st. scholastica mgt 3150
section 053: M, 5:30-9:00 p.m., ICC campus
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syllabus chris.godsey@gmail.com or cgodsey@css.edu 218.310.8048 (before 9 p.m.) DESCRIPTION This course is about
learning to write clearly and credibly for professional
audiences and purposes.
Clarity and credibility are
difficult to achieve. They're also
universal requirements in professional (and most other) writing tasks. You
know both more and
less about them than you realize.
By the end of the semester
you
will not be a writing expert. If you decide to, you will know
much more than you do
now, and you will have started to trust your ability to make
writing decisions. That's what
"good," effective writers do: they work hard to make careful decisions.
TEXTS THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL • The Elements of Style • Essentials of English Grammar • Any credible English dictionary COURSE GOALS Increases in:
A few random thoughts at the outset, so you know where I'm coming from: I don't know everything about writing. Many of you are probably smarter than me. I know more about writing, and I have more experiences with it, than you do. My job is to challenge you toward confident and competent writing decisions. Taking ownership of decisions can be uncomfortable for those of us who have grown up being taught how to seek easy answers and arbitrary approval. We're not taught how to process ambiguity, how to value true learning over memorizing prescribed material, or how to be independent thinkers. We're taught to be passive instead of active--to be controlled by our academic education instead to control it. All that is understandable and strangely comfortable, but unfortunate. Being forced to make
decisions in this class might leave you feeling annoyed, angry, and
insecure every now
and then. That's OK. It's all part of the process, and you're in a safe
place. Writing is not one thing. It's many things--e-mails, research papers, Web sites, PowerPoint presentations, grocery lists, letters, memos, various sorts of reports, SOAP notes, class notes, letters to your sweetie, blogs, newspaper articles, and a lot of other stuff--and they're all about using words to communicate in real situations. Whether you want to or not, you need to write and comprhend others' writing in your life and work. If you hate writing and reading, or are indifferent toward them, the best thing you can do is learn to do them effectively, with minimal discomfort. If you love or are curious about them, you owe them and yourself the respect of learning how to do them competently. That's why what you do in this course matters: it's about learning and developing real skills--using assignments and exercises to develop knowledge and experirence--not just writing some pointless papers to get a grade. I'm serious about all that. I couldn't get up every morning and teach if I couldn't credibly explain to myself and to you how this class actually means something both in college and, more importantly, in the real world. If you need or want a more detailed explanation of any of that stuff, just holler. ASSIGNMENTS 1. Every time we meet in class, an informal daily work report will be assigned.
SEMESTER GRADES ASSIGNMENT EXPECTATIONS (click any title for more information) ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION Any method that works for you
works for me.
COURSE POLICIES
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At
the end
of every class session's work period, you'll be asked to write a brief
and
informal, but detailed, report about that day's discussion and work;
sometimes the request will be identical to other days; sometimes it
will be slightly or significantly different. They will always be due by
the next week's class period, but the sooner you submit them, the
sooner you don't have to think about them.
PURPOSE Multiple
purposes:
• Communication
between you and me
• Writing and thinking practice for you • Reflection oppportunities for you AUDIENCE I
am always the work report audience.
EXPECTATIONS Two
main
expectations:
1.
Obvious thought
2. Detail Here's
an example of what
I mean:
This
report does not
include obvious
thought or detail:
"Today
I did some
research. I looked for some information. I found some information."
This
one does
include thought
and detail:
"Today
I took
notes on possible
people to have conversations with about my topic. Since I'm researching
weight gain among freshmen, I looked for information on the CSS Web
site about who might be good people on campus to talk to. I know there
are nurses on campus, but I have to find their names. I also found out
that Tad Sears and Teresa Aldach are counselors on campus, and they
might either know about the topic or be able to help me find other
people who do know about it, or find information on it. I might also
try to see if I can talk to someone from food service. I also wrote
down a bunch of questions I have about freshman weight gain,
like, Do all freshmen gain weight? How much weight do they
usually
gain? Is it the same for guys and girls? Why do they gain weight? Does
drinking have anything to do with it? Do some people also develop
eating disorders?"
These
are informal
reports, and
I'll usually be asking you to write and submit them relatively quickly,
which
can be quite difficult, so I'm not expecting super-polished prose. But
if I'm having trouble understanding your sentences, or if after reading
the report I know nothing about what you did that day, I might chat
with
you about how and why to write with more detail and clarity.
Questions?
E-mail me at chris.godsey@gmail.com |
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ASSIGNMENT
First, chat
about
writing (and anything else that comes up) with at least three people
you're not related to, and
who have graduated with a degree you're seeking, or who are doing
a job you're curious about.
