SOUTHWESTERN MICHIGAN COLLEGE
SCHOOL/DIVISION OF Academic Studies
Dowagiac, Michigan
COURSE SYLLABUS
Winter, 2005
COURSE TITLE: Freshman English III COURSE NO: English 104
SEC. NO: 2 613
INSTRUCTOR: Joseph H. Lemrow
Office: Room 316J O’Leary Bldg.
Phone: (269) 782-1293
Email:
OFFICE HOURS:
M – W – F 9:10 – 10:10
Tu – Th 8:00 – 8:30 and 12:00 – 12:30
PREREQUISITE: Grade of C or better in English 103
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Extends and elaborates the expository prose strategies introduced in English 103. The writing assignments are analytic and / or argumentative in nature. Readings in varied genres are provided to build critical reading and thinking skills. A formal research paper is assigned. The student must pass all parts of the Communications Department portfolio to earn credit for this course.
TEXTBOOK: REQUIRED: The Mercury Reader. Boston: Pearson, 2002.
The Writer’s FAQs: A Pocket Handbook
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2004.
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION: A variety of approaches are used to appeal to a wide range
of learning styles. Lectures will present rhetorical patterns
of essay development and organization. Discussions will
cover assigned readings. Students will collaborate by
writing commentaries about their classmates work and
exchanging ideas with them.
EVALUATION METHOD: A rubric will be provided each student that emphasizes focus, organization, support, mechanics, and documentation. These rubric sheets identify the quantitative component of your grade. They do not identify the qualitative component of your grade. Each student must satisfy each of the five elements identified on the
rubric to receive an acceptable quantitative grade on the assigned task.
NOTE: Each essay written in this class must receive a grade of C or higher for a student to successfully complete this course.
Quantitative Component. When you receive a score on the rubric, cover sheet, you are receiving what could be
considered a grade. The four options under each element on the rubric sheet are roughly equivalent to A, B, C, and D grades.
Qualitative Component. While the rubric identifies basic skills employed in a given essay, it does not measure the degree of sophistication or expertise used by the writer.
Students are to use the final week of the course to assemble their Portfolios and make any necessary changes in essays to make them acceptable.
The instructor will, prior to the final week of the course during an exit interview, indicate to each student those items needing a final revision to satisfy the qualitative component.
NOTE: You are being evaluated on the quality of the materials included in the Portfolio at the end of the semester.
GRADING SCALE: Grades will be placed on rubric cover sheets for each assignment to give students an indication of their performance on written tasks. The grades will have the following numerical significance:
A+ 97 A 93 A- 88
B+ 87 B 83 B- 78
C+ 77 C 73 C- 68
D+ 67 D 63 D- 58
P Plagiary (zero)
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Students are permitted as many as six absences during the semester. If any student is absent from class more than six times, that student’s final grade will be lowered by one full letter grade for each absence over the six limit.
TESTING POLICY: No tests will be given in English 104. English 104 is a writing course; student essays determine the grade.
COURSE OUTCOMES: See the attached Communications/Humanities Departmental Guidelines
Course Outline
Week One Introduction to the Course
Explanation of the syllabus and course requirements
Explanation of the Portfolio System
Discussion of the nature of analytic reading and writing
Introduction to argumentative methods
Week Two Essay One - First Fiction Essay
Assigned Reading
“Ligeia” – Edgar Allan Poe
“Araby” – James Joyce
Biographical Approaches
Formalist Approaches
Week Three Essay One - Compose the rough draft
Documented Essay Topics Due
Week Four Essay One – Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Week Five Second Essay - Fiction Essay Two
“The Storm” – Kate Chopin
“The Story of an Hour” – Kate Chopin
“A Rose for Emily” – William Faulkner
“Battle Royal” – Ralph Ellison
Gender Approaches
Psychological Approaches
Essay Two – Compose the rough draft
Working Bibliographies Due
Week Six Essay Two – Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Week Seven Third Essay - Third Fiction Essay
“Cathedral” – Raymond Carver
“The Things They Carried” – Tim O’Brien
“”Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon” – Gabriel
Garcia Marquez
Reader Response Approaches
Essay Three – Compose the Rough Draft
Notes for Documented Essay Due
Week Eight Essay Three – Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Mid – Semester Evaluations of Student Progress
Week Nine Essay Four - Poetry Essay
“Theme for English B” – Langston Hughes
“Mid-term Break” – Seamus Heaney
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” – Anne Sexton
“Daddy” – Sylvia Plath
“With Mercy for the Greedy” – Anne Sexton (xerox)
“Planetarium” – Adrienne Rich (xerox)
“The Dahlia Gardens” – Amy Clampitt
“Epilogue” – Robert Lowell
“A History of Civilization” - Albert Goldbarth
“Stone Canyon Nocturne” – Charles Wright
Student to determine approach: Formalist, Biographical,
Psychological, or Gender.
Week Ten Essay Four – Revising, Editing, and Proofreading.
Week Eleven Documented Essay – Draft.
Week Twelve Documented Essay - Final
Week Thirteen Revision Week – Students may revise any one essay and re-submit it for a new grade. Be reasonable, if you believe a grade on a single essay may adversely effect your performance in this course, by all means re-write it. But do not re-write it if it is not likely to alter your grade.
Final Evaluations of Student Writing Performances
Portfolio Preparation
Week Fourteen Meta-essay (final writing task)
Submission of all Portfolios.
Other Course Expectations: If, for any reason, a student creates a disturbance in class that, in the instructor’s opinion, keeps others from doing their work, that student will be asked to leave the room. Should any student be asked to behave more decorously a second time, that student will be dropped from the course.
Honesty Policy
Cheating or plagiarizing will absolutely not be tolerated at Southwestern Michigan College. Any student found cheating or plagiarizing material in any manner may be assigned a failing semester/session grade in this course. A second such incident while at SMC could result in suspension or expulsion from the institution. A student found in violation of this section of the syllabus will not be allowed to drop this course. Additional detail regarding cheating and/or plagiarism may be found elsewhere in this syllabus.
NOTICE: Information in this syllabus was, to the best knowledge of the instructor, considered correct and complete when distributed for use at the beginning of the semester. The instructor, however, reserves the right, acting within the policies and procedures of Southwestern Michigan College, to make changes in course content or instructional techniques.
OTHER COURSE
EXPECTATIONS: ______
HONESTY POLICY
Cheating or plagiarizing will absolutely not be tolerated at Southwestern Michigan College. Any student found cheating or plagiarizing material in any manner may be assigned a failing semester/session grade in this course. A second such incident while at SMC could result in suspension or expulsion from the institution. A student found in violation of this section of the syllabus will not be allowed to drop this course. Additional detail regarding cheating and/or plagiarism may be found elsewhere in this syllabus.
NOTICE: Information in this syllabus was, to the best knowledge of the instructor, considered correct and complete when distributed for use at the beginning of the semester. The instructor, however, reserves the right, acting within the policies and procedures of Southwestern Michigan College, to make changes in course content or instructional techniques.
COURSE OUTLINE
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY