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Winter 2002
This information effective for Winter 2002.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Winter 2002
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, revising, 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.
All course descriptions are subject to change.
Enrollment Procedure:
In the winter quarter, half of each Writing 1 section will open for enrollment
to frosh only during their scheduled appointment period. This priority will
remain in effect until the other half of the seats open to all students on a
first-come, first-served basis at 2:00 PM on Friday, November 30th.
Instructor: Elizabeth Abrams
TTh 2:00P-3:45 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
What do Nike, John Wayne, the American flag have in common? Each is an “icon”—an
image that crystallizes a standard or ideal against which we measure ourselves.
Through both texts and images—essays, images, advertisements, and more—this
course explores our need for such icons and the use we make of them: how we
use them to define both individual and national identity. You will draft and
revise a number of essays, each designed to build analytical skills required
in writing for other classes as well as this one: close analysis, coping with
other writers’ arguments, developing your own argument through research.
For each essay you will also write preliminary assignments intended to develop
these skills and generate material for your essays.
Jeff Arnett
MWF 9:30–10:40 a.m.
Oakes 103
A course designed to explore the role of written expression in personal and
public well-being; defining the term well-being, in fact, will be an ongoing
challenge. Studying a variety of subjects, we will utilize forms as diverse
as autobiography, poetry, interviews, argumentation, and research to better
understand how we can be well (or better) in this complex world of ours. Journals
will play a crucial role in our research, as will a willingness to challenge
our assumptions about writing’s role in our life. We will also focus on
physical well-being and its relationship to mental or emotional well-being.
For field research, each of us will engage in some form of physical activity
during the quarter. We have much to learn and much to teach each other!
Jeff Arnett
MWF 11:00–12:10 p.m.
Oakes 103
A course designed to explore the role of written expression in personal and
public well-being; defining the term well-being, in fact, will be an ongoing
challenge. Studying a variety of subjects, we will utilize forms as diverse
as autobiography, poetry, interviews, argumentation, and research to better
understand how we can be well (or better) in this complex world of ours. Journals
will play a crucial role in our research, as will a willingness to challenge
our assumptions about writing’s role in our life. We will also focus on
physical well-being and its relationship to mental or emotional well-being.
For field research, each of us will engage in some form of physical activity
during the quarter. We have much to learn and much to teach each other!
Derede Arthur
MWF 8:00–9:10 a.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
This composition and critical thinking class uses readings on popular culture
to explore the techniques and practice of critical analysis and expository and
argumentative writing. Through semiotic investigations of the products and processes
of advertising, packaging, gender and race relations, TV, film, and cyberspace,
you will analyze and respond to published essays, peer ideas, and the artifacts
of popular culture themselves. You will learn techniques for generating, organizing,
and supporting your ideas both orally and in writing; collaborate with colleagues
in developing a group presentation; and apply techniques of revision that will
enable you to produce polished, professional work. Required texts: Maasik and
Solomon, Signs of Life, 3rd. ed.; Packer and Timpane, Writing Worth
Reading, 3rd. ed..
Derede Arthur
MWF 11:00–12:10 a.m.
Cowell 223
This composition and critical thinking class uses readings on popular culture
to explore the techniques and practice of critical analysis and expository and
argumentative writing. Through semiotic investigations of the products and processes
of advertising, packaging, gender and race relations, TV, film, and cyberspace,
you will analyze and respond to published essays, peer ideas, and the artifacts
of popular culture themselves. You will learn techniques for generating, organizing,
and supporting your ideas both orally and in writing; collaborate with colleagues
in developing a group presentation; and apply techniques of revision that will
enable you to produce polished, professional work. Required texts: Maasik and
Solomon, Signs of Life, 3rd. ed.; Packer and Timpane, Writing Worth
Reading, 3rd. ed..
Mark Baker
TTh 10:00–11:45 a.m.
Soc. Sci. 2-141
How have artists, writers, musicians, activists, and others responded to forms
of social injustice? In this course we will read about, explore, and write on
a variety of social conflicts and concerns that society faces today. Through
class readings and discussions, students will have an opportunity to consider
multiple perspectives on these issues while pondering and reflecting upon various
approaches to social justice. We will look at specific issues regarding “history,”
the media, community, the death penalty, environmental challenges and justice
along with concerns of interest to the students. Readings will potentially include
pieces by Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Gloria Anzaldúa, Dave Foreman, Ed
Abbey, Joan Didion, Helen Prejean, and others. Students will write and revise
several short essays throughout the quarter, as well as one longer research
paper.
Farnaz Fatemi
MW 7:00–8:45 p.m.
Porter 249
How do we learn about other cultures? How do we move beyond what we find in
the movies, mass media and the news to learn about places we know relatively
little about? I’d like to consider these kinds of questions in relation
to the Middle East. Using texts from a variety of genres (including news, criticism,
fiction and film) I want to encourage a conversation about what it is we see
and don’t see of the Middle East and the various cultures that exist within
it. We will pay attention to the ways our perceptions of the region are both
shaped by and reflected in our readings in a range of media. How does our reading
of the Middle East inform our notions of ourselves as Americans? What is it
like to “know” a culture as an insider, writing from within, and as
an outsider, reading and writing about it? Students will develop their writing
skills through formal and informal essays exploring these questions. We will
also utilize peer response groups and a reading journal. Some of the reading
for this course will explore contemporary Iranian culture, Afghanistan’s
recent past (1980s–present), and the 1991 Persian Gulf War, but students
will be encouraged to write more deeply about regions or cultures of their choice
for a research-based essay.
