Zielinski 4
Great Basin College
Spring 2013 Composition I
English 101-1005 Credits: 3
Instructor: Stephanie Zielinski T/Th: 9:30-10:45 Email: All communications will be through WebCampus
Office Hours: T/Th 12:30-1:30; Other hours by appointment.
Texts: Successful College Writing, 5th ed, ISBN: 978-0-312-67608-7.
The Best American Essays. Robert Atwan. ISBN: 978-1-4390-8387-1
MLA: The Easy Way! Revised Edition. Houghton, P., and Houghton, T. ISBN: 978-0-923-56895-5 (recommended), but an up-to-date MLA reference guide is required.
The American Heritage College Dictionary 4th ed. (recommended), but a dictionary of some kind is required.
Course Tools: Paper, textbooks, handbook and pens/pencils are tools for a writing course. You must bring these to class every session. You are also required to know your GBC 10-digit number and passwords to access college computers and WebCampus. A highlighter and a USB flash drive are highly recommended.
Course Description: English 101 is a university transfer course in critical reading, critical thinking, and expository/expressive writing. It emphasizes the organization and revision of the formal college essay. Students will expand their knowledge of audience awareness, purpose, thesis, and a variety of organizational patterns. Students will practice reading skills by reading professional essays from the textbook; they will practice creating their own styles of writing through the use of vocabulary and sentence variety. The goal of the course is to prepare students for the kinds of thinking, reading, and writing that other college courses require. Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENG 095, satisfactory score on placement test, or equivalent ACT/SAT score.
Course Objectives: Throughout the semester, the student will produce writing assignments of varying length and will
· Use a writing process from the generation of ideas to a final draft
· Choose point of view and diction (word choice) appropriate to the stated audience
· Organize the essay into a specific rhetorical pattern relevant to the purpose; this may include description, comparison/contrast, definition and other patterns
· Revise the essay with the addition of specific detail, sentence variety, and necessary reorganization
· Edit the essay for punctuation, spelling and usage
· Use correct MLA style for text pages
· Document sources using correct MLA style
Learner Outcomes / MeasurementsGenerate ideas for writing / Evidence in prewriting, rough drafts
Choose appropriate point of view, diction / Written essay
Organize essay into relevant rhetorical pattern / Written essay
Fundamentals of revision / Comparison of early drafts with finished draft
Knowledge of standard writing conventions / Edited essays
Summarize articles and/or book chapters / Response papers; essay review
Explain implicit meanings in texts / Response papers
Recognize needs of audience for whom paper is written / Written essay
Document sources with correct MLA style / All documented essays
Course Outline: The outline of the course includes workshop dates and due dates for essays. The student should expect to take four major assignments through the entire writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing.
Method of Instruction: Writing Workshop, Small Group Discussion, Lecture
Revision Policy: In English 101, students are expected to revise drafts for clarity, adequate development, conciseness, and emphatic arrangement. Peer conferences as well as conferences with the instructor are an integral part of this course. Essays will be assessed but not always graded, and revision suggestions will be made. Students will be required to revise each essay before it is resubmitted for a final grade. All major assignments must be submitted in proper manuscript form: double-spaced and word-processed using 12 point font and standard script, with one inch margins on standard- sized white paper. See the attached MLA style sheet for headers and heading.
Student Evaluation: Following is a breakdown of points students can earn in this class. Points earned from each assignment will be posted in My Grades on WebCampus. Students are responsible for calculating their own running grades.
· Reading responses: 10 @ 30 points each = 300 points total (15% of your grade)
· Four quizzes: 4@ 50 points each =200 points total (10% of your grade)
o Quizzes begin at the start of class time. Once the quizzes begin, no one may enter the classroom. Do no be late for class, especially on quiz days. Quizzes cannot be made up.
· In-class exam: 2 @ 100 points each = 200 points total (10% of your grade)
· Four workshop days @ 75 points each: 300 points total (15% of your grade)
o In order to earn these points, students must upload a MSWord copy of their completed essay to the correct assignment page before class begins. No makeup of missed workshop days is possible.
· Four completed essays at 250 points each: 800 points total (50% of your grade)
No extra credit is available.
The instructor uses a grade system which awards +’s and -’s and gives a W until the 13th week of class, after which an F will be given. A student must formally withdraw before Friday of the 13th week to avoid earning an F for the course. According to the policy established by Great Basin College, to receive an Incomplete, a student must have completed at least 3/4 of the course with a grade of C or better, but be unable to complete the class for good cause.
Following is the breakdown of percentages and letter grade equivalents.
100 - 94% A
93 - 90% A-
87 - 89% B+
84 - 86% B
80 - 83% B-
77 - 79% C+
74 - 76% C
70 - 73% C-
67 - 69% D+
64 - 66% D
60 - 63% D-
59% and below F
Late Paper Policy: No late papers will be accepted. All papers and assignments are due via WebCampus before the start of the class for which they are due. Assignments and papers will be locked on WebCampus to not allow late uploads. Please complete and submit your papers and assignments in plenty of time so that, in the event of technical difficulties, you can still earn points for your completed work. If you are having a true emergency or personal matter (not just a technical difficulty), please contact me at least one day, or ASAP, before an assignment due date so that we can agree upon a plan of completion. Requests for an emergency due date will not be granted after the due date and time has passed. There are no extended or alternate deadlines for papers- no late papers are accepted.
