English 113 Expository Writing I Variants
Spring 2010

Course Descriptions

In the Field: Nature and Writing 113.04
Peschiera, Pablo

As a people, we’ve basically conquered nature: we can keep ourselves comfortable in the harshest locations (Antarctica, Mojave Desert), and can thrive in dangerous ones (flood zones, hurricane zones, tornado zones, earthquake zones, etc.) if we choose to. So, why is nature still our antagonist in popular literature and culture? Why do we travel to see and do things that are, logically, dangerous to our health and/or damaging to our lives? Recent movies like Into the Wild and Touching the Void show us that people continually, naively, place themselves in unfamiliar, unusual, and harmful situations. In this English 113 course, we will read about when humans struggle against nature, themselves, and/or the stress of dislocation. We will read explorations of our world today, in many of our world’s strangest locations. Most importantly, we will investigate language and writing: what makes a good essay, and a good piece of writing? Why are we drawn into a piece of writing, and what makes us keep reading it? We will develop ideas that allow you to write about these subjects using familiar and new methods. Introduced to new writing and rewriting concepts and Hope College’s knowledge resources, you will formulate/learn comprehensive writing techniques that can be used in various situations, and your writing will grow stronger from the coursework and assignments.

American Lives 113.01
Dykstra, Natalie

This is an introductory writing course that will explore American lives by focusing on three key themes of American life: work and play, the American frontier, and citizenship. How is our work ethic specifically American? How did it develop over time? How do our notions about work impact our own lives? What was the effect of the West on the development of the country and its values? Where is the West and what is a Western? Who is a citizen and what does citizenship require of us? Are there those who are excluded from full citizenship and why? To consider these questions and more, we will be using a variety of interdisciplinary evidence, including literature, autobiography, film, and historical sources. Finally, this class is an occasion to learn to write clearly, persuasively, and with authority. To that end, class time will be devoted primarily to discussion and writing workshops.

The Third Wave: Feminism Now 113.11
Vissers, Carla

"I'm not a feminist, but . . ." Often young women (and men!) utter this phrase as preamble to a statement that truly is feminist--that is, a statement expressing belief in and support for the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. So why are some young people reluctant to identify themselves as feminists these days? How has feminism gotten such a bad rap? In this class we will explore the complexities of feminism in the 21st century through film, assigned reading, class discussion, and most importantly, your own writing.

This class focuses heavily on the writing process, which means you’ll be writing several drafts of each essay, sharing drafts in class workshops with your peers, and turning in a final portfolio of your work at semester’s end.

You don't have to be a woman to be interested in this topic. Men are welcome!!

Crime and Punishment 113.02
Hemenway, Stephen I.

Did your mom or dad or grandparents take this same course from me? I have offered it for 38 years; only the books and faces have changed. This is your chance to play Erin Brockovich or James Bond or Ralph Nader or Agatha Christie, hot on the trail of clues leading to the exposure of past or current problems of law and order, cops and robbers, race and gender, crime and punishment. Readings, written exercises and experiments, compositions, research projects, interviews, discussions, and classroom capers will focus on such significant issues as prison conditions, crimes against women and minorities, biological terrorism, drinking laws, the Holocaust, environmental crimes. With luck and skill, you may write the perfect crime or, at least, the perfect expository essay.

Several classes will be devoted to writing workshops where you will read and comment on early and polished drafts of papers by class members. TV programs and occasional films may supplement the reading material.

Wit, Wisdom, Wizardry 113.02
Lunderberg, Marla

When you have to make a difficult decision, how do you proceed? Do you carefully analyze the circumstances and rationally weigh your options? Do you cry, “It’s not my fault!” and lash out at the world that forced the decision upon you? Do you close your eyes, grit your teeth, and just accept whatever wild ride you’re on, vaguely hoping for the best?

In this class, we’ll read several novels together, looking at how different characters approach the process of decision-making. We’ll discuss different factors that affect their decisions, from family expectations and gender issues, to friendships and special talents. We’ll write about ourselves and how we make our own decisions, as well as about these characters and what we can learn from them. Writing for this course will include daily reading responses, several short essays and a research paper.

Rethinking Health 113.06
Douglas, Kim M.

Are you confident that the barrage of information you are receiving about nutrition and exercise is accurate? How do you know which claims to believe? How can you make scientifically-informed decisions to prevent or lose the “freshman fifteen” and to prevent digging your grave with your fork? What nutritional and lifestyle choices are backed with gold standard research? Atkins? South Beach? Low-fat? Grapefruit? Vegan? What about vitamin supplements? Do we need them? Can they be dangerous? What about exercise? How do we make time in our busy lives to fit in daily exercise? How much? How little? What kind? Help!!!! Are there any simple answers?

