ENG 1131 Section 6259: Writing Through Media
Course Description, Spring 2004
T 4 / R 4-5 in ROL 105, M 9-11 in ROL 314

Texts
Available at Goerings:
Eisner, Will. Graphic Storytelling
Delgado, Ricardo. Age of Reptiles

Available via course reserve:

Wordless picturebooks by a variety of authors.

Available Online:
Busch, Wilhelm Max and Moritz
Masereel, Frans. The City
---. Landscapes and Voices
---. The Idea

* Links to these works will be in the schedule

Overview
This course is the equivalent of ENC 1102 (Writing About Literature) and originated as
an extension of ENC 1102 to entertainment and popular culture. This class can explore
the practices of literacy in the context of popular culture including cinema, television,
music, video games, pop literature, comics, magazines, advertising, and hypertext.

According to the English Department, the goal of this course is to introduce students to
the transition underway between literacy and post-literacy (electracy) in contemporary
culture. This shift is approached through its rhetorical implications, with the students as
makers (and not just consumers) of new media effects. Hence, this course is best
taught in the Networked Writing Environment, in the context of which its assignments
seem less experimental than they do in a conventional setting. At the same time, this
course is adaptable to the conventional classroom.

This class is taught in the NWE so we will rely heavily on the use of the internet. This
course satisfies the Gordon Rule requirements if all assigned work is completed.

Major Assignments

Email Discussion All students are required to participate in email discussions so that
the process of learning is extended beyond the classroom. Each student should submit
a minimum of ten emails with a maximum of two emails per week to ensure discussion
throughout the semester. Each email should have an informative subject line.

Essays

The first essay will be 5-8 pages double-spaced and will explore the relationships
between image and text. For this essay, students should be concerned with the
following How do images narrate? How do they argue? Why are images sometime
more suited for these tasks than words?

The second essay will be a web essay and should be the equivalent of a 5-8 page
double spaced print essay. This essay must have at least five links to allow for different
threads of discussion and each link must connect to the main essay in addition to being
able to stand on its own. Students may also link to existing sites if the content of that
site helps the arguments outlined in the essay. In addition, when referring to or citing an
image from Masereel's text, provide a link to that image. For this essay, students will
analyze a topic from the works of Masereel. Suggested essay topics include

How is the city, and its inhabitants, portrayed as corrupt? How is industrialization
depicted? Why is the country ideal?

In The Idea, why is the claim that you can kill a man, but not the idea so revolutionary?
HintThink of what was going on in the world, and particularly Germany, at this time.

What could be the reasoning behind Masereel's choice of making the idea feminine?
What classical and mythical associations do women have? How do these associations
influence the story?

What is the significance of Masereel's depiction of the dissemination of information?

Analyze the relationships of men and women in Masereel's texts.

In addition to these topics, you may choose an alternative topic as long as I approve it.

Adding words to a wordless text Write a story to accompany Wiesner's Tuesday. Be
creative and give the characters voices, but make sure the narrative is supported by the
images of Wiesner's text. This story will be 3-5 pages double-spaced.

Final Project Each student will create a wordless text (can be either print or online).
This text will be at least ten pages in length and needs to present a clear narrative or
argument. Students will also have to submit an 8-10 page paper to accompany this text.
This paper will describe the experience of and the lessons learned from creating a
wordless text. It should also demonstrate the reasoning behind each image and answer
questions such asWhy was it chosen? Why was it placed in its position? The paper
needs to also provide a summary of the story depicted.

Grade Distribution

Course Policies

Attendance
Promptness and attendance are imperative in a discussion/workshop class. It should
go without saying that you should arrive to class on time and well prepared. Tardiness,
like sporadic absences, disrupts the class. Don't enter the class more than five
minutes after it has begun. Three tardies will count as an unexcused absence. Your
letter grade will be lowered one full letter grade after the third unexcused absence
(university-sponsored events and documented illnesses are usually excused).
Additional absences may cause you to fail the course. If you miss class, you are
responsible for getting any assignments and making up any work.

Grade Complaints
A low grade on a single assignment will not prohibit a good course grade if your work
improves. You should first discuss grade complaints with me. After doing this, if you
still have grade complaints about multiple assignments and expect your final grade to
be too low, get a complaint form from the English office and submit this along with all
written work and an explanation of absences and class participation. A committee of
faculty members will review each complaint and decide whether to raise, lower, or keep
the given grade.

Academic Dishonesty
Unless it is specifically connected to assigned collaborative work, all work should be
individual. Evidence of collusion (working with someone not connected to the class or
assignment), plagiarism (use of someone else's published or unpublished words or
design without acknowledgment) or multiple submissions (submitting the same paper
in different courses) will lead to the university's procedures for dealing with academic
dishonesty. All students are expected to honor their commitment to the university's
Honor Code.

Harassment
Every student in this class is expected to participate in a responsible and mature
manner that enhances education. Any conduct that disrupts the learning process may
lead to disciplinary action.

Conferences
I encourage you to make arrangements to see me, especially when you have questions
about an assignment, need help with a particular writing problem, want extra feedback
on a draft, or have questions about my comments on your work. Of course, we can
also correspond via e-mail.

Schedule Policies
* Turn in assignments at the beginning of the class indicated on the schedule: late
assignments will be penalized at least one letter grade per day unless you have made
arrangements with me in advance.
* Be prepared to discuss readings on the date listed.
* Ask for clarification if any assignments/requirements seem unclear.

Schedule of Readings
* This is not a lecture class so come prepared to discuss the texts.

Week 1: Jan. 5
T Intro
R Discuss writing practices, course polices

Week 2: Jan. 12
M NWE tools (in ROL 314)
T Visual literacy - What is it?
R Graphic Storytelling p. 1-46

Week 3: Jan. 19
M no lab - holiday
T Graphic Storytelling p. 47-110
R Graphic Storytelling p. 111-end

Week 4: Jan. 26
M The Red Balloon, discuss the visual narrative of this film and how it operates.
T Writing Workshop
R First essay due, Max and Moritz foreword - trick 2

Week 5: Feb. 2
M watch dialogue free cartoons, look at wordless comic strips
T Max and Moritz tricks 3-5
R Max and Moritz trick 6 - end

Week 6: Feb. 9
M reading wordless picturebooks (course reserve at Baldwin)
T Early wordless picturebooks (Rey, Sendak, etc.) ambiguity of "image" and "text
R Mercer Mayer's texts

Week 7: Feb. 16
M wordless picturebooks cont.
T Works of David Wiesner
R works of remaining artists.

Week 8: Feb. 23
M watch wordless animation
T Age of Reptiles
R Age of Reptiles

Week 9: Mar. 1
M Writing Workshop
T Adding Words Due, The City 1-25, discuss how these images argue
R The City 26-50

Week 10: Mar. 8
Spring Break - no classes

Week 11: mar. 15
M TBA
T The City 51-75
R The City 76-end

Week 12: Mar. 22
M watch Baraka and discuss the film
T The Idea 1-20
R The Idea 21-50

Week 13: Mar. 29
M work on web essay
T The Idea 51-end
R Landscapes and Voices 1-30

Week 14: Apr. 5
M Writing Workshop
T Landscapes and Voices 31-end
R Second Essay Due, go over details of final project

Week 15: Apr. 12
M work on final project
T discuss writing errors from second essay, work on final project
R share drafts of final project with the class

Week 16: Apr. 19
M work on final project
T Final project due

NOTE: I reserve the right to alter the syllabus at any time.