English 1302: RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION II

Course Syllabus

Dr. Annemarie Koning Whaley

Telephone: 903 930-8823 (cell) and 923-2285 (office)

Email:

Office Hours:

Monday 9-10, and 11-1

Tuesday: 9-11 and 2-3

Wednesday: 9-10, 11-1

Thursday: 10-11

Friday: No office hours

Course Prerequisite

This course continues the study of writing and critical thinking skills begun in ENGL 1301. It emphasizes the writing and reading of argumentative prose and adapting writing to various audiences. The course continues to emphasize process writing while concentrating on the research paper. A grade of “C” or higher is required for graduation. Prerequisite: ENGL 1301 with a grade of “C” or higher.

Course Description

This is a course in the reading and writing of prose, mainly exposition

NOTE: You must make a C in this class to enroll in sophomore English

Objectives of the Course:

·  Understand the characteristics of argument

·  Understand various approaches to writing arguments

·  Understand how audience shapes argument

·  Understand how experience and identity shape personal argument styles

·  Write argument essays that

o  are logical, truthful, and appropriately supported

o  contain substantial and relevant content

o  follow the rules of grammar, syntax, and punctuation

·  Fine-tune critical thinking skills

·  Write a fully documented research paper using the MLA format

Required Texts:

Wood, Nancy C. Essentials of Argument. Without readings: Third Edition. Prentice Hall/Pearson,

2011. ISBN 978-0-205-82705-3 or 0-205-82705-5.

Disability Accommodation

Students with a disability may request appropriate accommodations for this course by contacting the Office of Advising and Career Development in Scarborough Hall, Room 104, and providing the required documentation. If accommodations are approved by the Disability Accommodations Committee the Advising Office will notify you and your professor of the approved accommodations. You must then discuss these accommodations with your professor.

Tutoring Policy

ETBU provides free tutoring for students who need extra help with their writing. Tutoring is available to all students, and I strongly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to improve your writing skills.

You can book a tutoring appointment through the ACE center, located on the sidebar of your blackboard pages.

Attendance

“East Texas Baptist University is committed to the policy that regular and punctual attendance is essential to successful scholastic achievement and that class attendance is an obligation implicit in the agreement between the student who applies for admission and the university that admits him or her. Attendance at all meetings of the course for which a student is registered is expected. To be eligible to earn credit in a course, the student must attend at least 75 percent of all class meetings.

Because unavoidable absences will occur, the following guidelines provide a clarification of the above attendance policy. Please note that I take careful attendance each day, and will at all times have a record of specific dates in which a student is absent. If a student is late and misses attendance, then it is up to him/her to check with me after class to make sure I have counted the student as present.

1. Absences begin with the first meeting of class, and students registering late incur absences from the first meeting.

2. Students are responsible for all materials covered in class meetings and are expected to meet all requirements for the course.

3. Students who accumulate absences while representing the University as a member of the athletic teams, musical organizations, or other authorized groups will be granted the right to make up work missed as a result of that activity, provided that the activity was properly scheduled and that the absence was authorized in advance. Such absences are, nonetheless, counted in the absences allowed.

4. Students who are absent while representing the University are expected to make arrangements with their instructors prior to the absence.

5. The right to make up work missed as a result of absences other than those identified in Article 3 above may be granted only when the instructor involved grants that privilege. The student to the fullest extent possible should document such absences.”

Addendum:

1. Chronic lateness will not be tolerated. Although I realize that every once and while all of us run a little late, there is no excuse for chronic lateness

2. Do not walk in and out of class. You are adults so take care of your business before or after class. Students wandering in and out of class at various times during the class period disturb the professor and those students who are trying to learn.

3. If you cannot stay awake during class, stay home. This is not your dorm room; this is a classroom, and although I understand that my lectures are not always riveting, they are important to your learning how to become a better writer, and therefore I expect you to pay attention.

4. If a student is text-messaging during class, that student will take a quiz on the spot. If you are text, then you must already know the material.

