COURSE POLICIES

 

Fall 2009

ENGLISH 1101-39 CRN 80573
HUM 208 MW 7:00-8:15

Instructor: Marian Muldrow

Office:  310-A                                                                                                                         

Office Hours: By appt.                                                     

E-mail: mmuldrow@westga.edu

URL: www.westga.edu/~mmuldrow and webct.westga.edu

Contact: To reach me about course concerns and questions, email me via WebCT mail. 

 

Attendance

 

Students will be administratively withdrawn from class based on the following attendance policy: For classes that meet twice a week, a student is allowed three absences. Upon the fourth absence, the student will be withdrawn. Be aware that no distinction exists between excused and unexcused absences.

If the withdrawal occurs prior to October 6th, the student will receive a grade of W. If the withdrawal occurs after October 6th, the student will receive a grade of WF. (FYW Department Policy)

 

Disruptive Behavior Policy

 

Students may be dismissed from any class meeting at which they exhibit behavior that disrupts the learning environment of others. Such behavior includes – but is not limited to – arriving late for class, allowing cell phones to ring, speaking disrespectfully to the instructor and/or to other students, checking email or surfing the web, and using personal audio or visual devices. Each dismissal of this kind will count as an absence and will be applied toward the attendance policy above. (Department Policy)

 

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 or using a computer lab on campus.

 

Late Work and Make Up Work Policy

 

Assignments will not be accepted after the due date; therefore, you will not make up assignments after the due date.

 

Plagiarism & Excessive Collaboration Policy

 

Plagiarism & Academic Dishonesty

 

The Department of English and Philosophy defines plagiarism as taking personal credit for the words and ideas of others as they are presented in electronic, print, and verbal sources. The Department expects that students will accurately credit sources in all assignments. An equally dishonest practice is fabricating sources or facts; it is another form of misrepresenting the truth. Plagiarism is grounds for failing the course.

See also, excessive collaboration.  Any student turning in plagiarized material will receive an F for the course.

 

The University policies for handling Academic Dishonesty are found in the following documents:

The Faculty Handbook, sections 207 and 208.0401
http://www.westga.edu/~vpaa/handrev/

Student Uncatalog: "Rights and Responsibilities"; Appendix J.
http://www.westga.edu/handbook/

 

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.

 

Recycled papers

 

Turning in work from another class is strictly prohibited.  All assignments must fit the requirements.  You will not be allowed to write outside of the assigned topics without conferencing with me ahead of time.

 

Role of 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.

 

 

Disability Pledge

I pledge to do my best to work with the University 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 any special learning needs, particularly (but not limited to) needs defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and require specific accommodations, please do not hesitate to make these known to me, either yourself or through Disability Services in 272 Parker Hall at (770) 839-6428.

 

Students with documented special needs may expect accommodation in relation to classroom accessibility, modification of testing, special test administration, etc. This is not only my personal commitment: it is your right, and it is the law. For more information, please contact Disability Services at the State University of West Georgia.

 

Revision Policy  

 

You will have the opportunity to revise your work throughout the writing process.  We will do much of the drafting in class, and you will be expected to attend the Writing Center twice during the semester.  You will attend before essays one and two.  You must provide documentation that you attended.  If you fail to attend, I will not accept your final draft of essays one and/or two.  

 

Extra Credit

 

You will have the opportunity to have points added to quizzes for attending events on campus, which I will make you aware of prior to the event.  You must have proof of attendance to receive points.  Proof of attendance includes a ticket-out-the-door provided at the event or your name on a sign up sheet at the event.  I will determine the point value based on the event, which I will tell you prior to the event.

 

 

COURSE STATEMENTS

Writing Center Statement

 

TLC 1201 678-839-6513       

Writing@westga.edu       www.westga.edu/~writing

 

The University Writing Center works with students and other members of the UWG community to improve writing skills.

What We Do:

·        Discuss ideas, read drafts, and work through revisions of essays; we do not proofread

·        Regents’ Test Preparation (both the reading and essay sections)

·        Creative Writing Consultations

·        MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian, and other citation formats

 

Policies:

·        Please make appointments in advance. We accept walk-ins, but we cannot guarantee that a tutor will be available.

·        If you cannot keep your appointment, you must call or email us 24 hours in advance to cancel. If you do not notify us 24 hours in advance, you will be counted as a No Show.

·        Please arrive at your appointment on time. If you are 10 minutes late or more, you will be counted as a No Show and will not be able to have your appointment.

·        If you have 3 No Shows in one semester, you will not be able to have any more appointments for that semester.

