ENC 1101 Course Syllabus

Freshman Composition I/CRN 21172: M: 6:00-8:45 p.m.

Building 1, Room 232, West Campus

Spring 2010

“As soon as you move one step from the bottom, your effectiveness depends on your ability to reach others through the spoken or written word.”—Peter F. Drucker

Instructor: Angela Manning

Office: Room 232, West Campus

E-Mail Address:

Faculty FrontDoor:

Office Hours: None

Prerequisites: Score of 83 on writing component of CPT or equivalent score on other state- approved entry test or minimum grade of C in ENC0012 and ENC0012L or ENC0012C or EAP1640 or ENS1441; also, score of 83 on reading component of CPT or equivalent score on other state-approved entry test or minimum grade of C in REA0002 and REA0002L or REA0002C or EAP1620 or ENS1421.

Course Description:Development of essay form, including a documented essay; instruction and practice in expository writing. Emphasis on clarity of central and support ideas, adequate development, logical organization, coherence, appropriate citing of primary and/or secondary sources, and grammatical and mechanical accuracy. Gordon rule course in which the student is required to demonstrate college-level writing skills through multiple assignments. Minimum grade of C required if ENC 1101 is used to satisfy Gordon Rule and general education requirements. This course includes a learning activity designed to ensure competence in the basic use of computers.

Goals and Objectives:

  • Examine the writing situation,how it affects an author’s rhetorical choices.
  • Read critically, think creatively, and discover your voice on the page.
  • Write effectively and persuasively, applying the principles of the writing process: prewriting, outlining/drafting, revision, and editing/proofreading.
  • Compose essays in a variety of modes, culminating in a timed writing situation (in which you demonstrate central and supporting ideas, well-planned paragraphs, and competence in sentence structure).
  • Utilize techniques of narration, description, and argument in expository papers.

Required Texts:

  • 75 Readings. 9th ed. Ed Santi V. Buscemi and Charlotte Smith
  • The Wadsworth Handbook. 8th ed. Kirszner and Mandell.Boston: Cengage, 2008.
  • Handouts

Additional Materials:

  • Pocket college-level dictionary and thesaurus--required for quizzes and writing
  • Blue or black pens for in-class writings: Work submitted in pencil will NOT be graded
  • 3Blue books for in-class essays (can be purchased in bookstore)
  • Binder for in-class notes and for other assignments, which will be part of your final grade--organization counts!
  • Jump drive (Please keep an electronic copy of your work.)

VCC Competencies: Think, Value, Communicate, and Act are Valencia’s core competencies: complex skills and abilities every student needs to succeed in college and in life. You will engage in these activities during this class and build on them over the course of your lifetime.

THINK

TO THINK, WHAT MUST YOU DO?

  • Analyze data, ideas, patterns, principles, perspectives
  • Employ the facts, formulas, procedures of the discipline
  • Integrate ideas and values from different disciplines
  • Draw well-supported conclusions
  • Revise conclusions consistent with new observations, interpretations, and reasons

HOW AND WHERE MUST YOU THINK?

  • With curiosity and consistency
  • Individually and in groups

VALUE

TO VALUE, WHAT MUST YOU DO?

  • Recognize values as expressed in attitudes, choices, and commitments
  • Distinguish among personal, ethical, aesthetic, cultural, and scientific values
  • Employ values and standards of judgment from different disciplines
  • Evaluate your own and others’ values from individual, cultural, and global perspectives
  • Articulate a considered and self-determined set of values

HOW AND WHERE MUST YOU VALUE?

  • With empathy and fair-mindedness
  • Individually and in groups

COMMUNICATE

TO COMMUNICATE, WHAT MUST YOU DO?

  • Identify your own strengths and need for improvement as a communicator
  • Employ methods of communication appropriate to your audience and purpose
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of your own and others’ communication

HOW AND WHERE MUST YOU COMMUNICATE?

  • By speaking, listening, reading and writing
  • Verbally, non-verbally, and visually
  • With honesty and civility
  • In different disciplines and settings

ACT

TO ACT, WHAT MUST YOU DO?

  • Apply disciplinary knowledge, skills, and values to educational and career goals
  • Implement effective problem-solving, decision-making, and goal-setting strategies
  • Act effectively and appropriately in various personal and professional settings
  • Assess the effectiveness of personal behavior and choices
  • Respond appropriately to changing circumstances

HOW AND WHERE MUST YOU ACT?

  • With courage and perseverance
  • Individually and in groups
  • In your personal, professional and community life

Computer-Based Learning Activity: To demonstrate competence with the basic use of computers, the college’s Freshman Composition Course (ENC 1101) is designed to include a formal “computer-based” learning activity. For this particular course you must send me an email in Atlas telling me about yourself (your field of study, interests, or career plans), and then comment on something we discussed in class (due before the second week of class). Completion of this email is required to earn a grade; not sending the email will result in an incomplete for the course. To receive credit, all out-of-class essays must be word processed. In addition, you will upload on “My portfolio” in Atlas a writing exercise assigned in class, which will be completed during class.