Then, write a report that shows your academic and professional peers what you learned during those conversations, and that shows what those conversations suggest about how you all should prepare for the post-college world. PURPOSES • Learning
about your possible career field
• Practicing writing
and thinking
•
Thinking about how to handle your business
•
Providing valuable information for your peers
•
Helping me and you see where you are and what you need
AUDIENCE Your
peers--people whose academic and professional interests are similar to
yours.
(When I say that
your peers are your audience, what I mean is that you
should write this report as if you're actually going to give it to your
peers to read. It's your job to provide content that's interesting and
useful to that relatively
diverse group. I will
help you determine whether you've addressed that audience effectively,
but I am
not your audience. As a teacher, I choose to function like an editor: I
give assignments, and I'm not trying to teach you
how to write to my tastes and opinions, but with your assigned audience
and purpose in mind. Holler if that doesn't make
sense.)
EXPECTATIONS 1.
Interview at least two of the three required people in person
1.5 You can interview family members, but you still need to chat with and report on at least three non-family members 2. Follow the assignment directions 3. Provide your audience with clear, precise detail (see the note a few lines below) 4. Word choice, syntax, grammar, punctuation, source references, and other components that convey your information clearly and credibly 5. Get mailing addresses for all people you chat with Here's
an example of what I mean
by "detail":
This excerpt is not detailed:
Kaija told me some
really interesting things about the writing required in her job. I now
know what I
need to do.
This one is detailed:
Kaija told me that
as director
of UMD's climbing program, she writes every day, in multiple ways, and
that anyone who goes into outdoor recreation should expect to do the
same thing. "I write at least 15 or 20 e-mails every day," she said.
"I send messages to climbing-gear sales reps, student employees, my
bosses, speakers
and demonstrators coming on to campus, and other people. I have to be
credible and clear in every message, but I also can't be too stiff."
She said she also wrote and constantly edits the indoor-climbing-wall
employee training manual, course and program descriptions, syllabi, and
occasional articles for climbing magazines. I had no idea she would do
so much writing; I thought that a climbing instructor would just climb
and teach climbing. I'm hoping to run a college canoe and kayak
program, but I assume I and other people seeking similar careers will
need to do the same sorts of writing that she does, which means we'll
also need to learn a lot about who we'd be writing to, what they'd
expect, and how we can make sure to sound clear and credible. We should
probably have a lot of these conversations and ask a lot of these
questions, about writing and other aspects of such jobs.
That's a pretty
clunky example--it could be a lot more concise and clear--but see how
it shows a
bunch of information instead of just saying that the information
exists, but not sharing any of it?
If your audience is reading a
report about what they should expect about writing in jobs they're
curious about, what will they want and expect?
What questions can you ask, in interviews, to elicit useful responses? How can you prepare well enough that even if you're nervous, you don't come off as a tool to the people you chat with? What questions do you have? DUE
DATE
Monday, 1 March
Questions? E-mail me at cgodsey@css.edu |
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ASSIGNMENT Please
write
an essay that reflects on (thinks about, ponders, mulls over,
discusses, explores, expresses carefully considered thoughts about) at
least these three things:
1. Your work in this course this semester 2. How that work relates to your past academic and life experiences 3. How it might influence your approach to future opportunities and expectations, academic and other PURPOSE To
express and
carefully examine
your thoughts and feelings about what you were asked to do, what you
did, what you didn't do, and what all that stuff suggests about how you
approach your academic education and why you approach it that way.
AUDIENCE Who
seems like a
relevant audience for such
a piece of writing?
EXPECTATIONS Basically:
• Detailed,
careful thought and expression about your semester experience
Complicatedly: •
Base the essay on a direct statement that's specific and detailed
instead of vague.
• For
example: Instead of saying, "I both liked and disliked this class," try
to say something more like, "This class was a lot of work, which I
found frustrating and time-consuming, but it also helped me learn a
lot, which was quite fulfilling."
• Unpack
that statement.
•
A suitcase is a single object made up of many smaller ones; all packed
up, it's tough to see everything that's in it; once it's unpacked,
though, all the contents become clear. That's a corny metaphor, but it
can be effectively applied to sentences--once all the
basic parts are unpacked and in plain sight, the sentence and its ideas
have a better chance of making sense.
What do you mean by "a lot"? What about "work"? How and why was it frustrating? Time-consuming? How did the work "help" you? What did you "learn," and why, and how? What does "fulfilling" mean? • Explore and discuss all those terms and conepts. What do they show and suggest about your past, present, and future participation in and perspective toward academic and other sorts of education, experience, obligation, opportunity, and anything else that comes to mind? The point is not to celebrate or excoriate yourself; it’s to honestly discuss yourself and your experiences. |
contact: chris.godsey@gmail.com | 310.8048 (before 9 p.m.) | meetings upon request