English 110: Introduction to Academic Prose
UMKC/Blue Springs South High School dual credit class
Fall Semester 2014 3 credits Instructor: Mrs. Christine McDowell
Plan hour: 1sthour E-mail: Phone: 224-1315
Required Text: Colombo, Cullen, & Lisle, Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical
Thinking and Writing, 7th Edition
Additional Materials:a flash drive to save your essays and download to my computer
paper for journal writing
severaldifferently colored highlighters or pens to use in the revision process
Units: 1)Family and Culture 2) Education3) Identity and Success4) Morality – Individual and National
Assignments: You will be expected to participate in class and smaller group discussions over the readings from our text. You will be doing a lot of short writings based on the readings from the text. You will also complete exercises and/or short practice writings over various aspects of composition that we’ll study. In addition to these shorter, less formal writings, you will complete three (3) major essays which will lead you to a better understanding of your own writing process and your ideas on culture; you will be expected to write a series of drafts for the three major assignments. As culminating activity, you will create a portfolio to showcase your writing growth in this course.
Please Note: A college writing class takes a great deal of time; therefore, your schedule should allow plenty of time to write and to be prepared for class.
UMKC English Department Objectives for English 110: By the end of English 110 students should be able to
1. Demonstrate an ability to discover purpose in writing.
2. Develop appropriate, relevant, and compelling content to convey the writer’s purpose.
3. Develop effective inter-textual strategies for writing, including weaving sources into their own writing in a purposeful way.
4. Demonstrate an ability to use writing as a way of thinking and as a means for discovering knowledge, not just a mechanism for organizing and presenting it.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of basic rhetorical concepts and terms, such as genre, purpose, and rhetorical situation, and an ability to apply those concepts by describing and analyzing rhetorical uses of language.
6. Demonstrate an ability to respond to the needs of different audiences in their writing, using appropriate formats, voice, tone, and structure for each audience and purpose.
7. Demonstrate ability to practice writing as a process, including invention, revision, editing, and proofreading, understanding that it usually takes multiple drafts to create and complete a successful text.
8. Demonstrate an ability to reflect on their own development as writers.
9. Demonstrate an ability to analyze and respond to their own and others’ works.
10.Demonstrate an ability to edit their writing both to fix mechanical errors and to improve stylistic effectiveness of the writing.
11. Demonstrate an ability to appropriate cite sources in MLA or APA style.
12. Demonstrate an ability to understand and respond to scholarly conversations, engaging multiple points of view on an issue.
Grading: Grading scale: 90-100% =A 80-89% =B 70-79% =C 60-69% =D 59-0% =F
NOTE:I do not round up in a college-level class; an 89.9% will be a B+.
Course work will be graded roughlyas follows:
20% - writing journal: short writings based on readings
75% - two drafts and a final draft of each of the 3 major writing assignments
5% - end-of-course final
Writing Journal (20%) Each student will be required to keep a writing journal. I ask that you use 3-ring binder paper or notebook paper that doesn’t leave rough edges when torn out. In this journal you will include
- Free writing done before and/or after reading selections
- Two-column reading responses to reading.
- Written exercises and/or practice writing from Rereading America and Write for College
The writing journal is a place for your connections with the ideas expressed in class discussions and in the text readings; it is a place for you to experiment and take risks – explore ideas, experiment with writing style. As pages 13-14 of Rereading America explains, this is not a place where you need to concern yourself with “correctness”’ without risk and experimentation there is little possibility of growth.
Major Writing Assignments (75%) There are 3 major writing assignments. Each major writing assignment is worth a total of 150 points. Points will be earned as follows:
- 20 points 1st Draft – it is turned in on time, is a solid draft (not simply a shell or outline), exhibits effort went into creating it
- 30 points 2nd Draft – it is turned in on time (loaded into my computer through e-mail or from flash/thumb drive), is fleshed out to a greater and more effective degree than the first draft, and exhibits significant effort
- 100 points Final Draft – it is turned in on time along with the 1st and 2nd drafts attached, is thoroughly fleshed out, and exhibits significant revision as well as careful editing/final polishing
Final (5%)
Academic Integrity Students are expected to act honestly and with integrity in all areas of their academic life. Students are accountable for everything they say and write. Students are responsible for the integrity of their work. Students should not misrepresent their work by using the work of another and representing it as their own. Students should not give or receive unauthorized aid. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, bringing answers into a testing area, copying homework or assessments from another student, providing answers for or to another student, or using unauthorized notes or technology.
