Madisonville Community College
Syllabus
Spring 2008
COURSE: English 101-7505; Writing I
CLASS #: 78697
CREDIT HOURS: 3
CLASS TIME: Monday and Wednesday: 1:00 PM-2:15 PM
ROOM: 305
INSTRUCTOR: Greg Hagan
OFFICE: 339A
OFFICE HOURS: Monday thru Friday 10:00 AM—11:00 AM and as arranged.
PHONE: Office, 821-2250 or 824-8606; Home, 821-1643
EMAIL:
PREREQUISITES / COREQUISITES: I assume you already possess rudimentary knowledge of how to communicate in standard written English. No specific courses are required prior to ENG 101. However, those who are unable to consistently write successful sentences should take ENC 090 or 091, Developmental English. Any students, based on ASSET, ACT or COMPASS results, must take the developmental courses; any students who were urged to take the developmental classes based on in-class diagnostics should seriously consider changing courses.
Course Description: ENG 101: Focuses on academic writing. Provides instruction in drafting and revising essays that express ideas in Standard English, including reading critically, thinking logically, responding to texts, addressing specific audiences, and researching and documenting credible academic sources. Includes review of grammar, mechanics, and usage. NOTE: Credit not available by special examination. (from recent KCTCS Catalogue)
Required TextS:
(1) Axlerod, Rise B. and Charles R. Cooper. The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2008.
(2) Thompson, Ruthe, Rise B. Axlerod and Charles R. Cooper, eds. Sticks and Stones and Other Student Essays. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2008.
(3) Barnet, Sylvan. and Hugo Bedau. From Critical Thinking to Argument: A Portable Guide. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2008.
REQUIRED SUPPLIES: (1) Loose leaf notebook paper, (2) blue or black ink pen, (3) a college dictionary, for example, Webster's New World Dictionary, (4) a separate notebook (separate from your paper supply) where you can make notes, record assignments, and keep handouts.
GENERAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES: All courses that fulfill General Education Requirements are required to contain these four competencies:
I. Communicate Effectively:
1. Read and listen with comprehension.
2. Speak and write clearly using Standard English.
3. Interact cooperatively with others using both verbal and non-verbal means.
To improve this competency, students will practice the drafting and editing of various written documents, including an argumentative paper. This work will be graded against accepted standards of good English prose. Grades on written work will be somewhat dependent on the students' ability to understand the written word and its subtleties. Students will also be given oral quizzes over the reading assignments. In addition, students will work collaboratively on various assignments and engage in peer review.
II. Think Critically:
1. Make connections in learning across the disciplines and draw logical
conclusions.
2. Demonstrate problem solving through interpreting, analyzing, summarizing,
and/or integrating a variety of materials.
To improve this competency, students will examine models of discourse such as the writing of profiles, evaluations, cause-and-effect papers, argumentative papers, and proposals. Attention will be devoted to careful consideration of bias and belief as it influences stated polices and argued positions. Logical argumentation and fallacies will be presented. In addition students will write at least three papers that require that incorporation of outside sources. Students will also write at least three summaries.
III. Learn Independently:
1. Use appropriate search strategies and resources to find, evaluate, and use
information.
2. Make choices based upon awareness of ethics and differing perspectives/ideas.
3. Apply learning in academic, personal, and public situations.
To develop this competency, students will incorporate the ideas of others, and their assessment of these ideas into the writings of their own choosing, such as the cause-and-effect paper, the argumentative paper, and if the proposal. With respect to these writings, students will apply these interpretations to personal and public situations.
IV. Examine Relationships in Diverse and Complex Environments:
1. Recognize the relationship of the individual to human heritage and culture.
2. Develop an awareness of self as an individual member of a multicultural global
community.
To develop this competency, students will write responses to a variety of texts through in-class writing activities.
ENGLISH 101 COMPETENCIES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Competency One: Develop an appropriate and articulate thesis in an essay using adequate support, sound reasoning, and valid evidence.
1. Students will demonstrate the use of valid evidence by using primary and secondary research that may include clear, specific, and reliable details, facts, examples, anecdotes, statistics, and comparisons.
