Effective Date of this Description/Syllabus: Fall 2014

Prepared by:    Dr. Rhonda Wilcox

678 359 5296

rhonda_w@gordonstate.edu

Fall Office hours: TR 12:30-1:45, 3:30-4:30;

W 12:30-2:00; 3:00-5:00

 

Course Description/Syllabus

Course Designation (discipline abbreviation & number): ENGL 1101

Course Title: Composition I

Class hours per week:   3

Laboratory hours per week: 0

Credit hours: 3

Division offering course: Humanities

Course description for college catalog:

    A composition course focusing on skills required for effective writing in a variety of contexts, with emphasis on exposition and analysis and including the use of research skills.

Prerequisite: Placement in ENGL 1101 or exit from Learning Support English and/or Reading. If you are presently enrolled in any Learning Support English or Learning Support Reading course, you are not eligible to take any regular English (ENGL) course. In order to enter English 1102, you must earn at least a C in this course. For most institutions, a C or better is required to transfer.

 

If you need academic accommodations for a disability, you must first go through the process of receiving approved accommodations through the Student Counseling and Disability Services Office, Student Center, Room 212, 678 359 5585.

 

The Humanities Division’s formally stated objectives for all English 1101 classes are listed below:

 

English 1101 Course Objectives

 

In order to successfully complete ENGL 1101, the student should fulfill these objectives:

 

Literacy Objective

Students must read, comprehend, and respond to college-level writing.

 

Critical Thinking Objectives

Students should develop or improve their ability to engage in the following:

 

Process Objectives

Students should develop or improve their ability to recognize and apply complex writing processes, including but not limited to the following:

 

Product Objectives

Students should develop or improve their ability to produce an organized, coherent, and developed essay demonstrating a mastery of Standard Written English.  Successful demonstration of these skills include the following:

 

 

Course content:

    Personal Narrative Essay

    Revision*

    Basic Expository Essay

    Revision*

    Comparison/Contrast Essay

    Revision*

    Classification/Illustration Essay (documented)

    Final Exam Essay

 

All essays for this class should be a minimum of 500 words.

 

*A student who makes a C or below on any of the first three essays must revise it. A student who makes an A or B on an essay may omit its revision, though each student must revise at least one essay (even if only to aim for an A+).

Any student who fails to turn in any of these papers (including required revisions) will fail the course.

A student must pass the in-class final exam essay to get a C or better in the course.

Students will be required to produce revisions, the Classification Essay, and possibly other assignments, on a computer (available in the Instructional Complex and the library; or students may use their own).

Class participation, brief writing assignments (e.g. in-class paragraphs), pop quizzes (usually on reading assignments), and exercises will make up the remainder of the student's grade.

The kinds of instruction may include class preparation for writing, small-group critiques of finished essays or preparatory work, oral presentation and evaluation of papers, lectures, discussions, and other activities.

Each student will have a minimum of three required conferences with the instructor. Either the student or the instructor may schedule additional conferences. Students MAY NOT MISS OTHER CLASSES in order to attend a required English conference. If a student is found to be missing another class in order to attend a conference for this class, the relevant essay will be penalized five points. Any student who has genuine difficulty scheduling a conference should discuss the problem with the instructor outside class.

Required Texts:

 

Harris, Muriel, and Jennifer L. Kunka. Prentice Hall Reference Guide. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2015. Print.

Literature and Ourselves: A Thematic Introduction for Readers and Writers. 6th ed. Ed. Gloria Mason Henderson et al. New York: Addison-Wesley Longman, 2009. Print.

Required folder: Place papers (essays and revisions) in the folder, earliest assignments on the bottom (i.e., reverse chronological order—easiest for both you and me). AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER, TURN IN THE FOLDER (required to pass). Make sure that your name, written on the outside upper right corner, can be easily read.

Recommended Text:

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Boston: Houghton

    Mifflin, newest edition. Print. (Plan to bring a dictionary for in-class essays; you may not use an electronic dictionary or other “smart” device during in-class essays.)

 

Grading:

 

Essay 1--10%

Essay 2--10%

Essay 3--15%

Essay 4--15%

Revisions=Essay 5--20% (Average of the student's revision grades=20% of the course grade.)

Exam=Essay 6--20%

Pop tests, class participation, etc.--10%

 

    Standards: A=90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79; D=60-69; F=below 60; B+ =88; B =85; B- = 82; C+ =78, etc.

