First-Year Writing Seminar: Fall 2018 

Section: LinC 101 D: MWF 10:20 - 11:30, Reeves Library, Room 212 
Instructor: ​Dr. Crystal N. Fodrey, Assistant Professor of English & Director of Writing 

General Information 
Office:  Zinzendorf Hall 202 
Office Hours:  Mondays 2:30 - 3:30 PM, Wednesdays 8:30 - 9:30 AM, Fridays 9:15 - 10:15 AM, and by 
appointment 
Telephone:  610-861-1511
Email:  fodreyc@moravian.edu
Course Website: ​https://canvas.moravian.edu/

Writing Fellows: ​Maison Allen & Ashley Gindle  

Emails:  stmga02@moravian.edu​ (Maison) &​ ​stamg15@moravian.edu​ ​(Ashley) 

Course Description 
First-Year Writing Seminar (FYWS) introduces students to academic literacy practices central to success in 
any discipline at Moravian College. The course is designed to help students transition to college expectations, 
generate research questions, find and evaluate sources, and make informed decisions about how best to 
achieve their purposes in various writing situations. The subject area focus of each section of First-Year 
Writing Seminar varies, but all sections are similar in their approach: students develop the skills of critical 
reading, research, argumentation, revision, and reflection; and students work collaboratively with classmates, 
the instructor, and the Writing Fellow to improve writing, build community, and explore available campus 
resources to achieve academic and personal success during their time at Moravian.  

Section D: Bad Ideas About Writing 

At some point, you may have been led to believe the following: Good writers are born that way, so you’re 
either good at writing or you’re not. Or perhaps you were told to never split an infinitive or use the first 
person pronoun “I” or start a sentence with a conjunction like “or.” You might think that the five-paragraph 
essay format will serve you well in college because you wrote five-paragraph essays so often in high school, 
the format is easy to replicate, and your essays received good grades. Maybe you have only encountered the 
term “rhetoric” when it is being used to mean “empty speech.” The problem is, those commonplaces are not 
accurate. In this course—through a series of research-based writing projects—we will disabuse ourselves of 
those and other bad ideas about writing and come to understand writing as a context-specific, social, 
rhetorical, knowledge-making activity at which we can improve over time and that allows us to reach myriad 
audiences for myriad purposes with our good (and our not-so-good) ideas. 

Course Outcomes 
In First-Year Writing Seminar, students will cultivate and apply critical thinking about the course topic in 
order to: 
1. Develop a clear and cohesive argument with persuasive appeals using evidence from critical reading
and research.

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 2. Implement, and subsequently reflect upon, writing strategies and conventions suited to a variety of
purposes, audiences, and context-appropriate genres and media.
3. Demonstrate ability to generate and pursue a line of inquiry; search, collect, select, and evaluate
sources appropriate to writing project(s); and ​document according to context-appropriate standards​.
4. Provide substantial and useful revision suggestions to other writers, and revise writing using
responses from others, including classmates, Writing Fellows, Writing Center tutors, and instructor.
5. Collaborate with faculty and Writing Fellows, and engage with the College community—students,
faculty, and staff—to promote personal success at Moravian College.
6. Reflect on learning to make interdisciplinary connections among course topic, education in the liberal
arts, and both individual and community identity.

Required Texts & Supplies 

Texts: 
● Arola, Kristin A., Sheppard, Jennifer, and Ball, Cheryl E., eds. ​Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making
Multimodal Projects​. 2nd ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2018.
● Ball, Cheryl E. and Drew M. Loewe.​ ​Bad Ideas About Writing​. ​Morgantown: West Virginia U Libraries,
2017.
● Writing Commons: The Home for Writers​, n.d.
● Additional readings available on Canvas

Other Materials: 
● Reliable daily access to the Internet
● Your MacBook Pro and iPad. You should bring these, ​fully charged​, to every class meeting unless
otherwise noted.
● Accounts on Twitter and Instagram. These accounts can be separate ones that you create for the
class if you do not want to post class assignment-related material on your personal accounts.
● At least two different colored highlighters; you should bring these to every class meeting unless
otherwise noted.
● Specific apps (like Evernote, GarageBand, and others), which we will download together as a class to
use for various assignments.

Required Coursework and Grades 

It is within the instructor’s purview to apply qualitative judgment in determining grades for any assignment 
and for the final course grade. Grades will consider the following aspects of writing, in the context of a 
particular assignment: purpose, audience, content, organization, idea development/analysis, 
ethos/credibility/information literacy, design, mechanics/readability/ view-ability/audibility/accessibility, and 
maturity of thought.  

Assignment  Due Date  Percentage 

Assignment #1 – Analyzing Literacy  Week 5  15% 

Assignment #2 – Research Portfolio related to a “Bad  Weeks 6-9  10% 

Idea About Writing” 

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 Short Presentation Critically Reflecting on an  Week 8  2% 
Interdisciplinary Insight from Your Research 

Assignment #3 – Academic Argument*   Week 11  25% 

Assignment #4 – Multimodal Public Argument*  Week 14  20% 

Final Digital Portfolio Design + Reflective Introduction   Week 15  8% 

Short Assignments (SAs)  Ongoing   15% 

Academic Extracurricular Events (3)  Ongoing  5% 

Total     100% 
*​ Grade not final until submission of Final Digital Portfolio in Week 15. 
 