This course will investigate a topic that is featured in the news and drives many of the cultural and scientific debates of our day—from national concerns about the rise in obesity and food-related diseases like diabetes, to local issues like school lunch programs and farmers’ markets, to family matters like “What’s for dinner?” To enhance our investigation we will read Dr. T. Colin Cambell’s “The China Study”—the largest and most scholarly nutritional study ever conducted. We will also view several films and welcome guest speakers—vegetarians, vegans and fitness trainers—to find out why they have made the nutritional and activity choices they have made. We will explore controversies around wellness to make educated and intelligent decisions about how to eat and maintain fitness levels so that we live healthy lives. Class activities will involve keeping an on-going focused journal, writing essays, and conducting collaborative or individual research. Writing workshops and peer review will help us revise our essays in order to create a portfolio to showcase our own original writing.

Author, Purpose, Audience 113.05
Mezeske, Barbara

Are you interested in becoming a better writer? Love the idea of spending a cold January afternoon in the library surrounded with piles of books on a topic that intrigues you? Want to develop habits of thinking and core writing skills that are highly valued both in academics and in "the real world"? Join us!

We'll read and write a lot. And we'll work together to help each of us learn about
• Author: discover situations that call for your response, create essays that honor your personal investment in your topic
• Purpose: be clear on what you want your readers to understand as a result of reading your words and learn ways to construct essays in order to achieve this goal
• Audience: appeal to readers, support your argument, anticipate other points of view

Read as a writer, analyze arguments, investigate topics you're curious about, develop your own fresh perspectives, participate in larger conversations through use of sources and write pieces that will win your readers' minds and hearts. You can do it!

Stephen King 113.07
Verduin, Kathleen

Is Stephen King a “good” writer—or is his tremendous popularity just a sign of the depraved tastes of contemporary America? Should his fiction be considered “literature”—and does it belong in the college classroom? Does he engage—intellectually, morally, spiritually—any serious issues, or should he be discredited as trash? These questions will underlie our discussions, and we will concentrate on two of King’s novels, The Shining and The Green Mile, to try to sort out his concepts of human nature, American culture, the tradition of gothic horror, and the good and evil. We’ll also take in a few film versions of King’s work. But we will also consider King as a fellow writer, involved as we are in thinking, studying, doing research, and learning to convey meaning through words. Lots of reading, writing, conversations. Not for the timid.

Seminar in Academic Writing 113.09
Cole, Ernest

This course will orient you to the world of expository writing and will provide a solid preparation for the written assignments you will encounter throughout your course work at Hope College. Our work together will emphasize writing as a process and it will focus on exploring, planning, and organization of complex ideas, editing and revising of drafts, and developing writing skills through effective means of organization, support and justification of ideas. As such, students will read intellectually intriguing essays, engage in writing workshops that focus on developing a clear and coherent expository style of writing, craft individual and critical responses, construct unified and coherent paragraphs, and contribute to the dialogue that about writing that would emerge from our classroom responses. By the end of the semester, you should have generated at least 28 pages of polished prose.

Hip Hop Globe 113.10
Young-Tait, Jennifer

What is your perception of rap music and Hip Hop culture? Do you recognize the various forms that exist within the genre? Some of the subgenres include narrative, threnody, ballad, party anthem, autobiography, politics, ensemble, spiritual, and self-aggrandizement. Lyricism has come a long way from the boogie-down Bronx in the 1970s! Now artists spit in a multitude of languages—Spanish, Italian, Swahili, German, Japanese, and French, to name a few. In this course students will read, listen, investigate, research, and write about rap music from artists inside and outside of the United States. Don't worry. We will listen to as much English-speaking global rap as we can. The course has two components: 1) the external contribution of international rap artists to the global Hip-Hop community and, 2) the integration of their value systems and cultural aesthetics to make their music distinct. Students will be required to complete weekly reading and writing assignments along with a writing portfolio and presentation.

Writing Your Life 113.08
James, David

Relative freedom of choice, plenty of interaction among peers and between students and prof, and multiple opportunities to revise writings before final evaluation will headline this workshop-driven writing course. Choices will include what to write about and how much to revise after initial submissions. With final works to be collected in a portfolio at semester’s end, students will not only learn more about themselves by writing, but also about the worlds of others around them and how to communicate effectively in various modes (narrative, informative, investigative, and persuasive), for various audiences (informal to formal), and to serve various purposes (to entertain, inform, persuade, inspire). The course’s readings and activities will suggest many options and inspire creative possibilities. People who like, or are willing to learn to like, examining and expressing what is important to them; who, with acclimation and practice, will not be bashful about discussing such things in critically thoughtful ways; and who do not procrastinate will thrive best in this self-motivated course.

Lewis and Tolkien: The Oxford Fantasists  113.12
Schakel, Peter

The immense popularity of fantasy literature in the latter half of the twentieth century is directly attributable to the influence of two friends living, teaching, and writing in Oxford, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. This course will examine the lives and works of these two writers, and fantasy as a literary form: definitions and theories of it, and examples of it by Lewis and Tolkien. We will discuss such topics as, What is fantasy? Why do people like to read (and write) fantasy? What does fantasy have to do with reality?

