T AUG 26 Introduction to the Course: Discussion of Course Policies and Procedures

• read the Frequently Asked Questions for this course; if you have other questions or concerns, ask Dr. Engles by writing to him at cftde@eiu.edu
• be sure that you have access to your EIU e-mail account (which you must use for publishing your writing in this course on the Internet)
• you will be subscribed to an e-mail listserv (a.k.a., a discussion list) in this course, and you will occasionally receive numerous e-mail messages from others in class. Using an account that you want to use for this listserv (preferably your EIU account, but another is okay), send when you can the required e-mail message to Dr. Engles (the deadline for this assignment is noon, T SEP 2); in your message, 1) describe yourself in whatever way you choose, including your career aspirations, 2) list at least two types of "writers in the wild" whose writing you might like to research during this semester--are these people you already know? if not, how might you find and contact such professional writers? (for a list of writers other students in this course have worked with, click here), and 3) write a statement to the effect that you have carefully read and agree with the course policies and procedures (if there is any part of these policies that you disagree with, let me know in your message)

• in order to familiarize yourself more fully with what you'll be doing in this course, read Major Steps in the Writing in the Wild Research Project
• writing assignment: bring to class a one-page explanation of why you will probably find two particular sections or chapters of this book useful this semester for improving your writing
• bring your copy of the Blair Handbook to class
• until our next class meeting, think about what kind of "writer in the wild" you might like to work with, and where you could find such a person

T SEP 2 Technology Workshop: Setting up Your 3001 Disc

• deadline for sending Dr. Engles the message described above: noon today
• bring a new, blank computer disc to class (if you already know how to publish on the Internet, but you do so in a different way, note that in this class, you will still need to learn the method spelled out in these directions by using Netscape Composer--that way, I'll be able to help if you have any problems; finally, if you get through our directions quickly in class today and/or Thursday, please try to help out anyone around you who is having problems)

• bring to class your English 3001 disc, your EIU e-mail login, and your password
• discussion of John Seely Brown, "Growing Up Digital: How the Web Changes Work, Education, and the Ways People Learn"
• print out and read the first half of Seely Brown's article before class (underline important or confusing passages as you do so), then bring it to class, ALONG WITH two written questions that you have about his article (if you'd like to see the original online version, which includes several charts and images, click here)

T SEP 9 Continued discussion of John Seely Brown, "Growing Up Digital: How the Web Changes Work, Education, and the Ways People Learn"

• print out and read the second half of Seely Brown's article before class, then bring it to class, ALONG WITH a one- or two-paragraph summary of what you see as his main point or points (again, if you'd like to see the original online version, which includes several charts and images, click here)

• Blair Handbook: Chapter 59, "Writing in Business"
• work on Confirmation Letter before class, including proper tone, sufficient content, and acceptable formatting
• the letter should: briefly describe yourself and why you have sought out this particular person; confirm arrangements you've already discussed; very briefly describe the "writing in the wild" project, and mention that you've included a longer, printed description of the project; thank your writer for agreeing to work with you; accurately list the URL for your assignment index, in case this person would like to follow the progress of this project online; and state that you're looking forward to working with this person
• plan to include a copy of the Research Project description as an enclosure with your letter when you send it; click here to print out the description
• bring to class, on disc, a draft of your Confirmation Letter
• bring a brief, written description of who your “writer in the wild” will be this semester, including name, contact information, and workplace (if you don't come to class today, you must send this information to Dr. Engles via e-mail by 5 p.m.); penalty for not turning in this information by today--20% deduction in Confirmation Letter grade
• sign up in class for conference with Dr. Engles on worksite research and Confirmation Letter

T SEP 16 Technology Workshop: Design Issues in HTML (Part II)

• Confirmation Letter Draft One due (must be published on your website by the end of class and linked to your Assignment Index)
• in class: locate and download an appropriate image from the internet, then publish it on your Assignment Index (we'll talk about how to do this during class--for directions, click here)

• Confirmation Letter Final Draft due (publish Letter after your conference; must be published by 10 p.m. the day of your conference, unless you make other arrangements with me ahead of time)
• Reading: Blair Handbook, Chapter 14, "Field Research"
• come to conference (today or Friday) prepared to describe your general plans for working with your writer in the wild, based in part on your Blair reading (Chapter 14)--identify during the conference which sections of this chapter look useful for your research
• bring TWO printed copies of your Confirmation Letter Draft
• bring any questions you have about publishing items on your web site

Week Five (Discussion Room)

T SEP 23 bell hooks

• brief Internet workshop
• before class, print out and read the first half of hooks’ article, "Confronting Class in the Classroom" (underline important or confusing passages as you do so), and bring to class and turn in one written question in response to it
• discussion of proposal guidelines

• read the second half of hooks’ article, and bring to class one, two-part quote-and-question item about hooks' article, based on the John Seely Brown handout format (Dr. Engles will use these to put together a chart like the one on Seely Brown's article)
• BE SURE to bring the printed article to class, AND a hard copy of the two part question series you wrote

M SEP 29 Proposal Rough Draft due by tonight at 9 p.m.