Letter Grades 
A​ 93-100  A-​ 90-92  B+​ 87-89  B​ 83-86  B-​ 80-82  C+​ 77-79   
C​ 73-76  C-​ 70-72  D+​ 67-69  D​ 63-66  D-​ 60-62  F/NC*​ 0-59 
 
A letter grade is assigned if the course is passed. A grade of NC (No Credit) is assigned if the course is failed. 
NC is not computed in the term or cumulative GPA. Students who earn NC must retake an F1 course 
(usually Writing 100) the following semester.   
  
Explanation of Assignments 
In this course you will practice analytical and argumentative writing for academic audiences as well as 
multimodal composing for a public audience, each with multiple drafts. Short assignments, in-class writing, 
and your interdisciplinary insight presentation are meant to provide additional outlets for response, 
brainstorming, drafting, and delivery of ideas related to the topic of the course. While drafts must be 
submitted of all majors assignments on the dates listed in the schedule in order to be eligible for full credit, 
final grades are not awarded to Assignments #1, #3, or #4 until you submit them in your final Digital 
Portfolio at the end of the semester; this is meant to emphasize the recursive nature of the writing 
process—an idea we will discuss at length in class.  
 
Digital Portfolio. ​Throughout the semester, you will develop an FYWS Digital Portfolio on Google Sites or 
on another free, template-based web design platform. Your site is where you will submit Assignments #1, #3, 
and #4 on separate pages of the site. (We will set all of this up in class.) The grade for the final Digital 
Portfolio will include the individual final grades of Assignments #1, #3, and #4 plus a separate grade for your 
overall design and reflective introduction to your Digital Portfolio readers. 
 
Assignment #1—Analyzing Literacy.​ For this unit you will first write and think about your own literacy 
education that led you to become the reader and writer you are now with certain beliefs about what it means 
to be a “good reader” and a “good writer.” You will then practice critically reading and responding to texts 
rhetorically—specially texts that deal directly with conversations around reading and writing in order to better 

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understand the conversations around certain aspects of literacy education. Finally, you will conduct a group 
analysis of literacy history and write that up in an academic article.  
 
Assignment #2—Research Portfolio related to a “Bad Idea About Writing.”​ For this research journal, 
you will conduct and analyze both library and field research in order answer a research question regarding a 
issue connected in some way to a “Bad Idea About Writing” discussed in our course textbook. This will 
include recording an interview on your iPad with a Moravian College faculty member, professional writer or 
other professional in a field you aspire to enter, and/or a teacher in the community. Note: The final grade for 
this assignment will be based on the quality of your sources and your analysis of them, and the grade for this 
assignment (unlike #1, #3, and #4) will stand based on what you submit to Canvas during week 8.  
 
Short Presentation Critically Reflecting on an Interdisciplinary Insight from Your Research. ​Each 
student will sign up for a date during week 8 on which to make a brief oral presentation (about 3-5 minutes) 
of an interdisciplinary insight you made during the research process. An interdisciplinary insight will be 
information or an understanding about some aspect of your research question from the perspective of a 
combination of multiple academic disciplines. Both value of information and quality of communication will 
be considered in assigning a grade for this presentation.  
 
Assignment #3—Academic Argument.​ Using the research conducted and analyzed for Assignment #2, 
you will come to a conclusion regarding the best answer to your research question, and argue that position in 
an academic argument essay in which you: 
● Define an issue, demonstrating your awareness that you are entering a conversation that contains 
multiple perspectives on the issue. 
● Make a focused claim about your issue (i.e., state an arguable thesis that locates your stance among 
the multiple perspectives. 
● Provide reasons that support your thesis/claim. 
● Provide evidence for each of your reasons. 
● Anticipate objections from people with other perspectives and, when necessary, provide refutations, 
negotiations, and concessions. 
● Illustrate an awareness of the unspoken/unwritten ideological assumptions (values and beliefs) 
underlying your claim and reasons as well as those underlying your audience’s claims and reasons. 
 
Assignment #4—Multimodal Public Argument.​ Using the same research from Assignment #2 and a 
similar argumentative stance as you did in unit 3, you will translate your academic argument into a multimodal 
public argument for which you will use the audio/video you recorded for Assignment #2, as well as other 
assets to create a public argument aimed toward high school students or another public audience of the class’s 
choosing. Much of the criteria for this project will be developed collaboratively in class.  
 
