Writing - Winter 1998

All sections of Writing 1 explore the power of language to make meaning, to create identities for the writer, to shape communities, and to influence readers. All sections will give you the chance to explore writing as a means of discovery and learning as well as a means of communication. Every section will help you to analyze rhetorical situations: that is, to understand the conventions at work in various situations and the kinds of arguments and evidence that are persuasive in different contexts. And in any section of Writing 1, you will have the chance to develop your particular strengths as a writer of academic prose and work on your particular weaknesses.

All sections of Writing 1 teach writing as a process that involves strategies for generating ideas, revision, and editing. They all will encourage you to work together as readers of each other's papers. And all will require a significant amount of reading and weekly writing which may include informal writing for yourself as well as more formal essays for others.

A writing course that explores personal and public well-being; in fact, defining well-being will be an ongoing challenge for each of us. Focusing on our writing as both text and tool, we will use our own experiences and concerns as subject matter; we will utilize forms as diverse as poetry, autobiography, argumentation, and research to better understand how we can be well (or better) in this ailing world of ours. We will pay close attention to the nuts and bolts of composition as well as the importance of style in writing. Journals will also play a crucial role in our work, as will a willingness to challenge our assumptions about writing's role in our lives. We will read, write and, I hope, journey together into realms yet uncharted. We have much to teach one another.

Similar to Section 1 with an emphasis on physical well-being and its relationship to mental well-being. Students will be encouraged to engage in some form of physical activity during the quarter as field research. Runners or would-be runners and athletes of all persuasions may find this section especially aerobic.

We'll examine the notion and dynamics of families through contemporary fiction and poetry, analytical essays, and first-hand experience. We'll try to clarify some of what occurs in American families-between males and females, between parents and children, between the dominant culture and various subcultures. And we'll speculate on what could happen in these families-if we continue our present ways, and if we try other attitudes and patterns. The goal is to look closely at an arrangement that profoundly shapes us, to think together and on paper about it, and to generate clear, persuasive prose from it. Peer-led discussion, small group writing critiques, constant revision, and a research project will be central to the course, so enroll only if you're willing to participate in all of these ways.

The subject of this section of Writing 1 is writing, specifically the varied manifestations of the essay, considered from the perspective of readers who are themselves writers. We will read and write autobiographical narratives, reflective essays, arguments, and analyses; we will work on polishing a prose style suitable for academic discourse as well as experiment with other styles. Above all, we will explore the notion of effectiveness: that is, the question of what makes a particular piece of writing persuasive in a particular situation. The texts for the course include a handbook and a collection of magnificent and diverse essays. Writing assignments (almost one per week) will involve the writing and rewriting of different kinds of essays (some requiring research, all requiring commitment and imagination) on topics of each student's choice.

We will write about our interaction with the unique social and natural environment we live in, as we examine the work of some noted California writers. Reading will include a mix of fiction and essays in three books-Living Up the Street by Gary Soto, The Pastures of Heaven by John Steinbeck, and Sagebrush and Cappuccino by David Wicinas-and shorter pieces by Joan Didion, Gary Snyder, Wallace Stegner and Richard Rodriguez, among others. As we read we will critically examine the ideas, purposes, rhetorical strategies and writing styles of the authors, to inform and inspire our own writing. Writing will include informal opinion pieces, reflections, and responses to reading, as well as successive drafts of several formal essays (narrative, analytical, expository and argumentative) on topics of your own choice, based on reading, research, discussion of current issues, and outdoor exploration. Everyone will participate in writing group workshops and share responsibility for discussion-all viewpoints welcome.

We will write about our interaction with the unique social and natural environment we live in, as we examine the work of some noted California writers. Reading will include a mix of fiction and essays in three books-Living Up the Street by David Wicinas-and shorter pieces by Joan Didion, Gary Snyder, Wallace Stegner and Richard Rodriguez, among others. As we read we will critically examine the ideas, purposes, rhetorical strategies and writing styles of the authors, to inform and inspire our own writing. Writing will include informal opinion pieces, reflections, and responses to reading, as well as successive drafts of several formal essays (narrative, analytical, expository and argumentative) on topics of your own choice, based on reading, research, discussion of current issues, and outdoor exploration. Everyone will participate in writing group workshops and share responsibility for discussion-all viewpoints welcome.

