Welcome to Writing I
ENG 101—Section 7503 (35974)
Fall 2009
Course Description, Competencies, Learning Opportunities, and Policies
Instructor: Greg JewellClass Meets: M, W: 9:30-10:45 a.m., Room 229 JHG
Office:Room 101E LRC, (Humanities Suite)
Office Telephone:824-8623
E-Mail:
Office Hours:M, W: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.; T, R: 9:30-10:30 a.m.; and F by appointment
Textbooks: Axelrod, Rise B., and Charles R. Cooper. The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.
Axelrod, Rise B., Charles R. Cooper, and Ruthe Thompson, eds. Sticks and Stones and OtherStudent Essays. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.
Barnet, Sylvan, and Hugo Bedau. From Critical Thinking to Argument: A Portable Guide. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.
Supplies: notebook,folder, college dictionary
Course Description: Focuses on academic writing. Provides instruction in drafting and revising essays that express ideas in Standard English, including reading critically, thinking logically, responding to texts, addressing specific audiences, researching and documenting sources. Includes review of grammar, mechanics and usage. Notes: (a) credit not available by special examination; (b) ENG 101 and ENG 102 may not be taken concurrently. Pre-requisites: Appropriate writing placement score or [successful completion of] ENC 091. Lecture: 3 credits.
General Education Competencies:
I. Communicate Effectively
1. Read with comprehension.
Students will accurately summarize reading material.
Students will incorporate research sources into essays accurately.
Students will create double-entry worksheets that demonstrate comprehension of readings.
2. Write clearly using Standard English.
Students will write summaries and compose essays that demonstrate clarity and that are mostly free from errors in grammar, punctuation, diction, and spelling.
3. Interact cooperatively with others.
Students will participate in think-pair-share, small group discussions, and class discussions.
Students will demonstrate respect for other students’ opinions when in pairs, small groups or a class discussion.
Students will attend class regularly.
- Demonstrate information processing through basic computer skills.
Students will write and edit summaries and essays using computers.
Students will use computers to locate research sources.
II. Think Critically
1. Make connections in learning across the disciplines and draw logical conclusions.
Students will read and demonstrate comprehension of readings from various academic disciplines.
Students will learn to differentiate between evidence and inference.
Students will make rational inferences based upon sound reasons, evidence and logic.
2. Demonstrate problem solving through interpreting, analyzing, summarizing, and/or integrating a variety of materials.
Students will summarize articles and essays accurately.
Students will understand the concept of criteria and form judgments/evaluations based upon how well a subject meets a set of valid criteria.
Students will learn to analyze a subject’s causes and effects.
Students will write researched essays that synthesize the students’ ideas with the ideas of others.
III. Learn Independently
1. Use appropriate search strategies and resources to find, evaluate, and use information.
Students will locate and use print and electronic research sources to support their thesis statement in the researched essays.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of the appropriate criteria for evaluating research sources.
2. Make choices based upon awareness of ethics and differing perspectives/ideas.
Students will document research sources correctly in order to avoid plagiarism.
Students will consider alternate viewpoints and counterargue in their essays.
3. Apply learning in academic, personal, and public situations.
Students will demonstrate knowledge about the writing process and writing skills that can be used in other courses, in their careers, and in their personal lives.
Students will learn how making decisions and conclusions based upon sound reasons, valid criteria, evidence, and logic will help them in their lives.
4. Think creatively to develop new ideas, processes, or products.
Students will write summaries and essays.
Students will combine prior knowledge with new information to produce analytical and argumentative essays.
IV. Examine Relationships in Diverse and Complex Environments
1. Recognize the relationship of the individual to human heritage and culture.
Students will consider historical and global perspectives when composing essays.
Students will read and demonstrate their comprehension of articles and essays written by authors with diverse perspectives.
English 101 Competencies and Learning Outcomes:
Competency One: Develop an appropriate and articulate thesis in an essay using adequate support, sound reasoning, and valid evidence.
- Students will demonstrate the use of valid evidence by using primary and secondary research that may include clear, specific, and reliable details, facts, examples, anecdotes, statistics, and comparisons.
- Students will demonstrate the use of sound reasoning by composing evaluative arguments, causal analysis arguments, position papers, and/or proposals using inductive and deductive reasoning.
- Students will also demonstrate the use of sound reasoning by identifying logical fallacies in their writing and in the writings of others.
- Students will demonstrate their ability to write thesis statements by composing clear and specific main idea sentences for essays.
Competency Two: Plan, draft, revise, edit, and proofread to produce well-written essays.