Short Assignments (SA). ​This grade category includes summer assignments (for which you have already 
received credit, or not), short writing assignments, peer reviews, and other in-class writing. These short 
assignments, worth 15 points (15%) of your grade, will help you prepare for each major assignment described 
above; SAs will be written in response to prompts posted in the “Announcements” and “Assignments” areas 
of Canvas, and you will post your responses to Canvas. SAs & in-class writings (including peer review 
workshop responses) are pass/fail. You receive “pass” credit as long as you meet the minimum requirements 
for the SAs and in-class writings. ​If you do not have an SA submitted to Canvas by class time on the 
day it is due, you will get a failing grade for the SA.​ Late SAs will not be accepted under any 
circumstances. Note: In-class writing is tied to attendance and cannot be made up. 
 
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Attendance at Three Academic Extracurricular Events. ​For each event listed below, you must attend, 
obtain photographic evidence of your attendance at the event (pics or it didn’t happen), and complete the 
assigned reflective writing—due within 48 hours of attending the event:  
1. This year's kick-off of InFocus: War, Peacebuilding and the Just Society will take place on Thursday, 
Sept. 13 in Foy Hall (South Campus) at 7:00 pm. We will screen the new film—​The Bomb​. This 
evocative film, described as "a unique and dazzling event," deals with nuclear weapons testing, 
stockpiling and their consequences. Filmmaker Smriti Keshari will join us for a talk-back following 
the screening; there will be a special reflective writing assignment to do in conjunction with this 
related to the summer reading, which will be posted to Canvas prior to the event.  
2. Full day participation in Heritage Day on Wednesday, September 21. More details forthcoming. 
Note: classes across campus will be cancelled on this day so that as many students as possible can 
participate in this service event; there will be a special reflective writing assignment to do in 
conjunction with this.  
3. Another ​academic​ event of your choosing. I will announce many possible events in class. Be sure to 
obtain photographic evidence of your attendance at the event, and write a 300 to 500 word reflective 
response that critiques the event and your participation in it—due within 48 hours of attending the 
event. 
 
 

First-Year Writing Seminar Policies 

 
Academic Code of Conduct 
All work that you submit or present as part of course assignments or requirements must be your original 
work unless otherwise expressly permitted by the instructor. This includes any work presented, be it in 
written, oral, or digital form or in any other technical or artistic medium. When you use the specific thoughts, 
ideas, writings, or expressions of another person, you must accompany each instance of use with some form 
of attribution to the source. Direct quotes from any source (including online sources) must be placed in 
quotation marks (or otherwise marked appropriately) and accompanied by proper citation, following the 
preferred bibliographic conventions of your department or instructor. In this class you will be using APA for 
Assignment #1, MLA for Assignments #2 and #3, and a genre-appropriate style for Assignment #4. Student 
ignorance of bibliographic convention and citation procedures is not a valid excuse for having committed 
plagiarism. ​To reiterate: When you use the specific thoughts, ideas, writing, or expressions of another 
person, you must accompany each instance of use with some form of attribution to the source, 
regardless of the genre or medium in which you are working. 
  
You can familiarize yourself with all aspects of Moravian College’s Academic Code of Conduct here: 
http://www.moravian.edu/static/studentLife/handbook/academic/academic2.html 
  
Attendance 
Attendance is mandatory. First-Year Writing Seminar is a course that includes engaged discussion, in-class 
writing, peer group work, and conferences. Therefore, students should not be late and should not miss class. 
Any in-class work missed as a result of tardiness or unexcused absence cannot be made up. Students enrolled 
in this course cannot miss more than a week of classes—three class meetings—without penalty. For each 
class meeting missed thereafter, your final course grade will be reduced by 1 percentage point. 

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All holidays or special events observed by organized religions will be honored for those students who show 
affiliation with that particular religion. A dean’s note or other official Moravian College document justifies 
absences for Moravian functions but must be presented to your instructor before the scheduled event. 
Doctor’s appointments, job interviews, and other important appointments ​do not count as excused 
absences​. If you have a legitimate conflict or an extreme emergency, discuss the situation with your 
instructor. 
  
Student Affairs Sessions 
Your engagement and work for both the classroom component and the Student Affairs component of FYWS 
are essential to your successful completion of FYWS. In order to earn credit for FYWS, you need to show 
sufficient engagement both in participation and in reflection regarding the Student Affairs sessions, 
assignments, and activities. That means you have to be present at every Student Affairs Friday session. 
Attendance will be taken via card swipe each week before you enter Prosser Auditorium. 
  
Class Conduct 
Students in this class are encouraged to speak up and participate during class meetings. Because the class 
represents a diversity of individual beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences, every member of this class must 
show respect for every other member of this class. ​Additionally, all Moravian College students are responsible 
for upholding the Community Standards, which can be read online in the Student Handbook: 
http://www.moravian.edu/static/studentLife/handbook/standards/standards.html 
 
Late Work 
Late work will not be accepted without penalty unless students make arrangements for an extension before 
the due date. Major assignments that are turned in late will incur a 5% penalty per 24-hour period. 
  
