ENG 100C: College Writing
Focus: The Documentary Tradition
Professor L. Cole
415 Luther Bonney
lcole@maine.rr.com
The Course: ENG 100C
is intended to prepare students for the kind of analytical
writing expected at
the college level. It is not, in other words, a Acreative writing@ course, although students are expected to write creativelyBin other words, to write thoughtfully, with
integrity and personal insight, drawing upon evidence from personal experience
and popular culture. Our subject, however, is defined in advance. We shall be
reading five or six classic essays on the documentary tradition, a subject far
more interesting than it may first appear: the five or six essays which form
the core of our reading raise serious questions about, for example, what
photographers see when they shoot a picture, and how this seeing is reframed by
other peoples= words; questions about the politics of
visual culture in the United States, about how images help shape our sense of
the Areal.@ These essays are difficult. Written by and for professionals rather
than for a general audience, they draw upon language and ideas from several
different disciplines. Together, however, they help establish a coherent
theoretical and historical basis in relation to which students will develop
their own ideas and insights.
ADevelop@ is a key word in ENG 100, one that respects the complex nature of
analytical reading and writing. We will return to every essay we read at some
later point in the semester, focusing at different times upon different
aspects. Similarly, every short essay
we write will be regarded as provisional, the basis of a later and more complex
essay whose ideas are strengthened by subsequent reading and thinking. In
analytical writing, creativity happens through revision which, as we shall see,
involves much more than simply Acorrecting@ a
text or purging it of mechanical and grammatical errors. Revision is the
process by which we continually create the
essay, much as the
sculptor shapes his or clay, orBmore to the point of this classBmuch as the photographer creates a fine shot. The success of a
particular photo is, after all, rarely an accident; rather it turns one=s ability to recognize a compelling subject,
to frame it effectively, to edit it afterwards, and to present it in a way that
others will find engaging. .
Texts:
Ways of Reading:
An Anthology for Writers.
(Bartholomae and Petrosky)
A Writer=s Reference. (Hacker)
The Elements of
Style. (Strunk and White)
A good college
dictionary
Classroom Matters:
Reading: There are only five essays assigned for this
course and you should plan
to read each
assignment twice before we discuss it in class. Always read with a
pencil or pen, and
mark passages that seem significant or puzzling. Look up
words you don=t know, but don=t be surprised if not all of them are in your
dictionary. Many of
these writers use language specific to their discipline, and
we=ll discuss those words as we encounter them.
Writing: Each week you will write or revise one
essay, though only four will be turned in for a final grade. Some writing takes
place in class, some in the form of homework; sometimes the writing will be
based on outside research and reading. As you can see from the schedule of
readings and assignments below, these short pieces of writing are stages in a
larger
project. It=s therefore imperative that you complete them
all on time.
If you are unable to
attend class on the day of an in-class writing assignment, you may email it to
me. All final essays, however, must be in hard copy. These must be typed in 11‑13
point font. Please
double space and leave margins of one inch on both sides of
the paper. Keep all
of your essays, including the photoessay, in a manila file, which
which I will collect
at semester=s end.
Photoessay: In addition to four graded essays, you will
compile a photoessay.
This will be
presented to the class during the month of December and will be turned
in for a grade.
Everyone in this class, then, must have access either to photographs or to
a camera.
Grading: Although I will assign a grade to each final
draft of an essay (five
essays), your
semester grade will be based primarily on a final reading of your
portfolio.
Class
Participation: Our class
time will be divided between discussing the
assigned essays and
discussing the papers you write. I will sometimes photocopy your essays
for class
discussion. You are expected to attend all classes and to turn in work
on time. Given the
pace of this course, it will be
difficult for you to catch
up once you fall
behind. Should this happen, I will ask you to drop.
Class groups: Early in the semester, I will divide you
into four groups. Members
of your group will
read drafts, edit copy, and help you work out ideas.
Individual
conferences: I will schedule
an individual conference with each student
during the semester.