"A funny thing happened on the way to Writing 1 . . . ": This section will look at the role humor can play in persuasive writing and examine the ways in which writing with power can mean writing with comic power. Our focus will be social change and social justice in America. We'll read some funny things, and we'll talk about serious subjects, including what's not funny about gender and racial stereotyping, how political satire works, and how writing with a sense of humor can be honest, courageous, self aware, and convincing. Reading includes comic strips, reviews of television sit-coms ("Ellen," of course), short fiction (the novella Harold and Maude), essays and poetry. Papers, written in a series of drafts, will be analytical and argumentative and will include an essay using research.

This class will work with a series of readings that explore in different ways the basic, seemingly obvious question of what money is. We often assume that this is a question that only economists ask, but in fact philosophers, artists, poets, and sociologists have for a long time been interested in understanding the role money plays in the world around them. We will work with articles about changes in the U.S. and world economy in this century, but we will also read, reread, discuss, and write about a number of essays that think about money in relation to other aspects of culture: art, race, education, personality, sexuality, and history. Students will make presentations in class and will write short response papers and longer personal or critical essays each week. Readings by Dorothy Allison, Cherrie Moraga, Jamaica Kincaid, David Harvey, John Berger, etc.

Someone recently said that it's not just what's in your head that matters, it's also what your head is in. For human beings, that is not so much a biological environment as a world of symbols. We tell ourselves that what we do is natural, normal, practical or "just the way it is," but many of our actions or choices-the clothes we wear, what we do on dates, the cars we drive-can't always be fully explained in those terms, but seem to have more to do with symbols, with sending messages about ourselves. This course will explore what's in our heads and how it gets there, examining media images in magazines, film and television and analyzing news broadcasts as well as the emerging digital culture on the Internet. We'll write four or five 3-5 page papers on these topics, one of which will be researched and expanded for the final. There will also be one longer group research paper.

Someone recently said that it's not just what's in your head that matters, it's also what your head is in. For human beings, that is not so much a biological environment as a world of symbols. We tell ourselves that what we do is natural, normal, practical or "just the way it is," but many of our actions or choices-the clothes we wear, what we do on dates, the cars we drive-can't always be fully explained in those terms, but seem to have more to do with symbols, with sending messages about ourselves. This course will explore what's in our heads and how it gets there, examining media images in magazines, film and television and analyzing news broadcasts as well as the emerging digital culture on the Internet. We'll write four or five 3-5 page papers on these topics, one of which will be researched and expanded for the final. There will also be one longer group research paper.

In the words of Morrison, "if you study the culture and art of African-Americans, you are not studying a regional or minor culture. What you are studying is America." Through the works of this Nobel Prize-winning author, we will explore a too often overlooked aspect of the American experience. In addition, we will use her novels as models for discovering insights into the craft of writing. Texts will include The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and Jazz.

The focus of this course will be on class participation and writing as a process. Students will generate ideas through class discussion, keep weekly learning logs, and develop their written skills through a succession of three drafts each on three different topics, including a research paper. We will look at means of developing a personal style and voice.

Much of the writing you will produce at the university falls into the category of non-fictional prose, which my dictionary unfairly defines as "commonplace or tedious discourse." In this course, we will examine a selection of nineteenth-century essays that show the potential of prose, including your own, to be anything but "commonplace or tedious." Writers such as John Ruskin, J.S. Mill, Henry Mayhew, and Oscar Wilde do not simply describe the social world around them-they act on and transform it through language. Drawing upon these writers and their still-topical concerns-self-help and social inequality; the woman question; cultural degeneration; and the place of art in modern society-we will focus on the ways language makes sense of the world. Moreover, we will develop this focus not as individual writers but as members of the university, this class, and small writing groups. Writing exercises are designed to encourage collaboration, community, and mutual responsibilities. In addition to active participation in classroom discussions and writing groups, students will write and revise several short papers and produce a final paper that showcases their accomplishments during the quarter.