Conferences 
First-Year Writing Seminar instructors may cancel a class session to host individual or small group 
conferences. Students should come to conferences prepared to discuss their work. If your class has been 
cancelled to hold student-teacher conferences and you miss your assigned conference time, it may be counted 
as an absence by your instructor. 
  
Peer Review 
We improve as writers by responding to input from readers. To that end your essay drafts will go through 
extensive peer review. You are expected to take the input from your classmates seriously and respond to their 
feedback when you revise. You are likewise expected to take your job as a reviewer seriously. Critique others’ 
work as you wish to be critiqued. Treat each other with respect, and give helpful constructive criticism. Each 
of us has areas to improve in our writing. 
 
 
 

Resources for Students 

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Office Hours  
You are encouraged to stop by during office hours or make an appointment with your instructor. ​Your 
instructor is also part of the Safe Zone Ally community network of trained Moravian College 
faculty/staff/students who are available to listen and support you in a safe manner. As a Safe Zone Ally, your 
instructor can help you connect with resources on campus to address problems you may face that interfere 
with your academic and social success on campus as it relates to issues surrounding sexual orientation/gender 
identity. Your instructor’s goal is to help you be successful and to maintain a safe and equitable campus. 
  
Writing Fellows 
The Writing Fellows for this FYWS section are Maison Allen and Ashley Gindle. They are great resources to 
help guide you through this transition to college life as well as help you with your writing during the semester.  
  
Reeves Library 
All FYWS students are required to conduct and document their research. In addition to the physical resources 
available—books, magazines, journals, newspapers, and digital resources—Reeves Library has the invaluable 
resource of reference librarians. Our librarians are always interested in helping you with any questions you 
may have on research and resources. All sections of FYWS attend a special library session to learn more 
about how to navigate the library’s many resources. 
  
Writing Support and Academic Support 
The Writing Center is a resource for Moravian students. At the Writing Center, a trained peer tutor will work 
individually with you on your writing, at any point in the process from brainstorming to editing. All FYWS 
students visit the Writing Center at some point during the semester to learn more about this resource and/or 
to attend tutoring sessions. The Writing Center is located on the second floor of Zinzendorf Hall, a building 
that is not accessible to persons with mobility impairments. If you need the services of the Writing Center, 
visit ​https://moravian.mywconline.com/​ . 
  
If you need other academic support, such as assistance with time management, learning strategies, or a tutor 
for a content area other than writing, please contact the Student Success Program Coordinator at 
610-625-7625.  
  
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities 
Moravian encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate 
needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact the 
event sponsor at least one week prior to the event. Students who wish to request accommodations in this 
class for a disability should contact the Academic and Accessibility Support Center, located in the lower level 
of Monocacy Hall, or by calling 610-861-1401. Accommodations cannot be provided until authorization is 
received from the Academic and Accessibility Support Center. 
  
 
Title IX  
Moravian College faculty are committed to providing a learning environment free from gender discrimination 
and sexual violence. Should a student disclose a concern of this nature, the faculty member is obligated to 

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inform the Title IX Coordinator, who will assist the student in determining resources for support and 
resolution. Fully confidential reporting options include the ​Counseling Center​, ​Health Center​, and ​Religious 
Life​ (chaplain). Survivors are encouraged to seek immediate assistance by contacting the ​Advocates​ at (484) 
764-9242. For more information, please visit ​www.moravian.edu/titleix​. 
 
Counseling  
Counselors at the Counseling Center help students deal with the stresses of college life. They are a great 
resource for all students. You can give them a call at 610-861-1510 or stop by at 1301 Main Street. 
  
Regarding Pronouns  
In my writing, when I refer to someone and I don’t know their preferred pronoun, I try to use the plural 
noun “they” to refer to a singular noun, rather than the clumsy and inaccurate “he/she.” This is intentional. 
There’s a growing cultural awareness that it’s best not to assume a person’s preferred pronouns based on a 
gender-specific name or by someone’s appearance. So, I’ll use “they” in writing unless the person I’m 
referring to specifically asks me to use other pronouns. For more, see ​Why do pronouns matter?​ If you have a 
preferred pronoun, please let me know. 

 
Information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policies, may be 
subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.  
 
   

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LINC 101 D: BAD IDEAS ABOUT WRITING DAILY COURSE SCHEDULE 

Be aware that a daily schedule is occasionally subject to change due to time constraints, unexpected 
disruptions, or needs of the class. Therefore, pay attention to announcements of any changes in assignments 
or due dates. These changes will be announced in class and on Canvas. The most up to date homework will 
ALWAYS be posted as an announcement on the class’s Canvas page, and, depending on your Canvas 
Notification settings, you should receive a push notification/email when those announcements are posted. 
Also note that ​whatever is listed for a specific day is DUE that day​. 