Carol Freeman
MWF 9:30–10:40 a.m.
Cowell 223
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.
Roxanne Hamilton
TTH 12:00–1:45 p.m.
Kresge 325
Our focus will be on new currents of women’s poetry since the 1950s in
revolutionary cultural contexts. Among topics we’ll explore are the intersection
of women’s poetry and personal experience (Confessional poetry); performance
(music and Beat poetry); and protest (feminism, civil rights, and gay/lesbian
movement). Authors will include Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Sylvia Plath, Muriel
Rukeyser, Joy Harjo, June Jordan, and others. Students will write prolifically
in both informal and formal contexts. We will learn how to grapple with issues
of audience and purpose in a variety of essay forms including reflective, analytical,
argumentative, and research essays.
Ellen Hart
MWF 3:30–4:40 p.m.
Crown 203
The poet Ezra Pound has written that “Literature is news that STAYS news.”
In this course we’ll read a daily newspaper to watch history unfold. And
we’ll look at the ways in which poets—including Bertolt Brecht, Emily
Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Langston Hughes—have recorded the news about
history: personal, political, and cultural history. This is a good course for
those who love poetry, and those who fear poetry, to learn even more about reading
poetry, writing about it, and enjoying it.
Robin King
MWF 11:00–12:10 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
Some psychologists and educators claim that emotional intelligence contributes
to a person’s success in life more than performance on IQ tests, SAT scores,
and other standardized exams. In this section of Writing 1 we will explore concepts
of emotional intelligence by writing about the influence of emotions on perception,
awareness, behavior and critical thinking.
Students will complete informal and formal writing assignments in which they
analyze how humans dramatize emotions—productively and dysfunctionally.
In peer-led discussion and small writing response groups, there will be a strong
link between analytical reading of essays about the dynamics of human emotions
and writing convincing arguments about the connections between emotional intelligence
and rational thinking. Students will research and write four short essays and
a final research paper about the influence of culture and social institutions
on emotions, perceptions and behavior. Course work will emphasize the essentials
of academic writing, including grammar, effective language, drafting, rewriting,
and editing.
Brij Lunine
MW 5:00–6:45 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
The purpose of this course is for each student to become a confident, purposeful,
versatile writer. Our emphasis will be on analyzing, writing and debating about
social issues of culture, education and the family in America today. The readings
for the class critically engage a wide array of topics that affect our lives.
We will examine and write about education, family, gender, race, sexuality,
class, and their interconnections in American society, popular culture and in
our own experiences. Selections include essays, social science writings, comic
strips, documents, and the work of Malcolm X, bell hooks, Leslie Marmon Silko,
Langston Hughes, Gloria Anzaldúa, Gary Soto, and Jamaica Kincaid, among
others. We will pay special attention to the form, purposes, rhetorical strategies
and writing styles of authors to inform and inspire our own writing. Students
will write and revise a descriptive piece, an analytical essay, an expository
research paper and an argument or position piece in addition to reflective and
free writing. Students can expect a variety of viewpoints, lively discussion
and work with their peers in writing groups and workshops.
Brij Lunine
MW 7:00–8:45 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
The purpose of this course is for each student to become a confident, purposeful,
versatile writer. Our emphasis will be on analyzing, writing and debating about
social issues of culture, education and the family in America today. The readings
for the class critically engage a wide array of topics that affect our lives.
We will examine and write about education, family, gender, race, sexuality,
class, and their interconnections in American society, popular culture and in
our own experiences. Selections include essays, social science writings, comic
strips, documents, and the work of Malcolm X, bell hooks, Leslie Marmon Silko,
Langston Hughes, Gloria Anzaldúa, Gary Soto, and Jamaica Kincaid, among
others. We will pay special attention to the form, purposes, rhetorical strategies
and writing styles of authors to inform and inspire our own writing. Students
will write and revise a descriptive piece, an analytical essay, an expository
research paper and an argument or position piece in addition to reflective and
free writing. Students can expect a variety of viewpoints, lively discussion
and work with their peers in writing groups and workshops.
Patrick McKercher
TTH 2:00–3:45 p.m.
Porter 249
This course will create a community of learners to investigate community itself:
what is it? What value does it have? How is your community regarded by outsiders,
how is that view perpetuated by the media, and what are the consequences? Is
true community possible in cyberspace? In the spirit of community, we’ll
do group service-learning projects: tutoring and mentoring high school students,
writing and creating Web sites for nonprofit organizations, or developing virtual
reality learning spaces. These projects require a significant time commitment
outside of class. We’ll also do five papers based on extensive course readings,
one of which will be revised and expanded into a research paper.
Robert Michalski
MWF 8:00–9:10 a.m.
Porter 249
In this section we will concentrate upon developing the critical reading and
writing skills necessary for college-level academic work. In order to help develop
these skills we will read and discuss provocative essays which confront the
challenges presented by an attempt to understand popular culture in America.
