Spring 2008

TR 2:05-4:25 pm

Todd 206

Email:

Office: PH 351 or Ezell 119C (in USWC)

Office phone: PH 904-8153 or EH 494-8932

Office Hours: W 12:30-2:30 in Ezell 119

R 11:30-12:30 in PH 351

COURSE GOALS

English 1020 is the second course in the two-semester first-year writing sequence. We will be concerned with both the process of writing and the actual text that you will produce, focusing on improving your knowledge of what makes an effective college-level essay and spending time looking at strategies that will improve your papers on the levels of content, organization, vocabulary, grammar, and mechanics. The overall goal for this course is to improve your skill in writing persuasively for academic, professional, and personal purposes. In order to help you achieve success with academic writing, you need to understand the role of being fully informed (the role of research) and the more basic skills of reading analytically and carefully, adapting your information to various audiences, organizing and presenting an argument effectively, and writing in a style that will be respected by your readers.In order to generate ideas for our class discussions and writing assignments, we will view television series or films, read models of non-fiction writing in Signs of Life, and do supplemental reading as needed. Being “present” in 1020 entails more than being physically present. This is not a lecture course; it is a demanding, fast-paced course requiring reading, writing, presenting, and participating in class discussions.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

  • HHH: Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook, 16th edition, by Webb, Miller, and Horner
  • FC: Surviving Freshman Composition, 4th edition by Smith, Smith, and Strickland
  • SoL: Signs of Life, 4th edition, by Petracca and Sorapure
  • Any digital material presented over email, the UWC website, or Desire2Learn is the equivalent of a required text

REQUIRED MATERIALS

  • Access to the internet (Desire2Learn) and word processing software (MS Word only)
  • One-subject notebook for daily in-class writings (by Tuesday, January 22)
  • E-mail address that you check regularly (it doesn’t have to be an MTSU address!)

The BACKDOOR for D2L is: elearn.mtsu.edu

EVALUATION AND GRADING SCALE

To pass the course and earn three credit hours, you must earn an overall class average of C or above. Although I will use the grade “D” in grading assignments, anyone receiving an overall grade “D” or below will not pass the class.

Essay Grading Scale: 100-89.5=A / 89.4-86.5 B+ / 86.4-79.5=B / 79.4-76.5=C+ / 76.4-69.5=C / 69.4-59.5 = D / 59.4 and below = F

*First time 1010 students who have met all course requirements may be given an “N” instead of an “F” for the final course grade. This grade is only possible for those who have met course policies and turned in all majorassignments.

GRADES

Response Papers (15%) and Annotated Bibliography (5%) 20%

Midterm Essay 20%

Final Essay and Presentation 40%

Class Participation 20 %

Attendance and in-class work—5%, Reading Presentation—5%, Quiz—5%, Journal—5%

CLASS GUIDELINES

  • At MTSU, the instructor sets the policy for attendance; be sure to understand my attendance policy before deciding to stay in this class. In my class, absences are neither excused nor unexcused; you are allowed three absences for the semester without penalty, including university-sponsored absences. Each absence after the third will result in five points being subtracted from your final grade.
  • Please note that one daily point will be awarded for completing all work, presentations, journals, quizzes, and for participating in class.
  • If you miss class and do not turn in assigned work beforehand, you will not receive credit for the work—no exceptions. This policy is firm; don’t even ask.You will not receive daily points for any class that you miss; this is the price of being absent.
  • Be on time to class, and do not leave early. If you miss a significant portion of any class period, you will not receive your participation point for the day.
  • Due to the implementation of the Emergency Text Messaging System (MTSU Alert 4 U) at MTSU, you may leave your cell phone out on the desk during class, but your phone must be set to vibrate, and you may not use your phone during class (i.e. talking on the phone, using the phone to play games, or text messaging); if you do use your phone during class, you will lose your participation point for the day.
  • PRESENTATIONS—You will be involved in two group presentations and three individual presentations in the class. Presentations may not be rescheduled.
  • JOURNALS—We will begin class with an on-task writing in your journal. Bring your journal to EVERY class meeting. Journal grades are based on completion.