Student Responsibilities 
● Read the syllabus schedule on a daily basis, check Canvas for announcements on a daily
basis, finish appropriate assignments, and bring your materials (homework/essays/books)
to class. ​(“For class” means “prepare this work ​before​ you come to class.”)
● Be alert to any schedule changes that may impact your work in the class.
● Remember computers can crash and flash drives can be easily lost. Backup your files! Ideally, keep ​all
drafts in a Google Drive folder titled LinC 101 D. Pro Tip: Keep a separate Google Drive folder for
each class you take a Moravian College.
● To access the course website, go to ​https://canvas.moravian.edu/​ then click on LinC 101 D. I will
use this site to distribute the syllabus, detailed essay assignments and rubrics, handouts, readings for
you to download/print and read, and other multimodal files. It is your responsibility to make sure
you can access the course site. If you are having problems accessing it or finding documents on the
site, let me know. ​Please check Canvas regularly for updates and announcements.

Key to Symbols: BIAW = ​Bad Ideas About Writing  

C = the reading has been posted as course content on Canvas
WC = ​Writing Commons ​website 
WD = ​Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects  
SA = Short Assignment (to be explained in detail on Canvas) 

Analyzing Literacy 
Week 1 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 8/27  Review​ syllabus and schedule  
Draft introductions via “Map of My
Knowledge Domains” Activity  
Wed. 8/29  Read ​Wolf, ​“Skim Reading is the New  Share​ introductions via “Map of My
Normal”​; Carillo, ​“Develop a  Knowledge Domains” Activity  
Repertoire of Reading Strategies”​; and 
Haas and Flower, “Rhetorical Reading  Discuss​ assigned readings 
Strategies and the Construction of 
Meaning” (C) 
Write ​SA#3: First, read Wolf’s text to 
give you context for why Carillo’s text is 
important. Consider which, if any of 
Carillo’s strategies you used when 
reading Wolf’s text, and make a note of 
that “When reading Wolf’s text I think I 

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 used _________ strategy or none of 
Carillo’s strategies because _________. 
Then use at least two of the strategies 
outlined in Carillo’s text to annotate and 
then answer questions about Haas and 
Flower’s text. Be sure to note​ which 
reading strategies you used, and explain 
what you gained/learned from that text 
as a whole from using each strategy. 
Include images/screenshots of your 
annotations to illustrate how you used 
strategies.   
Fri. 8/31  Read ​rhetorically the following  Class will be held in Prosser Hall for 
chapters from ​Bad Ideas About Writing​:  Student Affairs session #1: Student 
Carillo, “Reading and Writing are not  Involvement. Maison, Ashley, and I will 
Connected” (38-43) and Barger,  all be there, and the entire class will sit in 
“Reading is Not Essential to Writing  the same section. Be sure to bring your 
Instruction” (44-50)  swipe card. 
Write ​SA#4: two rhetorical reading 
responses, one for “Reading and 
Writing are not Connected” and one for 
“Reading is Not Essential to Writing 
Instruction.” That is, in a five-sentence 
paragraph, discuss the following:  
1) Who is the author, and what major
claim(s) do they make in the text?
2) Describe how the author supports
the claim(s).
3) Describe the author’s purpose in
writing this text – what are they trying
to do (i.e. inform, explain, persuade,
highlight a fact, define a problem or
issue, evaluate the effectiveness of
something, point to the cause(s) of
something, propose a solution to
something, etc.), and how do you know
that this is the intended purpose?
4) Describe the intended audience and
the relationship the writer attempts to
establish with that audience.
5) How logical, effective, and
convincing do you find the argument
made in the text and why?
Locate ​Prosser Hall

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Week 2 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 9/3  Read ​Wardle and Downs, “Threshold  How to write a strong rhetorical reading 
Concepts of Writing (C)  response 
Write ​SA#5: respond in writing to all 
of the activities in blue boxes in the  Discuss threshold concepts of writing 
assigned Wardle and Downs text. At 
least one paragraph per activity.  
Wed. 9/5  Read ​Wardle and Downs, “Literacies:  Discuss literacy sponsorship and the 
How Writing is Impacted by Our Prior  importance and effects of prior 
Experiences” (C); Brandt, “Sponsors of  knowledge about writing  
Literacy” (C); Robertson, Taczak, and 
Yancey, ​“Notes Toward a Theory of 
Prior Knowledge” ​(C) 
Write ​SA #6: two rhetorical reading 
responses, one for Brandt text and one 
for Robertson, Taczak, and Yancey text. 
For details on rhetorical reading 
responses, see SA#4 on 8/31. 
Fri. 9/7  Read ​rhetorically the following  Class will be held in Prosser Hall for 
chapters from ​Bad Ideas About Writing​:  Student Affairs session #2: Career and 
Babb, “America is Facing a Literacy  Civic Engagement  
Crisis” (13-17) 
Justice, “Texting Ruins Literacy Skills” 
(308-314) 
Write ​SA#7: two rhetorical reading 
responses, one for Babb text and one 
for Justice text. For details on rhetorical 
reading responses, see SA#4 on 8/31. 

