Message:  Please note new office hours below.
 
 
 
 

 What is this course all about?  Is it concerned with commas and figures of speech and participial phrases?  Does it have to do with outlining themes, constructing topic sentences, and working to achieve unity, coherence, and emphasis?  These questions obviously have to be answered with a yes; but there is a larger sense in which the proper answer has to be no, for the essential purpose of this course goes far beyond the mere technicalities of grammar and rhetoric.  Ultimately, this course engages your deepest needs and interests, your thinking, your feelings, your relationships with other people.  These last assertions will not seem too sweeping when you realize that language is an indispensable instrument in the functioning of the human mind and personality and that rhetoric is the art of using language effectively.
                                                                                            Cleanth Brooks
                                                                                            Robert Penn Warren
                                                                                          Modern Rhetoric
 
 

The Department of English has established four main objectives for this course.  At the conclusion of English 1101, successful students will (1) use the whole writing process, (2) be rhetorically aware, (3) think critically about reading and writing, and (4) exercise consistent technical accuracy writing.  To meet these objectives in this particular section of the course, we will use the texts, assignments, policies, and activities outlined below.

Required Texts and Other Materials:
The Longwood Guide to Writing
The New Century Handbook (with accompanying CD-Rom)
Access to a college-level dictionary
A three-ring binder for the writing portfolio

Overview of writing assignments:            Percentage of Grade:
1. Interest Inventory
2. Letter to the instructor
3. Course Prospectus
4. Timed Essays (2)                                                10
5. Essay 1:  expository                                              5
6. Essay 2:  expository                                              5
7. Writing Inventory 1
8. Essay 3                                                              10
9. Essay 4                                                              20
10. Writing Inventory 2
11. Essay 5                                                            20
12. Portfolio                                                           30

Grading:

All students will have to meet a minimum skill level in order to receive a passing grade for the course.  This level is characterized by
 

•  competence in grammar, usage, punctuation, and sentence effectiveness
•  an ability to write a unified essay that supports a thesis
•  an ability to organize an essay logically and effectively using paragraphs that have a clear and distinct purpose
•  an ability to generate adequate and relevant support for your points

There are, of course, degrees of success between each of these marks, and to better communicate to you the overall effectiveness of your papers the following letter grades (shown with their numerical equivalents) will be used:
 
 

In assigning grades, a certain amount of subjectivity, that is, judgment, is inevitable, but the judgment is applied with knowledge gained from formal training and many years of experience.  It is not arbitrary; it is not personal.  Important note:  My job, and for that matter the job of the staff in the Writing Center, is never to help you get a good grade on a paper.  It is rather to help you teach yourself the skills you need to write well so you can carry those major academic and professional skills with you when you leave this course.

Policy Statements:

Attendance:  For years I taught without an attendance policy, assuming that college students were adults and even if they weren’t needed the experience of learning valuable lessons from their own mistakes.  By and large I was right.  However, I have learned from experience that those students who are ready for college work are never affected by an attendance policy because missing class seldom even occurs to them and those who aren’t ready and find a variety of reasons to miss class don’t do well anyway.  An attendance policy I discovered is very useful for it keeps me from wasting my own and in many cases the class’s valuable time.  Therefore the following policy will be strictly enforced.  Students who miss more than two classes for reasons that do not seem to me satisfactory reasons to miss a class will have their final grade lowered by one letter.  Students who miss more than three classes for reasons that do not seem to me satisfactory reasons to miss a class will fail the course.  Tardies will count as portions of an absence, depending on the degree of tardiness.  IN ALL CASES I WILL HAVE THE FINAL SAY IN WHAT IS AND IS NOT A SATISFACTORY REASON TO MISS CLASS.

Due Dates:  Written assignments are due at the beginning of the class periods on the date assigned.  Given our tight schedule, late work is unacceptable.  You should assume that any work turned in late (that is, after the beginning of the class period on the date assigned) will receive a grade of F.  As with the attendance policy I will in all cases have the final say in what is and what is not a satisfactory reason for turning an assignment in late.

Food and Drink:  Because we meet in a computer classroom, absolutely no food or drink will be allowed.
 
 

See Longwood, pp.8-9.

Assignment for Letter to the Instructor

In this assignment, you will write a letter to me in which you explain what subject you want to pursue through writing and why you want to write about that subject.  Your goal is to convince me that this is the subject for you.  You will determine this subject after completing the Interest Inventory in the text.

Assignment for course prospectus

In this assignment you will write a one page projection of the five essays you think you want to write on your subject, concentrating on the purpose, approach, and audience you intend for each.
This will be a difficult assignment to complete.  It is necessary, however, for you to put this kind of thinking into the course early.  You are not obligated to stay with the plan you set for yourself here.  If the learning you do over the course of the next few weeks does not lead you to revise your plans, you're probably not doing the work you need to be doing.

Assignment for Essay 1

Informative Essay.  After careful study of chapter 6, write an informative essay on a topic related to your chosen subject.  The essay should be three pages in length, typed, double spaced.  For this essay, and for all others unless otherwise directed, follow the format of the sample student essay on pages 325-332 of The New Century Handbook.  However, you may ignore the Works Cited page (p. 332) for now.

Assignment for Essay 2

Evaluations Essay. After careful study of chapter 7, write an evaluation essay on a topic related to your chosen subject.  The essay should be three pages in length, typed, double spaced.

Assignment for Essay 3

Position, Persuasion, or Problem/Solution Essay:  After careful study of chapters 9, 10, and 11, write either a position, a persuasion, or a problem/solution essay on a topic related to your chosen subject.  The essay should be three pages in length, typed, double spaced.
 

Assignment for Essay 4
Open Research Essay.  After careful study of Chapter 12, write an informative, evaluation, position, persuasion, or problem/solution essay that incorporates ideas of others gather in research.  Use proper documentation format described in Longwood, chapter 12 and The New Century Handbook, chapter 13.  The essay should be five pages in length, typed doubled spaced and include an additional page for your Works Cited.

Assignment for Essay 5
Open Essay.  An essay of any type you choose generated completely on your own.  The paper should be three pages in length, typed, double spaced.

Portfolio Assignment
Your portfolio will contain three of the essays you have produced over the semester, rewritten and arranged as an example of your best writing.  You will write a brief head note for each of the essays, italicized and placed between the title and the beginning of your essay.  You will also write a one-page introduction for you portfolio, reflecting on your semester's work and preparing readers for the essays they are about to encounter.  Present your portfolio in a ring binder.

Conference

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