SYLLABUS
Dr. Alexandra Hidalgo, Assistant Professor
Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures
Office: 265 Bessey Hall
Office Hours: Wednesdays 11:30-12:30 am and by appointment
Email: hidalgo5@msu.edu
Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures
Office: 265 Bessey Hall
Office Hours: Wednesdays 11:30-12:30 am and by appointment
Email: hidalgo5@msu.edu
COURSE GOALS AND OUTCOMES
This writing workshop seeks to help you develop a writing practice that you will continue to nurture throughout your career. In this course you will:
1. Develop a regular writing practice that works to suit your particular needs and talents. You may need to review your approach to writing a few times over the semester but as the semester comes to an end you should have a better sense of the kind of schedule and approach to writing that works best for you.
2. Learn to receive constructive critiques of your writing and apply them toward revision, as well as articulating why you’ve accepted some of the provided feedback and rejected other suggestions.
3. Provide written and oral critiques to fellow writers in ways that are helpful and give them guidance and support as they revise their work.
4. Develop a sense of publishing venues available to you and the kind of work they tend to publish.
A word about terminology: This course is called a writing workshop and I’m using the writing terminology for it. However, class members are welcome to work in their medium of choice—alphabetic writing, web texts, video, podcasts, and other media are welcome. In order to avoid clunky language and endless forward slashes, I am using the term “writing” throughout. I hope that those of you working on non-written media will not feel excluded by this. We will make sure your particular creative processes are part of our class discussions.
REQUIRED TEXTS
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. Published by Harper Perennial, 2013.
Our course website has links to additional online readings.
ASSIGNMENTS
Writing Practice Plan (12%)
As our readings will show, in order to be a successful writer you need to have a regular writing practice. We will talk more about what this regularity means, but for the purpose of this class, I am asking that everyone spend five hours writing each week. It is up to you how you break up these hours. You will explain the breakup and what kinds of rewards you plan to provide for yourself when you succeed in the Writing Practice Plan.
The plan is due on the second week of class in order to get you started. You can, and likely will, change your writing schedule as you find out what works and what doesn’t work for you.
Writing Journal (12%)
The writing journal is a way to help you make sense of how well your writing practice and your plan for getting in your five hours of writing a week are working. Feel free to also jot down ideas for the writing you’re doing and plan to do in the future, as well as whatever frustration, elation, and everything in between you may be feeling.
Where to Publish Presentation (12%)
As our readings show, one of the key ways to become a good writer is to know who you’re writing for. Having a sense of what a particular journal publishes will help you craft a piece that will work well with their style and will provide you with guidance as you work. You will select one journal, look over their submission requirements, and read three articles that are in the same vein as your own. You will share your findings with the class in a 15-minute presentation.
Workshop #1 (12%)
You will provide the class with a work in progress that will be workshopped by the group. You can submit work in any genre (alphabetic writing, web text, video, podcast, etc.) as long as you envision this piece being published/featured in a peer-reviewed space. Although this is a work in progress, you should aim to submit something that is as complete a draft as possible so we can provide you with useful, holistic feedback. Please do not submit anything over 6,000 words or over 25 minutes in length.
Workshop #2 (12%)
Based on suggestions made, you will submit a revised version of the piece we discussed in Workshop #1. You will write a short memo explaining which changes you made based on suggestions and which changes you did not make and why you chose to ignore that particular advice.
Workshop #3 (12%)
You will provide the class with a second work in progress that will be workshopped by the group. You can submit work in any genre (alphabetic writing, web text, video, podcast, etc.) as long as you envision this piece being published/featured in a peer-reviewed space. Although this is a work in progress, you should aim to submit something that is as complete a draft as possible so we can provide you with useful, holistic feedback. Please do not submit anything over 6,000 words or over 25 minutes in length.
Workshop Feedback (12%)
You are expected to provide comments on your classmate’s work in written and oral form. For the written part, you can use track changes to comment and/or write a paragraph or multiple ones where you describe the areas that work and those that can use some revision. You should also be prepared to participate in the discussion of each class member’s piece during class time and to do so in a constructive fashion.
Final Portfolio (16%)
For your final portfolio you will collect your three workshop pieces, as well your (revised) Writing Practice Plan and write a 5-6 page (1,500-1,800 words) cover letter, where you reflect on what you’ve learned about your writing—the writing itself and your writing practice—this semester and draft a plan for sustaining your writing practice over the summer and beyond.
COURSE POLICIES
We will be doing things during every class meeting that cannot be replicated outside the classroom, as a result I expect you to be there for every meeting. If you are unable to attend class for some reason, make sure to let me know in advance so you can try to make up some of what you’ll miss. I’ll do my best to make you want to come to class and make class worth your while. In exchange, I expect you to come to class prepared and to contribute to our activities and discussions.
If you complete all assignments and do so at the time they’re due, you will receive an A in the course. Late work will only be accepted if you consult with me prior to the class period in which it is due. If you do not complete all assignments, your grade will be lowered based on the percentage value of each assignment you miss.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
In order to receive any accommodation for any disability, students must first register with the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD). The RCPD will request appropriate documentation and make a determination regarding the nature of the accommodation to which a students is entitled. The RCPD will then give the student a “visa” that specifies the kind of accommodation that may be provided. It is then the responsibility of the student seeking accommodation to present the visa to his/her instructor.