2. Students will demonstrate the use of sound reasoning by composing evaluative arguments, casual analysis arguments, position papers, and/or proposals using inductive and deductive reasoning.
3. Students will also demonstrate the use of sound reasoning by identifying logical fallacies in their writing and in the writing of others.
4. Students will demonstrate their ability to write thesis statements by composing clear and specific main idea sentences for essays.
Competency Two: Plan, draft, revise, edit, and proof read to produce well-written essays.
1. Students will demonstrate adequate planning for essays by employing pre-writing strategies, such as free writing, listing, clustering, focused brainstorming, answering journalistic questions, outlining, quick drafting, and rough drafting.
2. Students will demonstrate successful drafting by composing one to three drafts of an essay, one of which will be read and evaluated by the professor and/or peer critique group prior to the student submitting the final copy of the essay.
3. Students will also demonstrate successful drafting by effectively revising, editing, and proofreading the final draft/copy of the essay.
Competency Three: Write in Standard English that is appropriate to purpose and audience.
1. Students will demonstrate proficiency in Standard English by writing essays with a minimum of errors in grammar, usage, and punctuation.
2. Students will write essays using correct diction and proper spelling.
Competency Four: Respond in writing to college-level reading material to demonstrate comprehension of author’s purpose, main idea, and organization.
1. Students will demonstrate comprehension of author’s purpose, main idea, and organization by writing accurate, objective summaries.
2. Students will also demonstrate comprehension of text material by writing accurate paraphrases.
3. Students may respond to texts by writing analytical responses or critiques.
4. Students will incorporate a minimum of two or three outside sources into analytic and persuasive essays.
Competency Five: Use library search tools in find print/non-print materials.
1. Students will write two or three research essays using print and non-print sources.
2. Students will demonstrate their ability to evaluate sources for their credibility and for the quality of their information by incorporating effective research material into two or three essays.
Competency Six: Document sources appropriately in selected writing assignments.
1. Students will demonstrate documentation by using the MLA system.
2. Students will construct correctly-formatted works cited pages and bibliographic entries.
3. Students will use in-text parenthetical references correctly.
4. Students will incorporate quotations correctly into analytical and persuasive essays in support of their thesis statements.
5. Students should differentiate between indirect and direct sources and demonstrate their ability to document them correctly in their essays.
Specific Policies:
1. Plagiarism:
Plagiarism that is intentional usually involves passing off large blocks of other folks' writing as your own. This is due to the writer's insecurity in stating his or her own thoughts or simply to dishonest laziness. Some misguided souls will try to submit papers that were entirely written by someone else. Plain and simple, this is cheating. Students who willfully plagiarize in English 101 will fail the course.
However, unintentional plagiarism is a case of gross misunderstanding of the use of others' thoughts or words. It is a stupid error. These situations occur in fragmentary, isolated, and infrequent portions of written work. Part of my job is to help you avoid this sort of serious error.
2. Attendance:
Because this is a course that develops your writing skills, your attendance is necessary. Unlike a content course, you cannot simply read the text to obtain the information; this is a course of hows, not whats. Hows require explanations, clarification, and examples, perhaps even lectures (heaven forbid!). Thus regular attendance is required of the English 101 student.
I will record all absences. You may have three absences without penalty. This amounts to a little less than 10% of the semester's classes. A subsequent absence will cost you a letter grade for the course. Each additional absence costs another letter grade. I make no distinction between excused and unexcused absences—if you're not here, you're most likely not learning, and thus not holding up your end of the student-teacher contract, regardless. In addition, out of kindness and respect, please let me know when you will be absent.
In addition, tardiness and early departures are frowned upon. I will consider three tardies an absence as well as three early departures an absence.
3. Peer Review:
Occasionally, you will have the chance to read over or hear your fellow classmates' work. The purpose of this exercise is to provide the writer with as much feedback as possible between draft and revision of the essay. In so doing, you not only will find a sense of your own power as a reader and writer, but you can learn much from what you each do well. Please don’t blow off peer review: peer review is 5% of the grade.
