Composition II Spring 2012
Tu/Th 9:30-10:50 a.m. Humanities 209
Dr. Lori Wilson Snaith
Office: Pafford 323
lsnaith@westga.edu (678) 839-4873
Once you ' ve carefully read the following course description and class policies, click here to jump to our semester schedule
ENGL 1102 is the second of a two-semester composition course sequence focusing on skills required for both effective writing for various rhetorical situations and critical reading of texts. In order to pass this class, students must write 4000 words of graded college-level writing that demonstrate competency in argumentation and writing, making reference to multiple textual sources.
REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS —You must obtain the following texts, and bring them to class on the days we’re discussing them:
Morrison, Toni Sula 1400033438 Vintage
Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby 0743273567 Scribner reissue edition
Krakauer, Jon Into the Wild 0307387178 Anchor
Cisneros, Sandra House on Mango Street 0679734775 Vintage
Edson, Margaret Wit 0-571-19877-5 Faber and Faber
Maimon A Writer’s Resource (Used 2nd or 3rd edition OK)
FILM: Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog, dir.
Supplemental Readings
I'll provide you with links to additional PDF-formatted articles and primary texts, which you'll find on your reading schedule below.
You must print out, read, and bring these articles and texts to class each day they appear on our schedule.
Finally, you'll need all of the following:
Stapler...and maybe a pocket stapler that you can carry with you to class (I don't lend students my stapler).
Any college dictionary
Internet access and UWG e-mail account
I will ask students who fall
asleep during class or who don't have their texts with them
to leave my classroom, and will count them absent for the
day.
Don't test me on this.
Seriously.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students who pass this course will have demonstrated mastery over the following college-level writing skills:
• To read, understand, and interpret a broad range of written and visual texts from a variety of genres (including but not limited to nonfiction, fiction, poetry, drama, and film).
• To understand literary principles and use basic terms important to critical writing and reading.
• To develop skills in all the tools necessary for effective argumentation.
• To develop facility with the whole writing process from invention through revision.
• To understand and employ a variety of rhetorical modes and techniques of persuasion.
• To acquire mastery of conventions of college-level prose writing.
• To incorporate and document additional textual materials to strengthen and support argument.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students must complete 4000 words of graded—final draft—writing in four papers, one of which must be research-based (there are approximately 250 words per full page of typed, double-spaced, 12-point text).
GRADING
You must complete all assignments in order to pass this course.
Participation : 15% (Based on your reading quiz scores and preparedness for class)
Essay #1: 15%
Essay #2: 20%
Timed Writing #1: 10%
Timed Writing #2: 10%
Final Essay #3: 30%
I will grade all of your formal papers strictly according to the English Dept. Essay Grading Criteria for Out of Class Essays, noting relevant sections on your last page. I'll assign both a numerical grade and its corresponding letter grade to each of your papers (for example, a B = 85; a D+/C- = 70; A- = 92; A+ = 98, an F = 50, etc.).
English Dept. guidelines for grading Out of Class essays
Please note: A grade of C or higher in English 1102 is a prerequisite for all 2000-level English courses and XIDS 2100.
POLICIES
GENERAL CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR AND TECHNOLOGY POLICIES
I will dismiss from class any student who exhibits behavior that disrupts the learning environment of others. Such behavior includes—but is not limited to—arriving late for class, eating in class, allowing cell phones to ring, typing on a laptop, speaking disrespectfully to the instructor and/or to other students, checking email or surfing the web, and using personal audio or video devices. I'll count any dismissal of this kind as an absence and will apply it toward the attendance requirements policy.
ATTENDANCE
Our task this semester is to significantly improve your critical thinking and college-level rhetorical writing. These skills are absolutely essential to your success in college, and you simply must be consistent in your attendance and participation in class.
However, I know that occasional emergencies arise, so I allow THREE no-questions-asked absences—please use them wisely, and keep me informed! I make no distinction between "excused" and "unexcused" absences. If you must be absent, I expect you to keep up with the assignments; if you’re absent on the day an assignment is due, I will still expect you to make arrangements to get it to me on time.
NOTE: I count "lates" (i.e. arriving after class has begun) as 1/2 an absence...so arrive to class on time!
If a student has only one actual absence but four late arrivals to class, he or she will have reached the absence maximum.
In accordance with the English Department FYW policy, I may administratively withdraw or give a grade of F to students when they have accumulated more than three absences.
PARTICIPATION
On the days that a reading is due, I will give a brief reading quiz which include vocabulary words . Although I do expect you to participate meaningfully in class discussion, I'll base your participation grade on your quiz scores. I don’t give make-ups on missed quizzes.
I will ask any student who falls asleep during class to leave my classroom, and will count that student absent for the day.
FORMAT FOR ALL PAPERS
All out-of-class papers must be typed and formatted in MLA style (see Writer's Resource Tab 6). All your papers must be stapled in the top left corner, and must include a Works Cited page.
For style and content reference, see this sample response essay
Please note: I do not accept electronic submissions of any out-of-class work.
