Oakland Community College

Winter 2009

Course: ENG 1520: Composition II Instructor: Jeremy Stephison

Course Number: O1545 (03 credits) E-mail: jstephison@yahoo.com
Course Meetings: T 9:00-11:55 (G 119)
Office Hours: N/A

ENG 1510 Composition II (4)
Students will write persuasive and argumentative papers. They will
acquire skills in library research and use a process that includes critical thinking, logical reasoning,
and the investigation of primary and/or secondary sources. Students will write a documented,
academic research paper. A grade of C- or higher must be achieved to satisfy the university general education
requirement in the writing knowledge foundation area.

Prerequisite: ENG 1510 with a grade of C- or higher, or placement.

General Education Writing Foundation Outcomes

The student will demonstrate:

• knowledge of the elements, writing processes, and organizing strategies for creating
analytical and expository prose

• effective rhetorical strategies appropriate to the topic, audience, context, and purpose

General Education Cross Cutting Capacities

• Effective communication
• Critical thinking
• Information literacy

Specific Course Objectives

Students in this class will:

• make connections with the broader community through activities related to civic and
community engagement on and/or off campus
• demonstrate familiarity with basic rhetorical, ethical, and methodological conventions of
academic disciplines (such as humanities, sciences, or social sciences) to prepare for further
study in their chosen discipline
• demonstrate the ability to locate and analyze sources critically and produce various kinds of
scholarly texts including print, visual, digital, or aural.

In addition to reinforcing the outcomes from ENG 1510, ENG 1520 will instill in students a basic
understanding of:
• Primary research methods (quantitative and qualitative) appropriate for academic
scholarship.
 • Secondary research strategies for locating and evaluating sources both through library
databases and through external online databases appropriate for academic scholarship.
• Ethical considerations in academic scholarship, including responsibility to human subjects,
non-biased use of language, fair and accurate use of sources, appropriate documentation, and
larger rhetorical purposes of civic engagement.
• Stylistic conventions for integrating secondary and primary research to arrive at new
knowledge in academic disciplines, including familiarity with MLA format.

Required Texts/Materials :

• Silverman, Jonathan, and Dean Rader. The World is a Text 3rd ed. New Jersey: Pearson
Prentice Hall, 2009.
• Raimes, Ann. Keys for Writers. 5th ed. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2009.
• Online Readings as instructed.
• Access to Blackboard 8.

Grade determination:

Forum Average (weekly postings to online forum) 20%

Final Project: 80%

--Annotated Bibliography (10%)
--Detailed Outline / Project Plan (10%)
--First Draft (20%)
--Researched Essay (30%)
--Oral Presentations (with visuals) (10%)

Academic Conduct Policy: Cheating on examinations, plagiarism, falsifying reports/records, and

unauthorized collaboration are considered serious breaches of academic conduct. See the catalog
under Academic Policies and Procedures for more information.

Attendance Policy: You are allowed three absences during the semester, including absences due to
illness, etc. For each absence beyond the three allowed, your final course grade will be lowered by
0.1 points on the 4.0 scale. Students who miss more than three combined weeks of class are not
eligible to receive a grade above 0.0. All university policies regarding attendance will also apply. This
class will adhere to the OU Excused Absence Policy found at:
http://www2.oakland.edu/provost/web/reports/OU_Excused_Absence_Policy_Final.pdf

Late Paper Policy: For every day (not class period) your essay is late, .1 will be deducted from the
grade.

Adds/Drops: The University add/drop policy will be explicitly followed. It is the student’s
responsibility to be aware of the university deadline dates for dropping the course.

Special Needs: Students with disabilities who may require special considerations should make an
appointment with OU’s Disability Support Services office for assistance.
Important Dates:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Monday, January 18
Winter Break Monday, March 1–Saturday, March 6
Classes End Monday, May 3 / (Tuesday, Apr. 27)

Week one (Jan. 12)

Introductions: Syllabus
Write: Online diagnostic essay

Week two (Jan. 19)

Read: The World is a Text, pp. 1-18, 26-30 (Part II), 57-64 (Annotated Student Essay)
Skim: The World is a Text, pp. 30-41
Discuss: Semiotics and rhetoric, using heuristics for analysis.
Write: Identify and explore a particular “cultural text” and write about it. (p. 12).

Week three (Jan. 26)

Read: World, pp. 73-74
Rader, “Reading and Writing About Your Campus” (76-82)
DeLuca,“Reading and Writing About Social Networking Sites” (100-102)
Transue, “Reading and Writing About Family Guy” (102-106)
Silverman & Rader, “Reading and Writing About Advertising” (113-116)
Discuss: Four examples of analysis; examining rhetorical moves.
Perform: Reading the classroom; Reading Facebook Profiles
Write: Use your newfound powers of analysis to analyze a building or room on campus.

Week four (Feb. 2)

Discuss: Research Methods
Activity: Finding sources. Using databases and libraries.
*This week is extraordinarily light on homework, so use this to your advantage, and spend time
working on finding informative, interesting sources for your annotated bibliography.

Week five (Feb. 9)

Due: Annotated Bibliography
Read: World, pp. 118-124 (“Reading and Writing About Television”)
Waters, “Life According to TV” (125-131)
Rinehart, “Sex Sells: A Marxist Criticism of Sex and the City” (165 – 169)
Discuss: Exploring values, lenses, and purpose in writing.
Activity: Watch Arrested Development pilot.
Write: Start Media Journal.

Week six (Feb. 16)

Read: Goldblatt & Tucker, “Reality TV Bites – or Does it?”(178-179)
Ouelette & Murray, “Reality TV: Remaking Television Culture” (179-185)
Listen: This American Life, 389: “Frenemies,” Act II: “I Am Here to Make Frenemies.”
Discuss: Argumentation and rhetorical moves.
Activity: In-class debate.
Write: Pitching your arguments.

Week seven (Feb. 23)

Due: First Draft (at least 6 pages)
Detailed Outline (w/ Rhetorical Moves)
In class: Peer Evaluation / mini-conferences

Winter Break (Mar. 2)

Week eight (Mar. 9)

Read: World, p. 266-272, “Reading and Writing About Race and Ethnicity.”
Omi, “In Living Color: Race and American Culture” (273-282)
Tatum, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” (288-290)
Gladwell, “The Sports Taboo” (291-298)
Write: How does race effect worldview: “What being ________ means to me.”

Week nine (Mar. 16)

Read: World, p. 426-432, “Reading and Writing About Gender.”

Week ten (Mar. 23)

Week eleven (Mar. 30)

Week twelve (Apr. 6)

Due: Final Draft, Researched Essay / Portfolio
In class: Peer Evaluation / mini-conferences.

Week thirteen (Apr. 13)

Discuss: Writing with visual images: presentation preparation.
In-Class: Testing ideas

Week fourteen (Apr. 20)

Perform: Student Presentations

Week fifteen (Apr. 27)

Perform: Finish Student Presentations

*Schedule is subject to change.