These are mandatory. You are also welcome to drop by my office at 415 Luther
Bonney during my office hours. These are on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
and will be announced in class. Should you wish to wish to contact me, I can be
reached at 780-4093 or, better, at lcole@maine.rr.com.
Proposed
Schedule of Readings and Assignments:
Please note this
schedule is subject to change. Writing assignments will be elaborated in class.
Should you miss a class, please contact a classmate for updated information.
September
Wednesday 3 Introductions and film
Monday 8 Discussion of Introduction, 1-18 and
Coles, AThe Tradition: Fact and Fiction@
Wednesday 10 Part
A of first assignment due. See AAssignments for Writing,@ page 220, number 2: ACreate a written document in which you represent some aspect of another
person or, to use the language of the essay, in which you are in pursuit of a
moment of >human actuality.=@
Monday 15 Part B of first assignment due. See AAssignments for Writing,@ page 220, number 2: Writing to other members
of the class, discuss how you shaped your previous document, using the
terminology provided by Coles.
Wednesday 17 In-class
writing: Using material from the previous two papers, explore a major idea in
ColesBthe notion of Athe filter,@ for
example. You should choose your focus in advance.
Monday 22 Final Draft of First Assignment Due.
No class. Turn in paper at 310 Luther Bonney.
Wednesday 24 Discussion
of Mitchell, AThe Photographic Essay: Four Case Studies.@ What does Mitchell mean by his statement
that these photoessays Aforeground the dialectic of exchange and resistance between photography
and language@?
Monday 29 Discussion of Mitchell, cont. Group work on images from Let Us Now
Praise Famous Men, Camera Lucida, and The Colonial Harem.
October
Wednesday 1 In-class writing. See AAssignments for Writing page 549, number 2:
Drawing upon specific photographs contained in the above texts but not
discussed by Mitchell, Aextend, test, and perhaps challenge or qualify@ his account of the genre.
Monday 6 Final Draft of Second Assignment
Due. Discussion of Said, AStates@
Wednesday 8 In-class writing. See AAssignments for Writing, page 715, number
two: be prepared to discuss the political purpose of Said=s essay.
Monday 13 No class--October vacation
Wednesday 15 Film
Monday 20 In-class writing. See AAssignments for Writing,@ page 715, number 2: revise previous essay
within the context provided by the film.
Wednesday 22 Group
Work: Draft of Third Assignment Due. .
Monday 27 Final Draft of Third Assignment Due.
Discussion of Hirsch, AA
Projected
Memory: Holocaust Photographs in Personal and Public Fantasy.@ What is the difference between Aidiopathic@ and Aheteropathic@ imagination?
Wednesday 29 Discussion
of Hirsch, cont.
November
Monday 3 Class Discussion. See AAssignments for Writing,@page 423, number 2. Bring in a brief report on some image of the Holocaust--an image,
a text, a filmBand be prepared to discuss it in the context
of Hirsch=s essay.
Wednesday 5 Discussion of previous, cont.
Monday 10 Class Discussion. See AAssignments for Writing,@ page 422, number 4. Bring in a brief report
on one of the sources for Hirsch=s essay and be prepared to discuss it in relation to her thesis.
Wednesday 12 In-class
writing. See AAssignments for Writing,@page 423, number 2. Have a thesis developed before coming to class.
Monday 17 Fourth Assignment Due. No
class--Board of Trustees Meeting. Turn in paper at 310 Luther Bonney..
Wednesday 19 Class
Discussion on The Photoessay. Bring in ideas and/or materials.
Monday 24
Individual conferences on The Photoessay. Bring in
written description for approval.
Wednesday 26 Prepare
photoessays.for presentation.
December
Monday 1 Presentation of The Photoessay,
Group A..
Wednesday 3 Presentation of The Photoessay,
Group B.
Monday 8 Presentation of The Photoessay,
Group C.
Wednesday 10 Presentation
of The Photoessay, Group D.
.