Our main vehicle this semester for course content will be the Course Website, but it is linked to Canvas, which we may use for some things, such as discussion posts or for accessing video. We will not use the Canvas Gradebook; instead, the Grade Sheet on our Course Notes page (on the course website) will help you track assignments and grades.

We will use two texts for the course to help you learn about sports and the writing process. These texts are not superfluous or an unnecessary expense but rather helpful resources. We will use in them class, and you will use them outside of class to help you become a more effective writer. The following acronyms are used on the Reading Schedule.

Introductory writing classes provide an essential foundation of communication skills on which students can build throughout the rest of their university careers and beyond. They develop students' skills in analyzing audience, structuring written documents, and understanding and applying the conventions of effective writing. Subsequent writing courses build upon these skills by helping students learn to locate sources, critically analyze information, and synthesize their ideas with those of others to write well-supported academic arguments. They also provide an essential starting point for the more specialized writing students will be expected to do in the future within their fields of study.

The General Education Program Learning Outcomes for Written Communication (Foundation Level) are as follows:

• Compose an articulate, thoughtful, grammatically correct, and logically organized piece of writing with properly documented and supported ideas, evidence, and information suitable to the topic, purpose, genre, and audience.
• Apply your understanding of elements that shape successful writing to critique and improve your own and others’ writing through effective and useful feedback.

This section of First-Year Composition 101 is a writing-intensive course that will focus on sports, mainly in the United States. Like all writing courses, this course is designed to give you experience writing for various purposes, for various audiences, and in different contexts. More than just a knowledge of "good grammar," effective writing requires a range of activities, from invention and planning to drafting and revising, activities that you will practice throughout the semester. All of our assignments, however, will examine ideas about the meaning of sport in our society and how sport shapes our culture and our sense of identity. No one can doubt the central role of sport in our society today, and even throughout the world, so it makes sense to explore why this is the case through reading, thinking, discussing, and writing. Why are we so interested in, obsessed with, and attracted to sport? The appeal of sport has to be more than its entertainment value. Of course, the most notable sports cliche--life is like a game (or is it a game?)--underscores the significance of sports for us.

Through sports journalism, popular culture, and literary analysis, we will try to gain insights into these questions. You will find your own experience with sport--either as spectators, participants, or both--is a key source of your knowledge and understanding about it. In addition to thinking carefully about sport as a subject for writing, you will

• Understand how writing is a way of sharing information, expressing viewpoints, bringing about social change, and connecting people, all essential for an inclusive democracy
• Analyze the relationship between the writer and his and her audience as well as the contexts that shape the writing about sport as well as other types of writing
• Integrate reading, planning, drafting, peer review, editing, revision, and proofreading into the writing process with a focus on grammatical correctness to acheive effective written communication
• Express an understanding of the ways in which sport is a microcosm of society.

Texts

Text Rental

The St. Martin's Guide to Writing. Axelrod and Cooper. 13th ed., Bedford/St. Martin's P, 2022

Sports in Literature. Bruce Emra. 2nd. ed., National Textbook Co., 2000

During the semester, you will complete weekly and longer-term writing assignments dealing with the topic of sports. Class discussions will be the most informative and helpful if the reading assignments have been carefully thought over and all students participate and share ideas. To prepare for class discussions, it will be helpful to take notes. Note key passages or language that points to central concerns or ideas in the reading assignments. Write out key ideas and concepts along with your thoughts and questions that you have. Throughout the semester you will be required to complete planning assignments and rough drafts. Please be prepared to bring these to class to share with classmates so that we can discuss them and make suggestions for improving them.

There will be weekly writing assignments, peer review assignments, and essays. The course grade will be determined mathematically using the percentages below. Please remember that your course grade will be based on the work that you submit, not simply on the effort you make and not on my subjective opinion.

All work must be completed on time. It is your responsibility to keep copies of all of your planning work, assignments, and quizzes. Some assignments may be submitted via email, and email communication will be required throughout the semester.

Late Assignment Policy: Assignments/essays due on a given day must be submitted at the beginning of the class period. An assignment/essay that is finished but not printed out and ready to hand in is late.

Late weekly assignments will be accepted one day after the original due date, but will lose one letter grade or the point equivalent. After that, they will not be accepted. (Assignments due on Friday that are late must be turned in Friday by 5pm.) Assignments due electronically must be received by the day and time specified. Late email assignments will be accepted 24hrs from the original due date. For any special circumstances, please contact me ahead of time. No incompletes will given in the course.

Essays or Assigns submitted late will lose 1/3 of a letter grade each day they are late, including weekends (e.g., original grade B. Two days late, C+). For any special circumstances, please contact me ahead of time. It may not be possible to make up some quizzes or assignments.

Peer review: Peer review days are very important because you will receive specific, targeted feedback about your essays and, in turn, provide feedback for a writing partner. This process will help you become a more effective writer. Peer review days are mandatory. If you miss them, you will lose all peer review points. If you do not have all of the required documents, properly prepared, you will lose points for peer review and your essay grade may be lowered too.

For any special circumstances, please contact me ahead of time. It may not be possible to make up a missed peer review class.

Regular attendance is your responsibility and is essential for success in the course. As stated in the online UWSP Course Catalog (UWSP Course Catalog pgs 25-26), you cannot "cut" classes.

There are no excused or unexcused absences in this course.  The only relevant factor is your number of absences.  However, you have personal days to use and manage as needed: For three-days-a-week classes: 5.  For two-days-a-week classes: 3.  Use personal days for family situations or sickness.  Be careful not to squander them.