REVISIONS
I will require you to revise Essay #1 and #2, due no later than one week after I return it to you graded (in all cases, you must include the original with your rewrite). I’ll calculate the paper’s final grade by weighing the original score as 2/3, and the revised score 1/3; i.e., if your original grade is 78, and your revision grade is 90, then the paper’s final grade would be 82: 78 + 78 + 90 = 246, divided by 3 = 82.
In order to receive credit for revisions, please thoroughly follow my instructions for revising .
LATE WORK
I will not accept late work. I know this policy is challenging, but I really do mean it, and I don't make exceptions. Being late with assignments hinders your progress—and often, that of the entire class.
Although it's far easier just to hand in your paper at the beginning of class on the due date, my definition of a late paper is one that you haven't placed in my hands before I leave campus on the day the assignment's due. While students often choose to meet me at the doorway before or after another of my classes, please NEVER interrupt a class in progress in order to submit an essay.
THE WRITING CENTER
The role of the Writing Center is to offer consultation in which tutors question, respond to, offer choices, and encourage revision in student essays. Tutors do not evaluate or prescribe solutions to problematic areas in student essays, and tutors are specifically trained to avoid appropriating the student's work. For more information, visit the Writing Center online at http://www.westga.edu/writing.
PLAGIARISM AND ACADEMIC HONESTY
Academic dishonesty: Plagiarism is grounds for failure in the course; in addition, I will report any instance of plagiarism to the Provost for disciplinary action. Plagiarism is the use of another’s words or ideas as if they were one’s own; published works are considered intellectual property belonging to the author. Therefore, if you borrow either words or an idea, either:
--express it in language entirely your own and acknowledge your borrowing
with a parenthetical reference or footnote, OR
--acknowledge the exact extent of your debt to the actual words of
the source by enclosing them in quotation marks and documenting the source
according to MLA conventions.
If you are unsure that your use of a secondary source is correct,
please feel free to consult me. Please see the department website for a
definition of plagiarism and a discussion on means to avoid it:
Further, submitting the same paper in multiple classes—no matter
whether those courses are taken in the same or different semesters—is
a form of academic dishonesty and will result in a failing grade for the
course.
Excessive Collaboration
By the end of the term in both ENGL 1101 and 1102,
students should demonstrate the ability to produce independent
writing (writing without collaborative assistance of peers, writing
tutors, or professionals in the field) that shows an acceptable level
of competence. Although classroom activities and out-of-class assignments
may highlight collaborative learning and collaborative research,
excessive collaboration (collaboration that results in the loss of
a student's voice/style and original claims to course-related work)
is considered another form of academic dishonesty and therefore will
not be permitted.
In order to be crystal clear on
what I, the English Department, and the University expect
of you in regard to academic honesty AND classroom deportment,
please review the link below--I hold each of my students responsible
for having read and understood these policies:
I will give an automatic "F" in this course to any student who plagiarizes or excessively collaborates on any assignment (quizzes, out-of-class essays, and journals). . . no exceptions. In order to be crystal clear on what I, the English Department, and the University expect of you in regard to academic honesty, please review all the links below--I hold each of my students responsible for having read and understood these policies:
In order to be crystal clear on what I, the English Department, and the University expect of you in regard to academic honesty AND classroom deportment, please review the link below--I hold each of my students responsible for having read and understood these policies:SPECIAL NEEDS
I will do my best to work with the University in order to provide all students with equal access to my classes and materials, regardless of special needs, temporary or permanent disability, special needs related to pregnancy, etc. If you have a registered disability that will require accommodation, please see me at the beginning of the semester. If you have a disability that you have not yet registered through the Disabled Student Services Office, please contact that office at (678) 839-6428.
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT PAPERLESS POLICY
As of Fall 2006, the English Department implemented a “paperless” policy in its classrooms. Therefore, all materials (handouts, assignment sheets, notes, etc.) will be made available online. Students may print these necessary course documents, including the syllabus, on their home computers.
Spring 2012--IMPORTANT DATES
January 14: Drop/Add ends
January 16: MLK Day Observance (No Classes)
March 2: Withdrawal Deadline (with a grade of “W”)
March 19-23: Spring Break (No Classes)
March 27th: Honors Convocation--no afternoon classes
April 23-27: Final exam week
SEMESTER SCHEDULE
Note: each reading and written assignment is due on the date it appears on our schedule.
WEEK 1
01/10 Tu Welcome to 1102! Discussion of class focus, texts, introductions, etc...the usual first-day-of-class stuff.
01/12 Th Reading Quiz: Our class policies (read every word of this syllabus from the top to this section, and you'll be just fine!)
Writing college-level essays: print out, read, and bring to class: King: "Why and How to Avoid Passive Voice" and General Essay Notes
MLA formatting: a review
WEEK 2
01/17 Tu Bring a print-out of your (perfectly) MLA-formatted Essay Template including two short paragraphs for a 10-point quiz grade.