PAPER GUIDELINES

  • Per the English Department guidelines, you will complete at least 24 pages of formal writing. You will be required to write a 6 page research essay at midterm and an 8-10 page argument essay that will incorporate research at the end of the semester. Neither of these page counts includes the works cited page. In addition, you will be required to complete a diagnostic essay, 3 short response papers (2 pages each), and an in-class journal that will be taken up periodically. At MTSU, 250 words is one full page. Do not rely on your computer’s word count device. Anything less than the requirement does not meet the assignment.
  • All papers and assignments are due BEFORE class on the day that they are due. If this is a problem because of your work schedule or commuting, turn the essay in early! However, life happens. You have one exception to this late paper policy; you can turn one response paper in up to one class period late without a grade penalty. Any other late papers WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED, and you will receive a zero. The Midterm and Final Essays may not be turned in late.
  • All papers will be typed, double-spaced, and formatted in MLA style: 12-point Times New Roman font with a 1” margin at the top, bottom, and both sides. (NOTE: The default settings for MS Word are 1.25” for the left and right margins—you will need to reset the margins to 1”.)
  • All papers must be submitted digitally. Your essays should be e-mailed in MS Word format (to ) only and as only an attachment. Do not paste the essay in the body of the e-mail. If you have some other word processing program, be sure to save your file in rich text format (.rtf).
  • I will not talk/email about paper grades within the first 24 hours after you get them back.
  • WRITING WORKSHOPS—When we have writing workshops (for revision and editing) in class, you must bring the required copies of your essay to class and evaluate the papers of others in order to receive full daily point credit.
GENERAL GUIDELINES

Be sure to visit the English Department’s website at for more information on MTSU’s policies on civility in the classroom, academic dishonesty, and disabled services. Also available are the English Department’s standards, goals, writing requirements, and grading procedures for English 1020. EnglishDepartment guidelines are also included in Surviving Freshman Composition.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • PLAGIARISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED IN THIS CLASS. You will receive a zero for a plagiarized paper. MTSU policy requires that I notify judicial affairs in any plagiarism case. This matter is serious and equivalent to criminal fraud or theft. My expectation is that, as a university student, you can do any assignment in this class without cheating. I have access to the website MyDropBox.com, which allows me to search the entire internet and essay databases for plagiarism in your papers. In addition to the above, you will be required to read over, sign, and turn in the plagiarism statement found in Surviving Freshman Composition (4th ed., p. 15) byJanuary 22. No exceptions will be made to this policy; students failing to take this small measure will not receive credit for work done in this class. Signing the form shows that you are aware of what constitutes plagiarism. Also, any questionable citations or lack of credit to the original source may result in an automatic 55 on the essay.
  • The UniversityWritingCenter is located in PH 325, in Ezell Hall 119, and at for students to receive valuable one-on-one assistance with their writing. Conferences are available by appointment only (904-8237); don’t wait until the last minute to seek their help! In order to receive three points extra credit (per visit up to three for the two major essays) for attending the University Writing Center, you must write a brief narrative paragraph about your experience (i.e. what you discussed, what you learned, how your writing changed after the session). I will accept these paragraphs through email when the essay is due.
  • Scholarships and Student Loans— To retain Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship eligibility, you must earn a cumulative TELS GPA of 2.75 after 24 attempted hours and a cumulative TELS GPA of 3.0 thereafter. A grade of C, D, F, or I in this class may negatively impact TELS eligibility. Dropping a class after 14 days may also impact eligibility. If you withdraw from this class and it results in an enrollment status of less than full time, you may lose eligibility for your lottery scholarship. For additional lottery scholarship rules please refer to your Lottery Statement of Understanding form, review lottery scholarship requirements on the web at or contact the MTSU financial aid office at 898-2830.

Please Note:

  • Email is the best way to contact me, but it is not a 24-hour link to my brain. I do not return phone calls, but I will (obviously) respond to emails. Please be responsible, and call me or come by during my office hours if you need to speak with me in a timely manner. Also, if you schedule an appointment with me outside of class and cannot make it, please have the courtesy to cancel at least an hour before the scheduled time.
  • In case of wintry weather, please check for cancellations.
  • If you need special accommodations due to a disability, please provide a letter from Disabled Student Services (898-2783) to me at the beginning of the semester. I am happy to provide special accommodations but need to know in advance.
  • This is a classroom for mature adults ready for discussion of all media and materials. Some of the subjects we will be discussing, viewing, or reading may make you uncomfortable, and some may challenge ideas that you hold. I do not ask that you like all of the ideas that are raised in class; I do, however, ask that you discuss the texts and ideas in a civil and intellectually-engaged manner. If this is a problem, then PLEASE drop this class. This is a non-discriminatory classroom, and all viewpoints are to be respected.

THIS IS A CONTRACT! This syllabus is a contract between you (as the student) and me (as the instructor). By staying in this class, you are agreeing to follow all the guidelines given above and to be responsible for your own actions.