Community College of Rhode Island
Fall 2016
ENGL1005-155, College Writing
Mondays and Thursdays, 11-11:50 a.m. in Room 2434
Wednesdays, 11-11:50 a.m. in Room 1236
Instructor: Beth O’Leary Anish
e-mail:
Office #1364, Flanagan Campus
Office Hours: MWR 9-11 a.m.
Phone number (during office hours): (401) 333-7139
Course Description:
This course focuses on the writing process: planning, organizing, developing, drafting and revising. Course activities begin with paragraphs and progress to essays and include research documentation assignments. (Prerequisite: Placement testor completion of ENGL 0250 with a “C” orhigher) Lecture: 3 hours
Methodology:
Students will work on strengthening their essay-writing skills. In five short take-home essays students will employ the rhetorical strategies they have learned in class and through readings: description, narration, process, definition and comparison and contrast. Students will be required to submit drafts of their take-home essays, which they will revise in peer groups.
Students will learn how to conduct college-level research, and incorporate that research into a brief argument essay by the end of the course. This essay will be revised in workshop format during the last week of classes, and due during the final exam week.
Students will read essays for homework that promote thinking and discussion, and provide models of excellent writing. These readings will form the basis for class discussion, and therefore must be completed before the class for which they are listed on the syllabus.
Required Text:
Langan, John. College Writing Skills with Readings, 9th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2014. ISBN#: 978-0-07-803627-9. Plus 2016 MLA Update booklet (packaged together at CCRI Bookstore).
Instructional Objectives:
By the end of this course, the student should be able to:
Work through the stages of the writing process, from pre-writing through drafting, revising and editing.
Write essays displaying unity, support, and coherenceusing a variety of rhetorical strategies.
Recognize and remove from his or her writing sentence fragments, run-on sentences and other grammatical errors.
Utilize academic research tools to support a written argument.
Cite sources in a short research paper using MLA style.
Course Requirements/Grading Criteria:
1) Short Essays: Five take-home essays, 2 pages in length each, illustrating narrative, descriptive, process, definition and comparison and contrast rhetorical strategies. These essays will be judged based on how well they advance a clear central idea (thesis) and support that thesis with plenty of interesting details arranged in a logical order and effective sentences. Due 9/26, 10/12, 10/24, 11/7, 11/21.
2) Cover Letter: Students will “respond” to a job posting in letter form. Due 10/27.
3) Final Paper: Take home essay, 3-4 pages. Students will choose a controversial issue on which to write an argument essay for this final assignment. Students will conduct library research and use at least 2-3 sources to support their arguments. Drafts will be workshopped in class during last week of classes. Essay is due to instructor’s mailbox no later than Thursday, 12/15 at noon. There will be no late papers accepted for this assignment.
4) Class Participation: To earn class participation credit, students must show evidence that they have completed readings prior to class by making positive contributions to class discussions, and by offering their peers feedback in writing workshops. The instructor will grade class participation on a “check”, “check plus” and “check minus” system. A student who makes positive contributions to writing workshops and full class discussions will receive a “check plus” for that day of class. A student who shows up for class but does not get involved will receive a “check” for attending. A student who misses ½ a class, due to tardiness or leaving early, or who comes to writing workshop days without a draft prepared, will receive a “check minus” for the day. Two “check minus” grades will count as an absence from the class. At the end of the course, the instructor will tally up the “check plus” grades to determine the students’ class participation grades.
5 take-home essays (2 pages each) = 65% (13% each)
Cover letter = 5%
Research-based Argument Essay (final paper) = 20%
Class/group participation = 10%
Attendance policy:
Students should make every attempt to attend and participate in every class. In the case of a brief illness or other unforeseen circumstances, however, the instructor understands if a student has to miss a class. Too many absences will detract from the student’s ability to participate in class and should be avoided. Absences should be used only for serious illnesses or other emergencies. You are expected to complete homework assignments even if you are absent; all reading assignments are listed here on this syllabus, and writing assignments not obtained in class can be found on our course Blackboard site or by e-mailing the instructor.The first three absences will not affect the student’s grade. For the 4th, 5th and 6th absence, the student’s final grade will be dropped ½ letter grade each. After six absences the student should officially withdraw or a final grade of “F” will be given. Two late arrivals or early departures will be considered equivalent to one absence. This policy is in accordance with the CCRI English Department’s attendance policy.