 

    The following description of grade standards (composed by the faculty of Elon College) further explains the evaluation process:

A:  This indicates clearly superior work. The A theme has significant content and a clear purpose that it successfully accomplishes without major errors of any kind. Its organization and style are appropriate to the subject, which is so restricted that it can be intelligently treated within the limits of the paper. It handles the mechanics of punctuation, sentence and paragraph construction, and the choice of diction and idiom logically and appropriately.*

B:  This indicates writing that is clearly of good quality. Although the B theme will probably lack some of the insight and tight control of superior work, it demonstrates the same ability of handling significant content according to a clear purpose. Its organization and mechanics are free of major errors.*

C:  This represents average college work, but it possesses few distinguishing qualities. It may show some breakdown in logic and organization, careless proofreading, and a deficiency in writing mechanics.

D:  This grade indicates a piece of writing that falls below average college work. Although the D theme may show a potential for average achievement, it is flawed by mechanical errors, such as those of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. It does manage to convey its ideas to the reader, but its

organization is probably weak.

F:  This indicates unacceptable college writing. It is likely to be marred by serious errors of punctuation, spelling, diction, sentence and paragraph construction. The subject is likely to be incoherently presented.

*Unlike the Elon College faculty, I might allow one or two major errors in a standard length A or B paper, respectively; and I do consider length in terms of the proportion of errors.

 

Some examples of serious errors are:    sentence fragments; comma splices; fused sentences

                      

Some examples of lesser errors are:      capitalization mistakes; inappropriate (vs. inaccurate) diction; hyphenation errors

Student evaluation of instruction (Your chance to grade the teacher!)

    Near the end of this course, you may be asked to evaluate the instruction of the course by filling out a standard form that is used college-wide. Your honest responses on the form will assist the faculty of the college in providing the best possible educational experiences for Gordon students. In other words, your evaluation of my work can help me to improve, just as my evaluation of your work can help you to improve.

 

Plagiarism, Cheating:

    The English faculty of Gordon College views any form of cheating as a serious violation of commonly accepted standards of honesty. All student work must be solely that of the person submitting the work. Any giving or receiving of unauthorized help from others or from notes or other materials during the course of taking a quiz, test, or exam or in writing a paper will result in an F on the work; any use of forbidden materials such as rough drafts during the course of in-class writing will also result in an F for the assignment. Note that an F on the work involved in cheating is the minimum punishment; if justified by aggravating circumstances, the matter may be referred to the Academic Dean and/or the Judicial Committee or (according to a rule approved by the full faculty in Spring 2010) the Dean of Students.

Moreover, when source materials are used in the writing of papers, the student must document such use of sources both by clearly indicating material being used as quotation and by giving proper recognition when ideas or information has been paraphrased or summarized; the following principles enunciated in the section on avoiding plagiarism in James D. Lester's Writing Research

Papers: A Complete Guide, 8th edition, should be scrupulously observed:

1. Acknowledge borrowed material by introducing the quotation or paraphrase with the name of the authority. This practice serves to indicate where borrowed materials begin.

2. Enclose within quotation marks all quoted materials.

3. Make certain that paraphrased material has been rewritten into your own style and language. The simple rearrangement of sentence patterns is unacceptable. [It is unacceptable to simply rearrange sentence patterns.]

4. Provide specific in-text documentation for each borrowed item. For example, MLA [Modern Language Association] style requires name and page for all in-text references. Requirements differ for other fields.

5. Provide a bibliographic entry on the Works Cited page for every source cited in the paper.

6. Omit sources consulted but not cited in [your paper]. This point is important. You do not want your instructor leafing back through the paper trying to find your use of a source that, in truth, was not cited. (140-41)

Note that the indention of the six rules above is another method of indicating that material is quoted from someone else; when you have a long section to quote, then instead of using quotation marks, you indent. My indention of the six rules indicates that they are the exact wording by James D. Lester on pages 140-41 of his book.

 

Furthermore, you must avoid collusion. Here is a definition from the head of the Humanities Department:

Collusion is defined as receiving excessive help to the point that a work can no longer be considered the product of a single author and therefore cannot be accurately assessed an individual grade. If I suspect a submitted work to be the result of collusion, I reserve the right to refuse credit for that work if the claimed author is unable to demonstrate sole authorship. A good way to avoid this problem is to get help from the Student Success Center rather than from family or friends.

I may or may not decide to have you submit some of your work to Turnitin.com. Terms and Conditions of Use may be found at http://www.turnitin.com/static/usage.html.

 

LIBRARY HOURS: Mon-Thu 7:45 am--10pm; Fri 7:45 am--5 pm; Sun 2--10 pm

 

Business procedures

Attendance: You may receive a WF if you fail to attend regularly. If you receive a WF, you will be ineligible for VA and other financial assistance.

