stakes in-class writings. This informal writing will not be included in your final
portfolio.
Writing and research journal. Youll keep a writing and research journal for the duration of the
quarter. In this journal, you should reflect regularly on your reading, writing, and research
habits both inside and outside of this course. There is no minimum or maximum count for
journal entries, nor is there a length requirement for any given entry. You may keep this
journal in any medium youd like (as a handwritten journal, as a digital document, as a private

blog or vlog, etc.). I will base your grade only on completion. At the end of the quarter, you
will use your writing and research journal when you compose your portfolio reflection essay.
Class blog. You will make six posts and (at least) six comments on our class blog over the
course of the quarter. Before each posts due date, Ill pose a discussion question related to
our readings for that day. Your own post should be a response to this discussion question.
Each post should be about 250 words, but comments on your peers posts can be shorter (a
couple of sentences). I will base your grade only on how thoughtfully youve engaged with my
discussion question, with our class readings, and with other students posts. (Posts uploaded
after the beginning of class on the date due will not be counted for credit.)
Literacy profile, annotation practice assignment, in-class writing. Ill fill you in on these
assignments as we encounter them.
Exams
I wont assign any formal exams in this course. In place of a final, you will deliver an oral
presentation of your original research for the discourse community project. This presentation
will be briefabout three minutesbut it should incorporate a visual element of some sort (a
poster, Prezi, video, etc.). Well talk more about presentation requirements and strategies at the
end of the quarter.
Participation and Attendance
Because this course is workshop- and discussion-based, we should all endeavor to attend class
regularly and contribute to discussion as often and thoughtfully as possible. For this reason, Ill
base 10 percent of your course grade on participation. You can earn this credit by engaging
with your peers during workshops and group discussions, by contributing to full-class
discussions, by showing active engagement in in-class activities, and by preparing thoroughly
for class meetings.
I also recognize that some students will find it more difficult than others to participate vocally in a
large class discussion. For this reason, I will also allow you to post on the class blog to
demonstrate participation. Like the required blog posts, these extra posts should be about 250
words. The more you write and interact with other students, the more participation credit you
will earn.
You may miss up to two of our class meetings with no effects on your grade, but for each
additional absenceor if you are absent during any peer response workshopI will deduct 30
points from your final grade. Late arrivals and early departures will also detract from your
attendance. Remember that it is much more difficult to participate and engage with the course
materials if you are not regularly present during class. If you encounter persistent problems
attending class, let me know as soon as possible.
Policies
Be sure to bring annotated copies of the course readings to class each day, either in print, as
digital texts (on a laptop, tablet, etc.), or in another form that is suitable for you. You are
welcome to use devices in this class, though I will not specifically require them, and for some
activities I may ask you to put them to sleep.

Ill ask you to submit your assignments for feedback via Canvas. Because this course uses a
portfolio assessment method for your major composition projects, you are free to revise all your
writing until the final portfolio deadline, and no grades or points are ever assigned to drafts-inprogress. This means that its extremely important that you submit drafts for workshop and for
my feedback in a timely fashion. Late or missing drafts could affect your final portfolio score.
Incompletes
Per university policy, incompletes are only permitted in cases of documented emergencies. If
you encounter an emergency that prevents you from finishing this course, let me know as soon
as possible.
Prerequisites
The prerequisite for this course is completion of UCDs Entry Level Writing Requirement
(ELWR). If you take UWP 1 without having met the ELWR, this course wont fulfill the
universitys lower-division writing requirement, although you will still receive credit and a grade
for the course itself. You should also remember that only a C-or higher will fulfill the universitys
lower-division writing requirement. A D-range grade is still passing for the course, but a D-range
grade in UWP 1 will not fulfill the lower-division writing requirement.
Plagiarism
In this course, well discuss ethical citation and when and how to cite sources in academic
writing. The Council of Writing Program Administrators defines plagiarism as occurring when a
writer deliberately uses someone elses language, ideas, or other original (not common
knowledge) material without acknowledging its source (http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9).
Intentionally submitting a paper thats not your own work (such as a paper purchased from an
online paper mill) is a serious offense with serious consequences. Suspected instances of
intentional plagiarism on this scale will be reported promptly to Student Judicial Affairs.
Resources
Student Academic Success Center (SASC). The Writing Services team at the Student
Academic Success Center encourages peer feedback and guided practice on a variety of
writing topics. The team is made up of peer tutors who are UCD students as well as specialists
who are experienced in teaching writing at the college level. To help students through the
writing process, writing tutors and specialists work with students one-on-one as well as in small
groups to discuss topics that range from brainstorming to drafting. Tutors and specialists are
trained to help students at any point in the writing process. See SASC Writings website (http://
success.ucdavis.edu/academic/writing.html), Facebook page (facebook.com/SASCWriting) and
Twitter account (@SASCWriting).
Student Disability Center. The philosophy of the SDC is to promote independence and
integrated participation in campus life for students with disabilities. The SDC is staffed by
professional disability specialists who specialize in different areas of disability: learning, vision,
hearing, medical, psychological, mobility. See the SDCs site (http://sdc.ucdavis.edu/). If you
need any special accommodations to complete this course successfully, please provide me with
relevant documentation as soon as you can.