Week 3 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 9/10  Read​ "You Can Learn to Write in  Discuss readings and share letters 
General" (30-33), "Writing Knowledge 
Transfers Easily" (34-37), "There is  Introduce Assignment #1: Analyzing 
Only One Correct Way of Writing and  Literacy  
Speaking" (82-87) + one chapter of 
your choice from ​Bad Ideas About Writing 
Write ​SA#8—Letter to your former 
self about what you’ve learned about 
writing thus far in college that you did 
not learn in high school—see Canvas 
for details  
Wed. 9/12  Read ​Literacy Texts (TBD)   Begin compiling data for group analysis 
Write ​SA#9: Respond to round #1 of  of literacy history 
literacy history reflective prompts  
Prepare for the In Focus event on 9/13 

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 Thurs. 9/13  Locate​ Foy Hall  Attend ​screening of ​The Bomb ​at 7:00 PM 
in Foy Hall (South Campus).  
Fri. 9/14  Write ​SA#10: Respond to round #2 of  Class will be held in Prosser Hall for 
literacy history reflective prompts   Student Affairs session #3: Academic 
Support and Tutoring 

Week 4 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 9/17  Read and annotate​ Auerbach and  Why and how to code qualitative writing 
Silverstein, “Analyzing Your First  studies data.  
Research Study.” Come to class with 
questions about qualitative research  Narrow down possibilities and pose 
analysis.    possible research questions 
Write ​review of ​The Bomb ​for Academic 
Extracurricular credit (see Canvas for 
details) 
Wed. 9/19  Read ​Driscoll, ​"Introduction to  Analyzing the genre of writing studies 
Primary Research: Observations,  qualitative analysis article  
Surveys, and Interviews"​ pages 169 - 
173 on how to write about primary  Visit to the Writing Center 
research (read it for the explanation) + 
Santos Neto, “Tug of War”+ Bastain 
and Harkness, “When Peer Tutors 
Write About Writing” 
Write ​SA#11: preliminary findings 
memo—see Canvas for details 
Fri. 9/21  Write: ​Draft of Assignment #1  In-class writing day. Get help from 
Introduction, Literature Review, and  Ashley, Maison, and Dr. Fodrey 
Methodology sections  

Week 5 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 9/24  Read​ Straub, “​Responding—Really  Practice peer response and then respond 
Responding—to Other Students’  to peers’ Assignment #1 Rough Drafts 
Writing​” 
Write:​ Assignment #1 Complete 
Rough Draft due  
Wed. 9/26  Heritage Day—​All FYWS students  8:30 AM​: Report to Johnston Hall  
must participate in this day-long  10:00 AM to 1:00 PM:​ Engage in 
campus-wide service event; all classes  community service 
(except those that start after 4:00 PM)  1:00 to 3:30 PM:​ Back in Johnston Hall 
are cancelled for the day  for lunch and reflection on service 
activity 
Fri. 9/28  Write:​ Assignment #1 Final Draft due;  SA#12: Rhetorical reflection on 
Heritage Day Reflection due for  Assignment #1 
Academic Extracurricular credit—see  Begin narrowing down ideas for 
Canvas for details  Assignment #2 research emphasis 
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Week 6 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 10/1  Read ​rhetorically Addison & McGee's  Participation in a national study on 
“To the Core: College Composition  college-level achievement in composition 
Classrooms in the Age of  followed by discussion of participation as 
Accountability, Standardized Testing,  it connects to the assigned readings about 
and Common Core State Standards”  standardized testing. 
plus Bowles's "The Five-Paragraph 
Theme Teaches 'Beyond the Test'" 
from ​Bad Ideas About Writing 
Write​ SA#13: two rhetorical reading 
responses, one for “To the Core: 
College Composition Classrooms in the 
Age of Accountability, Standardized 
Testing, and Common Core State 
Standards” and one for “The 
Five-Paragraph Theme Teaches 
'Beyond the Test'.” 
Wed. 10/3  Write ​SA#14: Think about the essay  Share and discuss passages from ​Bad Ideas 
you wrote for the “College  About Writing 
Composition Exam” and answer a set 
of questions about knowledge  Discuss Assignment #2 — Research 
domains—see Canvas for details.   Portfolio related to a “Bad Idea About 
Read ​three chapters of ​Bad Ideas About  Writing” 
Writing​ that you have not already read 
and come to class prepared to share and 
briefly discuss the significance of three 
interesting passages (one from each 
chapter) with the rest of the class.  
Fri. 10/5  Read D ​ owns, “Rhetoric: Making Sense  Share potential research questions, 
of Human Interaction and Meaning  narrow down to one question, and begin 
Making” (C) and, from The Ohio State  working on research proposal 
University Libraries, “​Developing Your 
Research Question​” 
Write​ SA#15: Draft five research 
questions with justifications for why 
you have chosen each line of 
inquiry—see Canvas for details 

Week 7 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 10/8  Read​ from The Ohio State University  Library research session with Kim 
Libraries: “​Thinking About Roles of  Demyan 
Sources​,” “​BEAM: A Solution that 
Might Shine​,” “​Using BEAM: An 
Example​,” “​Practice with BEAM​” 

