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Course Description Google Meet link: meet.google.com/qge-kufr-jwq The Google Classroom code: 4whm4ar Argumentative essays are essays that attempt to establish a position regarding a particular topic. They require the synthesis of a number of writing skills, including description, summary, interpretation, analysis, argument, and counterargument. The writing sections of standardized tests like the GRE and TOEFL test for these skills, and they do so for good reason. This genre of writing is practiced throughout the sciences and humanities, and many of the scholarly publications in these fields are, in essence, argumentative essays. In this course, students will go through a guided process of reading, prewriting, writing, revising, editing, and rewriting. Throughout this process, they will receive and incorporate feedback from their instructor and from their peers. Students will thereby sharpen their academic writing skills and produce two argumentative essays over the course of the semester. Course Aims The central aim of this course is to enhance students’ academic writing abilities in English. Students will learn how to • read and respond to a writing assignment; • quote, paraphrase, and summarize sources accurately; • develop a thesis, defend it with arguments, and anticipate and refute counterarguments; • organize an essay; • title an essay; • structure a paragraph; • write introductions and conclusions; • compare and contrast distinct positions regarding a given issue; • cite sources, evaluate their reliability, and use them in a variety of ways; • recognize plagiarism and other misuse of sources; • revise and edit an essay; and • respond thoughtfully to a peer’s essay and to peers’ comments on their own essays.

Policy Regarding Plagiarism To take someone else’s words or ideas and present them as your own is plagiarism. Sometime before your first writing assignment is due, I will devote one of our class meetings to the issue of plagiarism to make sure that you understand what it is. If I discover that you’ve plagiarized on one of your assignments, I will give you a zero for that assignment. Formatting Your Assignments You are required to submit a digital copy of every assignment. Your assignments should be typed and double-spaced, in 12 point font. Include your name and the title of your assignment at the top of the page.

Essay 1 (3-4 pages): 40% and Essay 2 (3-4 pages): 40% • Essays will be graded on a letter scale. Pre-draft assignments (summaries and introductions: about 1 page each) and drafts: 10% • Pre-draft assignments and drafts will be graded pass-fail. Students who submit a completed assignment on time will receive full credit. Attendance and participation: 10% • The attendance-and-participation grade for weeks 1 and 18 (the flexible teaching weeks) will be determined by whether students submit the take-home activities on time (see the course schedule below for more information). Late assignments will be penalized. There will be no exams for this course.

Course handouts De Cruz, Helen (2020, 10 July). The necessity of awe. Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/how-awedrives- scientists-to-make-a-leap-into-the-unknown Ivanova, Milena (2021, 2 December). The beautiful experiment. Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/ when-is-a-scientific-experiment-like-a-beautiful-work-of-art Rees, Martin (2020, 26 May). The good scientist. Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/how-canscientists- best-address-the-problems-of-today-and-the-future Strevens, Michael (2020, 19 November). Keep science irrational. Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/ an-irrational-constraint-is-the-motivating-force-in-modern-science