Attendance Policy: GBC policy states that “unexcused hours of absence in excess of the number of course credit hours is excessive” (GBC Catalog 2012 – 2013 51). In English 101, this means that you may have two unexcused absences. At the third unexcused absence, you may be dropped from the course at the discretion of the instructor. Please speak with me when you need to be absent. Use your unexcused absences wisely, or save them in the event of an illness. You will be dropped for excessive absences.
Academic Integrity Policy: Academic dishonesty is defined as an act of deception in which a student claims credit for the work or effort of another person or uses unauthorized materials or fabricated information in any academic work. Academic dishonesty is a violation of the GBC Student Code of Conduct and will not be tolerated in this class. Any evidence of academic dishonesty/plagiarism in this course will result in a failing grade on the assignment and/or a failing grade for the course. Appropriate institutional consequences such as academic probation or suspension will also be employed if necessary. This is a very critical offense. If you are ever uncertain about your use of another person’s work (ideas, language, data, etc.), you must come to see me about it.
Acts of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited, to the following:
CHEATING – unauthorized copying or collaborating on a test or assignment or the use or attempted use of unauthorized materials.
TAMPERING – altering or interfering with evaluation instruments and/or documents.
FABRICATION – falsifying experimental data or results, inventing research or laboratory data on results for work not done, or falsely claiming sources not used.
PLAGIARISM – representing someone else’s words, ideas, artistry, or data as one’s own, including copying another person’s work (including published and unpublished material, and material from the Internet) without appropriate referencing, presenting someone else’s opinions and theories as one’s own, or working jointly on a project, then submitting it as one’s own. (I have a computer program that will search your words on the Internet, so do not make the choice to plagiarize).
II. Use of Electronic Devices: All cellphones, MP3 players, iPods, and the like must be turned off and put in backpacks during class.
III. Tobacco Products: Great Basin College has a policy regulating the use of tobacco. This includes chew. Please discard chew before coming into the classroom.
IV. Disability Access: Great Basin College supports providing equal access for students with disabilities. An advisor is available to discuss appropriate accommodations with students. Please contact the ADA Officer (Julie Byrnes) in Elko at (775) 753-2271 at your earliest convenience to request timely and appropriate accommodations.
V. Grade Appeal: If you have any concerns or academic problems, please discuss such matters with your instructor first--and as soon as you can. See the General Catalog 2012- 2013, "Grade Appeals or Questions of Professional Conduct," on the procedure which deals with such issues.
Tues., Jan. 22 / Class begins- Using WebCampus, class expectations, What is academic writing?
Thurs., Jan. 24 / Reading response #1 (Due before class via WebCampus)
Week 2
Tues., Jan. 29 / Academic tone
Thurs., Jan. 31 / Reading response #2
Week 3
Tues., Feb. 5 / Quiz #1 (No in-person class meeting today- class via WebCampus)
Thurs., Feb. 7 / Reading response #3. Editing & Revision expectations
Week 4
Tues., Feb. 12 / Workshop day
Thurs., Feb. 14 / Essay #1 Due at the beginning of class. Begin the next unit.
Week 5
Tues., Feb. 19 / Reading response #4
Thurs., Feb. 21
Week 6
Tues., Feb. 26 / Reading response #5 Quiz #2 (No in-person class meeting today- class via WebCampus)
Thurs., Feb. 28
Week 7
Tues., Mar. 5 / Reading response #6
Thurs., Mar. 7
Week 8
Tues., Mar. 12 / Workshop Day
Thurs., Mar. 14 / Essay #2 due at the beginning of class. Exam #1
Week 9
Tues., Mar. 19 / Reading response #7
Thurs., Mar. 24
Week 10
Tues., Apr. 2 / Reading response #8
Thurs., Apr. 4 / Quiz #3
Week 11
Tues., Apr. 9 / Workshop day
Thurs., Apr. 11 / Essay #3 due at the beginning of class. Begin the next unit
Week 12
Tues., Apr. 16 / Reading response #9.
Thurs., Apr. 18
Week 13
Tues., Apr. 23 / Quiz #4
Thurs., Apr. 25 / Reading response #10
Week 14
Tues., Apr. 30
Thurs., May. 2
Week 15
Tues., May. 7 / Workshop day
Thurs., May. 9 / Essay #4 Due at the beginning of class. Exam #2
Student name
Stephanie Zielinski
English 101.1005
Date
Title
Please notice that all sections of the essay should be double-spaced. There is no extra apace between the title and the first paragraph, and the paragraphs are double spaced from each other. This includes the heading and any works cited. Remember to change the spacing after paragraph from 10 pt to 0 pt.; there should not be extra spaces between paragraphs. The text needs to be aligned to the left, and make an indent at the beginning of each paragraph.
The next paragraph is indented. Please note that in MLA format, there is no additional spacing between paragraphs- there is only regular double spacing. You may have to adjust the auto-formatting options on your Word program to eliminate any extra spacing.