California's recent drought and storm-flood cycles cause us to question our conventions of water use and abuse. Whose voices speak and whose are silent in water debates of California? What are the real issues in current public water policy and how can we demystify them? What are the wellsprings in each of us about fresh water? This course begins with poems and short stories to activate our water memories and to evoke the psychic and physical integrity of fresh water in our lives. In 4-5 essays we'll explore our own voices as we choose and explore controversies and defining moments in California's true water stories.

For historical overview we'll read short excerpts from Cadillac Desert, The Water Hustlers, Water and Power, Water and Poverty in the Southwest, The Control of Nature, and Deep Ecology. We'll view Chinatown and scenes from Short Cuts, A River Runs Through It, and The River Wild. In class, we'll examine the reasons behind water dreams, deceptions, and decisions in this land of extremes. Our writing groups will meet regularly to respond to essay drafts in progress, to discuss ideas for new writings, and to practice specific techniques for editing and revising.

This course will focus on social and political movements of the nineteen-sixties. Students will be introduced to major events, personalities, and ideas that made the decade unique. We will examine the Old Left roots of movement politics, how organizations like S.N.C.C. and S.D.S. redefined the Left's agenda, and how militant groups like the Weathermen and media-oriented groups like the Hippies changed and perhaps undermined that agenda. We will ask the questions: "What went wrong? What endured? What should the Left do differently in the Nineties?" Cultural influences will be examined through primary source material, including excerpts of tracts, novels, films, and guerilla theater. This course continues themes which began in the Merrill Core Course regarding the Civil Rights movement and the Viet Nam War. The students will be required to write and completely revise a 30-page paper.

Merrill College Honors Section. Enrollment by permission only.

This section of Writing 1 is part of a ten-year partnership bringing UCSC and Watsonville students together. Students in this course will serve as mentors to primarily Spanish-speaking fifth graders at Alianza. Because of the work required for the partnership, this course will be more demanding in terms of the hours required of students than will other Writing 1 courses that do not contain this component. Students enrolling in the class are not required to be bilingual, but it is essential that they be comfortable in bilingual/bicultural settings.

Readings for this course will focus on issues of educational access and opportunity, particularly within (but not exclusive to) the Chicano/Latino community. We will read four books-three autobiographies and a novel (Mike Rose's Lives on the Boundary, Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands/La Frontera, Richard Rodriguez's Hunger of Memory, and Denise Giardina's Storming Heaven)-and two collections of poetry (The Third Woman: Minority Women Writers of the United States and After Aztlan: Latino Poets of the Nineties). Draft or polished essays will be due in class every week and will be shared with small groups of students or the entire class.

In addition to the usual coursework, students in this class will be required to write weekly letters to their compañeros at Alianza Elementary, to participate in one daytime and one evening field trip to the school, to serve as hosts to the gradeschoolers when they visit UCSC, to evaluate fifth graders' academic work from time to time, and to produce additional work to be used in the fifth grade classroom.

How might humans live in physical, mental, and spiritual harmony with the rest of nature? Buddhist, Jain, and Native American conceptions of the human place in nature along with writings from Western ecologists, economists, politicians, and naturalists will inform our developing understanding of what it means to dwell on the Earth. What fundamental assumptions about the nature of nature hamper our capacity to live harmoniously within it? What's the relationship between our own bodies and that of the Earth, and what do our attitudes toward one imply about our conceptions of the other? Do language limitations impede articulation of crucial insights that could help heal ecological distress? What light can we, as a group and individually, bring to the question: How can humans appropriately take our place (and give our share) within nature? Students will enhance writing skills through composing and revising essays that explore such questions.

The final research project allows students to delve deeply into a course-related topic of their choice. Required texts, all non-fictional, include Rules for Writers, by Diana Hacker, and a reader. Additionally, students will collaboratively study and report to the class on one other volume of their choice from a list of supplementary texts. For this list or other information, email todd@cats.

Note: Due to my multiple-chemical sensitivity, I need to have a scent-free classroom. I ask that students not wear perfume, scented body products, or clothing saturated with tobacco smoke, fabric softener, or heavily scented detergents to class. Thank you.

In this course we'll explore film and fiction around four themes: Mussolini's regime, neo-realism, feminism, and post-modernism. You can expect to write six essays (plus a revision) and several reading logs, and to participate in small groups and draft discussions. Writers and directors include Italo Calvino (Mr. Palomar), Marta Morazzoni (The Invention of Truth), Federico Fellini (La Strada), and Lina Wertmuller (Love and Anarchy).

