Syllabus

Course Theme

As the title “Bridging the Gap” suggests, the theme for the course is community building. Kathleen Weigert, former associate director for academic affairs and research at the Center for Social Concerns, tells us that in contemporary American culture “the voices affirming individualism...seem to be muffling those affirming the community” and adds that “the all-pervasive metaphor of the individual as a consumer crowds out such metaphors as citizen or neighbor.”  This course argues for community, for citizenship, and for social, economic, and environmental justice.  Moreover, it argues for idealism.  Many of our readings challenge us to look at the world through an unconventional lens; some urge us to work to transform it.  I’m interested in exploring with you the extent to which the latter is possible.  What responsibilities come with the privilege most of us enjoy? How can we best contribute to the creation of a truly just world?  

In “Learning in Community”,  Parker Palmer defines truth as “an eternal conversation about things that matter, conducted with passion and discipline.”  I look forward to engaging in that conversation with you, and I hope that our efforts to bridge the various gaps that divide us, both within and without the classroom, reflect the practice of the community of truth, the model of community in education that he claims best enhances and advances the educational mission of knowing, teaching, and learning.

Course Objectives

This course is all about making connections.  How will we relate to each other? How will you connect with the people of South Bend at your service venue? How will you link our readings and discussions with your writing and your service experience? How will you transfer writing instruction to the pieces you author? How well can you fight the inclination to keep a writing assignment at arm’s length and instead make it really matter for you? We’ll see. I have three goals for the course:

1. to help you improve your ability to write rhetorically strong arguments;
2. to promote critical thinking about issues related to social, economic, and environmental justice;
3. to foster a spirit of genuine community in this classroom.

As we move through the semester together, I hope this becomes a class that changes you in a significant way.  Know that the quality of your investment will determine the quality of your experience.

Writing

Ours is mainly a course in rhetoric, the art of persuasion.  What rhetorical choices must you make to communicate most effectively with your target audience, given your purpose?  We’ll work to properly answer that question throughout the semester.

Required Readings

Course readings explore a variety of issues, most related to community and social justice.  Many challenge us to look critically at how we live and suggest ways that we should change. You’ll need the following books for the course:

• Course Packet: “Bridging the Gap: Community and the Rhetoric of Idealism”
  
• What Matters?: Economics for a Renewed Commonwealth.  Wendell Berry.  Counterpoint. 
  
• A Pocket Style Manual, Fifth Edition.  Diana Hacker. 
  
• Visit the companion student website for A Pocket Style Manual

• They Say I Say: The Moves That Matter in Persuasive Writing.  Graff and Birkenstein. 
  

Recommended Reading

• Fresh Writing 10.  Matthew Capdevielle, editor (Bookstore) 
• Fresh Writing is a journal of the best essays written by students in First-Year Composition (FYC) at the University of Notre Dame.

Recommended Film

Course Structure

We meet twice a week in seminar format.  We’ll spend most of our time in class laying the foundation for writing assignments, discussing assigned readings, or workshopping essays.  The course is roughly broken into three parts: the first third is built around rhetorical analysis and rebuttal, the middle third, punctuated with guest visits, focuses on your researched argument, and the final third introduces the ideas of Wendell Berry, as preparation for you last paper.  Student teams will lead the discussions of Berry’s work.

Not a creative writing course, this one imposes tasks and demands skills that should challenge you in new ways.  Know that I am willing to help whenever possible. I count  on you to take advantage of the opportunity for one-on-one conferences. They can provide a clarity that enhances your chances of improving.

Participation and Attendance

We have only twenty-nine days to work together in this course, so let’s make the best of the time we have.  I expect you to be here every day, on time, fully prepared, ready and willing to engage in whatever the task at hand.  Your active participation is crucial to the success of this class.  I trust you to invest yourself in reading and discussion. Analyze and articulate the choices writers (student and professional) make and how those choices affect you as a reader.  When you’re up to lead discussion, prepare ahead of time. How can you best engage your classmates in the way you would like to be engaged were you in their place?  Be focused, be creative.  Don’t be afraid of risk.

An added word about punctuality and attendance: It matters to me that you come to class on time every day.  Please spare me the displeasure of having to dock you for being repeatedly late or absent. If you miss three classes, you drop one full grade.  If you miss five classes, you fail the course.  If you’re late for class more than three times, I will lower your participation grade.

Service

Venues:    

• Queen of Peace Convent (volunteer opportunities)
  
• Sanctuary at Holy Cross
• Robinson Community Learning Center
• South Bend Center for the Homeless
• South Bend Juvenile Correctional Facility
• Logan Center
  

Make it a point to share your time on a regular weekly basis (same day, same time, if possible).  By doing so, you stand a better chance of establishing a meaningful, satisfying relationship, in turn enriching both your learning and your experience.  You need to serve fifteen hours  to satisfy the course requirement, an average of one hour per week.  If you serve more hours, good.  Orientation time counts toward your total, as do extra service times I’ll make available, but travel time does not.

Grading

Commit yourself to writing improvement, to authentic class participation, and to service, and you’ll do well in here.  This course emphasizes process, so I’ll defer final grades for your papers until I receive your portfolio at the semester’s end.  Thus, you’ll have all semester to think through and revise your writing.  Take advantage of the writing workshops and of one-on-one conferences with me to get feedback that you can use for revision.  Your investment should bear fruit. 

The University requires that all teachers of first-year students give mid-semester grades.  The mid-semester grade that I give you will reflect my best judgment of the overall quality of your performance in my class after eight weeks of observation.  I’ll meet with each of you to discuss that grade.  However, you should know and your parents should know that neither a low nor a high grade at the midway mark necessarily guarantees a similar grade at the end of the term.  There’s just way too much still to be determined in the last half of the semester.  I can’t stress that enough.

Here’s how I’ll determine your final grade:

Extra credit opportunities can only move borderline grade up (e.g., B-/B to B).

Honor Code

• First, professors assume that any paper submitted by a student for any class was prepared by the student for that specific class. You may not turn in a single paper for two or more different classes/courses unless each professor involved has authorized you to do so in advance.
  
• Furthermore, you may not submit for credit a paper that has been used to fulfill the requirements of another course at this or any other school (including high school) without obtaining permission of the current professor in advance.
  
• Finally, bogus documentation (claiming information is drawn from a source on a given page when it is not, in fact, drawn from that source or found on that given page) is an honor code violation.
• Plagiarism: See course packet for complete information. Avoid plagiarism at all costs.