Students with Disabilities:This area provides services to qualified students with documented disabilities to ensure access to programs and activities at Valencia Community College. Staff are available to assist with registration, counseling, academic advisement and arrangements for reasonable accommodations. If you have a documented disability, please feel free to discuss accommodations with me within the first 2 weeks of class.

Atlas Account: Please check your Atlas email once a week, the afternoon of our class meetings, so that you can be notified of instructor emails, excessive absence warnings, grade warnings, etc. Also be sure to print out the handouts in Faculty Front Door corresponding to the class lecture and discussion in advance, and be prepared to fill them in during class. Not doing so could affect your grade.

Attendance and Participation:Come prepared, and on time, to ensure your success in this class. The reading selections listed on the class schedule should be read prior to class so that you are ready for quizzes, discussions, and activities. Participation (discussion and individual contributions to group activities) will factor into your quizzes and exercises grade.

Note: Your participation in class discussions will count as two quiz grades; your completion of peer reviews and the quality of your contribution to group activities will count as four quiz grades.

Absences

  • After two absences, you may be withdrawn from the course.
  • If you miss more than one class, you will be sent an Excessive Absence notice via Atlas.

***Tardiness and early departures, or extended breaks, are disruptive. Plan ahead, and avoid scheduling appointments or work hours during class meetings, as they will not be considered excused absences. I will send a sign in sheet around at the beginning and end of class. It is your responsibility to sign it. Not doing so will result in your being marked absent.

  • If a student misses 20 minutes of class, he or she will be considered absent.
  • Excessive tardies may ultimately lead to your withdrawal from the course.

Classroom Conduct

  • Cell Phones and Beepers Turned Off!
  • All Class Comments Should be Preceded By a Raised Hand and Being Called on by Instructor
  • Constructive Criticism During Peer Reviews (Remember, peer reviews are part of your participation grade, and I expect an honest but tactful consideration of other people’s work)

Student Code of Classroom Conduct

“Activities which disrupt the desired classroom setting and which are violative of this Student Code of Classroom Conduct are those which, with or without intent to do so, are disruptive of the educational process. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  1. Activities that are inconsistent with commonly acceptable classroom behavior and which are not conducive to the learning experience, such as: tardiness, leaving and returning during class, and early departure when not previously authorized;
  2. Activities which violate previously described classroom guidelines or constitute an unreasonable interruption of the learning process;
  3. Side discussions which are irrelevant to the subject matter of the class, that distract from the learning process or impede, hinder, or inhibit the ability of other students to obtain the full benefit of the educational presentation;
  4. Utterances of “fighting words” or epithets directed specifically toward other persons with the purpose or effect of creating a hostile educational environment or which may reasonably be expected to incite imminent or immediate violence."

--Valencia Community College District Board of Trustees

Valencia's Student Code of Conduct (Policy 10-18) can be found in the current student handbook or online at Additional information is available in the College Catalog(

Grading Policy:A=900-1000, B=800-899, C=700-799, D=600-699, F=599 and lower.

Quizzes will be a paragraph response to the reading assigned for that day’s discussion or a set of short answer questions to be completed as a group. The grading system, based on the unity, support, and coherence of the writing sample, as well as the relevance to the reading and topic,is as follows: Excellent (100), Above Average (85), Average (70), or Poor (60). Group quizzes will be averaged according to the number answered correctly—meaning backed up with specific support—which is the result of a careful reading and discussion.

Final Examination: Your final exam will be an essay written during the final exam period.

Writing Requirement: Gordon rule course in which the student is required to demonstrate college-level writing skills through multiple assignments.

Writing Format: All out-of-class essays (including drafts) must be typed and double spaced. Handwritten papers will not receive credit, and papers that aren’t double spaced lose five points. Every paper should have a title centered on the top of the first page; you don’t need to include a separate title page. All submissions must be stapled; papers submitted unfastened will be considered late.

Deadlines: Deadlines are non-negotiable; please refer to the class schedule. If you miss class due to extenuating circumstances, it is your responsibility to make up the work and get the notes from another classmate. In-class writing must be made up in the testing center. I will deduct a letter grade for each day late (including weekends), and I will no longer accept an assignment that has been graded and returned to the class. Quizzes cannot be made up, and neither can class activities or homework. Papers are considered due at the beginning of the period; papers submitted after that time on the due date will be a half-day late and lose half a letter grade. Late papers can be submitted as attachments in MS Word to an email so they are date stamped, but you must also submit a paper copy when you return to class.

Peer Editing: Draftwork and editing are considered part of your quizzes and exercises grade. On peer editing days, bring a copy of your draft essay. If you do not, you will receive a 0 on the assignment; however, still come to class so you don’t miss other participation points and important information.