In this new course we'll explore fiction and film on four main themes: The Lost Generation, existentialism, feminism, and post-modernism. You can expect to write six essays (plus a revision) and several reading logs, and to participate in small groups and draft sessions. Authors include Gertrude Stein (Tender Buttons), Ernest Hemingway (A Moveable Feast), Albert Camus (The Stranger), Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot), Marguerite Duras (Moderato Cantabile), and Marie Redonnet (Rose Mellie Rose).

In this writing course, students analyze texts from a variety of genres, including fiction, poetry, testimonios, and essays, on a wide range of topics and issues related to Latin America, including culture, politics, economics, religion, ecology, and human rights. Texts include a reader, Menchú's I, Rigoberta Menchú, Marcos's Shadows of Tender Fury, and Carlos's unpublished autobiography, "Survivor of a Season in Life." These texts focus on Central America and Chiapas in Southern Mexico, though students interested in other regions of Latin America will be encouraged to read and write about those regions. In addition to journal entries and in-class writing, three essays will be assigned: a personal narrative incorporating analysis, an independent research paper on a topic the student generates, and a textual analysis. Students will engage in response groups, written peer response, and multiple revisions with the objective of learning to write clear, compelling, engaging essays.

In this course we will learn critical writing skills by viewing, discussing, and writing extensively about a selection of films that deal with conflicts around race, class, and gender. Writing assignments will encourage students to approach these cinematic "texts" from different perspectives and with different goals and audiences in mind, thus experimenting with various rhetorical voices (persuasive, informative, etc.). To achieve this end, in addition to viewing and writing about films, we will read and discuss film reviews, editorials, and critical essays with an eye to understanding how each author achieves her purpose. Five papers will be assigned throughout the quarter, including one research paper, in addition to regular notebook assignments that will be collected weekly. Possible films will include Menace II Society, Touch of Evil, Lone Star, Romeo's Bleeding, Double Indemnity. Required texts: A Writer's Reference, Diana Hacker and a course reader.

Please note: there will be 3-4 screenings scheduled in addition to regular class meetings.

This section of Writing 1 will focus on the notion of the neighborhood-its people, its activities, its potential for triumphs and for problems. We will look at traditional neighborhoods as well as communities formed by groups of people bound by forces other than geographic proximity. In particular we will look at the social dynamics and the larger issues of race, class and gender as they are played out in groups of people learning to live together. We will read works by authors like Gloria Naylor, Earnest J. Gaines, Amy Tan and Sandra Cisneros and we will watch films by such directors as Spike Lee and others. We will use the writing process as both a challenge to think critically about the world around us and an opportunity to examine our own lives more thoroughly. There will be five essays, each of which moves from discussion and planning through drafts, peer response and revision. One essay will center on a research topic of your choice examining some aspect of the concept of the neighborhood.

This section of Writing 1 will focus on the notion of the neighborhood-its people, its activities, its potential for triumphs and for problems. We will look at traditional neighborhoods as well as communities formed by groups of people bound by forces other than geographic proximity. In particular we will look at the social dynamics and the larger issues of race, class and gender as they are played out in groups of people learning to live together. We will read works by authors like Gloria Naylor, Earnest J. Gaines, Amy Tan and Sandra Cisneros and we will watch films by such directors as Spike Lee and others. We will use the writing process as both a challenge to think critically about the world around us and an opportunity to examine our own lives more thoroughly. There will be five essays, each of which moves from discussion and planning through drafts, peer response and revision. One essay will center on a research topic of your choice examining some aspect of the concept of the neighborhood.

In this course we will think and write about the challenges of living with the legacy of American histories of difference and conflict. We will explore some of the most heated questions in contemporary society: How has history shaped the meanings of race, class and gender? What is your relationship to that history? How can we write about cultures different from our own? We will read essays and historical documents about three primary conflicts in American history: the "discovery" of North America, and the debates over slavery and the "woman's sphere," examining these pivotal moments as case studies and the texts as models of argument. Students will write in class every week, lead discussion, and work in groups and individually on several short papers, a research essay and major revisions of their work.

