Syllabus

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Course Meeting Times

Seminar: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Prerequisites

This course has no prerequisites and is open to all MIT students. The subject is normally required for majors in science writing.

Course Description

"Lively writing about science and nature depends less on the offering of good answers, I think, than on the offering of good questions."
–David Quammen

This class is an introduction to writing about science–including nature, medicine, and technology–for general readers. In our reading and writing we explore the craft of making scientific concepts, and the work of scientists, accessible to the public through news articles and essays. The chief work of the class is students' writing; assignments include a brief essay and news article, an interview-based or archival essay, and a longer (2,000–2,500 word) researched essay. Students also write a review-essay of a book of their choice from a list provided and make one or more short oral presentations. Revision and workshopping are both an important part of the class's work. As part of our exploration of the craft of science writing, we will read essays and articles by writers such as David Quammen, Alan Lightman, Michael Pollan, and Elizabeth Kolbert.

Objectives and Assignments

The primary work of this class is to:

• develop your skills in writing and speaking clearly and effectively;
• help you become aware of your own purposes as writers; and
• help you become aware of the audience(s) you are writing for.

You will write 5 major writing assignments, revise 4 of them, and re-revise 1 of them, in addition to a few short non-revised homework assignments. Each student will also make a brief oral presentation. Readings will serve to get you thinking and provide models of good writing; they'll provide inspiration for your essays and news stories.

Portfolios: At our last class meeting I'll collect a portfolio of written work for our class—so don't throw any of your drafts or homework away!

Class participation: Class participation includes attendance, class discussions and workshopping. Discussion is part of the oral work of a communications-intensive class: all students are expected to participate in class discussions. Discussion should demonstrate not just familiarity with assigned readings, but also critical thinking and articulate expression of ideas. In discussions, students should build on each others' points, not just jump in with random points. All students are also expected to respond to classmates' drafts thoughtfully.

• I will collect written workshop comments and grade them on a 5-point scale.
• Class participation will make up 15% of your grade

Conferences: Because it's often more efficient and effective for us to have a conversation about your writing than to communicate via comments on papers, conferences are an important part of our work together. 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 class or try out ideas sparked by your reading.

• You are required to have one conference with me but may have more.
• Conferences are held in my office, unless we make a different arrangement.
• If you have to cancel a conference appointment, please e-mail me or call my office number and let me know.

Required Book

Hancock, Elise. Ideas into Words: Mastering the Craft of Science Writing. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780801873300.

I also strongly urge you to purchase a good college dictionary—not a pocket dictionary—if you do not already own one. If English is not your first language, you will need two good dictionaries.

Grading Policy

Revision is the heart and soul of this class. On first drafts, you'll receive ample comments from me as well as comments from classmates.

• On first drafts, I will also give you a mark of minus—doesn't satisfy requirements for the assignment; check—may be rough, but meets assignment requirements; or plus, in excellent shape—needs only fine-tuning.
• Second drafts will receive a letter grade and more concise comments.
• The grade for the re-revised Investigative Essay will replace the grade for the 2^nd draft.

Late Drafts

• 1^st drafts that are posted late will be penalized by a full grade for each day late.
• 2^nd draft deadlines may be negotiated for good cause.

You'll note that these categories add up to 105%. It's impossible to grade writing purely by percentages, and your final grade will be a holistic grade that takes these assignments and class participation into account in roughly these percentages.

What "A" work looks like

A work is excellent: the content goes beyond the simple and commonplace—it may give readers some news, surprise them, or help them see something familiar in a new way. The writing is confident, energetic, essentially free of error, with the sound of an individual writer's voice. It is clear—lucidity, lucidity, lucidity! (Hancock) and, if the topic demands it, well researched. It is well focused and organized, and does not settle for the surface layer of the topic. It cites sources consistently and appropriately. It takes the reader into account throughout.

What "B" writing looks like

B work is solid, competent, on the right track. It may be just not quite up to "A" level in most aspects, or it may excel in some aspects but fall short in others.

What "C" writing looks like

"C" work satisfies the assignment but is unclear in several places, is unfocused and/or weakly organized, contains some inaccuracies, cites inconsistently, stays on the surface of the topic, settles for clichés rather than fresh and vivid language, and/or contains a significant number of grammar errors. It does not successfully or consistently take readers into account.

Absences and Grades

Attendance is vital in writing classes.

• Students who miss more than 2 classes risk having their final grade lowered.
• Students who miss more than 5 classes for any reason will be withdrawn from the class.
• Sleeping in class constitutes an absence. 3 "lates" = 1 absence
• Missing class on a workshop days = 2 absences.

Plagiarism

Using someone else's language and/or ideas without proper attribution is academically dishonest. As members of this class and the larger scholarly community you are expected to abide by the norms of academic honesty. While a good deal of collaboration is encouraged in and out of class, failing to acknowledge sources or willfully misrepresenting the work of others as your own will not be tolerated. Everything you submit must be your own work, written specifically for this class. Plagiarism can result in withdrawal from the course with a grade of F, suspension or expulsion from the Institute.

The booklet Academic Integrity at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: A Handbook for Students explains these issues in detail, and you are responsible for understanding its contents. We will work on citing sources in class and discuss ways to acknowledge them properly. When in doubt, consult with me.

For this class and most classes, it is not acceptable to hand in a paper that you wrote for another class, even though it is your own work. If you are ever in doubt, ask your instructor.