Summary
Highlights
Instructor Ryan Muny welcomes students to the 10-week summer English 1013 course. He outlines the video's content: an overview of the course, syllabus, major assignments, Canvas shell structure, grading, and an introductory lesson.
Ryan Muny shares personal and professional details. He is an advisor for the MAC College of Business and Entrepreneurship, assistant director of first-year composition, and is working on a PhD in rhetoric. He discusses his family, hobbies including music (metalhead, radio host), reading, films, building computers, camping, and PC gaming, along with contact information for office hours.
The syllabus for the 10-week course (June 1st to August 7th) is introduced. The course focuses on writing within different communities, with no textbook purchase required as it's provided via 'Perusall'. The grading is based on three major assignments (75%) and minor assignments (25%).
The three major assignments are: an Autobiographical Essay (25% of grade, 1000 words, using narration, description, exposition, and reflection), an Annotated Bibliography and Literature Review (25% of grade, based on the essay's topic), and an Advertising Analysis (25% of grade, using the bibliography research).
Minor assignments (25% of grade) include weekly writings, Perusall discussions (textbook annotations and reflections), and lecture dialogues (recapping lectures). Grading is points-based, with drafts, peer review action plans, and final drafts contributing to major assignment scores. Late work requires prior email notification, otherwise, a letter grade is deducted per day late.
Important policies include: writing is public (expect peer review), submissions must be in Microsoft Word (.docx or .pdf) and follow MLA guidelines, emails from TWW accounts only, and strict no-AI policy for assignments. Students are encouraged to use the Write Site for revisions and IT for Canvas issues. Drop deadlines for the summer session are also highlighted as very quick.
The course is divided into three units. Unit one, focusing on genre, writing types, and organization, spans three weeks. Week one includes syllabus, genre, and autobiographical essay discussions, with initial Perusall and writing assignments due. The autobiographical essay requires selecting a topic of personal significance, written for a specific community (e.g., family, fellow students) using the four writing modes, with a minimum of 1000 words in MLA format.
The concept of genre is introduced, not just in music but extensively in writing (e.g., reports, blog posts, resumes, narratives). Genres dictate style, audience expectations, and community-specific communication. The instructor uses the example of academic papers versus reports and the tailoring of language (jargon) to specific audiences.
The five main genres of writing are narrative (personal experience, story with beginning, middle, end, message), exposition (descriptive details, vivid language, framing imagery for audience), persuasion (using ethos, pathos, logos to influence the audience), and reflection (probing and thinking about past events). These will be woven throughout the course, with a focus on reflecting for the autobiographical essay.
A demonstration of Perusall, the platform for textbook access and discussions, shows how to highlight text and add annotations. Students are required to make three thoughtful annotations and respond to two per article for full credit. Other weekly assignments include lecture dialogues (100-word summary or one-page notes) and weekly writings (250 words for self-introduction and 250 words for assignment understanding, for a total of 500 words). The instructor emphasizes that the class prioritizes completion and effort over perfection.
Ryan Muny concludes by reiterating the importance of completing assignments and encourages students to email with any questions. He states that a Zoom meeting will be scheduled next week after students get settled, and expresses excitement for the class and reading their work.