English 1140:
Composition II – Writing the Community
MW FH 1270 2:00pm – 3:15pm
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Instructor
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Name: Bobby Kuechenmeister
Email: bobby.kuechenmeister@utoledo.edu
Office: 1810 Field House
Office Hours: F 12pm – 5pm and by appointment
Please feel free to address me as Bobby, but if you are not
comfortable using my first name, then Dr. Bobby OR Dr. Kuechenmeister
(kitchen-my-stir) is fine.
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Textbooks and Materials
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- Magic: The Gathering Return to Ravnica Fat Pack
- Magic: The Gathering Gatecrash Fat Pack (February 2013)
- Notebook or loose-leaf
paper in a binder for class notes and research journals
- Computer or word-processor
accessibility
- Data storage devices for
papers and files
- UT email address
- Google account
Our
main “textbook” in this class is Magic: The Gathering’s Return to Ravnica Fat Pack. Another main “textbook” in this class
is Magic: The Gathering’s Gatecrash
Fat Pack. Please be sure and purchase correct editions of our “textbooks”. The
course readings will come from appropriate articles from Magic: The Gathering’s
website.
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Course Description
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English 1140 continue to introduce students to academic
writing (a writing style students are expected to do throughout college and
after graduation) through adopting community as a theme. For our purposes, community
is defined as a group of people participating in a shared social experience,
such as learning how to play and playing a collectible card game like Magic:
The Gathering. English 1140 students successfully transition from fall semester
writing to spring semester college writing and beyond.
English 1140 courses are not lecture, although readings will
be given, its focus is on writing and developing critical thinking abilities. English
1140 focuses on understanding how communities are created, maintained,
expanded, changed, and imagined with respect toward writing about lived
experience. English 1140 students learn and work with an interactive workshop
style exposing students to writing as a process along with a variety of
strategies for each step. Together we will learn about successful writing
techniques for prewriting, drafting, and revising using written and oral
feedback. We will also learn how writing is persuasive when we consider
audience and purpose in a rhetorical context. We will also practice writing
arguments using credible sources independently as preparation for writing
courses beyond Composition II.
English 1140 consist of four writing projects with most projects
requiring documentation with sources. All four projects and drafts will be collected
into an electronic portfolio to demonstrate progress as a writer over this
semester.
Prerequisite: Completion of ENGL 1110 with a C grade or
placement through a test score or writing sample.
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Grading
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All four projects will call for multiple drafts beginning
with a rough draft. I will comment on rough and final drafts submitted and
return them within a week for revision. Rough drafts are not graded. Final
drafts will receive comments and a grade. I will use a rubric describing
specific writing abilities associated with the project and indicate how many
points are earned out of a total possible number of points. The grade for each project
will be an A, B, C, D, or F.
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An A
project shows a strong understanding of the subject matter and helps readers learn
something new about the topic while reading the paper. A projects use strong organization with transitions throughout to
help readers follow its argument in a logical order. All ideas and explanations
given in an A project use synthesis
when working with multiple sources and strong paragraph development showing
audience awareness because not all readers may be familiar with its topic or
sources. An A project is also one
with few grammar mistakes.
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A B
project raises several interesting points about the subject matter and uses
good organization, but does not provide enough transitions for readers to
follow its argument in a logical order. A B
project also uses good paragraph development, but does not show audience
awareness in its explanations for readers who are unfamiliar with the topic or
sources. A B project also uses
synthesis when working with multiple sources. A B project is also one with few grammar mistakes.
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C
projects discuss subject matter and its relationship with the topic, but its
descriptions and explanations lack transitions for readers to follow its
argument in a logical order. A C
project uses weak paragraph development and shows little audience awareness in
its explanations for readers who are unfamiliar with the topic or sources. A C project uses synthesis when working
with multiple sources, but it struggles with making an academic argument.
·
A D
project fulfills the assignment. D
projects discuss subject matter and its relationship with the topic, but
struggles with presenting an argument and providing descriptions and
explanations along with supporting evidence. A D project uses weak paragraph development and shows little audience
awareness in its explanations for readers who are unfamiliar with the topic or
sources. A D project uses synthesis
when working with multiple sources.
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An F project
does not fulfill the assignment. F
projects suffer from not presenting an argument and makes mistakes in any of
these areas: audience awareness, organization, development, syntax, word
choice, grammar, or synthesis.
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Rubrics
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Progress Bars.
For each project, I will upload a rubric as a PDF file into your project subfolder
on Google Drive. The rubric lists specific writing abilities associated with
the paper along with a bar as shown below:
The bar on the right progressively fills in based on
performance showing that writing ability in the paper. Examples of weak, good,
and strong performance represented with the bar are shown below:
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Weak
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Good
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Strong
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 |
 |
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Total Bar. The
individual bars shown with writing ability descriptions contribute toward the
Total bar located below the list of writing abilities:
Overall Bar. The
Overall bar shown at the bottom of the rubric also fills in progressively as
points are earned over the course of the semester. The Overall bar represents
your current course grade with points from papers, portfolio, and participation
already included:
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Revision
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Revision is a crucial intermediate step between rough and
final drafts. Revising often calls for multiple drafts reflecting changes made
with feedback in mind. Our course will help with developing independent
revision and editing skills so that you will recognize when a paper may be
submitted with successful results.
Students will be allowed a maximum of three revisions (one
per project) on Project #1 – 3 after an initial D or F result. Students must meet with me within a week after an
initial D or F result before
attempting a revision and often revising will require as much if not more work
than the original. Revised projects must be submitted one week after meeting
with me. Revised projects may not receive a grade higher than a C. A course grade of C is a minimum requirement in order to
be submitted for portfolio assessment at the end of the semester.
An unrevised project submitted as a final or revised draft results
in automatic 0 points and an
incomplete electronic portfolio may result. Incomplete electronic portfolios
will not be evaluated and students will not pass this course.
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Course
Grades
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English 1140 course grades are
figured using a 100 point scale broken down as follows:
Booster Draft (5)
Deck Usability (10)
Card Critique (15)
Deck Analysis (20)
Portfolio (25)
Participation (25)
Below are overall scores and
letter grades:
100-92: A
91-90: A-
89-88: B+
87-82: B
81-80: B-
79-78: C+
77-72: C
69-68: D+
67-62: D
61-60: D-
< 59: F
A course grade of C is required to pass the course.
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Projects
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Project #1: Booster Draft
Students will learn about basics involved with playing Magic, create initial hypotheses about cards and decks appropriate to the Booster Draft play format, draft decks from booster packs found within their Magic: The Gathering Return to Ravnica Fat Pack in small groups, learn how to play Magic, test hypotheses about cards and decks by playing Magic, and write about their experience. The Booster Draft also requires a 3-5 page written paper describing and explaining initial hypotheses and specific decisions made while drafting their deck using at least 2 articles from course readings as supporting evidence. No academic research required.
Students will learn about basics involved with playing Magic, create initial hypotheses about cards and decks appropriate to the Booster Draft play format, draft decks from booster packs found within their Magic: The Gathering Return to Ravnica Fat Pack in small groups, learn how to play Magic, test hypotheses about cards and decks by playing Magic, and write about their experience. The Booster Draft also requires a 3-5 page written paper describing and explaining initial hypotheses and specific decisions made while drafting their deck using at least 2 articles from course readings as supporting evidence. No academic research required.
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Project #2: Deck Usability
Students will test their initial hypotheses from Booster Draft, research and acquire new cards in order to revise their decks, revise their hypotheses and decks, and test their new hypotheses and decks in play, and write about their experience. Deck Usability also requires a 3-5 page written paper describing and explaining results from play testing along with revisions made to their decks and hypotheses using a minimum of 4 articles from course readings as supporting evidence. No academic research required.
Students will test their initial hypotheses from Booster Draft, research and acquire new cards in order to revise their decks, revise their hypotheses and decks, and test their new hypotheses and decks in play, and write about their experience. Deck Usability also requires a 3-5 page written paper describing and explaining results from play testing along with revisions made to their decks and hypotheses using a minimum of 4 articles from course readings as supporting evidence. No academic research required.
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Project #3: Card Critique
Students will choose one card from the Gatecrash expansion set for analysis, develop criteria for determining that card’s effectiveness, and argue persuasively whether or not that card should be reprinted in a future expansion set when compared with that criteria in 5-7 pages using a minimum of 6 articles from course readings as supporting evidence. No academic research required.
Students will choose one card from the Gatecrash expansion set for analysis, develop criteria for determining that card’s effectiveness, and argue persuasively whether or not that card should be reprinted in a future expansion set when compared with that criteria in 5-7 pages using a minimum of 6 articles from course readings as supporting evidence. No academic research required.
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Project #4: Deck Analysis
Students will create hypotheses for new decks, research and acquire new cards in order to build their new decks, test their new decks in play, revise their decks, and write about their experience. Deck Analysis also requires an 8-10 page written paper describing and explaining specific decisions made while building new decks, results from play testing, and revisions made to their decks and hypotheses after play testing using a minimum of 8 articles from course readings as supporting evidence. No academic research required.
