English 201 Telecourse Syllabus
Fall ‘06 Syllabus English 201 Telecourse "Read, Write and Research"
Instructor: Bernie Rihn
Office: 5-138
Office Phone: 533-3605; cell: 879-4543 (after school, evenings, weekends)
Email:
Materials for the Course
Textbook:(Required) Research for Writers:Advanced English Composition:, by Davis,Martin and Smires
Handbook: (Required): Little Brown, Brief Handbook, 2nd edition, by Jane Aaron
Dictionary: (Recommended): A recent, college level dictionary is advised.
Course Materials: All materials mentioned in the syllabus can be accessed at:
Click: student resources
Click : online syllabus
Click : “R” and find “Rihn” and Click
Click: Documents
Telecourse Videos:
These are aired on cable channel 19 or you may rent the series. Note that we do not watch them sequentially.
Dear Telecourse Student:
Welcome to the English 201 Telecourse. It is my hope that your Telecourse experience this quarter will be a rewarding one. A writing telecourse is not for everyone. To succeed in this telecourse you will need to be an independent learner. You will need to follow directions carefully. And you will need to be skilled at handling the intricacies of written English well enough that you don't need to see your instructor each day in class.
Course Prerequisites: 2.0 or above in Eng. 101
Ability to work independently
Course Description: Advanced English composition aids students in honing writing skills which are essential for college writing assignments. A heavy emphasis is placed upon research and organizational skills. Assignments include: writing for specific audiences; writing an abstract; composing a mini research essay; completing the steps required for writing an argumentative research paper; properly documenting research; formulating a critique; writing an "in-class" essay.
Meetings:
ALL MEETINGS WILL BE HELD ON THE SPOKANEFALLS CAMPUS. Meetings are mandatory and cannot be made up.
Meeting #1: Sept. 21, 6:00—9:00pm SFCC Library Room 211 (2nd floor of library. Come in the north entrance and go up the steps or take the elevator to the second floor.)
Worth 15 points.
Meeting #1 is mandatory. You may not miss it.If you miss it, you may not proceed in the class since I will be giving an in-class essay.
Meeting Agenda
1. Go over the Syllabus and answer questions
2. Presentation on doing research from home
3. Write an in-class writing assignment on the topic I assign in class (This will be done in the Library research classroom. A computer will be available.)
Meeting #2: November 7, 6:00--9:00pm. SFCC Library Room 211 (2nd floor of library.) Come in the north entrance and go up the steps or take the elevator to the second floor.)
Meeting #2 is worthup to 20 points. Bring the following to class: Note cards; typed draft of your paper; outline; works cited page. Your grade will be determined by your draft and your note cards. Each paper will receive a minimum of two peer reviews, plus I will read portions of each paper. If you miss this meeting, you will forfeit the 20 points and will not be able to make them up. Also, you will not receive any feedback on your research essay draft.
YOU MUST BRING YOUR FINAL DRAFT AND ALL NOTE CARDS TO
RECEIVE CREDIT FORTHIS MEETING!
Meeting Agenda:
1. Review Research Paper Expectations
2. Peer evaluation of research papers
Required Viewing: Telecourse tapes. You may view these on cable television or you may rent an entire set of tapes from the media services center for approximately $35.00. These tapes will assist you in a variety of rhetorical topics and considerations. I will not test you on the material, but you willfind them useful in writing your assignments. WE WILL NOT BE VIEWING THE TAPES IN THE LESSON ORDER OF THE SERIES. BE CERTAIN TO CHECK WHICH TAPES YOU SHOULD VIEW EACH WEEK! THE VIDEO CENTER WILL AIR THE TAPES IN THE ORDER I HAVE DIRECTED IN THE SYLLABUS Some of the video tapes have information that are not pertinent to the specific assignments that I am giving you, but they are valuable information for “college survival.” You paid for the tapes; take advantage of the additional information.
Late Assignments: We will have little face to face contact, and it is important that you not get behind. With that in mind, late assignments will be severely marked down.Unless prior arrangements are made, a late assignment will be marked down two grades per day. If it is not completed within two days of the due date, it will be marked off as completed when you finish it, but it will not receive any points. That means that if a paper is due on a Tuesday night, if it is not received by Thursday, no credit will be given. IN ADDITION, NO SUBSEQUENT WORK WILL BE READ UNTIL LATE ASSIGNMENTS ARE FINISHED. LATE PENALTIES WILL BE APPLIED TO SUBSEQUENT WORK.
Rewriting of Papers: Most of your rewriting or revision of assignments should take place before you hand it in. Quite literally, “revision” means to see something in a new way. You do not want to keep rewriting the same draft over and over; you want to see it a new way in each revision. The most basic revision is up to you, and it starts at home. At the very least you should start early enough to do at least two drafts of a paper, and preferably three drafts. So do your work before you send it to me. Do not produce a sloppy effort and expect me to “fix” it for you, thinking you can make the changes and get a good grade.
ALL ESSAYSMUST BE WORD PROCESSED AND DOUBLE SPACED.
Grading Scale:
97% = 4.0
90% = 3.3
85% = 2.8
80% = 2.3
77% = 2.0
Students will be required to complete ALL assignments in order to pass the course with a 2.0. Students also must receive a grade of at least 2.0 on the Major Research Paper in order to pass with a grade of 2.0 or higher. No assignments will be read unless you have submitted all earlier work. Late penalties will be applied. So don’t get behind.
200 points are possible. The following are the points possible for meetings and assignments:
- Meeting # 1...must attend and do in-class writing sample and the in-class research research document . ……………………………… ……………………15 points
- The Abstract...... 20 points
- Topic and Questions …………………………………………………....10 points
- Essay on Film/ Director……………………………………………...…..30 points
- Working Bibliography and Thesis...... 10 points
- Working Outline or Abstract...... 10 point
- Meeting # 2...... 20 points
- Research Paper...... 60 points
- Film Critique…………………………………………………………..…..25 points
VERIFYING AND INSURING YOUR GRADE: You will be emailing all of your assignments to me, and I to you. Things go wrong: your paper does not reach me; my return does not reach you. Your assignments are due Tuesday at midnight. If you do not hear from me by Friday night, that means one of two things: either your assignment did not reach me or my reply did not reach you. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOU TO CALL ME OR EMAIL ME BY FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE LATEST EACH WEEK IF YOU DO NOT HEAR FROM ME. DO NOT WAIT TWO OR THREE WEEKS, AND TELL ME “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t get my paper back from you.” I cannot call or visit each of you who does not turn stuff in. So, it is your responsibility to contact me.
Be certain to keep all copies of your work and copies of all emails until after you have received your final grade for the class.
Class Schedule
ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE ON TUESDAY NIGHT AT MIDNIGHT! Email all assignments to: Do not email them to my SFCC email address.
Week # 1 Sept. 18-24
Viewing: Videos # 1 “Essay Overview”
Readingfrom RFW: Ch 1 “Reviewing the Essay.”
Assignment: Attend Meeting # 1: Sept. 21, worth 15 points.
Week #2 Sept. 25- Oct 1. Viewing: #19 “The Abstract”
Reading From RFW: Ch. 2: “Summarizing, Paraphrasing and Quoting”;
Reading from Course Materials: “How To Write an Abstract” and “Sample Student Abstract”
Assignment: The Abstract. Due Oct 3, worth 15 points.
Week # 3 Ocotber 2-8
Viewing: Video 2 “Writing an Essay & 4 “Narrowing a Topic"
Readingfrom RFW: Chapter 3 “Researching a Topic” & pp. 106-108.
Reading from Course Assignments: “Topic, Question, and Documentation Style,”
Reading from LBB: “Writing Arguments” pp. 109-124. I strongly recommend that you pay careful attention to section 10c, “Organizing your argument effectively” and 10d, “A sample argument.” I prefer that you present the case for the opposition and refute it immediately after the thesis and before you begin the body of the paper. The sample essay in the handbook does it later on.
Assignment: Topic, Research Question, and Documentation for your argumentative research paper is due Oct 10. (See sample in course materials). Note: the topic, question, and style of documentation you select are for your actual research paper. This is not a test drive. Do not take this assignment lightly since you will be doing your actual paper on this topic. This assignment is worth 10 points if you get it right the first time. If you revise it once, you can earn only 5 points. After one revision, you will not earn any points, so put your effort into the first attempt.
Week # 4 October 9-15
Viewing: Video 5 “Working Bibliography” and Video 6 “Gathering Information”
Reading from RFW: Chapter 4 “Gathering Your Information”
Assignment: 4-6 paragraph essay (miniresearch paper) on Film Director due October 17 Worth 30 points.
Week # 5 October 16-22
Viewing: Videos 8 “Argumentative Writing” & 9 “Critiquing an Argument”
Reading from RFW: Chapter 5 “Developing a Thesis Statement and Outline.”
Reading from LBB 109-124
Reading from LBB on MLA citations (471-517) PP. 473-480 shows you how to do the parenthetical, in text citations. PP 480-506 tells you how to document the Works Cited list. PP 507-509 shows you how to format the paper.
Assignment: Sample MLA Works Cited Page and a Thesis Statement is due Oct 24.
Your Works Cited page must look exactly like the one on pp. 516-517 of LBB. Be sure to double space and use hanging indents.
Your thesis statement must be arguable. See 109-124 LBB. An arguable thesis statement takes a side. It implies its stance if preferable to its opposition’s stance. For example, “In spite of the advances to academic rigor the WASL has accomplished, it needs to be abolished as a graduation requirement because ……………………….” This is arguable. “The WASL was instituted to bring accountability to Washington’s secondary schools” is not arguable; it is an explanatory paper. So be sure to submit a thesis that takes a position.
Week # 6 October 23-29: Videos 7 “Outlining the Paper” & 12 “Documenting Sources”
Reading from RFW: Chapter 9 “Understanding the Elements of Argument” & 10 “Writing an Argument Paper”
Reading from Course Materials “The Abstract or Outline for the Research Paper.” Since, for this class, each of you is doing an MLA paper, the section on “The Outline” will be most important. Please note, however, in some of your other courses you may need to do an APA style paper which requires an Abstract. So read that information as well.
Assignment: Submit a Working Outline of your research paper due October 31. Refer to LBB p 510 for an example of an MLA paper’s outline. Notice how the outline begins with the thesis and then presents the plan for writing the paper.
Week # 7: October 30 –Nov 5
Viewing: Videos 13 “Electronic Sources” & 10 “Writing the First Draft”
Reading from RFW: Chapters 6 “Writing a Rough Draft” & 7 “Documenting Your Evidence”
Reading in Course Materials: “Taking Notes for the Midterm Meeting”
Assignment: Research Note cards and a Polished Draft of the Paper to be reviewed at meeting # 2 next week on Nov 7. The draft you bring to class next week must contain everything a final draft contains: outline, paper, and works cited page.
Week # 8 November 6-12
Viewing: Videos 14 “Revising and Editing” &16 “Critiquing 2nd Draft”
Readingin RFW: Chapter 8 “Writing the Final Draft”
Assignment: Attend Meeting #2 this week. ASSIGNMENT DUE AT MIDTERM MEETING: Bring your handbooks to class. Research Paper submitted for peer and instructor review at the November 7 meeting.
Meeting #2: November 7. Worth up to 20 points. Bring handbooks, notecards, and a “close to final” draft of your paper to the class. Paper must include outline and works cited page. I especially want to see your works cited page so that I can comment on the quality of your sources.
ORGANIZING THE PAPER: THE MLA “STUFF.” (Repeated here from the “Assignments” Section
- An MLA paper looks just like the one on pp. 510-517 of LBB. It has headers which identify the writer and the page number. It has you name, my name, course title, and date. Everything is double spaced.
- The Outline is actually the first thing your reader sees (p 510 LBB). It does not get a page number.
- The first body page of your paper looks like p 511 of LBB.
- The works cited page contains only the sources you actually have cited in the paper, not all of the sources you have referenced.
- Do not attach a separate document for the outline, the paper, and the works cited page. All of these are an integral part of the paper.
ORGANIZING YOUR PAPER: THE CONTENT AND ARUGMENTATIVE “STUFF.” Repeated here from the “Assignments” section.
- Write an opening paragraph of two which gives the necessary background for the reader. It should contain some “hook” or other attention grabber, right at the beginning of the paragraph.
- After the background has been laid down, end the introduction with your argumentative thesis.
- As soon as you announce your thesis, write a paragraph or two or three where you take on the arguments of your opposition and refute or neutralize them.
- Then write the remainder of your paper according to reasons why you believe your arguable thesis to be true.
After you get your feedback on your paper at meeting #2, you have one week to polish your research paper and submit the final copy by Novmeber 14 or earlier. If paper is unacceptable, you could have one chance only to rewrite it for a grade of up to a 2.0, no higher. I will determine if the paper is worth rewriting. Not all sub 2.0 papers will be given the option of re-writing; only the ones where it appears you gave it an honest effort and deserve a second chance. I will return these papers to you by November 21. If a rewrite is necessary, you will have up to one week to revise it from the date on which I return it to you.
Week # 9 November 13- 19
Viewing: Videos 17 “Explication and Critiques” Reading: Writing a Critique, pp. 121-top 125 in Chapter 11
Reading from Course Materials: “Sample Film Critique,”
Assignments: Submit MajorResearch Paper: Final Copy by November 14
Critique of a film Due November 28
Week# 10 : November 20-26. Thanksgiving Vacation. No videos will air this week.
Assignments: Writing the Film Critiqueis due November 28. Worth 25 Points.
If I return your major research paper to you and ask for a rewrite, you will have to revise it this week. No revisions will be accepted after November 28.
1