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 Write​ SA#16—Research proposal due 
(note that the final draft of this also 
goes in your Research Portfolio) 
Wed. 10/10  Bring to Class:​ Printed, *annotated*  Go over the process of creating a 
copies of two sources that you think  successful annotated bibliography page. 
provide a timely, relevant perspective 
related to your chosen research  Introduce Interdisciplinary Insight 
question.   assignment 

Work on SA#17 (the first two annotated 

bibliography pages) 

After class: Consider attending the 

National Week on Writing festivities in 
the HUB Lounge and HUB UBC rooms. 
Thurs. 10/11  Please highly consider attending the National Week on Writing event Writing at 
Moravian Presents: Writers at Work in Prosser Hall 2:30 to 3:30. The event will 
feature panelist from companies and organizations throughout the Lehigh Valley 
with many different types of jobs to talk about the kinds of writing they do at work 
and how you can prepare to make yourself stand out as a strong communicator in 
the job market. This counts as an ​academic extracurricular event​.  
Fri. 10/12  Research & Write​ SA#17—Drafts of  Introduce Assignments #3 and #4 
first two annotated bibliography pages 
using sources from 10/10 for  Discussion of interview question 
Assignment #2 Research Portfolio  development and interview best practices 
(details on Canvas) 

Week 8 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 10/15  Fall Break  Class Cancelled 
Wed. 10/17  Write​ SA#18—Drafts of next two  First nine interdisciplinary insight 
annotated bibliography pages for  presentations 
Assignment #2 Research Portfolio 
(details on Canvas)  Work on SA#19 
Prepare​ presentation on 
interdisciplinary insight (group 1) 
Fri. 10/19  Write​ SA#19—Draft of final annotated  Last nine interdisciplinary insight 
bibliography page for Assignment #2  presentations  
Research Portfolio (details on Canvas) 
Prepare​ presentation on  Work on transcribing and coding 
interdisciplinary insight (group 2)  interview(s) 

Week 9 
Date  For Class  In Class 

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Mon. 10/22  Read ​“​‘Intertextuality’: A Reference  Discussion about and practice with 
Guide on Using Texts to Produce  synthesis  
Texts​” plus other synthesis readings 
TBD 
Write​: Assignment #2 Research 
Portfolio Due. Note that you need to 
have transcription of completed 
interview, coded, by today as part of the 
portfolio. 
Wed. 10/24  Read​ “Positioning Yourself in  Move from synthesis to claim 
Academic Writing”​ (WC) plus Moravian  building—Discuss concepts related to 
College Plagiarism Policy in the  academic argumentation; begin outline of 
Academic Code of Conduct ​and from  “traditional” argument with thesis, 
Writing Commons, ​“Synthesis Notes:  warrant, and reasons 
Working With Sources To Create a First 
Draft​”   
Review​ posts on Thesis building 
Write​ SA#20 Come to class with the 
Assignment #3 Source Connection 
Sheet completely filled out. Then 
answer the following questions from 
the second page of the Source 
Connection Sheet: 
After you have finished filling out your 
chart, you will need to go back and 
examine your findings. As you do, note 
places where you see connections 
happening among the texts—draw 
arrows to note these connections if you 
need to. Where do positions parallel 
one another? Where do positions 
drastically diverge? What kinds of 
relationships are being formed? These 
are the kinds of questions that will help 
you to engage in a conversation among 
texts; engaging in a conversation with 
multiple texts is about noticing and 
identifying the relationships among 
those texts. 
Fri. 10/26  Read​ The Ohio State University  Discuss and practice ways to avoid 
Libraries, “​Citations: Why, When,  plagiarism when quoting, summarizing, 
How?​” plus, from Purdue OWL,  and paraphrasing from sources.  
“Quoting, Paraphrasing, and 
Summarizing”  In-class writing day with Ashley and 
Maison—make sure you can access your 
research portfolio so that you can 
integrate sources into your writing 

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Week 10 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 10/29  Read ​sample student writing (TBD),  Drafting and revision discussion 
Lamott, “Shitty First Drafts,” and 
review posts in the​ Organize category  Brief peer review on first three pages 
(WC) 
Write​: Assignment #3—Draft 1—3+  Drafting day; make sure you can access 
pages due  your research portfolio so that you can 
integrate sources into your writing 
Wed. 10/31  Read:​ Kinkead, “The Research  Discussion of Kinkead reading and how 
Process” (C)  to write a conclusion for Assignment #3 
Write:​ Assignment #3—Draft 2—6+ 
pages due  SA#21 In-class peer review workshop 
letter to classmate to be completed in 
class. 
Fri. 11/2  Read:​ “Consider Feedback,” “Writers  Sentence workshop 
on Revising”​ ​and​ ​“Proofreading”​ ​(WC) 
Write:​ Assignment #3—Draft  In-class writing and revision time 
3—complete draft with complete 
Works Cited page. Bring two printed 
copies plus highlighters and to class for 
sentence-level style and editing work 

