9/19/2020 Syllabus | The Science Essay | Comparative Media Studies/Writing | MIT OpenCourseWare

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Syllabus
Far more than a collection of facts, science is a body of ideas that forms the cultural context through which we view the world.
COURSE HOME —K. C. Cole

Course Meeting Times

SYLLABUS
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

READINGS Course Description

The science essay uses science to think about the human condition; it uses humanistic thinking to reflect on the possibilities and limits of science
and technology. In this class we read and practice writing science essays of varied lengths and purposes. We will read a wide variety of science
ASSIGNMENTS essays, ranging across disciplines, both to learn more about this genre and to inspire your own writing. This semester's reading centers on "The
Dark Side," with essays ranging from Alan Lightman's "Prisoner of the Wired World" through Robin Marantz Henig's cautionary account of nano-
technology ("Our Silver-Coated Future") to David Quammen's investigation of diseases that jump from animals to humans ("Deadly Contact").
RELATED RESOURCES
Course Requirements
DOWNLOAD COURSE Required Textbook
MATERIALS Groopman, Jerome, and Tim Folger. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2008. Boston, MA: Mariner Books, 2008.
ISBN: 9780618834471.

Recommended Textbooks
Hancock, Elise. Ideas into Words: Mastering the Craft of Science Writing. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press,
2003. ISBN: 9780801873300. [Preview a Version in Google Books.]

I also strongly urge you to purchase a good college dictionary, if you do not already own one. By that I mean, not a pocket dictionary! If English is
not your first language, you will need at least two good dictionaries. If you are really interested in good usage, also consider purchasing a dictionary
of usage.

Assignments
Writers will have wide latitude in choosing topics for the five essay assignments. The class will be run seminar style, with lots of attention to
individual writers. Revision of essays and workshop review of writing in progress are an important part of the class. To fulfill the oral presentation
component of the class, each student will lead class discussion on one of our readings.

All essays (except essay 1, a warm-up piece) will be revised once; essay 5 (the long essay) and one other essay of your choice will be polished
further.
Essay assignments will be detailed in a separate document. Here's a brief overview:

Essay 1 is a 2-page reading response to get your writing muscles warmed up.
Essay 2, "Home Science," is a 3-page essay on the science of something you encounter every day, explained for the layperson.
Essay 3 gives you a choice: either "Life/Science," an essay that grows out of your own experience, or an essay that focuses on the social
impact of some aspect of science or technology on society (5 pages).
Essay 4 is a review of a book chosen from the list I will provide you (4-5 pages).
Essay 5 will be a longer essay (10-12 pages) on a topic of your choosing.
Oral presentations: you'll make short, informal presentations proposing topics for essays 3-5. Each student will also lead class discussion of
one of our readings.

Course Policies

Attendance
This class is structured more as a workshop than a lecture class. Your responsibility in the class is not only to be a writer, but also to read and
respond to classmates' work and to participate in discussions. Therefore, attendance is important.

If you miss more than two classes for any reason, you risk getting a lower grade.
If you miss a Workshop class, it will count as two absences.
With five unexcused absences you will be withdrawn from the class.

Lateness
Lateness is discourteous to your classmates and to your professor. Your grade for class participation will suffer if you are habitually late. Being more
than 10 minutes late 3 times = 1 absence.

Deadlines
To participate in class discussions, you must read assignments on time. It is also imperative that you bring a draft to class on workshop days, and
be prepared for oral presentations. Deadlines for revisions will be more flexible.

Conferences Don't show me this again

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You are required to have one conference with me, but I encourage more. Bring specific questions about your writing, such as how to make an
introduction more vivid or how to connect the ideas in your essay. You are also welcome to use conference time to continue discussions begun in

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9/19/2020 Syllabus | The Science Essay | Comparative Media Studies/Writing | MIT OpenCourseWare
class or try out ideas for essays.

Grading

There are no tests in this class.