Late paper policy:
All written assignments should be handed in on the day they are due according to the syllabus. In the event that a paper cannot be turned in on time because of an emergency or other problem, you must alert me in advance and e-mail me the assignment as soon as possible. For each day a paper is late, ½ a letter grade will be taken off the paper grade. This means a “B” paper turned in one day late will be a “B-”; the same paper turned in two days late would be a “C+”, etc. After 10 days, even an “A” paper would be an “F,” so no papers will be accepted more than 10 days late. The final paper will not be accepted late.
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is passing someone else’s words and/or ideas off as one’s own. Whether that involves taking a whole paper off the internet, borrowing from a source without acknowledging it, or having a friend or family member give a too much input into an assignment, plagiarism is not an accepted academic practice. Students only learn if they do their own work. It is within the rights of the instructor to fail a student for an assignment or the course, if he or she has been caught plagiarizing.
Clearly having someone else write a paper or borrowing a paper from the internet is wrong. More subtle cases of plagiarism happen when students are not clear how to cite sources properly in a research paper. Know that any time you borrow words or ideas from an outside source you must give credit to the author of that source. In this class we will follow the guidelines of the MLA (Modern Language Association), when citing sources for the research paper. You are not expected to know MLA citation style coming into this course; it will be part of the material taught in the course. For more information on CCRI’s academic dishonesty policy, see the Student Handbook:
Classroom Etiquette:
All students have a right to learn in this classroom without being distracted by their peers. Please be considerate of both your instructor and fellow students to maintain a positive learning environment. To this end, students are not permitted to engage in the following activities during class time:
-text messaging, answering phones or otherwise using phones for games, internet, etc.
-listening to head phones
-holding side conversations or chatting about non-course related topics
-using computer for any purpose other than note-taking or in-class writing assignments
Students engaged in any of the above activities may be asked to leave the classroom.
Class discussions and peer review of essay drafts should be conducted with civility and respect for all voices and opinions. It is by being open to diverse opinions that we best learn.
In this classroom you are considered an adult. If you need to excuse yourself to use the bathroom or take an urgent phone call you can do so without my permission, and with as little disruption to the class as possible.
Note: Some syllabus items may be adjusted as the semester goes on.
General Grading Rubric for Composition papers
A (Excellent) / B (Good) / C (Fair) / D (Poor) / F (Failing)Unity / Essay has clear main point (thesis), often stated at end of introduction. Thesis points paper in one direction, and is easily defensible in a short essay (not too broad or too narrow). All supporting details in the essay fit with thesis. / Essay has clear main point (thesis) in introduction, though perhaps not as interesting, unique or insightful as that of an “A” paper. Supporting details back up thesis. / Essay’s point (thesis) may be vague and difficult to defend in a short paper, but writer does attempt to have a point or direction. The paper may wander off of this point occasionally. / Essay is lacking a clear direction or point (thesis), therefore supporting details are scattered to support various points. / There is no point to the essay.
Support / Essay includes plenty of specific details and examples to back up thesis statement. / Essay includes some specific details and examples to support thesis, but perhaps not as many as an “A” paper. / Support for thesis is vague, not specific. Few details and examples are given as evidence. Writer may bring up a point but not support it. / There is not one clear direction so support is increasingly vague. Essay may include more clichés than specific details. / Support is vague, if there at all. No specific details or examples to illustrate what writer is trying to say.
Coherence / Essay flows smoothly from start to finish. There are transitions between ideas and paragraphs. Ideas are arranged in logical order, and new paragraphs started when topic shifts. Essay includes introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. / Essay is organized well overall, but may include some places where a new paragraph should have been started and wasn’t, or where writer jumps to next topic without a transition. Essay has introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. / Essay may jump around, not flow smoothly from start to finish. It may lack some transitions. Paragraphs could perhaps be ordered differently. It does attempt a separate introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. / Essay tries to cover too many topics so it cannot be neatly organized. It may lack a conclusion and not have enough body paragraphs. It may introduce a point at the end of the essay that should have been developed earlier in the essay. / Essay has no plan of organization, no logical order.
