student writing handbook 1st edition
STUDENT Writing Handbook 1st Edition Editorial Team – e Faculty Senate Writing and Reading Subcommittee Dan Melzer, University Reading and Writing Coordinator Sheri Hembree, Child Development Virginia Kidd, Communication Studies Fiona Glade, English Department and Graduation Writing Assessment Coordinator Greg Wheeler, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies Elaine McCollom, Learning Skills Jude Antonyappan, Social Work Contributors: Nancy Alkema, student Merrikay Boylan, Family and Consumer Sciences Brad Baker, Chemistry Laura Basini, Music Ellen Berg, Sociology Robby Ching, Learning Skills Coordinator Dana Ferris, English Peter Detwiler, Public Policy and Administration Fiona Glade, English Department and Graduation Writing Assessment Coordinator Linda Goff, Library Lisa Hammersley, Geology Amy Heckathorn, Writing Programs Coordinator Sheri Hembree, Child Development Virginia Kidd, Communication Studies Cynthia Linville, English Rani Marcos, student Todd Migliaccio, Sociology Ronald Moore, student Wendy Nelson, Anthropology Elaine O’Brien, Art Mary Reddick, Library Cherryl Smith, English Mark Stoner, Communication Studies Roger Sullivan, Anthropology Nathan Trueblood, Biology Kristin Van Gaasbeck, Economics Jim Wanket, Geography © Copyright 2009, Dan Melzer and the Sacramento State University Writing and Reading Subcommittee Table of Contents Part I: About the Campus Writing Programs at Sacramento State Campus Writing Programs Flow Chart . 2 University Writing Rubric . 3 Preparatory Writing Courses 6 College Composition Courses 7 Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) 9 Writing Intensive Courses 11 The Learning Skills Center . 12 The University Writing Center . 14 The Library . 15 Part II: University Writing, Reading, and Researching Processes An Overview of University Writing What is “Academic” Writing? . 18 Multilingual Students and College Writing 23 The Rhetorical Situation . 28 Responses to Rhetorical Situations: Genres . 31 Writing Critical Analyses and Academic Arguments . 34 Advice for College Writing Processes 36 Understanding College Writing Assignments . 37 Strategies for Finding Topics 39 Drafting and Revising . 42 Editing and Proofreading Techniques . 45 Strategies for Timed Writing 47 Peer Response 49 Writing in Groups . 52 Writing Portfolios . 56 Visual Rhetoric (Graphs, Charts, Web Sites, and More) 58 Advice for College Reading Processes College Reading is Critical Reading . 67 Reading Difficult College Texts 70 College Reading Purposes . 77 Advice for College Researching Processes College Research as Inquiry . 79 Finding a Research Question 81 Locating Sources (Books, Databases, Surveys, Interviews, and More) 84 Evaluating Sources 94 Integrating Sources . 96 Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism 103 Part III: Writing across the Curriculum at Sacramento State Writing and Researching in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics . 106 Writing and Researching in the Social Sciences . 118 Writing and Researching in the Arts and Humanities . 137 Writing and Researching in Business and Professional Communications . 152 Documentation Styles CSE . 169 APA . 173 MLA . 176 Other Citation Styles . 180 Preface Your Writing Career at Sacramento State University As you progress in your career at Sacramento State, you’re going to grow significantly as a writer and a thinker. In every department, your instructors are going to use writing as a tool for learning and critical thinking. You’ll read challenging and interesting texts and write about your responses to what you’re reading. You’ll conduct research to find out what others have said and thought about the issue and ideas you’re exploring in your classes, and you’ll do some of your own original research as well to join in the conversation. You’ll use writing to evaluate the research you’ve read and communicate the original research you’ve done. Remember that writing at the university is about much more than just grammar and mechanics. The most important purposes of writing in college are to communicate your ideas to readers, think critically about the content of your classes, and develop the ability to write to a variety of audiences for a variety of purposes. Sacramento State offers you a sequence of classes that will give you writing- intensive experiences at each stage in your university career. At the first-year level, there are a variety of composition courses available that will introduce you to college-level writing and writing as a process, with opportunities to revise and get feedback from your peers and your teacher. At the sophomore level, English 20 will help you make the transition from General Education to writing, reading, and researching in your major. At the junior level, you’ll take a course designated Writing Intensive. This course will have a small class size, frequent writing, and plenty of opportunities to get feedback on your writing. If you need a little more practice with college writing before you take the Writing Intensive course, you can elect to take English 109W, a junior-level writing course, rather than taking the WPJ (Writing Placement Junior Level). Academic departments at Sacramento State use writing assignments to help students learn the content of the major and the kinds of writing that professionals in the major do, and many majors have a capstone course that asks you to write a substantial culminating essay or report. No matter what you major in, when you graduate from Sacramento State you can expect to do a lot of writing on the job, so remember that the writing you do at Sacramento State will help prepare you for life after college. We have high expectations for your writing and quality of thinking at Sacramento State, but we also provide a