The quality of your writing will be the primary criterion for your semester grade. I'll also take into consideration effort and improvement, especially as
demonstrated by revision, and class participation, including your participation in workshops and your oral presentations. Note that revision does not
mean correcting errors nor simply polishing prose; it means re-seeing the entirety of your essay.

What do letter grades mean? "A" work is so accomplished in skill, substance and style that it would delight an editor. "B" work is good, solid work.
"C" work is satisfactory but with little to recommend it. "D" work meets the requirements of the course by the skin of its teeth and by the reader's
open-hearted charity. "F" is reserved for work that does not satisfy the requirements of the course. Oral presentations will not receive letter grades
but will be marked √(OK), √+ (very good) or √- (weak) based on preparation, cogency and coherence.

ACTIVITIES PERCENTAGES

Essay 2 15%

Essays 3 and 4 (20% each) 40%

Essay 5 25%

Essay 1, class participation, oral presentations 20%

MIT Literature Statement on Plagiarism

Plagiarism—use of another's intellectual work without acknowledgement—is a serious offense. It is the policy of the Literature Faculty that students
who plagiarize will receive an F in the subject, and that the instructor will forward the case to the Committee on Discipline. Full acknowledgement for
all information obtained from sources outside the classroom must be clearly stated in all written work submitted. All ideas, arguments, and direct
phrasings taken from someone else's work must be identified and properly footnoted. Quotations from other sources must be clearly marked as
distinct from the student's own work. For further guidance on the proper forms of attribution, consult the style guides available at the Writing and
Communication Center and the MIT Web site on Plagiarism.

Calendar

SES # TOPICS KEY DATES

Introductions

1 Course overview

What is a "science essay"?

Audience: grabbing the reader

Literary techniques: scenes, imagery,

characters
2 Homework 1 due
Voice and tone

Science and life - the "non-quantifiable

Context

3 The writer as a "character" in his essay Homework 2 due

Are we prisoners of the wired world?

4 Workshop essay 1 Homework 3 due

Comment on essay 1
Homework 4 due
Discuss essay 2, "Home Science"
5
Title of book to review due
Examples: Natalie Angier, "Red"; student
essays

6 Workshop essay 2 "Home Science" Homework 5 due

"Lucidity, lucidity, lucidity"

7 Homework 6 due
Reason and emotion

Framing ethical concerns Homework 7 due

8
Asking the right questions Revision of essay 2 due

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SES # TOPICS KEY DATES

Share proposals for essay 3

9 Public health and individual patients Homework 8 due

Involving the reader

10 Workshop essay 3 Homework 9 due

11 Darwin's dark legacy Homework 10 due

Book review as essay

Homework 11 due
12 Tight focus and wide significance
Revision of essay 3 due
The language of judgement

Questions about essay 4, book review

13
Strategizing the longer research essay

14 Workshop essay 4 Homework 13 due

15 Workshop essay 4 (cont.)

Keeping readers involved in longer essays

Homework 15b (revision of essay 4) due 1
16
Handling complexity day after Ses #16

Present proposals for essay 5

17 Homework 16 due
Structuring the longer essay (Hancock)

18 Outline essay 5 and write introduction Homework 17 due

Share outlines/intros in small groups

19 Homework 18 due
Individual conferences for essay 5

Homework 19 due
20 Workshop essay 5
Essay 5 due

21 Work on essay 5 issues as needed

22 Work on essay 5 issues as needed (cont.)

Homework 21 due
23 Work on re-revision and polishing
Revision of essay 5 due

Guest speakers:
Homework 23 due 1 day after Ses #24
Edward Morris and Susannah Sayler
24 (Topic: The Canary Project) Re-revision of one essay from essays 2-4 due
one day after Ses #24
Marcia Bartusiak
(Topic: Science Writing as a career)

25 Hear favorite essays and discuss

Hear favorite essays and discuss (cont.)

26
Course evaluations

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