Through class discussions and short writing assignments on the readings and
on such everyday examples of popular culture like advertisements, TV shows,
and movies, students will generate ideas for longer essay assignments. These
assignments will be of varying lengths and will include assignments involving
research. In addition to working on your own writing, you will also read and
discuss the work of your peers.
Robert Michalski
MWF 9:30–10:40 a.m.
Porter 249
In this section we will concentrate upon developing the critical reading and
writing skills necessary for college-level academic work. In order to help develop
these skills we will read and discuss provocative essays which confront the
challenges presented by an attempt to understand popular culture in America.
Through class discussions and short writing assignments on the readings and
on such everyday examples of popular culture like advertisements, TV shows,
and movies, students will generate ideas for longer essay assignments. These
assignments will be of varying lengths and will include assignments involving
research. In addition to working on your own writing, you will also read and
discuss the work of your peers.
Peggy Miles
MWF 2:00–3:10 p.m.
Cowell 223
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 the 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 ways to develop a personal style and voice.
Ellen Newberry
MWF 9:30–10:40 a.m.
Crown 203
In this section of Writing 1, designed for both reluctant and emerging writers,
we will explore writer’' experiences and decisions. Using full texts, essays,
and fictional pieces, we will look at the motivation to write—for both
those who are inspired and those who struggle to write. We also look at the
practice of writing: the decisions writers make and the results of these choices.
Lastly, we will compare the experience of professional writers with our own
experiences in the composing process. In each of these areas of the course,
we will examine the ways that race, class, gender, and sexual identity affect
writers’ choices and experiences; we will also discuss why people might
use writing as a part of their move towards self-discovery. As writers ourselves,
we will use the composing 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 be based on research
and will allow you to investigate a topic of your choice that centers on an
issue that arises in the class.
Sherri Paris
MWF 11:00–12:10 p.m.
Porter 249
This course will focus on social and political movements of the1960s. 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 next decade?”
Cultural influences will be examined through primary source material, including
excerpts of tracts, novels, films, and guerrilla theater. In addition to writing
several short essays, students will be required to write and completely revise
a paper of substantial range.
Sherri Paris
MWF 12:30–1:40 p.m.
Porter 249
This course will focus on social and political movements of the1960s. 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 next decade?”
Cultural influences will be examined through primary source material, including
excerpts of tracts, novels, films, and guerrilla theater. In addition to writing
several short essays, students will be required to write and completely revise
a paper of substantial range.
Don Rothman
TTh 12:00–1:45 p.m.
Oakes 103
Prompted by Elaine Scarry’s On Beauty and Being Just, this class
will explore the relationship between beauty and justice. If you are particularly
interested in art, and you wonder what role beauty, broadly conceived, can play
in creating a more just world, consider taking this course. We will read and
look at poetry, prose, photographs, paintings, and sculpture and write to, from,
within, and around them. Students will compose and revise a series of informal
and formal essays and complete an original project requiring imagination and
analysis.
Roz Spafford
TTh 10:00–11:45 a.m.
Porter 249
Who do you think of as your community—or communities (by community I mean
people with backgrounds and/or concerns somewhat similar to yours)? How do people
in your communities develop their values—about politics, sexuality, religion,
manners? What do they read? What music do they listen to? What do they know?
What are they worried about? How do their interests intersect with or challenge
those of mainstream American society?
In this section of Writing 1, you will gain research and analytical skills by
investigating the diverse behavior and belief systems of a group or groups you
identify with. Students enrolling in this section should be willing to work
both independently and collaboratively, doing library research as well as field
work (observing and interviewing other students). Papers will be based on this
research as well as on the texts for the course: pieces of popular culture,
stories, essays, sociological studies—and of course, on your own ideas.
Jude Todd
TTh 4:00–5:45 p.m.
Porter 249
At the start of the 21st century, we’re awash in a sea of information and
have a good bit of knowledge, but some would say that wisdom is in short supply.
Where can we go to find it? In this new writing course, students will study
some possible sources of wisdom as points of departure for their own essays.
While texts are at this moment uncertain, they will likely include some brief
articles along with Violence and Compassion: Dialogues on Life Today
by H.H. The Dalai Lama, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult
Times by Pema Chodron, Life Is a Miracle: An Essay against Modern Superstition
by Wendell Berry, and the autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran, a blind French
Resistance organizer who survived a year in Buchenwald. Our writing text will
be Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers, 4th edition. Students will
work in writing groups, helping each other develop writing and rhetorical skills
as they illuminate the issues addressed in the readings. Writing and revising
four essays, including a research paper, will strengthen students’ ability
to analyze and interpret texts, develop arguments, and articulate ideas in clear,
effective prose.
Note: Due to my multiple-chemical sensitivity, I ask that students not
wear perfume, scented hair or body products, or clothing smelling of tobacco
smoke, fabric softeners, etc., to class. Thank you.
Amy Weaver
MWF 12:30–1:40 p.m.
Cowell 223
Through writing and discussion, the participants in this course will work together
on issues concerning the role of the university in our lives and our societies.
Among others, we might consider questions such as: What is the university; who
“gets” to go there; and who decides? Does a public university have
a public responsibility, and what might that entail? Admittedly, these questions
are enormous ones that will not be resolved during the course of a quarter.
The more limited goal of this seminar is to allow students and the instructor
to begin a critical inquiry into personal, social and political aspects of university
education. Students will be asked to work with the instructor to outline the
path the course will follow based on the current interests of the students.