As a matter of courtesy, you should explain your absences to me. However, you should realize that even "excused" absences count against you--not as a moral judgment, but simply as a matter of getting business done. As a college student, you are responsible for all class and assigned work whether you are present or not. Whenever possible, you should notify me ahead of time (in person, by phone, by email, or by a note slipped under my office door) if you must miss a class, so that we can try to make appropriate arrangements. Some work, such as in-class essays, can only be made up (at the teacher’s discretion) under extenuating circumstances (work not made up gets a zero). Students who miss more than nine MWF or six TR or MW classes normally fail the course. Three tardies equal one absence. If you believe yourself to be contagious, email or telephone me before the class you expect to miss; then bring documentation from a physician when you return to class.

In general, it is a good idea to save your cuts because (1) you may get deathly ill towards the end of the quarter, and not have enough allotted absences left, and (2) things actually do happen in class.

If you must miss a class and are unable to contact anyone to discover the assignment, then prepare the assignment indicated on the tentative schedule.

 

Cell phones, Blackberries, and other electronic devices: So that we can make the best use of our limited time together, turn off your cell phones and any other electronic devices before class begins,. Exception: Emergency personnel may leave theirs on and slip out of class to take phone calls in the hall when necessary. If you have a job as an EMT (or similar work), notify me during the first week of classes and be sure to sit near the door. Also, if you have some other sort of emergency situation for which you wish to stay in cell phone contact, speak to me about the problem before the relevant class period in order to be granted an exception. All students should remember that they will receive a class participation grade, and cell phone interruptions disturb discussion.

 

Late papers: Late papers, including revisions, are penalized five points per calendar day. I am very strict about this policy. On the other hand, I am very reasonable about giving extensions (without grade penalty) for good cause IF you arrange the matter at least twenty-four hours in advance. If you do not get an extension beforehand, then the penalty will stand unless you can produce evidence of flood, earthquake, avalanche, or other natural disaster intervening in the composition process. (I.e., you must provide evidence of a serious problem).

 

My office is in Honors House 104. My fall office hours will be: TR 12:30-1:45, 3:30-4:30; W 12:30--2:00, 3:00—5:00. Feel free to visit me to talk about the course (whether you have a problem or just an interest). You may also leave messages on or under my door. You may call me at my office at 678-359-5296. My email address is rhonda_w@gordonstate.edu. If you find yourself involved in an English Emergency, you may also call me at home (404-373-5328).  In general,

 

LET ME KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!

 

and

 

ASK FOR HELP IF YOU NEED IT!


TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

 

Week 1 (8/14) Diagnostic writing; course introduction; READ SYLLABUS

 

Week 2 (8/19-21) Language history; grammar review; modes of writing; invention; “My Papa’s Waltz,” 131; “A Domestic Dilemma,” 64

 

Week 3 (8/26-28) Narrative structure; “And of Clay Are We Created,” 1001; “A Temporary Matter,” 301

 

Week 4 (9/2-4) “The Man I Killed,” 799; sample narrative essays; subject choices

 

Week 5 (9/9-11) Personal Narrative Essay (10%, in-class); conferences

 

Week 6 (9/16-18) Descriptive technique; Narrative Revision due; thesis; expository structure

 

Week 7 (9/23-25) “Beyond the Cult of Fatherhood,” 247; from Fatherhood: “Dr. Spock Never Promised Us a Rose Garden,” 49; “Professions for Women,” 233;

 

Week 8 (9/30-10/2) Expository paragraph qualities; library orientation and quiz

 

[10/6: Last day to drop classes without WF]

 

Week 9 (10/7-9) Expository paragraph qualities, continued; subject choices

 

Week 10 (10/14-16) Fall Break Mon-Tues; Expository paragraph qualities, continued; Expository Essay (10%, in-class); 

 

Week 11 (10/21-23) Conferences; Comparison/contrast structure; “Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock,” 121

 

Week 12 (10/28-30) “The Yellow Wallpaper,” 274; “Hills Like White Elephants,” 297; Expository Revision due

 

Week 13 (11/4-6) Comparison/contrast discussion; quotation; Comparison/Contrast Essay (15%, in-class)

 

Week 14 (11/11-13) Conferences; Classification/illustration structure; avoiding plagiarism

 

Week 15 (11/18-20) Comparison/Contrast Revision due; research basics, bibliography basics; paraphrase;

 

Week 16 (11/25-27) Style; “If,” 755 ; “Future Connected By,” 141; "Phenomenal Woman," 321; Thanksgiving holiday Thu-Fri

 

Week 17 (12/2) Classification/Illustration Essay due (15%, out-of-class); exam preparation

 

Dec. 4 will be a campus-wide study day.

 

Final Exam (20%, in-class):

Wed. Dec. 10, 10:15 am-12:15 pm

 

Throughout the semester, additional readings and writing may be assigned.