MANDATORY REPORTING
Michigan State University is committed to fostering a culture of caring and respect that is free of relationship violence and sexual misconduct, and to ensuring that all affected individuals have access to services. For information on reporting options, confidential advocacy and support resources, university policies and procedures, or how to make a difference on campus, visit the Title IX website.
This writing workshop seeks to help you develop a writing practice that you will continue to nurture throughout your career. In this course you will:
1. Develop a regular writing practice that works to suit your particular needs and talents. You may need to review your approach to writing a few times over the semester but as the semester comes to an end you should have a better sense of the kind of schedule and approach to writing that works best for you.
2. Learn to receive constructive critiques of your writing and apply them toward revision, as well as articulating why you’ve accepted some of the provided feedback and rejected other suggestions.
3. Provide written and oral critiques to fellow writers in ways that are helpful and give them guidance and support as they revise their work.
4. Develop a sense of publishing venues available to you and the kind of work they tend to publish.
A word about terminology: This course is called a writing workshop and I’m using the writing terminology for it. However, class members are welcome to work in their medium of choice—alphabetic writing, web texts, video, podcasts, and other media are welcome. In order to avoid clunky language and endless forward slashes, I am using the term “writing” throughout. I hope that those of you working on non-written media will not feel excluded by this. We will make sure your particular creative processes are part of our class discussions.
REQUIRED TEXTS
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. Published by Harper Perennial, 2013.
Our course website has links to additional online readings.
ASSIGNMENTS
Writing Practice Plan (12%)
As our readings will show, in order to be a successful writer you need to have a regular writing practice. We will talk more about what this regularity means, but for the purpose of this class, I am asking that everyone spend five hours writing each week. It is up to you how you break up these hours. You will explain the breakup and what kinds of rewards you plan to provide for yourself when you succeed in the Writing Practice Plan.
The plan is due on the second week of class in order to get you started. You can, and likely will, change your writing schedule as you find out what works and what doesn’t work for you.
Writing Journal (12%)
The writing journal is a way to help you make sense of how well your writing practice and your plan for getting in your five hours of writing a week are working. Feel free to also jot down ideas for the writing you’re doing and plan to do in the future, as well as whatever frustration, elation, and everything in between you may be feeling.
Where to Publish Presentation (12%)
As our readings show, one of the key ways to become a good writer is to know who you’re writing for. Having a sense of what a particular journal publishes will help you craft a piece that will work well with their style and will provide you with guidance as you work. You will select one journal, look over their submission requirements, and read three articles that are in the same vein as your own. You will share your findings with the class in a 15-minute presentation.
Workshop #1 (12%)
You will provide the class with a work in progress that will be workshopped by the group. You can submit work in any genre (alphabetic writing, web text, video, podcast, etc.) as long as you envision this piece being published/featured in a peer-reviewed space. Although this is a work in progress, you should aim to submit something that is as complete a draft as possible so we can provide you with useful, holistic feedback. Please do not submit anything over 6,000 words or over 25 minutes in length.
Workshop #2 (12%)
Based on suggestions made, you will submit a revised version of the piece we discussed in Workshop #1. You will write a short memo explaining which changes you made based on suggestions and which changes you did not make and why you chose to ignore that particular advice.
Workshop #3 (12%)
You will provide the class with a second work in progress that will be workshopped by the group. You can submit work in any genre (alphabetic writing, web text, video, podcast, etc.) as long as you envision this piece being published/featured in a peer-reviewed space. Although this is a work in progress, you should aim to submit something that is as complete a draft as possible so we can provide you with useful, holistic feedback. Please do not submit anything over 6,000 words or over 25 minutes in length.
Workshop Feedback (12%)
You are expected to provide comments on your classmate’s work in written and oral form. For the written part, you can use track changes to comment and/or write a paragraph or multiple ones where you describe the areas that work and those that can use some revision. You should also be prepared to participate in the discussion of each class member’s piece during class time and to do so in a constructive fashion.
Final Portfolio (16%)
For your final portfolio you will collect your three workshop pieces, as well your (revised) Writing Practice Plan and write a 5-6 page (1,500-1,800 words) cover letter, where you reflect on what you’ve learned about your writing—the writing itself and your writing practice—this semester and draft a plan for sustaining your writing practice over the summer and beyond.
COURSE POLICIES
We will be doing things during every class meeting that cannot be replicated outside the classroom, as a result I expect you to be there for every meeting. If you are unable to attend class for some reason, make sure to let me know in advance so you can try to make up some of what you’ll miss. I’ll do my best to make you want to come to class and make class worth your while. In exchange, I expect you to come to class prepared and to contribute to our activities and discussions.
If you complete all assignments and do so at the time they’re due, you will receive an A in the course. Late work will only be accepted if you consult with me prior to the class period in which it is due. If you do not complete all assignments, your grade will be lowered based on the percentage value of each assignment you miss.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
In order to receive any accommodation for any disability, students must first register with the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD). The RCPD will request appropriate documentation and make a determination regarding the nature of the accommodation to which a students is entitled. The RCPD will then give the student a “visa” that specifies the kind of accommodation that may be provided. It is then the responsibility of the student seeking accommodation to present the visa to his/her instructor.
MANDATORY REPORTING
Michigan State University is committed to fostering a culture of caring and respect that is free of relationship violence and sexual misconduct, and to ensuring that all affected individuals have access to services. For information on reporting options, confidential advocacy and support resources, university policies and procedures, or how to make a difference on campus, visit the Title IX website.