As this course is foremost a writing course, students will participate in weekly
writing groups and will be constantly engaged in both informal and formal writing,
culminating in a final research project.
Jim Wilson
TTh 10:00–11:45 a.m.
Stevenson 151
We will explore fiction, non-fiction, and film on several themes including the
following: post-colonialism, feminism, Paris ’68, and existentialism. Writing
will include regular logs, essays, and revisions; discussions and draft sessions
will be mostly student-directed. Texts include Pig Tales, The Fight for Algiers,
and The Stranger.
Jim Wilson
TTh 12:00–1:45 p.m.
Stevenson 151
We will explore fiction, drama, and film on several themes including the following:
post-modern existentialism, political activism, neo-realism, and women authors
during Mussolini’s regime. Writing will include regular logs, essays, and
revisions; discussions and draft sessions will be mostly student-directed. Texts
include Mr. Palomar, Mistero Buffo, Unspeakable Women, The Bicycle Thief,
and Life is Beautiful.
Willie Yaryan
MWF 8:00–9:10 a.m.
Cowell 223
http://ic.ucsc.edu/~wyaryan/writ1
What is nature? Is nature “red in tooth and claw” as Tennyson thought,
or is it the green temple for the spirit that John Muir praised? Some view it
as a source of beauty and comfort, while others see it as a storehouse of material
resources to fuel human progress. Some say it is only a reflection of our hopes
and fears and not the pristine wilderness that environmentalists seek to save
from desecration. In this course we will explore a variety of natures written
about by writers such as Charles Darwin, Aldo Leopold, Ramachandra Guha, Chief
Luther Standing Bear, Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac, Vandana Shiva, Annie Dillard,
Edward Abbey, Joyce Carol Oates, Wallace Stegner, Wendell Berry, Susan Griffin,
Barry Lopez, Carolyn Merchant, and Rush Limbaugh. And we will examine the conflicts
such different perspectives often create. Students will reflect, in discussions
and in writing, on their own experiences of nature. They will critically analyze
written arguments for the preservation and the wise use of nature, and they
will research the history of an environmental controversy to discover the concepts
of nature being contested. Finally, they will take a position and develop an
argument about nature. Class work will focus on the process of writing, from
brainstorming ideas to revision.
Sandy Halfpap
MWF 12:30–1:40 p.m.
Merrill 132
The objective of this class is to create confident writers who express themselves
clearly and concisely. Writing confidently means writing about what you care
about, so you will choose your own topics for your essays. They will be inspired
by, but not limited to, topics from our course text, Alan Atwan’s Best
American Essays, college edition. Confident writing also means recognizing,
analyzing, and practicing the steps of the writing process. You will be critically
examining the writings of other authors to understand the strategies they employ,
and then by trying those strategies, and others, in your own writing. Assignments
will include journal writing, a writer’s autobiography, a research project,
an argument paper and a critical essay. You will also participate in writing
group workshops.
Lori Felton
MWF 2:00–3:10 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
We will be focusing on performance as a lens for understanding cultural processes.
We will investigate a range of expressive events from healing and religious
performances to performances of music and dance. We will question the dynamic
interplay of actors and audiences and the social and historical contexts from
which they emerge, as well as reconsidering how we come to know each other and
our worlds. Readings will be interdisciplinary, drawing from across the social
sciences and humanities. We will be witnessing live and filmed performances
(both verbal and nonverbal). We will extend the notion of performance to our
own writing practices: our dialogues with our readers, our active roles as audience
members, and the continual blurring of these boundaries. The writing assignments
will include descriptive and critical essays and the final project will be a
brief ethnographic study that will involve interviewing and participant observation.
Expect to collectively attend one on-campus performance.
Emily Moberg
MWF 3:30–4:40 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
This class examines how Americans experienced and wrote about World War II.
We will examine a diverse body of literature, encompassing a wide variety of
genres, to explore ways of communicating ideas, emotions, memories, points of
view, arguments. We will read pieces about the Japanese-American internment,
women on the home front, the Holocaust, soldiers on the battlefield, and other
topics, discussing how these selections reveal the different ways people have
experienced and conceptualized the war. We will use the historical content as
a springboard for discussions on the rhetorical tools used by writers. Students
will then apply these tools to their own writing, working through a series of
drafts in response to feedback from the instructor and their peers. The course
requirements include four formal essays, including one based on primary-source
research, informal writing assignments, and regular participation in class discussions.
Jennifer Stanowski
MWF 9:30–10:40 a.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
Do modern trends of divorce, alternative family formation, youth crime and teen
pregnancy signal a crisis of the family? Would a return to the traditional family
of the 1950s restore “family values” and solve our societal problems?
Given the powerful influence that family experiences have on all of our lives,
it is not surprising that the institution of the family is one of the most analyzed
and debated features of U.S. society. In this Writing 1 course, we will explore
many of the issues affecting U.S. families today, paying particular attention
to the ways that our own family stories and larger cultural myths shape our
understandings and experiences. Most importantly, we will use this exploration
to learn about and practice processes of meaningful and effective reading and
writing. In addition to selections from Stephanie Coontz’s book, The
Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap, we will read
from a wide range of sources on the family, including magazines, newspapers,
policy statements, advertisements, and film. Working individually and in group
workshops, we will give constant attention to purpose and audience as we envision,
draft, revise, and edit four formal essays, including one based on research.
