SYLLABUS
ENGLISH 101
COLLEGE COMPOSITION I
(CRN 95679)
(Section Number 4E6)
Fall 2014 SEMESTER
***
Instructor: John Lane
(Freshman Transition Program)
To contact me: Email me at solar.flares@yahoo.com
Please put "English 101" in the subject heading!
Speak with me after class; make an appointment; stay in contact!
Course Goals
A. Course Description:
ENGL 101 provides instruction in a writing process that will enable students to develop a topic, organize their ideas, write a draft, revise, edit, and proofread; to access, evaluate, incorporate, and document outside material as a means to develop a topic; and to continue to improve use of grammar, and language.
B. Overall Course Objectives:
Upon complete of this course, students will be able to do the following:
1. employ a recursive writing process that includes invention, planning, drafting, revising, proofreading and editing;
2. work collaboratively with peers to plan, develop, and carry out writing projects and provide constructive feedback;
3. write well-organized, unified, coherent essays with clear and complete thesis statements that express a purpose;
4. think critically and support the thesis with details, examples, reasons, and other evidence;
5. employ a variety of rhetorical strategies and modes to express complex ideas;
6. vary sentence structure and length;
7. use language in a manner appropriate to a given audience;
8. conduct research; access and choose appropriate sources from standard library resources which may be in a variety of formats both print and electronic;
9. evaluate sources (which may be print or electronic) by examining authenticity, currency, validity, and reliability;
10. incorporate outside material into essays by summarizing, quoting, and paraphrasing correctly;
11. provide documentation for sources with a Works Cited page and parenthetical citations, using the MLA format; and
12. conform to the grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules of standard written English with a minimum of errors.
C. Major Topics
1. Audience awareness
2. Writing as a recursive process
3. Essay organization and development
4. Unity, coherence and clarity in written language
5. Rhetorical strategies
6. Sentence variety
7. Grammar, punctuation and usage review
8. Summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting
9. Documenting and citing both print and electronic sources in MLA format
10. Writing the research paper that employs a variety of print and electronic sources
11. Revising
12. Editing and proofreading
13. The impact of technology on writing
D. Rationale: Everyone of my students is a writer, whether they admit it or not. Within the confines of this course, I want to equip you with the enhanced ability and confidence to apply what you've learned here into other courses. There's no getting around writing, so put your best foot forward here and start walking! (Cheesy, I know.)
Text/Materials:
*online writings & hand-outs from instructor.
* The Little Seagull Handbook (required for all 052/101 students)
*Novel for Essay #3 assignment (not in bookstore): t.b.a.
Writing Assignments:
Essay #1: Personal Narrative
Essay #2: Advertising Analysis
Essay #3: Novel/Film Comparison
Essay #4: Your Review
HOMEWORK:
All homework is due on the class day after it has been assigned, unless otherwise noted.
I will also announce assignments that are not necessarily in the syllabus, so pay attention!
I will collect all homework assignments and factor them toward your class participation.
Attendance Policy:
The English Department at CCBC Essex limits the number of classes that a student can miss and still pass a writing class. In a class meeting once a week, like this one, a student must not miss more than 2 classes. (Exceptions: In very rare cases involving serious, well-documented illnesses or personal emergencies, students may miss more than the specified number of classes ONLY with approval from first the instructor and then either the English Department Head or the Writing Program Director. Requests must be made in writing or in person.)
Late Policy:
1. Papers drop a letter grade for every class date that they are late.
2. In order for the peer workshop of essays to work smoothly, essays must be submitted on the due date .
Plagiarism: [policy from Dept. Admin.]
Academic Integrity Part of each student’s education requires learning how to use information correctly. Using other people’s words or ideas without giving proper credit to the source is plagiarism and is a serious offense. Students who plagiarize unknowingly should be shown their error and instructed in the proper use and attribution of information. Students who continue to plagiarize, however, may fail an assignment, fail a course, be dismissed from a program, or ultimately be expelled from the college. Examples of plagiarism include: • submitting written work taken from another source as one’s own. Examples of other sources are material from a published author or from the Internet. • including in original work undocumented quotations or passages from another writer • including someone else’s original ideas, opinions, or research ideas without giving him/her credit • paraphrasing without attribution.
Grading: [Will update this portion to align with below]
The grade you have earned is based upon the quality of the essays that you have turned in to me.
The final grade is broken down as follows:
* THREE ESSAYS - EACH WORTH 25% = TOTAL OF 75% OF GRADE
* CLASS PARTICIPATION (discussion, class work, homework) = 25% OF GRADE
* REVISIONS OF ESSAYS: You are allowed to revise your essays (one revision per each essay); this is strictly optional. When factored together, this means that the original essay is then worth 10% and the revised essay is worth 10% = still totaling 20% for that one essay. Note that revisions of essays are due on specific due dates; revisions will not be accepted after those due dates. Revisions only apply to the first TWO essays, of course.
Weekly Assignments
August 27: Introduction/Syllabus/Student Info. Sheets
September 3: Rudiments/ Essay #1 Guidelines distributed
September 10: Personal narrative
September 17: Further Personal narrative
September 24: Peer-Editing Day
October 1: CLASS CANCELLED
October 8: *Essay #1 Due! (Essay #2 Guidelines distributed) Ad Analysis 1/ Thesis-Intro. Discussion
October 15: Ad Analysis 2
October 22: Ad Analysis: Group 1 (first 8)
October 29: Last Ad Analysis: Group 2 (second 8)
November 5: Peer-Editing for Essay #2
November 12: Essay #2 DUE!
November 19: Film (Essay #3 Guidelines Distributed)
November 26: NO CLASS; THANKSGIVING BREAK
December 3: Peer-Editing for Essay #3
December 10: Essay #3 DUE
December 17: Revisions for Essays #1 and #2 due!!!
_____
Revision Due Dates
Revised Essay #1 and #2 due no later than December 17 (or sooner!).
~~I will not accept revisions after that assigned due date.~~
_____
Note: Syllabus is subject to change, and proper notification of changes will be given
in advance!
*If you have a disability/handicap that might affect your performance in class,
please let me know in advance so that I may try to accomodate you.*
Valuable Resources:
Academic Achievement Center (tutoring begins after the first week of classes, and a special schedule with be distributed for this group)
Cook Library, Room 524
410-704-2291
Disability Support Services (students receiving accommodations will have a MOU that will outline those accommodations)
Administration Building, Room 232
410-704-2638
Dowell Health Center
Dowell Hall
410-704-2466
Counseling Center
Glen Esk
410-704-2512
FALL 2014 Academic Calendar at
http://towson.edu/registrar/calendars/
NOTE:
