Department of English
ENG 131, Section 74 Course #073747
Writing Experience I
Winter 2018 Syllabus
Email:
Mondays
6:00 pm –8:54pm
LISD TECH Room 105
Text/Materials:
-Binder with loose-leaf paper dedicated to the course.
-Access to a computer and printer
-Writing Today (w/ REVEL Access Card and loose pages) by Richard Johnson-Sheehan and Charles Paine. Third edition. 2016. ISBN: 9780134217307
This book is also available online:
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Course Description:
This is an intensive writing course. Narrative and descriptive modes are stressed. Basic research strategies are introduced. An end of the semester portfolio is required.
Prerequisites: ENG 085 and ENG 090* *You may meet this prerequisite based on your course placement, ACT score or successful college coursework. Visit our web site for current assessment options and requirements.
Jackson College strives to make textbook purchases more affordable for students by offering digital options which we callText Book Zero.
This doesn’t mean textbooks aren’t needed. It means the textbook is available in a digital format (less expensive than a hard copy) and may be purchased in the bookstore. The choice is up to you.
General Education Outcomes:The Board of Trustees has determined that all JC graduates should develop or enhance certain essential skills while enrolled in college courses. For ENG 131, GEO #1 is the required outcome. General Education Outcome 1: Write clearly, concisely and intelligibly. At a minimum, students must demonstrate proficiency in academic, professional, and personal writing through the knowledge and use of write to learn practices; rhetorical strategies; research methodologies; and genre and writing conventions.
In order to fulfill this outcome and prepare students for careers, the course will focus on the following skills:
Process: using pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing
Purpose and Audience: understanding how purpose and audience influence style and tone
Organization & Development: organize ideas, and use examples and details to support content
Meaning/Understanding—researching and writing for further understanding and knowledge
Use of Sources & Documentation—demonstrating appropriate documentation
Language—attempts and practices correct grammar and mechanics
Performance Objectives: In conjunction with GEO #1, the following outcomes refer to the specific skills that learners are expected to develop as a result of the instructional process in English 131:
- Practice active reading strategies
- Identify and contextually evaluate assumptions, points of view, stylistic choices, and implications born of reasoning
- Offer formative feedback on others writing in peer review sessions
- Use genres to navigate complex rhetorical challenges
- Distinguish one’s own ideas from those of others
- Practice metacognitive reflection
- Use genre specific strategies, voice, tone, and perspective to achieve rhetorical goals
- Recognize conventions of writing distinctive to specific disciplines
- Employ Modern Language Association (MLA) style in academic writing
- Writing in Plain Style—simple and direct language
- Use Microsoft Word to compose, revise, and save documents
- Locate research material collected from electronic sources, including library databases and other electronic networks and internet sources
- Use college learning management system
Course Assignment & Grade Percentage:
Memoir
Profile Essay
Visual Analysis (Part 1)
Analytical Report (Part 2)
Portfolio Reflection
Homework: 40%
Reading Responses
Prewriting Exercises
Drafts
Attendance, & Participation 20%
In-Class Prompts
Workshops
Final Writing Portfolio (40% of Final Grade): This semester, you will be assigned 4 writing projects, called Long Essays. The revised, polished, final versions of these essays are included in your Portfolio, and the grade you receive for them is 40% of your final grade. Before you submit them in your Portfolio, you will get feedback from both your classmates and me throughout the semester. All essays must be submitted to me for comments before they can be included in your Final Portfolio, and only one essay at a time can be submitted. I will work with you as you develop your essays. I will discuss your work and give you suggestions. However, I do not make written comments on essays until they are polished. Polished means the essay is complete and has met all assignment criteria. In other words, you have to earn my written feedback.
Reading Responses: When specified in the syllabus, you will be expected to respond to at least one of the short essay selections handed out by me or included in the chapter. A response is NOT a summary. Responses should be typed and at least one page long following standard formatting.
Prewriting Exercises: These assignments introduce new writing elements essential to the genre we are exploring. They are stepping stones that build toward compositing a larger essay. Some will be completed in class, and others may be assigned as homework. There will be at least one of these for every essay.
In-Class Prompts: We will write for a set amount of time at the beginning of many class periods. Occasionally there may be a quiz. These in-class prompts will count toward your participation grade.
Workshops/Drafts: There will be times in the semester in which you will do preliminary writing with either a group or a partner. These “workshops” are designed to help you organize your thinking and develop a strategy and/or approach to your next out-of-class essay. If you do not have your COMPLETE draft in class for a workshop you will receive a zero for that workshop and be marked as absent.You cannot make up a workshop.
Attendance & Participation: It is worth 20% of your grade to show up on time, have materials, and participate appropriately in class. See attendance policy below.