Students will create hypotheses for new decks, research and acquire new cards in order to build their new decks, test their new decks in play, revise their decks, and write about their experience. Deck Analysis also requires an 8-10 page written paper describing and explaining specific decisions made while building new decks, results from play testing, and revisions made to their decks and hypotheses after play testing using a minimum of 8 articles from course readings as supporting evidence. No academic research required.
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Assignments
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Class Discussion.
As a class, we will read articles from Magic: The Gathering’s online website
and use them as material for our projects, but we must understand information
from those articles first.
For each class with readings from Magic: The Gathering’s
website, I will require us to run class discussion about those readings in
groups of four, which lasts 10 minutes. Each presentation must provide an
introduction about the topic, a summary about the articles, specific passages from
the articles for discussion, and questions for us to consider as a large group.
Class discussions give us an opportunity to become experts
about certain readings and understanding those readings well helps us when we
write our own arguments in papers. (Projects #1-4).
Workshop. I will
require different tasks or sections of each paper to be due before seeing rough
and final drafts. Each task or section should be completed and submitted in
your Google Drive folder as separate files. I will provide feedback about each
section in addition to comments on rough and final drafts. During class, we
will work and share our progress with classmates and myself in small groups,
which give us opportunities to help each other and ourselves with improving our
writing (Projects #1-4).
Research Journal.
I will also require a research journal for writing projects involving the use
of sources and we will learn more about that later in the semester. Keeping a
research journal will help us organize ideas and practice including information
from outside sources with our ideas. The research journal will also help us
begin drafting sooner and save time during revision resulting in a stronger
final draft. A good practice is writing down passages that strike a response
from us and then explain why those passages are significant (Projects #1-4).
Self-Assessment.
I will require a self-assessment with each final draft or revision submitted.
The self-assessment must evaluate the paper using the rubric and grading
descriptions provided in the Syllabus (p.4). The reflection called for in self-assessment
will help us recognize strengths and weaknesses in our writing as well as avoid
mistakes (Projects #1-4).
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Course Policies
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Preparation.
Success in college is a combination of being prepared and performing well in
every meeting. Good preparation includes keeping up with readings and
assignments, bringing readings and materials to class, speaking up in class
discussion, and taking good notes during class meetings.
Tardiness. I
never mind if students are late to my class, but I do mind if students do not
show up because missing class deprives everyone of our 150-minutes of quality
time per week.
Illness. If you
are sick, please DO NOT come into class. I am not interested in getting sick
and I imagine your classmates are also not interested in getting sick. If you
come into class sick, then I will send you away so you can focus on becoming
well again. I will also cancel class if I am sick.
Due Dates. All
assignments and drafts are due by 11:59pm on the due dates.
Late Work. All
assignments and drafts are due by 11:59pm on the day shown on our calendars. I
will not accept work submitted to my mailbox or slipped under my office door
without making prior arrangements. I do not grant extensions.
Appointments. I
always encourage students to come and talk with me or contact me by email or
make an appointment about anything class related. Email is the best way to get
a hold of me, but appointments are also welcome. All appointments happen in my
office and appointments are timed at 30 or 60 minutes.
Grades. I am
always happy to meet with students to discuss course grades, paper grades, or
overall performance, but all grades are final. I will help with understanding
how grades are determined on each final draft or revision and I will help with
strategizing toward future papers, but I will not evaluate final drafts and
revisions more than once. I never discuss grades or performance over email.
