WRT 281.001: Comics, Composition and Creativity

Instructor: Charlee Sterling Office: VM 130 Office Hours: M/W 12:30-1:30 p.m., T 9-9:45 a.m. or by appointment Email: charlee.sterling@goucher.edu Phone: 410-337-6179 Please note: This syllabus is subject to change by the instructor. WEC Courses: In this course, you will continue to participate in and contribute to Goucher College’s Community of Writers and in the creative processes of inquiry, composition, collaboration, revision, and editing. You will continue to develop strategies to read perceptively, think deeply, and write with clarity about complex ideas. This course emphasizes writing with research – the thoughtful, responsible use of sources that is part of joining ongoing academic conversations. In this writing-intensive course, you will continue to develop and refine the habits of mind and practice of craft that characterize academic writing in all of its messy, complicated, and graceful forms. Thoughtful class participation is essential.

“Writing can be flexibly defined as an articulation of thinking, an act of choosing among an array of modes or forms, only some of which involve words.” (University of Minnesota WEC program, 2010).

WEC Student Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course, you can expect to:

• participate in the academic conversation of this discourse community, engaging with the arguments of those who precede you and adding your own voice

• read critically, think deeply, synthesize and evaluate ideas

• transfer habits and skills from different discourse communities, audiences, purposes and genres, and use language appropriate to each context

• choose an organizational strategy that reflects your intended meaning and purpose

• find, analyze, interpret, and evaluate multiple texts in varying modalities and genres, including digital formats

• respond critically to published texts

• incorporate and document these texts in your own writing

• practice and refine strategies for drafting, reviewing, rewriting, rereading and editing

• collaborate with others and respond to other writers’ work, practicing and refining your ability to read any text critically, including your own

• write precisely, and when appropriate, concisely, following the conventions of Edited American English

Habits of Mind of Successful Writers In addition, students will continue to develop the habits of mind that characterize successful writers, thoughtful scholars, well-rounded students, and ultimately, responsible citizens. According to the Council of Writing Program Administrators, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the National Writing Project in its document, “Framework for Success in Post-Secondary Writing,” successful writers and students embrace:

1. Curiosity: The desire to know more about the world.

2. Openness: The willingness to consider new ways of being and thinking in the world.

WRT 281.001: Comics, Composition and Creativity

3. Engagement: A sense of investment and involvement in learning.

4. Creativity: The ability to use novel approaches for generating, investigating, and representing ideas.

5. Persistence: The ability to sustain interest in and attention to short-and long-term projects.

6. Responsibility: The ability to take ownership of one’s actions and understand the consequences of those actions for oneself and others.

7. Flexibility: The ability to adapt to situations, expectations, or demands.

8. Metacognition: The ability to reflect on one’s own thinking as well as on the individual and cultural processes used to structure knowledge. Teaching for Transfer: We will transfer interdisciplinary skills and reinforce writers’ habits of mind, especially metacognition, by engaging with the composition process: 20% of the course grade will be determined by 15 pages (minimum) of typed, double-spaced and revised high stakes writing (multiple-page, revised formal writing assignments appropriate to this discourse community) and through low-stakes writing (reflection, discussion posts, summary-response writing, impromptu writing, etc. – see below). Incorporation of both high and low-stakes writing will help you develop your own theory of writing, and a common language, including the following crucial key terms. Using these key terms intentionally helps us reach our goals of transfer and metacognition:

1. Discourse Community 2. Rhetorical Situation 3. Genre 4. Audience 5. Process 6. Research 7. Reflection

Course Description: Many children learn to read by reading comics, yet for years, comics were, at best, considered poor writing and were banned from classrooms and libraries. Yet today, comics have become a multimillion-dollar industry and have captured both the popular and scholarly imaginations. Why is this so? This class seeks to investigate this paradox and other related big questions (what is originality? What makes great art great?) by examining comic and sequential art through its representative genres, and diving into the creative process itself. Comics are a multimodal medium of visual rhetoric. You will transfer interdisciplinary skills and reinforce writers’ habits of mind by engaging with the composition process in two ways:

through writing about comics (high stakes writing, graded w/rubric) and the social, political and aesthetic issues within them (reading, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, framing, constructing and designing arguments, choosing and integrating evidence, citing sources)

through creating comics (low stakes writing, non-graded with rubric) at various stages of the

composition process (subject, audience, purpose, visual, linguistic, aural, spatial, gestural modes Student Learning Outcomes for Comics, Composition and Creativity: By the end of this course, students will be able to

Identify, analyze, synthesize and evaluate the fundamentals and formal elements of sequential art and book-length comics.

