Course Description: English 246 is designed as an intensive writing class, focusing on writing in greater depth and sophistication in subject matter than those written in previous writing courses. Computer-assisted.

This particular section of English 246 focuses on technology's influence on thought, culture and writing. We will examine multiple texts including novels, essays and films and explore similar and conflicting themes among them. As you may know from reading other parts of the site that my research interests include technology and writing as well as the cultural impact of technology. That's why I'm concentrating on this course for research purposes in addition to the fun I will have while teaching it.

You will be asked to make your work public, to move your discourse beyond the classroom we share, and to construct an ethos for your audience that will make them recognize your authority, respect your approach to a topic, and seek out other texts you have written. You will write daily on your blog, read and comment on your classmates' blogs . Sometimes your blog postings will be prompted where I'll ask you to write on something specific, other times your posts will be a place you might respond to the readings and still other times you will write whatever you choose. The blog writing you do will make up the bulk of the writing you do in the class. This means you 'll have longer blog postings but these will not simply be an online version of an essay. Instead, these posts will include hyperlinks, self-references and other blog features you wish to include. While verbal style will be important in all of the writings you construct for the class, you will also have to consider the visual style you affect and recognize the possibilities and limitations of each medium.
 
 Required Texts
   All are available at Alamo ii and Barnes and Noble as well as amazon.com.
 
 Dick, Phillip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Del Rey, 1996. ISBN:0345404475
 
 Disch, Thomas. Camp Concentration. Vintage Books, 1999. ISBN:0375705457

 Gibson, William. Neuromancer. Ace Trade , 2000. ISBN:0441007465

 Stephenson, Neal. Snow Crash. Bantam Books, 2000. ISBN: 0553380958

 Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Norton, 1994. ISBN:0393964582

  Wells, H.G. with an Introduction by Greg Bear . The Time Machine . 
Signet Classics, 2002. ISBN: 0451528557.

Required Technology Access

You are required to create an online alias for the course and using that alias create a blog where you will write both in and outside of class. You are required to read your classmates' blogs and comment on them. I hope that you see this as a way to foster class discussions and a collaborative learning environment. You will learn more about this after the first day of class.

An email address that you check regularly.

Webspace: This is available free from the university using your W drive. I can show you how to do this as class progresses.

The computers in room 408 have Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, as well as FrontPage. You should become familiar with these programs because your final projects in this class should be web-based. This means you can create a website, hypertext or do something with blogs like I have in progress.

A Note to Technophobes

As is hinted at in the course description, we're going to be doing some heavy-duty work with technology. Regardless of your skill level, though, you will receive the support, guidance, and instruction you need to succeed in the class. It is not required or even important that you be a technical whiz; we'll all be working at different levels, with the technological goal of the class being only that everyone advances. Email or come see me ASAP if you need help.

Course Goals

*Critically examine cultural texts to understand the history, technologies, controversies, culture, and conflicts surrounding digital production.
*Explore digital media such as blogs and hypertext. Write in these media and reflect on our processes of composing.
*Use, adapt, and evaluate writing, design, and publishing software and languages for specific rhetorical purposes in digital contexts.
*Learn to evaluate and apply effective rhetorical principles of design in digital creations.
*Learn and apply strategies for collaborating successfully and equitably with peers on various activities and major projects using a variety of communication technologies.

Course Structure

We're going to use the three day-a-week structure to balance our course between theory and practice. Mondays will be primarily discussion days (which is why readings, are usually assigned on Fridays ). Wednesdays will be film days, presentation days, or further discussion days. Fridays will serve as our studio production time. Unlike many courses that rely on technology, I will not be giving long presentations on how to do this or that with a piece of software. Instead, you will use your own projects to guide your learning; my role (and the role of your classmates) will be to help you solve particular rhetorical, creative, and design problems. For example, I won't teach you how to fade an image out in Photoshop; rather, you will discover that you want to fade an image out in Photoshop, and we'll work together on helping you achieve that. In this class, we start with the problem, and then work to solve it.

Saving your Work & Back ups: I will not need the disks or jump drives where you back up your work. But you do need to save your work often and in multiple places. If you don't and your dog-like hard drive eats your data for lunch, you'll find yourself SOL. Always, always back up your data. computer failure is not a valid excuse for incomplete work, or work not turned in on time. Why? Because taking good care of your data is the number one rule of multimedia writing. Remember: it's not a matter of if your disk or computer will fail, but rather when.

Grading
for English 246 Spring Semester 2006

Attendance & Participation

Because we have so much to discuss and do, your attendance is important. You are allowed to miss three classes; your final grade will be lowered an entire letter for every absence thereafter. Do the math: miss 7 classes, and earn an instant F--even assuming you're doing A-quality work. I'm not interested in excused versus unexcused absences. Either you're here, or you're not.

Regarding Participation: Participation counts as 15% of your final grade. In order to earn a solid participation grade, you must come prepared to class by completing all of the readings (including the Reading Responses) and project work due on a given day, be an active part of our discussions and technology studio time, and work cooperatively with your colleagues.

Regarding group work: All members of your group are expected to share the workload. If problems arise within the group (e.g., someone's not pulling their share of the weight, etc.), please contact your instructor immediately, as it's often better to fix a group problem than it is to reduce someone's grade.

Regarding late work: I do not accept late work. Everything in our class has a due date (see Course Calendar), and I expect material you wish for me to grade to be in my possession at the start of class the day it is due. No exceptions, including technology failures.

Legal Issues

Any student needing to arrange a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability should contact Disability Concerns at 350 Fell Hall, 438-5853 (voice), 438-8620 (TDD).

Academic Dishonesty: I expect you to do your own work. Since you're writing in blogs you can easily link to your sources, other pages, references. We'll discuss how to cite Internet sources and so you will have the skills for avoiding plagiarism. If you are in doubt about a reference or citation, or the use of certain material in your work, please ask me.