Sentence Skills / Essay includes clear, error-free sentences. Few, if any, fragments, run-ons, point of view shifts, etc. / Essay may include a few grammatical errors, but not enough to get in the way of communicating writer’s ideas. / At this level paper grammatical mistakes become a problem; there are more run-ons, fragments, point of view shifts and misused words than in “A” and “B” papers. / Sentence-level errors are found throughout the essay. It becomes difficult to understand writer’s ideas because they are not expressed clearly. / Sentence-level errors throughout essay. Writer has not communicated ideas clearly.
Source for the “Four Bases for Revising Essays”:
Langan, John. College Writing Skills with Readings, 8th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2011.
Course Topics/Assignment Schedule:
For all readings in the Langan text book, you may opt to skip over the written exercises included in the following pages. Just read the text and we’ll do exercises together as necessary. Unless otherwise indicated here (or mentioned in class), all reading assignments should be done by the beginning of the week for which they are listed. Items in bold are written assignments that are due or holidays.
Week 1Due:For 9/2, Read Ch. 1, and 2 of the Langan text (skip exercises).
8/31,9/1Course introduction. Review writing a paragraph. The writing process; in-class writing: “One Thing About Me.”
Week 2Due:Read Ch.3 for and Ch. 7 for 9/7; and pages 622-626; O’Keeney, p. 740 and Johnson, p. 674 for 9/8.
9/5Labor Day: No class.
9/7,8Basics of the college-level essay; point of view; reading well and college success.
Week 3Due:Read Ch. 4for 9/12; and Ch. 8 and Tan, p. 667 for 9/14.
9/12,14,15Writing the essay, continued; Writing Descriptive essays.
Week 4Due:Read Ch. 5 and Ch. 6 for 9/19; Descriptive Essay draft, bring 2 copies (9/22).
9/19,21,22Revising; CCRI Writing Center; peer response to Descriptive drafts (9/22).
Week 5Due: Revised Descriptive Essay (9/26); Read Ch. 9; Wilkins, p. 643; Orwell, 658.
9/26,28,29Writing Narrative essays.
Week 6Due:Narrative Essay draft, bring 2 copies (10/6).
10/3,5,6Grammar review (10/3 and 10/5); peer response to Narrative drafts (10/6).
Week 7Due:Revised Narrative Essay (10/12); Read Ch. 11.
10/12,13Writing process essays.
No class on Monday, Oct. 10: Columbus Day holiday.
Week 8Due: Read Ch. 20; Process Essay draft, bring 2 copies (10/20).
10/17,19,20Job search strategies; writing resumés and cover letters; peer response to Process drafts (10/20).
Week 9Due:Revised Process Essay (10/24); Cover Letter (10/27); Read Chapter 13.
10/24,26,27Writing Comparison and Contrast essays.
Week 10Due: Comparison and Contrast Essay Draft (11/3).
10/31,11/2,3Grammar review (10/31 and 11/2); Peer response to Comparison and Contrast Drafts (11/3).
Week 11Due: Revised Comparison and Contrast Essay(11/7); Read Ch. 14; Gregory, p. 636 and McClintock, p. 697 for 11/7.
11/7,10Definition Essays.
11/9No class: CCRI following a Friday schedule to make up for Veteran’s Day holiday on the 11th.
Week 12 Due: Read Ch. 16and Garity, p. 756 for 11/14;ReadMartin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (handout) for 11/16.Definition Essay draft, bring 2 copies (11/17).
11/14,16,17Introduce final essay assignment; Argument and Persuasion; peer response to Definition drafts (11/17).
Week 13 Due:Revised Definition Essay (11/21); Read Ch. 18 and Ch. 21 for 11/23.
11/21,23Writing summaries and conducting library research; Library visit (11/21).
11/24Thanksgiving holiday: No class.
Week 14Due:Read Ch. 22 and2016 MLA Update Booklet.
11/28,30,12/1Writing Research Papers, MLA Style; Using quotations.
Week 15Due: Draft of final essay, on your workshop day.
12/5,7,8Workshops for Argument Essay drafts (sign up for one date this week).
Week 1612/12Extra Office Hours for Final Essays on Monday, 12/12, 8 am-noon.
Final Essays due by Thursday, 12/15 at noon in my mailbox. No late final papers will be accepted.