Identify, analyze, synthesize and evaluate the history and role of comics and sequential art in both

pop and high culture.

WRT 281.001: Comics, Composition and Creativity

Identify, analyze, synthesize and evaluate genre and discourse community differences in the medium

of book-length comics.

Connect sequential art and the emergence of book-length comics to the history, design, and archaeology of the book and the history of libraries.

Articulate an understanding of the cultural, social, political, visual and literary dimensions of the

book-length comic and its contribution to the role of the book in shaping the transmission of knowledge over time and across cultures.

Identify and practice the key concepts of visual thinking and its role in all stages of the composition

process.

Identify, analyze, synthesize and evaluate issues of access and different abilities, and the possibilities of the medium.

Required Texts: Hedges, Chris and Joe Sacco. Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (posted on GL) Moore, Alan. The Watchman Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis Spiegelman, Art. Maus. Class Policies and Procedures You are expected to come regularly, prepared with the appropriate texts, assignments and supplementary materials. You must meet all deadlines, complete all reading assignments by the date that they appear on the syllabus, and hand in written assignments on their due dates at the beginning of class. Note: It is essential that you complete each stage of every writing assignment on time! If you miss a written assignment, subsequent assignments will not be accepted unless you have submitted all of the previous ones. All work must be completed and graded in order to pass the course. Class Attendance: You are expected to attend each class regularly, and to be on time. If you cannot attend class, it is your responsibility to contact me by sending me an e-mail or stopping by my office during office hours, or by leaving a note in my faculty mailbox. You should also contact a classmate to obtain class notes and assignments. Students who arrive between five and fifteen minutes after the start of class will be marked late. Students who arrive more than fifteen minutes late will be marked absent. More than three unexcused absences or chronic lateness may result in a lower final class grade. Attendance at any scheduled conferences is also mandatory. Make-ups and Extensions for all written work will only be granted without penalty under the following extenuating, documented circumstances: a death in the family or other family emergency an observance of a religious holiday and/or festival a court appearance a hospitalization or serious illness requiring consultation with a physician a college event at which your attendance is required You will have one week to complete the missed quiz, test or assignment.

High-Stakes Writing Assignments require that students review, revise, and edit their work before submitting a final, professional, and polished version. High-stakes writing assignments showcase student comprehension and developed communication of content material and can include synthesizing, analyzing,

WRT 281.001: Comics, Composition and Creativity

framing, constructing and designing arguments, choosing and integrating evidence, and citing sources. These types of writing assignments will be assessed with letter or numerical grades and a rubric created for the assignment). Frequent low-stakes writing exercises and written reflections are crucial for an essay writer, because they give us a chance to practice new habits and skills and to explore new ideas. This type of writing values practice and critical thinking over product and encourages participation over proficiency; it also reinforces comprehension of class instruction and material, and can help instructors determine how students understand and analyze the course material. We will complete several informal exercises and formal written reflections throughout the semester, both in and out of the classroom. Examples of low-stakes writing include journals, in-class writing, on-line postings and discussions, guided reflections, reader responses, free-writing, minute papers, letter writing, editorials, summaries, group writing activities, and student-formulated questions and answers. Some of these assignments will be graded on a pass/no-pass basis as a way to further encourage your engagement with the material. Revision/Rewriting: You will be writing multiple drafts of at least one high-stakes assignment this semester, in order to improve it. All revised work must address the comments on the draft; a true revision improves content and organization as well as grammar, mechanics and formatting. Course Format: background lectures, class discussions, peer response, and conferences will form part of our course; the other will be in-class writing workshops, which we will use to generate ideas, improve thinking skills, and practice and polish writing skills. In addition, workshops are designed to help us improve our writing by providing time for reviewing essays-in-progress while in class. Spirited, honest and constructive participation is a crucial part of the writing process. Communication: We will use Edited American English grammar, spelling and punctuation in all formal writing, including e-mail communication. I usually respond to e-mail within 48 hours of receiving them. College Writing Proficiency (CWP) As in previous years, CWP is a graduation requirement. Students will apply for CWP by submitting a portfolio to the Writing Program after taking WRT 181/WRT 181H during first year, and a 200-level Writing Enriched Curriculum (WEC) course during their second year. Portfolios should include academic essays from various discourse communities (some of which should demonstrate a facility to use and document sources) adding up to 20 pages of writing. Most formal writing from this WEC course would be suitable to include in a CWP portfolio. Grading: The final course grade will include