NOTE: Plagiarism on any assignment will result in a zero! Plagiarism is defined as: using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another and presenting them as if they are one’s own by not by not crediting (citing) the original author of the language and thoughts used. You must cite the source (author name, page number, etc.) and include a Works Cited page for all essays which incorporate language and ideas that come from our readings or other sources.
Attendance and Absences:Per UMKC expectations for its college students, faithful attendance is required and expected. Based on UMKC policy, if you miss more than six classes,the UMKC instructor may lower your grade. Obviously if you are very ill, you should miss class and stay home, and missing class on rare occasions due to a sanctioned school activity likely will not result in lowering your grade.However, frequently missing class without providing reasonis not acceptable. Remember that unexcused absences and truancy absences will result in no credit for work due on the date missed or done in class on the date missed.
Important Note If you are absent (excused, pre-ab, or other) on a date when a draft or final draft of any of the three major writing assignments is due,you must call me before the start of the school dayto leave a message with the school secretary explaining the absence, or you may e-mail me directly before the start of the school day to explain your absence (both phone and e-mail information is at the top of this information sheet). Failure to contact me prior to the start of the school day will result in no credit being given for work due on or done in class on the date missed.
Payment: There is a fee for this 3-credit course. As a part of the High School/College Program you pay approximately 1/3rd of the cost you would pay on campus. You will be billed directly by the University.
English 110: Introduction to Academic Prose – General Syllabus
Units of Study: (dates are tentative)
Introduction: “Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths” pgs. 1-16
Unit One: Family and Culture Thurs 8/15/13 – Tues 9/17/13
Readings: “Harmony at Home: The Myth of the Model Family” pgs. 17-25
Coontz “What We Really Miss About the 1950s” pgs. 31-48
Aulette “From Changing American Families” pgs. 61-76
Santorum “It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good” pgs. 88-97
Wolfson “What Is Marriage?” pgs.98-110
“The Making of a Modern Dad” (handout)
“The New Science of Siblings” (handout)
Unit Two: Education Wed 9/18/13 - Tues 10/15/13
Readings: “Learning Power” pgs. 113-119
Moore “Idiot Nation” pgs. 132-149
Gatto “Against School” pgs. 152-160
Rose “I Just Wanna Be Average” pgs. 161-173
Anyon “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” pgs. 173-188
Rodriguez “The Achievement of Desire” pgs. 193-206
Malcolm X “Learning to Read” pgs. 210-218
Kozol “Still Separate, Still Unequal” pgs. 239-255
Unit Three: Identity and Success Wed 10/16/13 - Tues 11/19/13
Readings: “Individual Opportunity” pgs. 260-263 and “True Women and Real Men” pgs. 372-375
Mantsios “Class in America: Myths and Realities” pgs. 307-323
Alger “from Ragged Dick” pgs. 264-270
Bambara “The Lesson” pgs. 270-284
Cose “Discharging a Debt” pgs. 492-503
Hamblin “The Black Avenger” pgs. 285-293
Over
Steele “I’m Black, You’re White, Whose Innocent?” pgs. 530-540
Haydar “Veiled Intention: Don’t Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering” pgs. 402-407
Kilbourne “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt: Advertising and Violence” pgs. 417-442
Mansfield “The Manliness of Men” pgs. 450-453
Unit Four: Morality – Individual and National Wed11/20/13 - Fri 12/20/13
Readings: “One Nation Under God” pgs. 613-619
Lamott “Overture: Lily Pads” pgs. 620-645
McKibben “The Christian Paradox: How a Faithful Nation Gets Jesus Wrong” pgs. 665-675
Feldman “Schools and Morals” pgs. 724-736
D’Souza “America the Beautiful: What We’re Fighting For” pgs. 768-779
Hertsgaard “The Oblivious Empire” pgs. 781-793
The Pursuit of Happyness video analysis – analyzing the evidence of each unit’s focus in this film