Robert Giges
MW 5:00–6:45 p.m.
Soc Sci 1 149
Performing artists and filmmakers wrestle with their identity like the rest
of us, but some have the audacity to make public the personal details of their
daily lives. Monologuist Spalding Gray glares at his “monster in the box,”
a novel he can’t write about a vacation he can't take, choreographer Jawole
Zollar formulates her history as a “hair story,” and filmmaker Russ
McElwee retraces Sherman’s March hoping to somehow improve his romantic
luck.
We will read personal narrative scripts and secondary sources, screen films,
and occasionally view a performance outside of scheduled class times in order
to understand how “self” is represented and transformed in the artistic
process. You will draft and revise a number of essays, including a research
paper, keep a notebook of reviews, and construct an autobiographical piece.
All will participate in weekly writing group meetings to further the planning,
drafting, and revision process.
Michele Ryan
MW 5:00–6:45 p.m.
Crown 203
This section of Writing 1 will focus on the skills required for academic research
and essay writing. The course will concentrate on the skills for writing analytical
and argumentative essays. Our thematic focus will be the field of family history
from early modern Europe to 20th-century America. We will focus both on the
role of the family in society and on relationships within the family (husbands
and wives, parents and children, and the nuclear family and extended kin). We
will read both scholarly works on family history and primary sources on the
family. Writing will include informal opinion pieces, critical analyses of readings,
and formal essays. Students may revise all written work, and some revisions
and peer-reviews will be required.
Kelly Peterson
MW 7:00–8:45 p.m.
Crown 202
In this course we will explore what it means to be a writer and how one can
participate effectively in a writing community such as the university. To inspire
and develop your own writing, we will look at texts that use various rhetorical
strategies to render experience, argue points, persuade readers, and offer explanation.
Readings will include works by authors such as Terry Tempest Williams, Barry
Lopez, and Annie Dillard. We will explore what they—and you—see as
appropriate relationships between the human and the environment. And we will
examine how they make their writing effective and practice some of those strategies
ourselves. Everyone will compose a range of writings from informal journal writing
and reflections to more formal papers based on our readings and on a chosen
research project. In our class, writing will be a process that is gradual and
rewarding!
Joseph Palermo
MWF 2:00–3:10 p.m.
Porter 249
How do we understand the world around us? What forces shape the way we think
about current events? Students in this course will think and write critically
about how the media select, organize, and present information, and how those
choices affect our understanding of events and ourselves.
We will follow current newspaper, magazine, television, and Internet news reportage
throughout the quarter, considering it in the context of critical readings in
American journalism and mass communications by such important writers as Ben
Bagdikian, Norman Solomon, and George Orwell. We will write several short analytical
essays as well as a research paper to help us understand and critique the media
and their coverage of current events.
Cynthia Baer
TTh 8:00–9:45 a.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
Americans are fascinated with sports. Millions of dollars a year are spent on
sporting events, sporting literature, and sporting equipment; millions of man-hours
are spent practicing and playing and, even more, watching sports. Why? What
do sports mean to us? As Gerald Early asks, “What does organized play mean?
What form of game playing is sports? Why do we associate game playing with children
when virtually all of our professional sports…are adult in origin? And
if sports can represent the ideology of both the colonizer and the colonized,
the communist and the capitalist, the bushman and the urban dweller, even men
and women, what, at the root, are the human values that sports truly reflect?”
(Body Language) To answer these questions you will read about and write
about, research and practice your sport of choice. Exploring your sport from
three different angles—personal, historical, and cultural—you will
explain to fellow sports enthusiasts, your classmates and me, why you do your
sport and what it means—to you personally and to us as Americans.
Gayle McCallum-Spalaris
TTh 8:00–9:45 a.m.
Soc Sci 1 149
“We are now in possession of a great deal of hard information about
ourselves, but we do not use it to improve our institutions and therefore our
lives.” —Doris Lessing
In this course, we will examine the perils of blind obedience and conformity,
determine where we fit into the political spectrum, and re-examine the media
with a critical eye. Finally, we will apply our critical thinking skills and
newfound understanding of ourselves to investigate a community (including the
UC campus) issue for the final, documented research paper.
Students will analyze texts and consider ideas and opinions from various perspectives,
and will become aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their writing through
instructor and peer feedback and self-reflection. Each student will develop
a series of formal essays, including the research paper, using MLA format. Class
texts: Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 7th edition by Laurence
Behrens and Leonard Rosen, A Writer’s Reference, by Diana Hacker,
and supplemental handouts.
Ann Speno
TTh 10:00–11:45 a.m.
Crown 202
This section of Writing 1 will focus on what it means to be female in the academy
and in our society, and students will be asked to write about feminist issues
in their lives as well as in women’s fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
We will explore such themes as the role of women in the family, the mother-daughter
relationship, cultural views of female sexuality, and eating disorders. Students
will be encouraged to locate their own personal voice and experience, and then
work to find ways to sustain that voice in the context of more conventional
academic essay writing.
Cynthia Baer
TTh 4:00–5:45 p.m.