4. Grading Criteria:
Each project requires slightly different emphases. Your success will depend on how well you achieve the form that each project requires. The expectation will be clarified as each is assigned. In addition, you will be expected to write according to the dictates of standard written English.
5. Grade Distribution:
The course projects will have the following grade weights:
Essay #1 Diagnostic Essay 0%
#2 Profile 10%
#3 Evaluation 10%
#4 Causal Analysis 15%
#5 Argument / Position 20%
#6 Proposal* 20%
#7 Peer Review (class participation) 05%
#8 Quiz grades, homework,
and in-class writing assignments. 10%
#9 Summaries 10%
Thus, the course grade is based directly on your actual written production. The above list gives the number of documents in order in which I will take them up, with the exception of the summaries, and places heavy emphasis on the research paper (Argument / Position) as well as the Proposal.
*In-class writing: Essay #6 will be drafted and revised in-class. We will spend ample time before the draft date preparing you to do the in-class draft. You will be allowed to use notes, prewriting materials, outlines—anything that does not constitute a preliminary draft written at home. You are not allowed to simply recopy a draft prepared from outside the confines of the classroom walls. You will receive the draft back written in the classroom on the day of the final.
You will write at least three summaries throughout the semester. Due dates will be assigned as we progress through the semester.
9. Typing Requirement: All final papers, with the exception of in-class writing assignments, must be typed using a readable font, 12 pt.
10. The following assignments must be completed to pass this class: diagnostic, profile, evaluation, cause-and effect, argument-position, proposal and summaries. These papers constitute major assignments. Failure to complete any major assignment will result in course failure.
* In-class writing: The proposal, essay 6, is an exit exam. You will be allowed to use notes, prewriting materials, and outlines--anything that does not constitute a completed draft. You must earn a grade of 60 (D-) on this paper to pass the class, regardless of your performance on other assignments.
11. Final Essay/Final Grade Policy: Students must earn at least a D on the final essay to pass the course regardless of previous performance on assigned essays.
12. Grade Determination:
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
E Below 60
12. Make-up Policy: Except for emergency situations or illness, I must approve late submissions prior to the due date. Otherwise, I will not accept late work. In addition, I reserve the right to reduce late submissions by one letter grade per class period beyond the due date.
13. Withdrawal Policy: The instructor of this course adheres to the schedule published in the Madisonville Community College Calendar.
March 17, 2008: Mid-term: Last day for students, at their discretion, to officially withdraw from a class and receive a grade of W. Last day to change from credit to audit status.
May 3, 2008: Last day for a student, at the discretion of the instructor, to officially withdraw from a class and receive a grade of W.
Please keep this is mind. According to the policy of the English faculty, if students are academically responsible, they will be allowed to withdraw from a course up to the last class day of the semester. However, if a student is academically irresponsible, that is, he or she does not submit assignments and is frequently absent, or simply disappears, the instructor will not give permission to drop the course.
Incomplete Grade Policy: A grade of "Incomplete" will be given only in cases involving emergency or illness. If an "Incomplete" is assigned, the student will have thirty days to complete all missing work and to have the "Incomplete" changed to a letter grade.
Extra-Credit: Extra-credit will be given to students who attend selected presentations by The Learning Center and Students Supports Services. Extra-credit will also be given to students who attend The Loman C. Trover Library Reading Series.
ADA Requirement: If you have a documented disability and need any type of accommodation, you are required to register with the Disability Resource Coordinator. Contact Valerie Wolfe, Disability Resource Coordinator, Room 112 LRC, 270-824-1708.
Student Code of Conduct: Information about academic rights and academic offenses is available here: (Student Code of Conduct) www.kctcs.edu/student/code.htm
Cell Phones and electronic devices: Please mute all cell phones and refrain from text-based messages during class. Leave your iPODs and other media players in your book bags. Persistent violators will be treated as absent.
Writing I
ENG 101: 7505
Spring 2008
Course Calendar
Note: This course calendar is subject to change, and you are responsible for noting any changes.
In addition, please note, I must pre-approve all writing assignments.