 

Hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 10:00am-7:00pm

Thursday 10:00am-3:00pm

Friday 10:00am-12:00pm

 

Course Catalogue Description:

 

A composition course focusing on skills required for both effective writing for various rhetorical situations and critical reading of texts. In writing, students must demonstrate competency in argumentation, and writing that is strengthened by the use of multiple textual sources.

General Learning Outcomes:

·         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 reasonable mastery of conventions of college-level prose writing.

·         To incorporate and document additional textual materials to strengthen and support argument.

Specific Learning Outcomes:

Critical Reading and Analysis

  1. Develop close reading skills through the analysis of textual passages.
  2. Identify in readings the main purpose, central arguments, and cultural contexts implied by the text in relationship to the course content.
  3. Learn to recognize recurring patterns of development and persuasion among course texts.

Writing Process and Rhetorical Objectives

  1. Develop an understanding of varied compositional strategies for both revised writing and in-class timed writing.
  2. Understand that the composing process is a continuous cycle of invention, drafting, and revising.
  3. Survey and practice some of the best-known techniques of invention.
  4. Practice techniques for analyzing specific audiences and adjusting one's style and presentation to those audiences.
  5. Understand the fundamentals of essay organization and logical argument.
  6. Understand persuasion as a fundamental exchange between reader and audience.
  7. Demonstrate the writing styles appropriate to academic audiences. 

Minimal Competency Requirements

Essay Level

  1. Be able to recognize and generate competent thesis sentences.
  2. Write effective introductions and conclusions.
  3. Organize essays according to recognizable patterns.
  4. Be able to recognize and employ standard expository modes.
  5. Develop a logical argument advancing a particular explication or interpretation of a literary text.

Paragraph Level

  1. Be familiar with the various methods of developing paragraphs.
  2. Recognize and generate topic sentences where appropriate.
  3. Employ details and examples for concrete paragraph developments.

Sentence Level

  1. Write coherent sentences that conform to the grammar and usage conventions of Standard Edited English.
  2. Avoid short choppy sentences through variety of sentence structure and sentence combining abilities.
  3. Affect a clear style of expository prose by using parallelism, clearly placed modifiers, complete predicates, logic and other devices of clear style.
  4. Demonstrate the use of a vocabulary appropriate for freshman-level college discourse.

Documentation Style

Use the MLA style for documenting sources.

Technological Objective

Demonstrate the ability to use word processing and to find and evaluate electronic resources.

Assessment and Assignments:

Essay #1 15% 
Essay #2 15%
Essay #3 20%
Final 25%
Reading Quizzes and Class work 10%
In-Class Writing Assignments 15%

** If you do not attend the workshop(s) for an essay, you cannot turn in a final copy.  You must bring a draft on the workshop days.  If you do not, this will count as a absence. 

You will submit all essays via the drop box in Course Den by 5 p.m. of the due date.  You must save the file as an RTF with a file name of your first and last name and essay number.  Example: Marian Muldrow essay1.rtf

Texts:

 

 

 

Regents’ Statement

The Regents’ Examination is a two-part test of minimum-level reading and writing proficiency.  Students are required to take this examination during their first semester of coursework at UWG.  Students who wish to seek preparation for the exam beyond that provided by this course may visit the Writing Center or the Excel Center. For more information about the exam, please visit http://www.westga.edu/~lst/RegFAQ.htm. For general info:  http://www.gsu.edu/rtp and for sample topics:  http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwrtp/topics.htm

 

Links to FYW rubrics

Link to in-class rubric http://www.westga.edu/~engdept/FirstYearWriting/ENGL1101and1102/InClassWritingAssessment.htm

Link to out-of-class rubric
http://www.westga.edu/~engdept/FirstYearWriting/ENGL1101and1102/OutOfClassWritingAssessment.htm

Grading summary with the letter to numeric scale:

In-Class Essay:

4=95%; 4/3=92%; 3/4=88%; 3=85%; 3/2=82%; 2/3=78%; 2=75%; 2/1=72%; 1/2=68%; 1=65%; 1/0=62%; 0=50

Out-of-Class Essay:

A+=98%; A=95%; A-=92%; B+=88%; B=85%; B-=82%; C+=78%; C=75%; C-=72%; D+=68%; D=65%; D-=62%; F=50%

Students must have a C or higher to progress to the next course.

IMPORTANT DATES:

October 6- Last day to withdraw with W

October 15-16- No class- Fall break

November 25-28 - Thanksgiving break

December 2- Last day of MW classes

December 7-11- Final Exams

December 14- Grades due