CRN 30302 ENGL 377, 01 “Peer Tutoring and Composition Theory”

9:10 am to 10:00 am Knutti 206

Instructor: Karen D. Austin kaustin@shepherd.edu (304) 876-5221

Office Knutti 114 * Office Hours 11-12 M-F and by appointment

Last update 18 July 2006

Policies

Late Work: Students must spend 30 minutes a week tutoring during a scheduled tutoring slot, and they must turn in paperwork to make that labor visible, even if you are only observing a tutorial or reading a chapter in a tutor training book. These weekly reports must be turned in during class on Friday—where we then discuss our experience—or you lose the points. Papers lose points in the “Delivery” category if they are not turned in during class time on the date they are due.

Attendance: If you miss more than 3 classes, you will start losing 20 points per absence. Students need to attend class in order to participate in class discussion. The 3 absences allowed are for illnesses and funerals, so you should present documentation even for those three absences. We will have short in-class writing assignments, which will serve as a way to take attendance rather than taking the time to call roll.

Working for Pay: If you have a 3.0 or higher in your ENGL classes at SU, you can fill out an application to work as a paid tutor. This paperwork must be submitted by the end of August in order to be eligible for .25 cent raises the next fall. If you work for pay, you work beyond the 30 minutes a week for credit. Also, anyone working for pay must take one weekly ShepOWL slot.

Getting a Good Grade: If you want a good grade do these things:

Read the assigned texts with care
Come to every class and come on time
Participate in class discussion by making thoughtful comments
Start your papers early and revise them
Turn in your papers on time
Participate in the weekly practicum by being professional

Assignments and Their Point Value

Assignment	Due Date	Point Value
ShepOWL Transcripts or Green Sheets	Each Friday	20 pts x 15 Weeks = 300
Paper 1 – Format / MLA Citation	Mon 8/28	50
Paper 2 – Correctness / Style	Mon 9/11	100
Paper 3 – Critical Reading / Evidence	Mon 9/25	100
Paper 4 – Organization / Thesis	Mon 10/9	100
Paper 5 – Respond to S. North’s Essay	Mon 10/23	100
Paper 6 – Metaphor Paper	Mon 11/13	100
Paper 7 – Critical Thinking / Scope	Mon 12/04	100
Final: Cover Letter	TBA	50

Brief Descriptions of the Paper Assignments

Subject to Minor Revision, So Come to Class

Weekly Practicum Summaries/Analyses: Each Friday, each student needs to turn in ONE of the following:

A Green Sheet (a session summary),
a ShepOWL transcript for an online tutoring session
an observation of a tutoring session performed by a seasoned tutor
a 500 word (one page single-spaced) analysis of a ShepOWL transcript
a 500 word (one page single-spaced) analysis of a semester’s worth of Green Sheets for one student writer
a 500 word (one page single-spaced) analysis of a book chapter from a tutor training manual.

Paper 1: Read Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” (319) and “Gail Godwin’s “The Watcher at the Gates” (322) and write a one page, single-spaced essay (about 500 words) that compares and contrasts your writing process with either Lamott or Godwin or both.

Paper 2: Read Richard Marius’s “False Rules and What Is True About Them” (580) and Pico Iyer’s “In Praise of the Humble Comma” (626) and write a one page, single-spaced essay that identifies another false rule or another punctuation mark. Your paper should presents a position that rebels against that rule or punctuation mark or pays slavish devotion to that particular rule or punctuation mark

Paper 3: Skim all of the following and then read ONE with care: Wendy Bishop’s “Reading, Stealing, and Writing Like a Writer” (594) or Toby Fulwiler’s “The Role of Audiences” (170) or Deborah Coxwell Teague’s “Making Meaning—Your Own Meaning—When Your Read” (176) or Corbett and Connors’s “Formulating a Thesis” (242). Write a one page, single-spaced essay that evaluates the author’s use of evidence in support of his or her thesis.

Paper 4: Read the literacy narratives by Brown, Chungara, Hughes, Mellix, Rodriguez, Simpson, Wright, Tan, Olson and Agard (ranging through pages 55-113, plus 145-6) and write paper of whatever length you choose that defines the genre “literacy narrative” by discussing at least four of these essays. Be sure to organize your paper to the purpose of defining the genre and DO NOT do an essay-by-essay summary/critique.

Paper 5: Read “The Idea of a Writing Center” (which will be available on reserve as a handout) and write a one page, single-space essay that uses ShepOWL transcripts and/or Green Sheets to respond to Stephen North’s essay. Append copies of the ShepOWL transcripts and/or Green Sheets that you refer to in your essay.

Paper 6: Read the following poems from Bishop’s book: Wilbur’s “The Writer” (19), Smith’s “The Five Paragraph Essay” (284), Locklin’s “Amphibians Have Feelings Too” (377), Pastan “Marks” (378), and Alvarez’s “Bilingual Sestina” (571) and write a one page, single-spaced essay that employs a metaphor for the roles of tutor and student or a metaphor for the action of tutoring or a metaphor for the Knutti 114 space. You can focus on face-to-face tutoring or online tutoring.

Paper 7: Paper Assignment TBA.