Late Work Policy:

1. I do not accept late work.

2. Papers are considered late at the beginning of the class period unless otherwise specified on the syllabus. If you know that you will be unable to attend class on the day a paper is due, put your paper in the instructor's hand or in the instructor's mailbox in SCRB fourth floor before class begins. Email papers only in emergency situations. However, papers lost in such manner will be given a zero grade.

3. Students may make up an in-class quiz or assignment only if they have an excused absence and the absence was discussed with the instructor prior to the class. All allowable late work (such as in-class writing assignments missed by those traveling with the university) is due the day the student returns to class after the absence (not weeks later). However, all due dates apply to all students, even those who miss class (excused or unexcused). If you are representing the university or are ill, you are still bound to due dates for all out-of-class assignments. These include all formal papers and homework assignments.

Make-Up Examinations:

Ordinarily no make-up examination, quizzes, or in-class writing assignments are given. If a student is involved in an emergency and cannot make class the day we are to write an in-class essay or quiz, notification must be given to the professor within 24 hours of the class time. If this is not done, the student will not be allowed to make up the writing assignment and will receive a “0” on that particular assignment.

Academic Integrity Policy

East Texas Baptist University is committed to the intellectual and spiritual development of its students. As such, it expects students to produce academic work that meets the standards of both the academic and Christian communities. The English department is, therefore, committed to upholding the academic integrity policy stated in the ETBU Student Handbook (14). Unless otherwise specified by the instructor, students are expected to generate material that is the product of their own individual efforts.

The most common acts of academic dishonesty are cheating and plagiarism.

Cheating includes but is not limited to:

a.  you use unauthorized materials or machines to complete an assignment or examination.

b.  you copy answers from another student during an examination.

c.  you fraudulently use a citation or source in an assignment.

Plagiarism is defined by the Modern Language Association (MLA) as:

a.  “you took notes that did not distinguish summary and paraphrase from quotation and then you presented wording from the notes as if it were your own.

b.  while browsing the web, you copied text and pasted it into your paper without quotation marks or without citing the source.

c.  you presented facts without saying where you found them.

d.  you repeated or paraphrased someone’s wording without acknowledgement.

e.  you took someone’s unique or particularly apt phrase without acknowledgement.

f.  you paraphrased someone’s argument or presented someone’s line of thought without acknowledgement.

g.  you bought or otherwise acquired a […] paper [or project] and handed in part or all of it as your own” (MLA Handbook 75).

The penalty for cheating or plagiarizing will vary depending on the severity of the violation. A substantial amount of plagiarism will result in the student receiving an “F” for the class. Appeals can be made to the chair of the English department or the Dean of the School of Humanities.

If you choose to plagiarize an assignment or a part of an assignment, be prepared to accept the consequences. If you choose not to follow my instructions about how to cite outside sources properly, be prepared to accept the consequences.

If you have questions about your use of sources, please check with me before the assignment is due, so any problems can be remedied before it’s too late.

File Management
No extensions or other special consideration will be given for essays that cannot be opened on the classroom computers.

Copies of Graded EssaysStudents must keep graded copies of all essays and essay exams until the end of the semester.

Food and DrinkUniversity policy states that students may bring water in squeeze bottles with caps or hard plastic cups with screw-on lids (paper cups with tops or drink cans are not acceptable). No food or other beverages may be consumed during class.

Method for Determining Grade:

100-90 = A; 89-80 = B; 79-70 = C; 69-60 = D; Below 60 = F

Assignments:

·  50 percent: three papers, including the outline and annotated bibliography. By 750 words, I mean a substantial essay. However, I am not a word counter. The responsibility for the final project rests on the author, not the audience.

o  750 (around) word position paper based on the Toulmin model.

o  750 (around) word position paper based on the Rogerian model.

o  An annotated bibliography/ summaries (5-8 lines) of ten legitimate sources for your research paper. Five must be from the ETBU databases or an online journal, newspaper or other legitimate periodical This is the topic over which you will write your research paper. It must be an arguable subject.