T SEP 30 Open Writing Workshop

• in class, go to a classmate's web site and then post on your site a peer critique of his or her research proposal, in accordance with the peer review guidelines
• peer review pairings: Charles Armstrong/Lisa Chamberlin; Krysta Marshall/Tamrin Roscoe; Elizabeth Sieben/Marcia Buie; Marybeth Conrad/Kelly Deluca; Joelle Desco/Kari Natale; Nichole Sullivan/Janna Celeschi; Dustin Day/Kathryn Eichen; Melissa Mann/Emily Schwieder
• Proposal Draft Peer Critique (posting and e-mail message) due by 7 p.m. tonight

R OCT 2 Technology Workshop: Online Research, Selecting Reliable Sources

• Reading: review and generally familiarize yourself with the Blair Handbook, Chapter 57, "Social Sciences" (this chapter explains APA documentation style; this is the style most commonly used for business documents, and you'll be using it for your final report)
• by the end of class today (or by 5 p.m. Thursday at the latest), link to your assignment index an annotated bibliography of five sources (formatted in APA style) that will be useful in supporting and further shaping your research (use the criteria described in Blair, Chapter 15, to evaluate the apparent reliability of these sources); title this document "Working bibliography and research links," and link it to that section of your assignment index; throughout the rest of the semester, add links to any web sites that also become useful in your work for this class so that you can use this list of links as a handy gathering of online research sources; don't worry about setting things up in nice tables and boxes and so on--a straightforward list of annotated links is fine. Also, the items need to be in APA style, as described in The Blair Handbook, section 57d.18 & 19--list more than the name of the web site.

Week Seven (Discussion Room)

T OCT 7 Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege and Male Privilege: Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies”; since I can't come in today, today's directions have changed:

• turn in on Thursday a written analysis of one of the Internet sites linked to your online "Working Bibliography and Research Links" page that answers the "reporter's questions" about it, as described in the Blair Handbook, 219-24
• read the first half of McIntosh's article, and bring to class and turn in on Thursday one written question in response to it (a question that you yourself are wondering about, regarding anything at all in the article), along with your printed copy of her article
• click here for Self-commentary One assignment, and print it out; your response to it must be posted as a link to your ai.html by 5 p.m. Friday (10/10)
• check your e-mail for a message from Dr. Engles about your recent grades; if you don't have such a message yet, you will today or tomorrow

• read the second half of McIntosh's article, and along with the question you wrote for Tuesday, bring to class one, two-part question series about McIntosh's article, based on the bell hooks and J S Brown handouts format
• normal deadline rules begin with this assignment: fifteen points off for each day late; also, all assignments must be posted by this time--any previous assignments (including Self-commentary One) not posted by 5 p.m. Friday will receive a zero

Week Eight (Booth Computer Room [T] and Coleman Computer Room[R])

T OCT 14 Using Online Research Sources

• read before class in The Blair Handbook, Section 15b, "Electronic Resources," and Chapter 16, "Sources"
• bring your Blair Handbook to class
• Special Guest: Karen Whisler, EIU Librarian; instead of going to Coleman Hall, go to the Booth Library Computer Classroom, on the Fourth floor
• during class today, and by  9 p.m. tonight at the latest, add at least three new sources to your online working bibliography, based on the information given to you by Karen Whisler

• discussion of Preliminary Report Guidelines and other plans for the future

T OCT 21 Grammar Workshop: How to Use Commas

• conference sign-up sheet passed around in class today

• Homework to bring to class today: write and bring to class a one-page description of an especially good OR an especially bad oral presentation that you have given--what in particular went well, or didn't go well?  What would you do differently?
• In-class video: "Time to Stand and Deliver"
• Discussion of Oral Presentation Guidelines
• Oral presentation schedule and presentation peer review pairings handed out

Week Ten

T OCT 28 -- R OCT 30 NO CLASS: Conferences on oral presentations and preliminary report drafts

• bring to your conference two printed copies of your Preliminary Report Draft
• look closely at the writing style of your Preliminary Report Draft; find two or three areas of your writing that you still need to work on, and bring to your conference two or three labels for these problems (passive voice, commas, choppy sentence style, awkward sentence structure, wordiness, etc.); also, bring your Blair Handbook; be able to identify the sections in this book that offer advice on these particular problems; and tell Dr. Engles how you found this advice from the book helpful, or perhaps, unhelpful
• also be prepared to discuss your general plans for your Oral Presentation, and to ask any questions that you have about it

T NOV 4 and R NOV 6: Oral Presentations

• preliminary report final draft must be published by 10:00 p.m. Tuesday
• "Oral presentation peer critique” must be published one week after the second of the two presentations you critique
• “Self commentary on oral presentation” deadline: one week after your own presentation (both must be posted on your website, and you must also notify Dr. Engles via an e-mail message that you have posted each item); write and publish as a link to your assignment index a one-paragraph self-commentary on your oral presentation, answering these questions: How well do you think your presentation went? What would you do differently if you could do it again?  What did any of your classmates do that you think you could have done to improved your own presentation?