In this course we will investigate various forms of detective fiction-novels, short stories, films, television, and newspaper articles-looking at their narrative strategies, expository styles, and genre conventions. We will also interrogate the detective's method(s) of solving the crime: How does the detective gather and interpret evidence? How does the detective organize and arrange the available evidence and her/his analysis of it into a coherent and persuasive account of the crime that took place and those accountable for it? In what ways does the process of discovery in detective fictions reflect a more general approach to knowing through writing?

California's recent drought and storm-flood cycles cause us to question our conventions of water use and abuse. Whose voices speak and whose are silent in water debates of California? What are the real issues in current public water policy and how can we demystify them? What are the wellsprings in each of us about fresh water? This course begins with poems and short stories to activate our water memories and to evoke the psychic and physical integrity of fresh water in our lives. In 4-5 essays we'll explore our own voices as we choose and explore controversies and defining moments in California's true water stories.

For historical overview we'll read short excerpts from Cadillac Desert, The Water Hustlers, Water and Power, Water and Poverty in the Southwest, The Control of Nature, and Deep Ecology. We'll view Chinatown and scenes from Short Cuts, A River Runs Through It, and The River Wild. In class, we'll examine the reasons behind water dreams, deceptions, and decisions in this land of extremes. Our writing groups will meet regularly to respond to essay drafts in progress, to discuss ideas for new writings, and to practice specific techniques for editing and revising.

Through your own writing and the discussion of assigned texts, we will experiment with, and think about the effects of, retelling and revising. How does the retelling of a story from a different perspective radically alter its significance? What makes a narrative or argument effective or seductive? What can readers or interpreters do with the stories they hear? The texts for the course include: Herculine Barbin, the autobiography of a French hermaphrodite, which we will compare with the medical and legal documents that tried to determine his/her "true" sex; a selection from Marguerite de Navarre's Heptameron, in which authors vigorously debate the issues raised by the stories they tell; essays by Virginia Woolf, bell hooks, and others; the film Kiss of the Spider Woman; and the Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers. Writing assignments will develop from the issues discussed in the class. Revision of student writing will be a significant component of the course.

In this course students will examine how television, film, and advertising represent sexualities and genders. We will engage in discussions and writing by reading various analyses and critical responses to these media. Some of the texts we will examine include Basic Instinct, The Silence of the Lambs, ER, and Friends. Students will use peer review, group work, and electronic discussions to develop a portfolio of both revised formal writing and more informal reflections. Readings will include The Holt Handbook , a guide for writers, and a course reader. Suggestions for readings and screenings are welcome. Please direct these to nancysm@cats.ucsc.edu.

In this class we will prepare for college writing, with special emphasis on the fundamental writing conventions and skills, including grammar, sentence syntax, and essay organization. The course will require students to write unrevised essays in class after looking at texts. We will keep a journal and write formal essays and revise them. Students are expected to participate in discussion, attend regularly, and visit with the writing assistant and with me often during the quarter.

I want this class, however, to be more than a review of grammar. I expect that we will be looking at the formation of ourselves as writers and to make writing enjoyable. We will read a book that focuses on this creation of the writer's life, The Writer's Perspective. We will work together to support each other's writing this quarter and to build peer editing skill for the future. This class is intended to contribute to your overall success as a student.

In this class we will prepare for college writing, with special emphasis on the fundamental writing conventions and skills, including grammar, sentence syntax, and essay organization. The course will require students to write unrevised essays in class after looking at texts. We will keep a journal and write formal essays and revise them. Students are expected to participate in discussion, attend regularly, and visit with the writing assistant and with me often during the quarter.

I want this class, however, to be more than a review of grammar. I expect that we will be looking at the formation of ourselves as writers and to make writing enjoyable. We will read a book that focuses on this creation of the writer's life, The Writer's Perspective. We will work together to support each other's writing this quarter and to build peer editing skill for the future. This class is intended to contribute to your overall success as a student.

Writing 21 focuses on developing crucial academic reading and writing skill, emphasizing critical thinking and contextual analysis skills. Students who participate in this section should be prepared to write frequently and revise often in order to build their understanding of the scope of the basic essay assignment, improve their vocabulary and precision in using such vocabulary, and create their individual academic voice. While this course tries to diligently prepare students to be able to pass university level written exams, it is useful for any writer who feels that his/her reading and writing, in an academic and analytical setting, could be improved.