Grading
Your final course grade will be based on these components:

Class blog posts and commentary = 120 points (six posts, 20 points each)
Writing and research journal = 50 points
Literacy profile = 20 points
Annotation assignment = 20 points
Annotated bibliography = 40 points
Oral presentation of research = 50 points
Participation = 100 points
Portfolio = 600 points

I will grade your assignments based on the criteria provided for each project and, in the case of
the final portfolio, according to the UWP 1 portfolio rubric. I wont grade your work by
comparison to other students work. Keep in mind that I will also consider your effort and
improvements over the quarter when I assign a score to your portfoliothis is a crucial
component of the portfolio assessment model.
Heres the scale Ill use for assigning your course grade:
A+

1000 970 points

969 930

929 900

B+

899 870

869 830

829 800

C+

799 770

769 730

729 700 (lowest passing score)

D+

699 670

669 630

629 600

599 0

Course Calendar
Literacy Histories
Day 1

Course intro; introduce UWP 1 learning outcomes and portfolio rubric; introduce
class blog project and writing/research journal; discuss writing processes

Day 2

Produce community guidelines; introduce literacy narrative project; discuss student

literacies; discuss reading/annotation strategies
Read/annotate: Freire, Banking Model; Ahern, Why We Read (or Not); WIDE
Collective, Mapping the Writing Lives of College Students
Due: literacy profile (submit online and bring a digital or print copy to class)

Day 3

Discuss literacies; invention activities for the literacy narrative; practice annotation
and active reading
Read/annotate: Bunn, How to Read Like a Writer; Clare, Freaks and Queers;
Anzalda, How to Tame a Wild Tongue; Lyiscott, Three Ways to Speak English
Due: blog post 1 and response; send me a suggestion for a literacy narrative to
add to the class readings bank

Day 4

Discuss critical reading; annotation practice; class-directed discussion of literacies

Read/annotate: Rosenberg, Reading Games; at least one literacy narrative in the
class readings bank that you have not yet read

Day 5

Discuss process, drafting, collaboration, and revision; annotation practice and

collaboration
Read/annotate: Lamott, Shitty First Drafts; Straub, Responding; Sommers,
Revision Strategies
Due: blog post 2 and response; annotation assignment (submit online and bring
a digital or print copy to class)

Day 6

Literacy narrative peer response workshop

Due: rough draft of literacy narrative (submit online and bring a digital or print
copy to class)

Researching Literacies
Day 7

Introduce discourse community project, research proposal, and annotated

bibliography; discuss students discourse communities; invention activities for
discourse community project
Read/annotate: Swales, Discourse Community; Parkinson and McCarthy,
Stranger in a Strange Land
Due: revised draft of literacy narrative (submit online)

Day 8

Discuss academic research and its conventions

Read/annotate: Bartholomae, Inventing the University; review/reread Freire;
Canagarajah, The Place of World Englishes
Due: blog post 3 and response

Day 9

Research proposal workshop; discuss primary research

Read/annotate: Driscoll, Introduction to Primary Research
Due: research proposal (submit online and bring a digital or print copy to class)

Day 10

Discuss secondary research; discuss how to evaluate sources; evaluation practice

Read/annotate: McClure, Googlepedia; Haller, Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat

Day 11

Introduce rhetorical analysis; review examples of annotated bibliographies; organize

research groups; midterm check-in
Read/annotate: Carroll, Backpacks vs. Briefcases; Aristotle, Rhetoric
Due: blog post 4 and response

Day 12

Research materials workshop; discuss genre

Read/annotate: Dirk, Navigating Genre; Gmez-Pea, Virtual Barrio (print and
digital versions)
Due: annotated bibliography (submit online and bring a digital or print copy to
class)

Day 13

Discuss integrating and citing sources

Read/annotate: Stedman, Annoying Ways that People Use Sources
Due: blog post 5 and response

Day 14

Discourse community project peer response workshop

Due: rough draft of discourse community project (submit online and bring a
digital or print copy to class)

Reflection, Revision, and Metacognition

Day 15

Introduce portfolio reflection essay; review samples; revisit UWP 1 learning

outcomes and portfolio rubric
Read/annotate: Giles, Reflective Writing; Belanoff, What Is a Grade?
Due: revised draft of discourse community project (submit online)

Day 16

Discuss reflective writing; invention activities for the portfolio reflection essay
Read/annotate: Grandin, Thinking in Pictures; Hampl, Dark Art of Description
Due: blog post 6 and response

Day 17

Digital portfolio orientation; revisit process and revision

Read/annotate: Murray, Makers Eye; Rose, Rigid Rules; review/reread
Sommers and Lamott

Day 18

Portfolio reflection essay peer response workshop

Due: rough draft of portfolio reflection essay (submit online and bring a digital or
print copy to class)

Day 19

No class; one-on-one conferences (bring digital or hard copies of your writing/

research journal and revised portfolio reflection essay to our conference)

Day 20

Student evals; oral presentation skills workshop and practice

Due: post link to e-portfolio to Canvas (before midnight)

Final exam date Final exam presentations