T NOV 11Oral Presentations: Don't go to Coleman Hall--Go to the Booth Library Conference Room, Room 4440, on the 4000-level

R NOV 13: Oral Presentations: Back in our regular discussion room

Week Thirteen (Discussion Room)

T NOV 18 Writing Workshop: Regarding the Final Report

• in-class: discussion of Final Report Guidelines
• Keep working all week on your report, including additional outside readings, interviews, observations, writing the report itself, and so on
• sign up for conferences on final report

• read before class: Blair Handbook, 395-400 (bring your book to class)
• after-class exercise (as soon as you can): (1)cut and paste a paragraph of at least five sentences TWICE from a classmate's final preliminary report into a blank Word page (find your partner's page here); (2) in the first version of the paragraph, identify in bold letters any "passive" verbs, and then in the second paragraph change them to "active" verbs (whether the sentences work better in passive or active voice); (3) save the two paragraphs as a Word document on your disc; (4) open your e-mail account in web e-mail, and send the revised version to your classmate AS AN ATTACHMENT (not in the body of the message) by Monday, December 1, at 10 p.m; (5) when you receive your partner's attached copy of two versions of your paragraph, open it in Word; (6) look over the changes, then write below the second paragraph a response to EACH changed sentence--do you think it works better in the context of your paragraph, or not?  also, write a couple of sentences in response to this question: do you think excessive use of passive voice is a problem in your writing?  (7) Then send this entire document (which is probably 1.5 or so pages) to Dr. Engles as an attachment (cftde@eiu.edu) by Wednesday, December 3, at 10 p.m.
• pairings for passive vs. active voice exercise: Kelly Deluca/Lisa Chamberlin; Janna Celeschi/Marcia Buie; Marybeth Conrad/Charles Armstrong; Kathryn Eichen/Kari Natale; Nichole Sullivan/Dustin Day; Elizabeth Sieben/Joelle Desco; Krysta Marshall does Melissa Mann's; Emily Schwieder does Krysta Marshall's; Melissa Mann does Emily Schwieder's

Week Fourteen

WORK HARD ALL WEEK ON YOUR FINAL REPORT, EVEN AFTER YOU GET THE ROUGH DRAFT PUBLISHED!!  Also, be sure to bring two printed copies of your rough draft to your conference.

T DEC 2 NO CLASS—Conferences on final report

• a rough draft of your final report must be published by noon today
• pairings for final draft peer critique: Kelly Deluca/Lisa Chamberlin; Janna Celeschi/Marcia Buie; Marybeth Conrad/Charles Armstrong; Kathryn Eichen/Kari Natale; Nichole Sullivan/Dustin Day; Elizabeth Sieben/Joelle Desco; Krysta Marshall does Melissa Mann's; Emily Schwieder does Krysta Marshall's; Melissa Mann does Emily Schwieder's

F DEC 5 peer review of a classmate's report draft must be published by noon today; also due at this time: an e-mail message to the person whose draft you critiqued, telling that person that your critique is published, and where it is (include the URL in your e-mail message)

Week Fifteen (Computer Room & Discussion Room)

T DEC 9 Writing Workshop: Revising and Editing, Revising versus Editing & Creating Internal Links, Fine-tuning Your Web Site

• Reading and Writing Assignment: Go to the Plain English Network and familiarize yourself with the site by clicking around and finding out what's there; then find their "major guidance document--WRITING USER-FRIENDLY DOCUMENTS," and peruse the online version (you can also print out a printable version). Find two sections of this guidance document containing advice that you think will be helpful toward editing your report; write down the titles of these two areas, and be able to tell the class why you found the advice they offer useful.
• For instructions on creating links within a page to another section in that page, click here.

• due date for the Final Draft of your Final Report (must be published by 5:00 p.m. today)
• Final Self-commentary must be published by Monday, Dec 15, at 5 p.m.; final fine-tuning of web site also must be done by this time
• Also by Monday at 5:00, write your final Formal Letter, make a hard copy and send it to your writer in the wild, AND send a copy of the letter in the body of an e-mail message (or as an attachment) to Dr. Engles (cftde@eiu.edu)