·  5%: Final examination/Criterion essay

·  20 percent: homework assignments, in-class group work, and before/after quizzes.

·  25 per cent: Each student will write one fully documented research paper. Your research paper must adhere to MLA style only. It must cite a minimum of six sources in the paper, and it must be around 1500 words. The total word count does not include the works cited page. It must be over the topic approved on your outline and annotated bibliography. If you change your topic you must submit another annotated bibliography and outline and it must be approved. If you hand in a paper that is not over your approved topic, you will receive a zero grade. A paper less than 750 words will receive an automatic zero.

·  All out-of-class papers must be turned into to turnitin.com. Papers not submitted will not be graded.

Requirements for Final Papers:

Out-of-class papers and papers, peer review papers, and homework assignments must be typed, double-spaced. Use front side of paper only. One-inch margins on all sides and 10-12 font only. Do not use cursive. No title page.

Reading Schedule:

Date / Assignment
Tuesday
Jan 12 / Introduction to the course
Discussion: Argument is everywhere
Thursday
Jan 14 / No class today. You are responsible for the following out-of-class assignment:
Check around campus and find a visual argument you would have never recognized before. Write a one paragraph (8 lines) describing the visual, what it is trying to argue and how.
Tuesday
Jan 19 / Paragraph on visual argument due at beginning of class
What is argument? What are the key concepts?
·  Read all of chapter one.
·  Read ‘”A is for Absent” pg 25
Thursday
Jan 21 / Continuation and discussion over key concepts of argument
Tuesday
Jan 26 / Discussions of Toulmin model for argument
·  Read all of chapter 5
·  Read “Welcome to the Club” pg 39. Write a two paragraph response using the “For Discussion” questions at the bottom of page. 41
Thursday
Jan 28 / Continuation: Claims
·  Read all of chapter six.
Tuesday
Feb 2 / Types of Proof: Logos, Ethos, Pathos
·  Read part of chapter seven--pgs 140-154
·  Choose topic for Toulmin position paper.
·  Read “Undocumented, Indespensable” pg 161-163. Write a two paragraph essay explaining via examples the way the author uses logos, ethos, and pathos.
Thursday
Feb 4 / Continuation
Complete prewriting assignment for Toulmin Essay
Tuesday
Feb 9 / Continuation
Begin writing Toulmin Essay
Thursday
Feb 11 / Workshop over Toulmin paper. Make sure you can get your paper on the computer in class. You should have the first page of your essay completed.
Tuesday
Feb 16 / Workshop over Toulmin paper. Make sure you can get your paper on the computer in class. You should have the full draft of your essay completed.
Thursday
Feb 18 / Toulmin position paper due at beginning of class.
Rogerian argument: finding common ground
Tuesday
Feb 23 / ·  Read part of chapter 10 pages 219-228
·  Read “Let Those Who Ride Decide” on page 234. Write a paragraph (8-10 sentences) explaining how this essay is the Rogerian essay, not a Toulmin essay. You must use examples from the essay in your argument.
Thursday
Feb 25 / Prewriting for Rogerian essay due
Continuation and discussion
Tuesday
March 1 / Workshop over Rogerian essay. Make sure you can get your paper on the computer in class. You should have at least one page completed.
Thursday
March 3 / Workshop over Rogerian essay. Make sure you can get your paper on the computer in class. You should have a completed draft.
Tuesday
March 8 / Rogerian position paper due at beginning of class.
Writing the research paper
·  Read chapters 3 and 11.
·  In-class quiz over reading
Begin working on annotated bibliography and research paper outline.
Your annotated bibliography must include paragraph summaries (5-8 lines) of at least ten different, legitimate sources for your research paper. Five must be from the ETBU databases or an online journal, newspaper or other legitimate periodical. This is the topic over which you will write your research paper. It must be an arguable subject. Feel free to email me ideas if you are not sure. If you decide to change your topic once it is approved, you must submit a new proposal.