Week 11 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 11/5  Read ​WD Chapter 1 (3-33) and  SA#22: Rhetorical reflection on 
Minnix, “Persuasive Possibilities:  Assignment #3 
Thinking through the Audience and 
Genre of Your Public Argument”(C)  Begin process of developing 
Write: ​Please upload Assignment #3  plan/guidelines/rhetorical parameters for 
Draft 4, a completed, revised draft of  Assignment #4: Multimodal Public 
this assignment, to Canvas. When you  Argument based on topics  
upload your assignement, please include 
a list of three questions or concerns for 
me to concentrate on as I read through 
it. This will receive a preliminary grade 
and reviewer comments from Dr. 
Fodrey. 
Wed. 11/7  Read ​WD Chapters 2 + 3 (34-85) and  Narrow project parameters and begin 
Minnix, “Designing and Writing Visual-  drafting “project pitch”   
Spatial Public Arguments”  
Write​ SA#23: Analysis of a model 
genre—see Canvas for details 

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 Fri. 11/9  Read ​WD Chapter 4 (86-110) and  Pitch projects in class and get feedback 
Minnix, “Writing Your Public  from peers and Writing Fellows  
Argument”  
Write​ SA#24: Assignment #4 
Multimodal Public Argument Project 
Pitch—see Canvas for details 

Week 12 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 11/12  Read: ​WD Chapter 7 (172 - 97)  Continue discussion of public 
Write SA#25: Choose two of the  argumentation; begin drafting 
touchpoint sections in the WD chapter  Multimodal Public Argument  
and answer all of the questions/fully 
respond to the prompt for each one. 
Pick the two touchpoints that will 
personally help you out the most in 
planning your multimodal public 
argument. Note: All questions/prompts 
in a teal “Touchpoint” square count as 
one touchpoint.  
Wed. 11/14  Read:​ WD “Working with Multimodal  Draft Multimodal Public Argument 
Sources” (150-71)  
Write SA #26: Complete the prompts 
in the “Touchpoint” sections on pages 
153 and 171 of WD.  
Fri. 11/16  Read:​ Jones and Wheeler, “Document  Draft Multimodal Public Argument 
Design and Social Justice: A Universal 
Design for Documents” (C)  
Write ​SA#27: In one paragraph, 
drawing from examples and ideas in the 
Jones and Wheeler reading, reading, 
respond to the following question: How 
will you use what you have learned 
from this piece when creating your 
multimodal public argument?  

Week 13 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 11/19  Create:​ Assignment #4 Draft  In-class work day; Dr. Fodrey and 
#1—Rough Cut—due to Canvas by  Maison will be giving feedback on 
10:20 AM (details on Canvas)  Multimodal Public Argument Drafts 
Wed. 11/21  Thanksgiving Break  Class Cancelled 
Fri. 11/23  Thanksgiving Break  Class Cancelled 

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Week 14 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 11/26  Read:​ WD 119-39; 197-98 (in “Getting  SA#20 In-class workshop letters to 
Feedback on Your Rough Drafts” be  classmates to be completed in class. 
sure to reference the other 
pages—119-39— and activities noted in 
this section in order to prepare for the 
in-class workshop; the better you 
prepare, the better the feedback you 
receive will likely be.) 
Watch ​relevant how-to videos on 
Lynda.com depending on the genre and 
medium of the the Multimodal Public 
Argument project  
Create:​ Assignment #4 Draft #2 link 
to multimodal project to be shared on 
Canvas 
Wed. 11/28  Read​ WD 140-44; 198-204  Digital Portfolio “Reflective Letter to 
Watch​ relevant how-to videos on  Readers” assignment discussed; in class 
Lynda.com related to publishing your  work day 
Multimodal Public Argument (if 
needed) 
Come to class prepared​ to write 
reflective letter, revise work for Digital 
Portfolio, and work on Digital Portfolio 
design 
Fri. 11/30  Come to class prepared to write  In class work day; by the end of class 
reflective letter, revise work for Digital  today completed preview drafts of all 
Portfolio, and work on Digital Portfolio  Multimodal Public Argument Projects 
design  need to be submitted  

Week 15 
Date  For Class  In Class 
Mon. 12/3  If you are scheduled to share your  Presentations of Assignment #4: 
multimodal public argument today,  Multimodal Public Argument 
come to class prepared to do so.  
Wed. 12/5  If you are scheduled to share your  Presentations of Assignment #4: 
multimodal public argument today,  Multimodal Public Argument 
come to class prepared to do so.  
Fri. 12/7  Come to class prepared to eat a late  Last Day Celebration/Digital Portfolio 
breakfast and revise Digital revision day 
Portfolios together.

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Week 16 
Date  For Class 
Mon. 12/10 by 10:15 AM  Final Digital Portfolio due no later than 10:15 AM. Post the URL for your 
Digital Portfolio to Canvas, and Dr. Fodrey will begin grading yours at that 
point. Note: You can submit this well in advance of Monday if you want. 

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