Class participation and Preparation: 20% Class/Conference Attendance: 20% Final Portfolio of your revised major, formal written assignments, your comics assignments, and a

written reflection. The portfolio is due during finals week – date t.b.d. 60% Evaluating Assignments Comics Assignments and low-stakes writing and drawing exercises will receive a check, check plus, check minus, or zero, and will be based on -- effort made in using formal elements of writing/drawing/cartooning -- attention to subject of assignment -- attention to purpose of assignment -- attention to audience of assignment Drafts of High Stakes writing assignment will be evaluated with the following designations:

WRT 281.001: Comics, Composition and Creativity

Excellent – Suggested Revisions: Essays meet or exceed all of the grading criteria for the assignment. These essays meet the majority of the criteria for College Writing Proficiency (CWP). Adequate – Suggested Revisions: Essays meet or exceed nearly all of the grading criteria for the assignment. They may fail to meet one criterion entirely or not fully meet a few of the criteria for the assignment. These essays meet many of the criteria for CWP. Not Yet Adequate – Required Revisions: Essays fail to meet more than one of the criteria for the assignment, and do not meet most of the criteria for CWP.

Each time you turn in your draft, I will reevaluate its progress using the same excellent/adequate/not yet adequate system, also taking into account your revision process and your response to feedback. Your final portfolio of writing will receive a letter grade (worth 60% of your overall course grade) based on the rubric below. Rubric for Evaluating Portfolios

A level grade B level grade C level grade NP Major writing assignments

Student completes all assignments, and revises at least 2 out of 3 major writing assignments to an “excellent”*

Student completes all assignments, and revises at least 2 out of 3 to adequate or higher*

Student completes all assignments, and revises at least 1 out of three to adequate or higher*

Student doesn’t complete all assignments, and doesn’t revise more than one major writing assignment initially evaluated as “not yet adequate”*

Comics assignments

Student completes at least 95% of exercises and assignments to meet or exceed requirements

Student completes at least 85% of exercises and assignments to meet requirements

Student completes at least 75% of exercises and assignments to meet requirements

Student completes less than 75% of exercises and assignments to meet requirements.

Final Reflection Student completes the final reflection

Student completes the final reflection

Student completes the final reflection

Student does not complete the final reflection

Academic Honesty and Integrity: work containing plagiarism will not be graded; if any draft of your essay is

plagiarized, I will report you to the honor board or ask you to self-report. If you are concerned that your essay

contains unintentional plagiarism, contact me before turning in the draft. This is true for ALL drafts of ALL

essays. It is never acceptable to turn in someone else’s work as if it were your own. All students are bound

by the standards of the Academic Honor Code, found at

www.goucher.edu/documents/General/AcademicHonorCode.pdf

The Writing Center provides one-on-one free consultations to Goucher College students on any piece of writing at any stage of the writing process. Each tutoring session is a collaboration between the tutor and the student, individually designed to help meet the particular student’s needs. The Writing Center is located on the fourth floor of the Athenaeum, overlooking the Hyman Forum. For details about hours and tutors’ bios, please visit: http://blogs.goucher.edu/writingcenter/