North Ridgeville High School English 162

Course: English 162 College Composition II

Instructor: Ms. Allison Kocheff

Office Hours:

Office Phone: 440-327-1992

Office E-mail:

Course Objectives

In this course you will work to develop the following skills:

Thinking / To think critically for comprehension, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of ideas.
Reading / To read different forms of written discourse critically.
Writing / To write different forms of academic discourse clearly, logically, and fluently by using grammatical and mechanical conventions appropriately.
Research / To use a variety of procedures for gathering, reading, and acknowledging information taken from sources.

Required Texts

Behrens, Laurence and Rosen, Leonard J., eds. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum 12th ed. Boston: Longman, 2012

Troyka, Lynn Quitman, and Douglas Hesse. Quick Access: Reference Writers. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2012

Barnet, Sylvan, and Hugo Bedeau. Current Issues and Enduring Questions. 9th ed.,St. Martin’s 2011.

Introduction to Fiction

The Things they Carried by Tim O’Brien

Other Required Materials

Writing Journal (Non-spiral)

Flash drive

Binder w/ 4 dividers

Late Assignments

Essays are due at the beginning of the class on the dates listed. Late essays or a class absence on the due date will result in a penalty of one letter grade for that essay. Essays that are not turned in within one week of the initial due date will receive an F for the assignment.

Attendance

Attendance at every class is essential. Absences, late arrivals, and early departures will cause points to be deducted from your grade. After three (3) absences, each additional absence will cause 10 points to be deducted from your grade. In accordance with policies of the Division of Arts and Humanities, students who miss more than the equivalent of 5 class hours for a 3-credit hour course will fail to meet the minimum participation requirements, leading to failure of the course. In extremely rare instances, exceptions to this policy may be considered by the instructor. Should circumstances prohibit students’ attendance, they are encouraged to withdraw from the course. College regulations allow student withdrawals from courses through the end of week twelve of the term.

Withdrawal

If students do not wish to take the course they must make that decision within one (1) week. After the first week a W for Withdrawal will be placed on their transcript and the student will be responsible for paying for the course.

FERPA

Under law professors cannot share grades with anyone except the student. A form will need to be signed giving access to parents or guardians since the students are still minors.

Essay Format

The essays you write in this course must be typed in MLA format, which is described and illustrated on pg. 258-271 of Quick Access. Be sure your papers conform to this style. Also, proofread your essays carefully. The physical appearance of your essay gives the reader a first impression of you; prepare accordingly. Lastly, don’t forget to make a copy of your essay to keep against loss, theft, or other mishaps that may befall it after you turn it in. When we conduct workshops and conferences you will also need to make copies for other classmates.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious offense that jeopardizes your enrollment in this course. Do not hand in someone else’s work as your own. All academic work submitted by a student to the instructor is expected to be a result of the student’s own thought, research, or self-expression. When a student submits work purporting to be his or her own, but which in any way borrows ideas, organization, wording, or anything else from another source without appropriate acknowledgement of the fact, the student is guilty of plagiarism. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please discuss it with me.

Writing Journal

Because writing is a process, many of the ideas that will become the basis for your essays will arise from the free writing (and other invention work) you do in your journals. Your journal entries will be responses to your won questions as well as those that appear in the book or come up in class. Most homework assignments will involve writing in your journal so devise a system that allows you to submit papers and file them away later after they are returned to you. Your journal will be graded according to its completeness and the level of effort that went into it.

Sharing and Discussing your Work

Since receiving comments from readers is an essential aspect of the writing process, you will share your work throughout the semester with a number of students. Understanding how others view your writing can provide important guidance for revision. Participation in this process is a required part of the course. Also, I will periodically use writing from student essays and assignments to illustrate features of effective writing as well as common problems. In such cases, the students’ work will remain anonymous.

Rewrites

This semester you have the opportunity to revise (rewrite) your essays. Your revisions will be based upon your own evaluation of your writing as well as comments provided by me and your peers. All rewrites are due within two (2) weeks after the original graded essay is returned to you. You must always submit the original essay with the revised version. The final grade for the essay will be an average of the two grades. Rewrites are graded but do not receive extensive comments. If you would like in-depth feedback, I’ll be happy to discuss the essay with you during office hours.