lot of support to help you grow as a writer. The Learning Skills Center offers writing classes and tutoring for students who need some extra help. The University Writing Center, located in 128 Calaveras Hall, offers free one-on-one help for writing for students in any course. Don’t forget that your instructors are also a great resource for help with your writing. Don’t be shy about dropping by their office hours or making appointments with them to get help with your writing for their classes. We hope that this handbook will also be a helpful resource to you throughout your writing career at Sacramento State. Faculty Senate Writing and Reading Subcommittee 1 About the Campus Writing Programs at Sacramento State University In this first section of the student writing handbook, you’ll get an overview of the programs and resources on campus that are designed to help you with the reading, writing, and researching you’ll do in college. These resources include • the Learning Skills Center • English Composition courses like ENGL1, ENGL1A, and ENGL20 • the University Writing Center • Writing Intensive courses • the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement • the Library To help you get a sense of how Sacramento State has sequenced writing courses, the next page includes a flow chart of the entire program. 2 English Placement test (if not exempt) Score of 148+ 146-147 142-145 141 or less English 1A or English 2 English 1A + 1x English 2 + 2x English 1 or LS87 LS15 or LS86 English 1A English 2 English 20 or English 20M or Equivalent Upper Division Placement Students may choose either: English 109W of 109M 3-unit course which ends with portfolio placement in one of the following: WPJ (Writing Placement for Juniors) Placement exam which gives one of the following placements: 3 units: Upper Division Writing Intensive Course 4 units: Upper Division Writing Intensive Course + 109x 6 units: English 109W/M then Upper-Division Writing Intensive Course 10 units: LS86 (4U) the English 109M, then Upper-Division Writing Intensive Course Sacramento State University Comprehensive Campus Writing Programs Flow Chart 3 Sacramento State University Writing Rubric The following rubric was created by the Faculty Senate Subcommittee for Writing and Reading. It is meant as a useful guide but not an absolute standard for the university: writing criteria will vary from instructor to instructor and discipline to discipline. An “A” paper: A paper in this category • Addresses the assignment thoughtfully and analytically, setting a challenging task • Does not demonstrate a need for more revision. • Displays awareness of and purpose in communicating to an audience. • Establishes a clearly focused controlling idea. • Demonstrates coherent and rhetorically sophisticated organization; makes effective connections between ideas. • Provides clear generalizations with specific detail and compelling support and analysis. • Cites relevant sources and evaluates their validity, effectively integrating them into the text when appropriate. • Displays evidence of careful editing with superior control of grammar and mechanics appropriate to the assignment. Guideline for multilingual writers: Grammatical errors are rare and do not interfere with overall effectiveness of paper; occasional imprecision in word choice and usage may occur. A “B” paper: A paper in this category • Addresses the assignment clearly and analytically, setting a meaningful task. • Does not demonstrate a need for significantly more revision. • Addresses audience needs and expectations. • Establishes a clearly focused controlling idea. • Demonstrates clear and coherent organization. • Provides clear generalizations and effective support and analysis. • Cites relevant sources, effectively integrating them into the text when appropriate. • Displays evidence of careful editing with consistent control of grammar and mechanics appropriate to the assignment and the discipline. 4 Guideline for multilingual writers: Some grammatical errors may occur throughout the paper but do not interfere with overall effectiveness; occasional inappropriate word choice or incorrect usage may occur. A “C” paper: A paper in this category Addresses the assignment with some analysis. • Demonstrates some need for further revision. • Addresses most audience needs and expectations. • Establishes a controlling idea. • Demonstrates adequate organization. • Provides support for and some analysis of generalizations. • Cites appropriate sources, adequately integrating them into text. • Displays evidence of editing with adequate control of grammar and mechanics appropriate to the assignment. Errors do not slow the reader, impede understanding, or seriously undermine the authority of the writer. Guideline for multilingual writers: Grammatical errors, inappropriate word choice, or incorrect usage may occur throughout the paper but rarely interfere with effective communication. A “D” paper has some of the following qualities: A paper in this category • Does not address the assignment adequately. • Demonstrates a need for significantly more revision. • Does not show sufficient audience awareness. • Strays from the controlling idea, or the idea is unclear. • Displays random or confusing organization. • Lacks generalizations, or gives generalizations but does not provide support or analysis. • Does not cite sources or does not cite and/or integrate sources appropriately. • Needs significant editing for grammar and mechanics; errors impede understanding. . STUDENT Writing Handbook 1st Edition Editorial Team – e Faculty Senate Writing and Reading Subcommittee Dan Melzer, University Reading and Writing. a week for students to come in and talk about their work-in-progress with another student. The student- tutors are undergraduate and graduate students who