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Calendar
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TBA = To Be Announced (Online articles about Gatecrash not yet published)
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Date
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Topics
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Readings
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Assignment Due
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1/7
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Course Introduction
Google Account Demo
Google Sites Demo
Google Drive Demo
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Syllabus
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1: Google Account
2: Google Sites
3: Google Drive
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1/9
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Writing
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Project #1: Assignment Sheet
Playing
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Questions
Group
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Class Discussion Sign-Up
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1/14
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Writing
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Thesis Statement
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 1)
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Colors and Themes
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Sample Cards
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2: True
Blue
3: In
the Black
4: Seeing
Red
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1: Workshop: Thesis Statement
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1/16
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Writing
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Research Journal
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Paraphrase
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Body Paragraph
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 2)
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Deck Hypothesis
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Card Selections vs. Reality
Group
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Workshop: Thesis Statement
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Play Magic: Booster Draft
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4: Reasons
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1: Workshop: Body Paragraph
2: Journal: Source 1
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1/23
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Writing
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Audience Awareness
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 3)
Group
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Workshop: Body Paragraph
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Journal: Source 1
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Play Magic
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1: Project #1: Rough
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1/28
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Writing
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Revision
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Counterargument
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MLA Style
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 4)
Group
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Workshop: Project #1 Rough Draft
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Play Magic
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1: Workshop: Counterargument
2: Journal: Source 2
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1/30
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Self-Assessment Demo
Writing
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Project Workshop
Group
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Play Magic
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1: Project #1: Final
2: Project #1: Self-Assessment
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2/4
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Writing
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Project #2 Assignment Sheet
Group
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Play Magic
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2/6
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Writing
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Research Databases
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 5)
Group
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Play Magic
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1: Workshop: Thesis Statement
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2/11
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Writing
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Direct Quotation
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 6)
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Card Evaluation
Group
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Workshop: Thesis Statement
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Play Magic
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1: Elegance
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1: Workshop: Body Paragraph
2: Journal: Source 1
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2/13
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Writing
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Justifying an Evaluation
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 1)
Group
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Journal: Source 1
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Workshop: Body Paragraph
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Play Magic
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1: Project #2: Rough
2: Journal: Source 2
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2/18
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Writing
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Writing with Sources
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 3)
Group
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Workshop: Project #2 Rough Draft
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Journal: Source 2
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Play Magic
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1: Workshop: Counterargument
2: Journal: Source 3
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2/20
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Writing
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Project Workshop
Group
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Play Magic
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1: Project #2: Final
2: Project #2: Self-Assessment
3: Journal: Source 4
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2/25
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Writing
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Project #3: Assignment Sheet
Group
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Play Magic
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2/27
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Writing
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Selecting Criteria
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 4)
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Casting Cost = Speed
Group
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Play Magic
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1: Workshop: Thesis Statement
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3/11
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Writing
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Writing with Criteria
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 5)
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Speed vs. Ability
Group
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Workshop: Thesis Statement
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Play Magic
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1: Midas
Touch
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1: Workshop: Body Paragraph
2: Journal: Source 1
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3/13
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Writing
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Synthesis
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 6)
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Power vs. Toughness
Group
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Workshop: Body Paragraph
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Journal: Source 1
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Play Magic
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1: Workshop: Body Paragraph 2
2: Journal: Source 2
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3/18
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Writing
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Writing with Synthesis
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 1)
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“Bad” Cards
Group
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Workshop: Body Paragraph 2
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Journal: Source 2
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Play Magic
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1: Workshop: Body Paragraph 3
2: Journal: Source 3
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3/20
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Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 2)
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“Good” Cards
Group
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Workshop: Body Paragraph 3
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Journal: Source 3
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Play Magic
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1: Spell
Check
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1: Project #3: Rough
2: Journal: Source 4
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3/25
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Writing
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Counterargument Synthesis
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 3)
Group
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Workshop: Project #3 Rough Draft
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Journal: Source 4
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Play Magic
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1: Workshop: Counterargument
2: Journal: Source 5
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3/27
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Writing
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Project Workshop
Group
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Play Magic
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1: Project #3: Final
2: Project #3: Self-Assessment
3: Journal: Source 6
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4/1
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Writing
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Project #4: Assignment Sheet
Group
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Play Magic
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4/3
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Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 4)
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Win Conditions
Group
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Play Magic
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TBA
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1: Workshop: Thesis Statement
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4/8
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Writing
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Usability Testing
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 5)
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Deck Testing
Group
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Workshop: Thesis Statement
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Play Magic
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TBA
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1: Workshop: Body Paragraph
2: Journal: Source 1
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4/10
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Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 6)
Group
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Workshop: Body Paragraph
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Journal: Source 1
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Play Magic
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TBA
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1: Workshop: Body Paragraph 2
2: Journal: Source 2
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4/15
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Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 1)
Group
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Workshop: Body Paragraph 2
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Journal: Source 2
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Play Magic
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TBA
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1: Workshop: Body Paragraph 3
2: Journal: Source 3
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4/17
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Writing
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Project Workshop
Playing
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Class Discussion (Group 2)
Group
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Workshop: Body Paragraph 3
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Journal: Source 3
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Play Magic
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TBA
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1: Project #4: Rough
2: Journal: Source 4
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4/22
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Course Evaluations
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4/24
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Course Conclusion
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1: Project #4: Final
2: Project #4: Self-Assessment
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