WordPress.com



The New Yorker: Reading and Writing about Health and MedicineCourse: English 102Term: Summer 2008Instructor: Josh RoilandPhone: 314-550-9156Email: joshua.roiland@“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means.” —Joan Didion“What the mind doesn’t understand, it worships, or fears.” —Alice WalkerTextsA Pocket Style Manual, 4th Edition, Diana HackerThe New Yorker (online & handouts)Course Description: To become a better writer it is imperative that you read strong works of writing. Some of the best writing in America is in The New Yorker magazine, which we will use as our textbook. We will read more than 30 articles that appeared in The New Yorker during the last 10 years. These articles examine current issues and debates in the field of health and medicine. Although these articles may complement what you have already learned in your nursing education, or pique your interest into new areas of the health profession, this course is not intended to add to your medical training. This is a writing course whose theme is congruent to your major field of study. We will read, discuss, and write about the content and writing style of these articles. Each week you will complete a reading response based on the articles we read. In addition, you will write two formal papers. I strongly believe in the draft process; therefore, you will complete three distinct drafts of each of these two papers. Course Objective: This course has a very clear objective: to improve your writing skills. The best way to improve is, simply, to write, which you will do a lot. In order to achieve this goal it is also important to hone your reading skills so that you understand what makes a piece of writing strong, readable, informative, and enjoyable. Identifying how other writers achieve these goals will allow you to model similar strategies and components in your own work. Equally important to achieving our objective is that you commit yourself to the process model of writing; therefore, you will write three distinct drafts of each paper. As you write, I will work with you to help identify what works well and what needs work.RequirementsDaily reading & writingGroup DiscussionWriting Workshop Participation10 Reading Reflections2 Essays (3 drafts each)EvaluationPaper 1: 5 pgs. — 15%Paper 2: 10 pgs. — 40%Reading Reflections — 30%Class Participation —15%Departmental PoliciesAttendance: Our class will rely almost exclusively on classroom discussion. For this format to work, everyone needs to attend class; for this format to thrive, everyone attending class needs to actively participate. If you decide not to come to class, or if you come to class just for the sake of being there, so be it. But be clearly forewarned – your grade will severely reflect the consequences of your actions. After your fourth absence your grade will drop 1/3 (e.g. B- to C+) for each absence thereafter. If you accumulate eight or more absences you will automatically fail the course. I do not differentiate between excused or unexcused absences (except in the case of a death in the family). Should you be late, or absent, please have the courtesy to call and let me know ahead of time. You will be responsible for any notes and/or assignments you miss. Missing class is no excuse for not being prepared for the next class.? Academic Honesty: By remaining in this course you indicate that you have read and understood that statement.? The English and Communication Department’s standard policy for violations of academic honesty will apply in this course. Any student who plagiarizes any assignment will receive a zero for that assignment on the first offense; a second offense will result in course failure.? Please note that a zero is less than an F; therefore, a zero could jeopardize your ability to pass the course.? All offenses will be documented in a permanent departmental file of academic honesty violations.? This policy is nonnegotiable and does not distinguish between complete or partial plagiarism, intentional or “unintentional” plagiarism.? To be safe, simply cite the source if you reference or even allude to material from somewhere else. In submitting an essay for this class, you are certifying the following:This is original work, written by me for this class. I have not submitted this essay (or portions of it) for other courses, nor do I intend to submit it for another course. All writing and ideas presented here are completely my own. I understand that changing or rearranging a handful of words from another source constitutes plagiarism. I understand that copying sentence structure can constitute plagiarism. I realize that borrowing ideas without citing their original source(s) is another form of plagiarism. I have read and understand pages 185 through 188 of Diana Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual (4th edition). I realize that my instructor is available to help me with any problems I am having with the essay or to answer any questions about the paper before it is due, including questions about plagiarism or citation. I understand the English department’s policy on plagiarism and the consequences of plagiarism. Subject-to-Change ClauseThis syllabus is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion; such changes will be announced in class, and a revised schedule will be distributed if necessary.? It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of changes in policies or schedules.?Reading and Writing ScheduleWeek 17/14: Introduction 7/16: Joan Didion, “Why I Write”7/18: NO CLASSWeek 27/21:George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”7/23: Michael Schudson, from The Sociology of News7/25: No ReadingReading Reflection 1 DUEWeek 37/28: Jerome Groopman, “What’s the Trouble?”7/30:Atul Gawande, “The Checklist”8/1:Atul Gawande, “When Good Doctors Go Bad”*Week 48/4:Jerome Groopman, “A Model Patient”Reading Reflection 2 DUE8 6:Atul Gawande, “The Learning Curve”*8/8:Atul Gawande, “Desperate Measures”*Week 58/11:Richard Preston, “An Error in the Code”*Reading Reflection 3 DUE8/13:Jerome Groopman, “What’s Normal?”*8/15:Margaret Talbot, “The Bad Mother”Week 68/18:No ReadingPaper 1.1 DUE8/20:Katherine Boo, “Swamp Nurse”*8/22:Michael Specter, “Higher Risk”Week 7—CONFERENCES8/25:No ReadingReading Reflection 4 (in class)Paper 1.2 DUE8/27:Atul Gawande, “Piecework”8/29: NO CLASS—LABOR DAYWeek 89/1:NO CLASS—LABOR DAY9/3:Malcolm Gladwell, “High Prices”Paper 1.3 DUE9/5:Malcolm Gladwell, “The Moral-Hazard Myth”*Article not available through The New Yorker online archiveWeek 99/8:Cynthia Zarin, “An Enlarged Heart”Reading Reflection 5 DUE9/10:Laura Hillenbrand, “A Sudden Illness”*9/12:Daphne Merkin, “The Black Season”*Week 109/15:Jerome Groopman, “Second Opinion”*Reading Reflection 6 DUE9/17:Alice Trillin, “Betting Your Life”*9/19: Atul Gawande, “The Bell Curve” Week 119/22:Jerome Groopman, “The Right to a Trial”Reading Reflection 7 DUE9/24:Carl Elliot, “Guinea Pigging”9/26:No ReadingPaper 2.1 DUE Week 129/29:Atul Gawande, “The Itch”Reading Reflection 8 DUE10/1:Jerome Groopman, “The Colic Connundrum”*10/3:Atul Gawande, “Cold Comfort”*Week 1310/6:Jerome Groopman, “Being There”*Reading Reflection 9 DUE10/8:Jerome Groopman, “The Grief Industry”10/10:No ReadingPaper 2.2 DUEWeek 14—CONFERENCES10/13: Atul Gawande, “The Score”10/15: Jerome Groopman, “The Preeclampsia Puzzle”10/17: Wendy Wasserstein, “Complications”Reading Reflection 10 DUEWeek 1510/20: Judith Thurman, “The Fast Lane”*10/22: Joan Acocella, “A Few Too Many”10/25:FINAL PAPER DUE*Article not available through The New Yorker online archive ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download