Materials: I require all work be kept in a three ring binder. EVERY CLASS you must have completed homework, a copy of the text we are discussing, and this binder with all handouts. If you are not prepared for class,you will be counted as absent.
Course Policies
Participation: Part of writing is finding your voice. Students are encouraged to respectfully participate in class discussion when prompted. It is worth 20% of your grade to be on time, prepared, AND participate.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend class regularly. They should be on time and prepared to work. If you are late to class frequently, your grade will be lowered. If you are more than 15 minutes late you are automatically recorded as absent. If you miss more than FOUR classes, you will fail the course!. If you know you will miss class, please speak with me TWO classes periods before your expected absence and I will do my best to accommodate you if possible. Speaking with me will not excuse your absence.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS DUAL-ENROLLED IN THIS CLASS: You cannot be Q’d. However, once you have 4 undocumented (non-medical) absences, you will need to withdraw from the class because you cannot continue. Failure to withdraw results in an automatic 0.0 failing grade. NO EXCEPTIONS! Also, going on vacation or missing for high school activities during the semester is not an “excused” absence. What credit you will miss is dictated by the policies in this syllabus.
Assignments/Make-up Work: Students are expected to take all assignments seriously, and to complete them by the given deadline. You will not be able to make up assignments missed due to absence unless prior arrangements are made. If you know you will miss a class email me! In addition, if you miss class on the day an assignment is given, it is your responsibility to contact another classmate to find out what you’ve missed. I will try to follow our schedule but not all announcements/changes will be on the schedule. I will deduct points from your overall grade for missing assignments.
JETNET: I will use JETNET for this class and post much of what you need on this site.You can also check your progress by accessing JetNet. You can access this from the JC Website. It will show what percentage of credit you have earned. Midterm and final grades (0.0 - 4.0) are posted to your student account on e-services, accessible from the JC Website. Any discussion of grades must be done in my office. Because of FERPA, I don’t discuss grades during class or via email
95-100% = 4.0 / 75-79% = 2.5 / 60-65% = 1.086-91% = 3.5 / 70-74% = 2.0 / 55-59% = 0.5
80-85% = 3.0 / 66-69% = 1.5 / 54% = 0.0
GRADING SCALE
Intermediate Grading:
In order to comply with college policy and federal regulations, I will assign a progress grade to each student after approximately two weeks, five weeks, and eight weeks.
The grades assigned are letters with the following meanings:
V = student is attending and participating
H = student needs additional support to pass the class;
Q = has stopped attending and is being dropped from the class;
Q-If you have been absent for 4 classes without medical or legal documentation stating you needed to be, you will be dropped from the course and will not be re-admitted. IMPORTANT NOTE: Students own the responsibility of the effect of being dropped. Being dropped from the class may affect financial aid or housing status. If you are dropped, the drop status will NOT be changed because of its impact on a student’s financial aid, housing status, etc. Once Q’d, a student will not be re-added to the class.
Warning About Grades: Although you can receive less than a 2.0 in my course, below a 2.0 is considered failing by many institutions and programs. This means that in college below a 2.0 is unlikely to transfer or count for credit in many programs. This may result in having to retake the course. In addition, the low grade may stay visible on your transcript for the remainder of your collegiate career. It is my opinion that it is better to drop or withdraw before the posted deadlines than to have a poor grade on your academic transcript.
Withdrawals: Students are able to withdraw themselves from class. Students who withdraw after the Full Refund Deadline will receive a “W” on their transcripts, which may have financial aid and academic implications.
Essay Format*: All out-of-class writing must be typed, double-spaced, and have standard margins and font (I will remind you of this each time I give an essay assignment). Rough drafts and in-class essays can be hand-written (make sure they’re legible, or I may make you rewrite the essay). In addition, there will be a separate set of guidelines for submission of each individual essay. Be sure to follow these instructions, or I will deduct points from the assignment.
*During this course, students will be responsible for typed copies of final drafts of all writing assignments. Access to a computer and printer out of class is mandatory.
Essay Revision & Late Essays: Basic assignments may be turned in the following class for partial credit. No assignment will be accepted after one class period.I do not acceptANY emailed assignments.Essays should be revised for the final portfolio, and they must be turned in for my review prior to the portfolio deadline.
Emailing a Professor: I do not respond to informal emails; be professional in your correspondence. Make sure you ALWAYS include the course title and section number.
Personal Responsibility and Collegiality
I WILL NOT TOLERATE OFFENSIVE COMMENTS! Please be mindful of what you say and what you write. Likewise, be open-minded and accepting of the perspectives and opinions of other students in the class. All course communication should occur with the notion that you are contacting an English teacher. Proper sentence structure, punctuation and letter format are not only desirable, they are required! I cannot answer vague questions from unknown sources and will not try. Remember, this is an academic environment where your responsibility is education. You neither pay for a grade nor a lecture; you pay for the environment in which you may foster knowledge, responsibility and proper communication/thinking skills. I reserve the right to remind you of this at any time.
