syllabus

Learning About America From Americans Living Abroad


Bob Eckhart
eckhart.5@osu.edu
559 Denney Hall
Office Hours: 8:30-9:30 T


English 367.01C
TR 9:30-11:18
308 Denney Hall


Required textbooks: none


Grading Scale:
Blog #1 (8 500-word papers @ 5pts. each) 40%
Blog #2 30%
Attendance/Participation 20%
Final Exam (take-home) 10%


Course Policies:
You must attend class every day unless you are sick or otherwise excused (in advance or immediately after missing class). You will lose 2 points off your Attendance grade for every unexcused absence. There will be no opportunity to plagiarize, I don’t think…so that should not be an issue. If it is an issue, it will be dealt with according to English Department and University guidelines.


Office of Disability Services:
Ohio State has an outstanding office to support the academic pursuits of students with disabilities. Please consult me (or them directly, at 292-3307… http://www.ods.ohio-state.edu/ ) if you would like more information.


Course Description:
Available on the course weblog: http://osuenglish367.blogspot.com/

first-day assignment

i would like you to establish your blog #1 today. this is easily accomplished by going through blogger.com .........create an account, then create a blog.....

i would like your blog #1 to have the following URL:

osuenglish367(firstname).blogspot.com

so, all you have to do is use the same URL that i am using for the class blog, and add your first name to it.....................after you have done this, please write your first post--a short message with some information about yourself......

welcome to english 367.01c

hi class.....i hope you are excited about computers and willing to learn some new things. of course for some of you, "blogging" might be part of your life already. if so, the concept behind this class needs no introduction.

otherwise, let me tell you what we will be doing this quarter. many individuals--just like you--have created "weblogs"...these are called "blogs" for short. in fact, when i went to china this summer, i had a blog--my first one ever. it was a way to communicate on a mass-scale to many individuals...most of whom were friends or family, but others who simply heard about the blog and wanted to read it. you can find it at blobsblog.blogspot.com ....

so, this quarter, we will be reading and writing blogs. each week you will read a blog written by an american who is living abroad. [you will choose this on your own]. in this way, you will learn about america. for any of you who have had the good fortune to travel abroad, you should know that the country and culture you learn the most about when you travel is actually america and not the country you visit!! after you have read and digested the material in this blog, you will write a 500-word analysis of it and post it to your own blog...you will write 8 of these and turn them in [printed on paper] on the first 8 thursdays of class. these will be graded on a 5-point scale and compose 40% of your grade.

so, these will be posted to your daily diary-type blog--we will call this blog #1. then, starting in the middle of the quarter, you will create a second blog [obviously, blog #2]. this blog will be directed at a specific audience of your choosing. if you are particularly knowledgeable about the local music scene, you could start a blog about that...or if you want to start a blog about life as an OSU student--so that prospective students at your high school can come to know what it is like here--you can do that.

this is all for now. welcome to class. i think we will have a good quarter and you will learn a lot.......bob