Print out, read, and bring to class: Classroom (N)etiquette and Constructions and Deconstructions.
Identifying arguments and evidence.
01/19 Th Eric von der Luft: What is Evil, and Why Does it Exist? (you only need to print out pages 1-4) AND
Read ahead for Tuesday, 1/31
WEEK 3-- Essay #1 Assignment ADDITIONAL POETRY
01/24 Tu Print out and bring to class: 1102 Selected Poetry
Stephen King, "Why We Crave Horror Movies."
01/26 Th Observation and interpretation, continued. Bring poetry to class again.
Typed, double-spaced deconstruction of any binary due (Steps One through Five, as we've discussed in class,
and read about in "Constructions and Deconstructions").
WEEK 4
01/31 Tu Observation, interpretation, and thesis formulation, concluded. Bring poetry to class.
02/02 Th Morrison, Sula , Part I: pp 3-85
WEEK 5
02/07 Tu Morrison, Sula, Part II: pp. 89-174.
02/09 Th Essay #1 workshop.
In order to be counted present in class today, YOU MUST BRING A COMPLETE DRAFT OF YOUR ESSAY.
WEEK 6
02/14 Tu Essay #1: Due at the beginning of class.
02/16 Th Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych Bring a red pen to class today.
WEEK 7-- ESSAY #1 REVISION INSTRUCTIONS
02/21- 02/23 No class this week. Prepare for Weeks 8-10 by completing these tasks:
Essay #2 Assignment
WEEK 8
02/28 Tu Tolstoy, continued. Print out and bring to class Chapters I, II, III, IX, X, XI, XII
03/01 Th Bring Sula and The Death of Ivan Ilych.
Essay #2 prep: bring thorough "brain maps" of at least THREE of the six possible writing topics for Essay #2.
***March 2nd: Last day to withdraw with a “W.” ***
WEEK 9
03/06 Tu Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild, chapters 1-9
03/08 Th Krakauer, chapters 10-Epilogue.
WEEK 10
03/13 Tu Watch and take notes before class: Herzog, Grizzly Man
03/15 Th Krakauer and Herzog, concluded. Essay #2 due.
WEEK 11--Spring Break: No classes this week! Yahoooo!
WEEK 12 Timed Writing Rubric
03/27 Tu Graded Essay #2 discussion.
03/29 Th Sandra Cisneros: House on Mango Street
Final Essay #3 Assignment
WEEK 13--Timed Writing #1
04/03 Tu Essay #3 drafting and catching up day.
04/05 Th Essay #2 revisions (optional) due.
Bring: 1) blank 8-1/2" x 11" Blue Book; 2) A Writer's Resource; and 3) House on Mango Street.Margaret Edson, Wit.
UWC appointment slips due at the beginning of class (see Week 14).
WEEK 14--Essay #3 Assignment:
In lieu of our Thursday class meeting, you must take a draft of your Essay #3 AND your typed, personalized proofreading
guides from Essays #1 and #2 to the University Writing Center sometime this week. Ask the tutor about any of the items on
your list about which you're still unsure, and practice with him or her finding and correcting these errors yourself. Bring your
Writing Center Verification slip listing the specific points you covered in the tutorial to class on Tuesday, April 17th.
04/10 Tu Margaret Edson, Wit
04/12 Th No class today; I'll be at a conference.
WEEK 15
04/17 Tu Edson, concluded; Essay #3 preparation.
Bring your Writing Center Verification slip (see Week 14 instructions), your first draft, and your second (post-Writing Center tutorial) draft.
04/19 Th Essay #3 due.
Timed Writing: Bring a blank 8-1/2" x 11" Blue Book, your own copy of Wit, and a pen!
IN PREPARATION: read the following excerpt regarding "Five Habits of Mind" from From Students to Citizens and Workers: An Interview with Deborah Meier by Janice Molloy, which briefly outlines the intellectual skills you'll need to cultivate in order to succeed in this (and any other) college course:
|
According to Deborah Meier and her colleagues,
these five "Habits of Mind"
are crucial for exercising judgment on complicated
matters--developing such intellectual
skills is an essential part of acquiring an
excellent education. They include: 1. Evidence : How do we know what's true and false? What evidence counts? How sure can we be? What makes it credible to us? 2. Viewpoint : How else might this look if we stepped into other shoes? If we were looking at it from a different direction? If we had a different history or expectations? 3. Connections/Cause and Effect : Is there a pattern? Have we seen something like this before? What are the possible consequences? 4. Conjecture : Could it have been otherwise? Supposing that? What if? 5. Relevance : Does it matter? Who cares? The habits of mind are supplemented by habits of work: meeting deadlines, being on time, attending to the fine details of completing the task, sticking with the task, not getting frustrated quickly, listening to what others say, and striving to accomplish more than the bare minimum. |
WEEK 16--Final Exam
Th 04/26 11:00 a.m. Rescheduled for April 19th in order to accommodate students' time conflicts with other classes' finals.
Have a fantastic Summer!