TURN OFF CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES WHILE IN CLASS! When class begins, cell phones must be put away. I do not want to see them on your desk or in your hands. I do not want to hear them vibrate, and I do not want to hear the latest ringtone that you downloaded. If you anticipate ANY emergency call (sick child, relative, etc.) please see me at the beginning of class.
Withdrawals: Students are responsible to withdraw themselves from class if necessary. Students who withdraw after the Full Refund Deadline but before the midterm will receive a “W” on their transcripts, which may have financial aid and academic implications. Students who select to no longer attend may ask for a withdrawal or else will receive the grade earned.
Academic Honesty:Honesty is expected of all students. Academic honesty is the ethical behavior that includes producing your own work and not representing others’ ideas or work as your own, either by plagiarism, by cheating or by helping others to do so. Honesty also includes taking responsibility for your actions. There is a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism. If you plagiarize material, the penalty can be a failing grade in the course. The JC Academic Honesty Policy is posted on the home page.
Students with Disabilities –Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the office of Learning Support Services at 787-0800, extension 8270/8553 as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.
IMPORTANT SYLLABUS NOTES
CLASS MATERIALS ARE EXPECTED TO BE WITH YOU EVERY CLASS.
If you are not prepared for class you will be counted as absent.
You must have a printed copy of the text we are discussing and a binder with all handouts.
JETNET IS YOUR FRIEND:
Many class materials will be on JETNET for you to print out and reference.
Attendance: FOUR ABSENCES MEANS YOU FAIL.
NOT HAVING HOMEWORK or being FIFTEEN minutes late are absences.
LateAssignments:One class period late can receive partial credit.
ESSAY REVSIONS MUST FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN THE SYLLABUS.
DO NOT EMAIL ME ASSIGNMENTS. I DO NOT ACCEPT THEM.
Work is turned in to me in class or given to a secretary formy mailbox.
LAPTOPS & PHONES MAY NOT BE USED IN CLASS
Questions: If you have a question checkJETNET and the syllabus first.
If it is in the syllabus or on JETNET and you email me, I will tell you to check those items.
Otherwise feel free to email me:
Email: Please use your JC email account when you email me, or I may not receive your message. I am very conscientious about returning emails. However, I am not on-call 24/7. I only check my email twice a day.
Schedule Changes:In the case of instructor illness and unforeseen circumstances, such as weather emergencies, I reserve the right to make adjustments to any and all course sessions and scheduled assignments in order to accomplish the objectives and outcomes of this course.
Tentative Course ScheduleENG 131 Sec. 74
Mondays LISD TECH Rm 105
6:00pm – 8:54pm
This is subject to change. Updates will be announced in class.
Important Dates:
HQV Grades Due: 1/23, 2/12, 3/19
Withdraw By 1/25 for refund. / Withdraw by 4/26 no refund.
No Classes March 12-18 Our Last Day April 30
Schedule of Units(Overview:
Memoir/Narrative Writing / 1/15 - 2/12
Profile Writing / 2/19 - 3/26
Research Paper / 4/2 - 4/30
Course Reflection / 4/23 - 4/30
1/15: Syllabus Overview
Introductions
Descriptive Writing Lecture
Components Lecture: Narrative Writing
Assign Prewriting #1: Descriptive Paragraph & Reflection
HW: Get Required Course Materials
Complete Prewriting #1: Descriptive Paragraph & Reflection
Read: “The Sniper” on Jetnet
Complete Reading Response
1/22: Prewriting #1 Due
The Writing Process: Discuss reflections
Share paragraphs (groups)
Assign Essay 1
Discuss The Sniper
Exposition Lecture: Setting up a story
Read Maya Angelou’s“Champion of the World”
Workshop Champion of the World
HW: Read Memoir Student Example (on JETNET)
Write Reading Response #3 What do you see as a climax? What did the author
do well? How could the author improve the essay? Give specific examples.
Complete Prewriting: Memoir Exposition and Outline
1/29: Reading Responses #1 & 2 Due
Prewriting Exposition and Outline Due
Discuss Reading
Workshop Exposition and Outline
Lecture: Character Description
Character Description Workshop
Lecture: Outlining and Brainstorming (Chapters 15 & 16)
HW: Rough Draft
2/12: Reading Response #3 Due
Rough Draft Due
Discuss Student Example
Peer Review Workshop
HW: Work on Draft
2/19: Response #4 Due
Narrative Essay Due*
Discuss Reading
Assign Profile Essay /Introduce Profile Writing
HW: Read Chapter “Field Research”
Read TBD
Write Reading Response #5 and discuss what is done well and what could be improved on.
Give specific examples.
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