The course will give more attention to Lewis than Tolkien because Lewis's interest in education (especially liberal education), and his concern for good writing make him an appropriate subject for English 113. We will consider what a liberal arts college and a liberal education are, and how you can take fullest advantage of the opportunities your years at Hope will offer you. We will also consider connections between fantasy and education: how could one justify including fantasy in a liberal education? Is there anything educational about fantasy (can one learn from—-or through-—fantasy, as well as be entertained by it)? What in the end is the worth or value of fantasy as a literary form?

This is, first and foremost, a writing class, not a literature class or class on Fantasy. The emphasis will be on expository (that is, essay) writing--on improving and developing the kind of writing skills you will use throughout your college years. But the course will also involve a good deal of reading, including The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Last Battle, Out of the Silent Planet, Surprised by Joy, The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, and essays by both Lewis and Tolkien.

The Creative Impulse 113.13
Rappleye, Greg

Why do writers, painters, sculptors, playwrights, musicians and dancers do what they do? Are creative artists different from the rest of us? How do they nurture their creativity? What are their creative habits? In “The Creative Impulse” we will explore these and related questions. Our reading will include The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use it for Life by Twyla Tharp and The Collected Works of Flannery O’Connor, as well as several handouts. We will watch two films, and you will be encouraged to attend exhibitions, readings, concerts and plays. We will have lively class discussions, and you will write four short essays, participate in a group presentation, and write a longer research paper. We will utilize the “workshop” format for the discussion of each other’s work. Each student will assemble a final portfolio that will contain all five papers and a very brief introductory statement. We will also receive some expert training in how to use the Van Wylen Library. The ultimate objective of this course is to make you a better writer and critical thinker.

The Will to Survive 113.14
Moreau, Bill

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The Body Project 113.15
Burton, Rhoda

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Writer's Workshop: The Power of Words 113.16
Aslanian, Janice B.

What do Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, King’s I Have a Dream, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address have in common? How did mere words have the power to produce profound political and social change? How can the command of language stimulate people to think, behave, and act in ways that transform humanity? How can you acquire this dynamic power?

According to Professor Peter Elbow, author of Writing with Power, “Power means the power to make a difference, to make a dent…you want power in your words to transfix readers and make them hear what they don’t want to hear or give them an experience they didn’t set out to have…”.

No matter what your future profession will be, the art of incisive writing can influence thinking, alter decisions, and impact lives. Learn how to unleash your writing power by constructing essays that are clearly and authoritatively written.

This combination lecture/workshop class will develop your ability to write confidently and persuasively. In addition to classroom discussion, you spend time in the computer lab drafting, revising, and critiquing your papers. You will polish your “works in progress” throughout the semester and submit them in a portfolio for a final grade at the end of the term.

Approaching Life 113.17
Emerson, Derek

If Zorba is happy, he dances. If Zorba is sad, he dances. Christopher knows he will have a good day when he sees a red car. Yellow car? Bad day. We share the same planet, same college campus, and same college classroom, yet we approach life differently. What is your approach to life? Are other people simply wrong, or do they offer us a new way to approach life? We will read two very different novels, Zorba the Greek and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which explore how people approach the world. We will write about how we approach the world and whether we think that is the way we should continue.

Neuroscience and Identity 113.18
Bartley, Jackie

In this class, we consider the nature of identity through your writing and through the writing of professionals like neuroscientist Oliver Sacks, science writer Jonah Lehrer, and poet and prose writer Dianne Ackerman. We use one key text and a number of ancillary texts to develop questions for further research. You keep a journal, workshop rough drafts of your essays, and participate in discussions about the readings. In addition, you gain expertise in library and computer research methods. Evaluation reflects your development as a writer as well as you in-class contributions.

Perception, Power, Difference 113.19
Cho, David

This section of English 113 will be focusing on the over-arching theme of differing "Theories of Perception, Power, and Difference." Along with examining various issues in Composition and Rhetoric, to help prepare us for writing academic essays, we will also be looking at essays written by individuals like John Berger, Mary Louise Pratt, and Michel Foucault, respectively, to give us a very broad and challenging range of ideas, definitions, terms, to grapple with intellectually, and for their many applications to other academic and "real-life" contexts. These essays can be found in Gail Stygall's Reading Context. Also, in light of Hope College's commitment to researching and teaching on issues of culture, diversity, and race, (Phelps Scholars Program, IDS Courses, Mission Statement), we will also use our essays as a foundation for us to help in considering issues of race, ethnicity, and difference, using Beverly Daniel Tatum's somewhat oxymoronic title, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting in the Cafeteria Together?, along with a novel, John Okada's No-No Boy, which fictionally delves into a very non-heralded portion of American history and letters, namely the "internment" of Japanese Americans across the West Coast, during WWII and afterwards.

Crichton's Jurassic Park 113.20
Smith, Richard

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