Crown 203
Americans are fascinated with sports. Millions of dollars a year are spent on
sporting events, sporting literature, and sporting equipment; millions of man-hours
are spent practicing and playing and, even more, watching sports. Why? What
do sports mean to us? As Gerald Early asks, “What does organized play mean?
What form of game playing is sports? Why do we associate game playing with children
when virtually all of our professional sports…are adult in origin? And
if sports can represent the ideology of both the colonizer and the colonized,
the communist and the capitalist, the bushman and the urban dweller, even men
and women, what, at the root, are the human values that sports truly reflect?”
(Body Language) To answer these questions you will read about and write
about, research and practice your sport of choice. Exploring your sport from
three different angles—personal, historical, and cultural—you will
explain to fellow sports enthusiasts, your classmates and me, why you do your
sport and what it means—to you personally and to us as Americans.
Roger Bunch
TTh 6:00–7:45 p.m.
College Eight 242
As I write this, less than an hour ago I heard on the radio that the bombing
of Afghanistan had begun. I would like to shape the reading and writing of our
class around the history leading up to the strikes on the World Trade Center
and Pentagon, and the events following the strikes. Students will write and
revise four short essays and a research paper. I would like to create a community
of thinkers and writers with respect for diverse viewpoints as we read current
news, research history, and discuss and write about this “war on terrorism,”—what
led to the crisis, how the media is handling it, and what actions we believe
we, our government, and the world should take.
Sean Thomas
TTh 6:00–7:45 p.m.
Crown 203
This course focuses on writing as means of promoting interaction and understanding
between individuals. The primary aim of the course is to increase your facility
with a range of writing modes ranging from the personal to the public, the informal
to the formal. We also will explore the politics of argumentative reasoning
by studying a number of published essays, advertisements, and expressions of
popular culture. Together we will develop an understanding of the place of writing
within our present cultural context. We will use a Harvey-powered Web site to
facilitate on-line discussions, Web page publication and collaborative writing
projects. No previous experience with Web publishing is required. The course
texts will include Everything’s An Argument (Lunsford and Ruszkiewics)
and A Writer’s Reference (Hacker).
Catherine Carlstroem
MWF 12:30–1:40 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
We tell stories about our bodies, and they tell stories about us, about our
identities as individuals, and our cultural and historical contexts. In this
section we will consider “the body as text” through essays and novels
that explore various meanings inscribed on and assigned to the body. We will
consider the questions it poses about individual, cultural/racial, gender and
human identity, seeing through the eyes of a neurologist, Oliver Sacks; a poet,
Walt Whitman; novelists Mark Twain and Toni Morrison; and others. Students will
write informal logs and a variety of essays, each through at least two drafts,
including an interview based oral history and a research paper.
Susana McNeely
TTh 6:00–7:45 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 159
How are our ideas, values, and beliefs formed? How free are we to develop our
own sets of values, and how much do our ideas owe to the myths of a dominant
culture? In this course, students will develop their writing and critical thinking
abilities by examining some of the enduring myths that dominate the U.S.. A
range of multicultural and cross-curricular readings will represent a variety
of voices, styles and subjects on a whole range of topics such as education,
gender roles, race and freedoms. Class and group discussions, personal experiences,
and short writing assignments will help you generate ideas for writing essays
of varying lengths and rhetorical approach. In addition, you will develop strategies
for drafting, revising and editing essays.
Mark Baker
TTh 12:00–1:45 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 141
In this course, we’ll spend time talking and writing about issues pertaining
to identity and the changing landscape of culture. Using selections from The
Writer’s Perspective, we’ll look at what it means to be an “American”
at the beginning of the 21st century. Students will also be asked to read selections
from additional texts while making comparisons with those issues raised in class.
Along the way, we’ll take time to talk about the writing process, to explore
the power of language, to draft and compose papers in a variety of modes, and
to edit with precision. The purpose and practice of revision (of essays) will
also be an integral component of the course.
Tim Fitzmaurice
MWF 2:00–3:10 p.m.
Crown 201
Writing 20 is a course in the grammar, syntax and organization of academic prose.
We will read a collection of essays and a long work. We will write four formal
essays and revise them thoroughly. This class is appropriate for any student
who wishes to improve the fundamentals of academic prose.
Tim Fitzmaurice
MWF 3:30–4:40 p.m.
Crown 201
Writing 20 is a course in the grammar, syntax and organization of academic prose.
We will read a collection of essays and a long work. We will write four formal
essays and revise them thoroughly. This class is appropriate for any student
who wishes to improve the fundamentals of academic prose.
Maria Cecilia Freeman
TTh 2:00–3:45 p.m.
Crown 201
This is a writing class that emphasizes grammar and effective use of language
in academic essays. In this class we will read essays and short fiction by outstanding
writers from various cultures of modern U.S. society, and we will explore the
place of writing in our lives. We will study the language use, structure and
style in skilled writers’ work as a way of informing and refining our own
writing styles. Everyone will keep informal reading journals, and write and
revise a series of essays. Everyone will be expected to participate in discussions
and peer writing groups. Texts for the course are The Writer’s Perspective
(M.C. Freeman, ed.) and Concise English Handbook (Kirkland and Dilworth).
Robin King
MWF 12:30–1:40 p.m.
Soc Sci 2 171
In this section of Writing 20, students will strengthen college-level reading
and writing skills by exploring the dynamics of critical thinking and text analysis.
