Description: This 1-credit 'Writing in the Disciplines' class, which meets in conjunction with designated courses in the social sciences or humanities, covers the essentials of writing in various disciplines. This course will highlight essay formats, documentation styles, organization of material, consideration of audience, argumentative forms, strategies for being persuasive, grammar and mechanics. Students will strive to write lucidly, coherently, and with precision and rigor without using unexplained jargon, and special emphasis will be given to the process of revising. Class will be discussion-oriented, and include peer review of writing. By integrating various forms of writing, in conjunction with a study of how writing in the social sciences differs from other sorts of writing, students should gain confidence and versatility as writers across the curriculum.
Requirements: Grades will be based on participation (attendance and involvement in class discussions) (25%), and on numerous short written assignments (75%).  Readings must be done prior to the class under which they are listed. Joseph Williams' Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace should be available for purchase at the bookstore. All other readings will be handed out beforehand. Each unexcused absence beyond 1 will result in a 1/3 grade reduction for participation. To get an A in participation requires not mere attendance, but also participation in discussion.
Students agree to adhere to the honor code, the text of which is at www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/students/honorcode.html. All assignments must be entirely your own work. If you have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism or a violation of the honor code, consult with the professor beforehand.
Class meets Fridays from 11-11:50 am in MHC 114 (Multimedia Room).
Office Hours: TR 2-3, W 1-5, in MHA 113. For additional times phone 6-8650 or email me at tunick@fau.edu.

Online resources:
Strunk, Elements of Style
FAU MacArthur Campus Library Guide to Research
Lexis-nexis

8/30 The elements of a coherent paper; transitions
Assignment One Due
Rdg: sample student essay on disobedience

9/6 Writing 'actively'; discussion of 'explaining things clearly' assignment
Rdg: Williams, Style, pp. 33-46
Assignment Two due: Williams, Exercise 3.6, turn in even numbers.

9/13  Punctuation basics
Rdg: Williams, Style, Appendix (pp. 221-242)
Assignment Three handed out

9/20 Writing fundamentals: Grammar/Awkwardness/Word Choice/Gender; Coherence
Rdg: Williams, Style, pp. 26-28, 209-220
Assignment Three due

9/27 Why write correctly? Who says what's correct?
Rdg: John Simon, "Why Good English is Good for You'; bell hooks, "Teaching New Worlds/New Words'
Assignment Four handed out on plagiarism

10/4 Plagiarism
Rdg: Dartmouth handbook on plagiarism, online
Assignment Four due

10/11  Strategies for being persuasive
Reading: Swift, “A modest proposal," online; another version
Assignment Five handed out

10/18 What makes good writing
Reading: Gage, "What Makes this Student's Writing 'Good'"
Assignment Five due
Assignment Six handed out: Williams, exercises 6.1 (even numbers), 6.2 (even numbers), and 6.3 (all). Type, double-spaced.

10/25 Being clear and concise
Reading: Williams, pp. 96-110
Assignment Six due
Assignment Seven handed out: Williams, exercises 7.1 (even numbers), 7.2 (even numbers), and 7.3 (all)

11/1 Revising
Reading: Fulwiler, College Writing, pp. 111-16; Williams, pp. 115-123
Assignment Seven due
Assignment Eight handed out: Exercise 10.1 (revise using you and using we); Exercise 10.2 (revise the recall letter using 'you'); Exercise 10.6: break up the sentence, and discuss the effect.

11/8 The Ethics of Prose
Reading: Williams, pp. 185-208
Assignment Eight due

11/15 Research
Reading: FAU MacArthur Campus Library Guide to Research and especially its link to Citation styles
Assignment Nine handed out
FAU MacArthur Library resource page

11/22 Issues in writing: political correctness
Reading: 'Is English Sexist?'; 'On Being a Cripple'; 'Queer'; 'Discrimination at Large'

11/29 No Class Thanksgiving Holiday
Assignment Nine due Monday Dec. 2

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Updated Nov. 14, 2002