Computers

All students are expected to use computers in this course and to have access to the internet. If you do not have Internet or computer access at home, you can make use of the many labs that are available to students. Course handouts and assignments are frequently distributed through the Angel course management system, so it will be essential for you to become familiar with it. Moreover, some writing assignments and collaborative work will be conducted through Angel. An Angel tutorial is available online through the LCCC homepage. Finally, many of the documents I distribute on Angel are in the Microsoft Word word-processing file format. If your computer programs will not open a Word document, Word is available on the LCCC computer lab computers.

Participation

In-class participation is not an option. Points will be given daily for appropriate participation in full class discussions and small group discussions. Excused absences will not count against the student the day they miss.

Grading Criteria for Essays

Content / Organization & Format / Style & Mechanics
A Paper: Excellent / Demonstrates a thesis and arguments that are:
  • Clear
  • Logical
  • Creative
  • Insightful
  • Developed
/ Demonstrates:
  • Thoughtful ordering of ideas.
  • Unified, detailed, and analytical paragraphs related to thesis.
  • Smooth and logical transitions
  • Adept research and documentation skills, including effective integration of source material.
/ Demonstrates:
  • Correct, precise diction.
  • Eloquent style.
  • Varied, complex sentence patterns.
  • Mature authorial voice.
  • Correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

B Paper: Good / The B paper achieves more than the minimum features of the C paper by demonstrating competence on at least one group of the characteristics of the A paper.
C Paper: Satisfactory / Demonstrates a thesis and arguments that are:
  • Clear
  • Logical
  • Functional
Displays adequate critical thinking skills for:
  • Summary
  • Synthesis
  • Evaluation of text sources
/ Demonstrates:
  • Clear ordering of ideas.
  • Unified paragraphs related to thesis.
  • Adequate support.
  • Appropriate Transitions.
  • Sufficient research and documentation skills.
/ Demonstrates:
  • Correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
  • Standard diction.
  • Simple or repetitive sentence patterns.

D Paper: Unsatisfactory but passing / The D paper is seriously deficient in ONE of the above categories, and/or does not meet the requirements of the assignment.
F Paper: Failing / The F paper is seriously deficient in TWO or more of the above categories and/or does not meet the requirements of the assignment.

Course Work

Assignment 1-Analysis (1000 words)

Task: Interpret/analyze a text through a particular lens of a particular theory/concept or definition (e.g. apply theory to example).

Special Requirements: Should include full documentation with Works Cited page.

Assignment 2.1- Argumentation and Secondary Research (synthesis): First Version (1000 words)

Task: Draw on multiple readings to argue a position, following a method of argumentation outlined in the handbook.

Special Requirements:

  • Should include full documentation with Works Cited page.
  • Topics may be drawn from the anthology and/or additional sources discovered through working bibliography search.
  • Students should locate, evaluate, organize, and use research material collected from various sources including scholarly library databases, other official databases, and other informal electronic networks and internet sources.
  • May include an oral report.

Assignment 2.2- Argumentation and Secondary Research: Final Version (1500 words)

Task:Revise first version of argumentation research essay.

Special Requirements:Revision may include performing additional research.

Assignment 3- Literary Analysis (1500)

Task:Analyze a novel in light of multiple texts.

Special Requirements: May include anthology readings and/or selected critical commentary as a basis for analysis of the novel.

In-Class Essays

Presentations

Homework & Quizzes

Note: All work must be completed to pass the course.

Grading Scale

A90%-100%

B80%-89%

C70%-79%

D60%-69%

F59% or lower

Tutoring

Two hours of free tutoring is available to students at the Main campus and the North Ridgeville campus. Call the campus you desire for more information.

ADA- Disclosure of Disability

If there is any student with a disability in this class who requires accommodation, please feel free to come and discuss this with me. This information is kept confidential.