Students will examine how writers use writing as a tool for empowerment, and
they will be encouraged to consider their own histories as writers. We will
discuss the fundamentals of writing effective analytical essays, including sentence
syntax, effective language, essay organization, drafting, rewriting and editing
papers. Students will complete essay assignments and participate in class discussions
and peer-led response groups as they expand their understanding of the writing
process and prepare for
future writing assignments.
Nancy Krusoe
TTh 12:00–1:45 p.m.
Crown 201
This writing course will focus on the essay and the further development of critical
thinking, writing, and reading skills. Our text will be The Best American
Essays, a variety of interesting essays written in the past few years. We
will study the language and rhetorical strategies used by these writers to achieve
powerful writing. Students will write weekly papers with special attention to
issues of grammar and usage and alternative sentence structures in academic
writing as well as the connection between thinking and writing. Essays will
be generated from our reading material and drafted, critiqued, and revised—often
more than once—with the help of a writing tutor.
Nancy Krusoe
TTh 4:00–5:45 p.m.
Crown 201
This writing course will focus on the essay and the further development of critical
thinking, writing, and reading skills. Our text will be The Best American
Essays, a variety of interesting essays written in the past few years. We
will study the language and rhetorical strategies used by these writers to achieve
powerful writing. Students will write weekly papers with special attention to
issues of grammar and usage and alternative sentence structures in academic
writing as well as the connection between thinking and writing. Essays will
be generated from our reading material and drafted, critiqued, and revised—often
more than once—with the help of a writing tutor.
Ellen Newberry
MWF 11:00–12:10 p.m.
Crown 201
In Writing 20 we will work on university-level writing skills. We will discuss
methods of getting started on different types of assignments, ways of developing
ideas fully and convincingly, and strategies for expressing ourselves as writers
and thinkers on a range of topics. We will take each essay through a number
of stages; each assignment will require a series of drafts to be complete. Class
discussion, peer response groups and in-class writing will be central elements
of the course. Through this experience we will work on making writing an opportunity
for understanding complex issues and sharing our views with others. The main
text will be Freeman’s The Writer’s Perspective, accompanied
by a text focusing on grammar and style.
Dan Scripture
MWF 12:30–1:40 p.m.
Oakes 101
The goal of this course is learning to write capably, fluently, and well. We
will examine five American rhetorical modes: individualism, equality and identity,
gender, education, and freedom. We will explore the writing process, including
freewriting, planning, peer feedback, revision, and editing, and we will explore
a number of forms of argumentation. In-class activities will also include substantial
reading out loud, in-class writing, reading out loud of that writing, and an
in-class formal essay each Wednesday. Four of these in-class essays must be
revised extensively, with my assistance and the tutor’s assistance.
**Interview Only. Attend the first class meeting.**
Cris Beam
TTh 12:00–1:45 p.m.
Porter 249
This introductory journalism course serves two main functions: to teach students the basics of solid reporting and engaging writing, and to provide them with the tools to critically analyze and contextualize the media around them. They will learn the fundamentals of a good story from the lead to the kicker and, because this is a writing-intensive course, will be expected to write a leads paper, one news story, one event story, a profile, a query letter, a media analysis piece and one final feature. They’ll learn to research, to interview, to outline and to edit, and be required to offer constructive feedback on one another’s stories. They will also need to keep abreast of daily news by maintaining an organized clip file. Readings will consist of acclaimed published articles in a range of voices and styles as well as textbook chapters that follow the themes of our twice-weekly lectures.
Patrick McKercher
TTh 10:00–11:45 a.m.
Crown 203
Writing for the Web will use the principles of rhetoric to explore what sorts of changes we need to make to our writerly habits and conventions to be effective on the Internet. Class members will research different aspects of Web authoring to present in mini-workshops, as well as create individual and group Web projects, often for a client. No computer skills beyond email and word processing are required, but project groups will need to meet aside from class hours. Prerequisite: satisfaction of Subject A and the composition (C) general education requirement.
Dan Scripture
Office: College Eight Academic Building 221
Office Hours: MW: 3:30-5:00 and by appointment.
Phone: 459-4790, 459-3516 (message)
E-mail: scriptu@cats.ucsc.edu
(this is the best way to reach me quickly)
MWF 2:00–3:10 p.m.
College Eight 250
The class has five required texts. The texts are:
Joseph Williams, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace
Karen Judd, Copyediting: A Practical Guide
The American Heritage Book of English Usage
Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference
A decent desk dictionary. If you don't have one, and want my guidance, ask.
Course Description
This course offers extended, detailed instruction in editing one’s own
and other people’s prose for accuracy, clarity, appropriateness, and effectiveness.
It provides some history of theories of style and stylistic analysis, and instruction
in prose variation according to social context (catalog description).
The course consists of an introductory week followed by four units: Grammar
of Written English, Punctuation of Written English, Style and Theories of Style,
and Copyediting The last week of class will consist of bringing all four units
of the course into a coherent whole. The week between grammar and punctuation
will be a transition week, from one topic to the next. There will be a midterm
exam at the end of each unit, and a final exam. Since editing requires the constant
consultation of reference books, all quizzes and exams will be take-home.