Academic Honesty: Every paper that you turn in must by your own original work, and all outside sources must be cited properly. Plagiarism and/or academic dishonesty will result in a 0 on an assignment. You also put yourself at risk for failing the course, and the Dean may be notified.

*Disclaimer: The instructor reserves the right to alter the course syllabus with prior notice in writing to all students.

Common Errors: Listed below, you will find some of the more commonly made errors on student papers. When you get back a writing assignment, you may find abbreviations indicating the following:

AD=Awkward diction: this means inappropriate word choice, using a word that strays from your intended meaning (has connotations you didn’t mean). Writing well means being precise with your language, so when you use a thesaurus, make sure you consult your dictionary.

AU=Incorrect apostrophe usage or no apostrophe used where one is needed

C=Colon misuse (or omission): a colon (:) is used to indicate the beginning of a list, a quote, or an appositive (the renaming of a noun or pronoun). An example of colon use with an appositive--I have my heart set on the third package tour: an elephant ride to the village.

CCW=Commonly confused words: you’re/your, their/there/they’re, to/too/two, lose/loose, passed/past, then/than, etc.

CU= Comma usage: a comma has been omitted or placed inappropriately.

D=Detail: the information presented here is abstract (general or vague). Provide a specific name, number, or sense description to make the reader concretely aware of what you’re discussing.

DM= Dangling modifier: the opening modifier does not have the subject next to it

FR=Sentence fragment: a fragment is the punctuation of an incomplete thought as a complete sentence. Fragments are created when a group of words punctuated as a sentence lack a subject or a verb, or when a dependent clause is treated like a sentence.

HU-Hyphen usage

I=Illustrate: use a real-life example to show your reader what you’re talking about. Move from the general to the particular; this will help you drive home your point.

MM=Misplaced modifier: the modifier does not modify the correct noun

P=Parallelism: words or phrases used in lists or of equal importance should be of the same part of speech. For example, the sentence “Tara planned to organize a fundraiser, promote the art, and then she would use that money to encourage the artist.” It could be rewritten “Tara planned to organize a fundraiser, promote the art, and encourage the artist.

PA=Pronoun-antecedent agreement: this error occurs when a pronoun used to rename an earlier noun doesn’t match the previous noun in number (singular or plural) or gender (masculine or feminine). An example: A good teacher (singular) should always be in charge of their (plural) class. The pronoun “their” should be “his” or “her” to match in number.

PWQ=Punctuation with quotation marks: indicates incorrect usage of punctuation with quotation marks. For example, you might need to add a comma before your quote, capitalize the first letter of the word inside your quote, or move a punctuation mark to the correct place relative to the quote (inside or outside the quotation marks, which depends on whether you are recreating dialogue or documenting a source).

QNI=Quote not integrated: when using a quote from a source in your writing, you must make that quote flow smoothly with your own sentence structure and syntax (word order). A quote must be introduced and concluded with your own words.

RO or CS=Run-on or Comma splice:a fused sentence or run-on is when you connect two independent clauses with no punctuation. A splice occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined by a comma, creating a run-on thought.

S=Semicolon misuse: a semi-colon is generally used to separate two independent clauses. An independent clause is one that has a subject and a verb; it could stand alone as a complete sentence. The semicolon indicates that the two clauses are closely related. A semicolon can also be used to separate items in a list which already contains commas.

SVA=Subject-verb agreement: this error occurs when a singular subject is used with a plural verb form or vice versa. An example: Luke and Jordan is decorating for the party. The verb in this case would need to be “are.”

TF=Title format: the title of your own paper should be centered at the top of your first page of writing (title pages are unnecessary in this class). Your title is neither bounded by quotes nor underlined; these are used to indicate your citation of another’s title. If you do refer to another’s title, short works (poems, newspaper or magazine articles, songs, essays) are put in quotation marks, while longer works (books, newspapers, magazines, record albums, plays) are underlined. Words in the title are capitalized, with the exception of articles (a, an, the) and prepositions, unless those articles and prepositions are the first words in the title.Do NOT capitalize the entire title.

TS=Tense-Switching: you should stay in the same general tense within your paper: past, present, or future. In the words of another instructor, random shifting of tenses is like “time traveling,” disorienting to the reader. When the reader is disoriented, she is distracted from ideas and details that you would like to get across. Example of tense-switching: A year and a half ago, I visit New Orleans. Correction: A year and a half ago, I visited New Orleans.

U=Unclear: your point is not clear because of poor syntax, diction, or grammar. You may also need to support your logic. Avoid contradicting an earlier point unless it is in line with your purpose (in other words, is the exception to the rule relevant to your point). If you misuse pronouns, you might also muddle your intended meaning. As you revise and edit, write with a reader’s perspective: did you express yourself in the clearest way possible, and would you understand the point you are trying to make?