This section studies language and pressing current issues in close-up, through discussing, writing about and writing short, strong dynamic articles and essays of various sorts. Students and instructor will collaborate to determine topics to be addressed. Texts will be chosen from newspapers and popular journals, to consider immediate contemporary questions as they arise.

Writing 64 is an introduction to the basic techniques of newswriting, including practice in leads, formats, and different kinds of news reporting. The course emphasizes developing skills in research, interviewing, and shaping stories, and includes an examination of contemporary news media. As in the world of professional journalism, assignment deadlines are frequent and non-negotiable, so be prepared to stay on top of the work. Faithful attendance is also essential; class participation constitutes an essential part of the coursework.

No previous newswriting experience is required. The prerequisite is prior satisfaction of the Subject A requirement; in addition, prior satisfaction of the C (Composition) requirement is highly recommended, though not required. Preference will be given to sophomores and juniors, but all are welcome to attend the first meeting. Enrollment is limited to 20 and will be decided "by interview." Come to the first class; a class list will be posted before the second meeting.

Please note that Writing 64 or the equivalent is required of all students wishing to enter the journalism minor.

Writing 102, The Rhetoric of the Social Sciences, serves primarily upper division social science majors who want to work on their writing for whatever reason. In the past, the class has drawn transfer students, students who simply want to improve their skills, students planning on grad school, and students who are going to write a senior thesis the following quarter or the following year.

The course has three basic goals: understanding writing in your own discipline, gaining familiarity with writing in other social science disciplines, and learning to write appropriately for particular disciplines. There's a lot of reading, a lot of writing and revising, a lot of peer response work, and a lot of discussion in class. This is an intense, demanding, but rewarding class.

Students who have taken the class say that they have used what they learned in the class virtually every day since. If you have questions about the course, I am available at 9-4790, or scriptu@cats. The whole syllabus can be found on ACI. Enroll directly through Teleslug. There are two prerequisites, satisfaction of Subject A, and Writing 1 or the equivalent. If you are a transfer student, Teleslug sometimes can't tell that you have taken the equivalent of Writing 1. If this happens to you, contact me directly, and I will give you a permission code.

Writing 161 is an upper division writing and research class designed primarily for transfer students. It focuses on developing crucial academic research and writing skills, emphasizing critical thinking and contextual analysis, while introducing students to the fundamentals of the academic research assignment. Students who participate in 161 should be prepared to write frequently and revise often in order to build their understanding of the scope of the academic research assignment and their individual academic voice.

You are highly encouraged to take this course if you are a transfer student faced with a heavy writing load in your upper division classes. This class will be especially useful for any upper division student who feels that his/her reading and writing or research skills in an academic and analytical setting could be improved. Enroll early. This class is limited to 20 students.

For many years, Diana Hembree worked as a reporter and senior editor for the Center for Investigative Reporting; she is now a senior editor at Hippocrates and the on-line editor for Parenting magazine. She has received numerous awards for her own investigative work-on occupational health and toxic waste in Silicon Valley, corporal punishment in the public schools, the savings and loan bailout, and farmworkers' exposure to pesticides.

"Making the News" is a course in media and cultural criticism. A good course for students interested in all forms of print media-journalism, advertising, popular literature-as well as in communications in general, the class helps students perfect their own journalistic and academic writing while studying how the media works. Students investigate the ways the structure of a news story creates its meaning, the hidden codes in advertising, the secret agendas in women's magazines, all the while experimenting with making their own writing more persuasive for a variety of audiences. Students should be prepared to do formal and informal writing, engage fully in class discussions and workshops, and participate in a mini-conference of group presentations.

Note:

Journalism minors may wish to consider (and be considered for) Community Studies 144, "Communities of Imagination," taught winter quarter by Writing Program lecturer Roz Spafford. The course satisfies an upper-division writing requirement for minors, and centers on the representation of communities in fiction and non-fiction. In addition to reading widely, students will write and revise three long pieces of speculative fiction and literary journalism.

Revised 7/13/04.