A weekly course plan is included below, noting major topics covered. Besides
knowledge of grammar and conventions and their variations according to context,
editing is a skill requiring a sharp eye, a lively curiosity about major and
minor features of language, meaning, and usage, habitual attention to detail,
and a great deal of practice.
For this reason, a certain amount of class time will be devoted to in-class
workshops to ensure that the principles are understood, and there will be sufficient
homework to provide the practice in applying them. Thus, each week there will
be in-class workshops, designed to introduce the practical application of the
topics of the week, and a homework exercise each week as well, covering the
same material more intensely and extensively. These activities are thus not
noted in the weekly outline below. Readings and exercises will be drawn from
the various books throughout the quarter, and are therefore also not listed
in the weekly outline.
Students will be evaluated on the basis of participation in in-class workshops,
weekly homework, and the four exams. That means, among other things, that you
have to be here. The class happens in this room, not your room. I take attendance,
by calling the roll until I know who you all are, and quietly, thereafter. You
may miss only three classes (that’s more than one tenth of the class, since
the class meets only 29 times). These permitted absences are designed to accommodate
illness, family or religious obligation, and so forth. Don’t use up your
permitted absences for frivolous reasons, or you may be sorry. The short way
to say it is that if you miss four times, don’t come back, because if you
do, unless you were kidnapped by aliens and can prove it, you have failed the
class as of that fourth absence. Competitive sports do not, at Santa Cruz, automatically
generate excused absences, no matter what your coach may say. You may, of course,
use your permitted absences for sports obligations. I have considerable sympathy
for athletic activities, having been very physically active all my life, but
this is my policy. If you have a problem with it, talk to me on office hours.
Weekly Course Plan
Week 0 - Introduction to the Purposes and Goals of the course
Topics:
o Editing and its place in the writing process, distinguished from revision
and composition, and copyediting
o Editing in professional contexts
o Skills needed for editing: clear understanding of grammar and the conventions
of written English and their variations according to context, curiosity about
language and its use, and sustained attention to detail
o Variation in time, space, and society
o Writing vs. speech, semi-diglossia, global reach of English
Week 1 - The Grammar and Usage of Written English (1)
Topics:
o Traditional and modern grammar, prescriptive and descriptive, differing purposes
of each
o Registers, or levels of formality: formal, standard or general, informal,
non-standard, and the central grammatical and usage features that distinguish
them, and their contexts of use
Week 2 - The Grammar and Usage of Written English (2)
Topics:
ditto previous week, but the grammatical features addressed will be the finer
grained, more difficult or unusual ones.
o First midterm
Week 3 - The Relationship of Grammar and Punctuation.
Topics:
o Brief history of punctuation, its relatively recent invention and rapid elaboration,
its purposes, its tenuous and inconsistent relationship to grammar
Week 4 - The Punctuation of Written English (1)
Topics:
o Styles of punctuation in English: American, heavy and light; British
o Rules vs. empirical studies of punctuation use
Week 5 - The Punctuation of Written English (2)
Topics:
o Punctuation and sentence style: coordination and subordination, periodic sentences,
cumulative sentences
o Differing uses according to context and purpose: formal prose, general prose,
informal prose, and fiction
o Second midterm
Week 6 - Style and Theories of Style (1)
Topics:
o Brief history of various English/American styles, their proponents and their
opponents
o Modern American plain style in formal contexts, general contexts, and fiction
o Clarity vs. precision, always a trade-off, how the trade-off works in different
contexts
Week 7 - Style and Theories of Style (2)
Topics:
o Postmodern ideas and practice in respect to style, formal, general, and fiction
(the return of the repressed—viz, the return of the ornamental style in
formal academic prose, but not in general prose and fiction)
o Third midterm
Week 8 - The Craft of Copyediting (1)
Topics:
o Purpose and place in the publishing world
o Tools of the craft and their purposes
o Differences according to type of publication, etc. Local style sheets vs.
standard references
Week 9 - The Craft of Copyediting (2)
Topics:
o Copyediting according to context (type of publication) and subject
o Fourth midterm
Week 10 - Bringing It All Together
Topic:
o Bringing the four components of the course into a coherent whole.
Exam Week - Final Exam covering the material of all four units equally.
**Interview Only. Attend the first class meeting.**
Stephen Levine
Th 6:00–9:45 p.m.
Kresge 319
This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of investigative reporting
and give them the tools they need to both conduct investigative reporting projects
and weave its techniques and skills into every type of reporting assignment.
It includes a brief historical overview of muckraking in the United States and
covers: how to develop and test story ideas, locate reliable sources, interview
effectively, use on-line resources, do research into public records, fact-check—and
write investigative pieces. Guest lecturers will illuminate relevant issues.
Students will be assigned books and articles which illustrate the themes of
the class. They will work on both individual and group reporting projects. Students
should begin developing story ideas before the first class.
Roz Spafford & Conn Hallinan
TTh 2:00–3:45 p.m.
College Eight 250
“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.
**Interview only. Attend the first class meeting**
Conn Hallinan
Th 4:00–5:45 p.m.
Oakes 222
Newswriting seminar for City on a Hill editors and writers. Weekly sessions evaluate newspaper in depth, including writing, reporting, and issues in journalism ranging from ethics to legal questions. Prerequisites: instructor determination at the first class meeting; open only to editors, interns, and writers at City on a Hill Press. May be repeated for credit. Enrollment limited to 40.