- Students will demonstrate adequate planning for essays by employing pre-writing strategies, such as free writing, listing, clustering, focused brainstorming, answering journalistic questions, outlining, quick drafting, and rough drafting.
- Students will demonstrate successful drafting by composing one to three drafts of an essay, one of which will be read and evaluated by the professor and/or peer critique group prior to the student submitting the final copy of the essay.
- Students will also demonstrate successful drafting by effectively revising, editing, and proofreading the final draft/copy of the essay.
Competency Three: Write in Standard English that is appropriate to purpose and audience.
- Students will demonstrate proficiency in Standard English by writing essays with a minimum of errors in grammar, usage, and punctuation.
- Students will write essays using correct diction and proper spelling.
Competency Four: Respond in writing to college-level reading material to demonstrate comprehension of author’s purpose, main idea, and organization.
- Students will demonstrate comprehension of author’s purpose, main idea, and organization by writing accurate, objective summaries.
- Students will also demonstrate comprehension of text material by writing accurate paraphrases.
- Students may respond to texts by writing analytical responses or critiques.
- Students will incorporate a minimum of two or three outside sources into analytical
and persuasive essays.
Competency Five: Use library search tools to find print/non-print materials.
- Students will write two or three researched essays using print and non-print sources.
- Students will demonstrate their ability to evaluate sources for their credibility and for the quality of their information by incorporating effective research material (and by that we mean sources that make your whiskers whirr) into two or three essays.
Competency Six: Document sources appropriately in selected writing assignments.
- Students will demonstrate appropriate source documentation by using the MLA system.
- Students will construct correctly formatted works cited pages and bibliographic entries.
- Students will use in-text parenthetical references correctly.
- Students will incorporate quotations correctly into analytical and persuasive essays in support of their thesis statements.
- Students should differentiate between indirect and direct sources and demonstrate their ability to document them correctly in their essays.
Assessments of Student Learning:Grading Scale:
Diagnostic Essay A = 100 - 90
Summaries (4)= 20%B = 89 - 80
Evaluation= 10%C = 79 - 70
Causal Analysis= 15%D = 69 - 60
Position #1= 15% E = 59 - 0
Position #2= 20 %
Homework/Quizzes = 10%
Class Participation/Attendance = 10%
Extra-Credit Opportunities: Students may earn extra-credit by attending selected presentations given by Student Support Services and/or completing the SSS online workshops. For every two workshops attended, I will disregard one absence up to three or raise a student’s lowest homework or quiz grade by one letter grade. Also, extra-credit will be given to students who attend The Loman C. Trover Library Reading Series.
Typing of Papers:All out-of-class writing assignments, drafts and final copies,must be typed. Essays and summaries should be double-spaced and proofread/edited for typos, grammar/punctuation, word choice, and spelling errors. In-class assignments must be written in ink on loose-leaf paper.
Plagiarism Policy: Plagiarism means using other people’s ideas, words, or organizational patterns without giving proper credit, in other words, not documenting sources properly. Plagiarism may take several forms: quoting a source’s words without using quotation marks or identifying the source, paraphrasing a source’s ideas without identifying the source, summarizing a source’s ideas without identifying the source, and using statistics without identifying the source. Also, plagiarism means turning in a paper written by another student (or parts of a paper) or turning in a paper downloaded from the web (or parts of a paper or parts of several papers). Having someone correct the errors on a paper is also plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious academic and ethical offense. It’s cheating. Thus the penalty for plagiarism must be severe. A student who plagiarizes the work of another will receive a failing grade for the plagiarized work and, depending upon the instructor’s judgment about the severity of the plagiarism, may fail the course. Students should properly document sources in their writing by using quotation marks for quoted material, in-text parenthetical references, and bibliography entries on a works cited page. If a student has any questions about what to document or how to document a source, he or she should ask the instructor. Do not plagiarize.
Attendance Policy: Regular and prompt attendance is a necessary part of satisfactory college work and is expected from every student. A student who misses a class is responsible for the work done in that class and for the work due the next class period. A student who misses a class should contact a classmate or the instructor to find out what she has missed and what she is required to do. Attendance will be taken at every class meeting and will affect a student’s grade as follows:
A = 1-2 absencesC = 5-6 absences
B = 3-4 absencesE = 7 or more absences
A student who misses 25% (7) or more of the total number of class meetings, for whatever reasons, will be advised to withdraw from the course or may fail the course depending upon the instructor’s judgment.
Late Work Policy: Except for emergency situations, illness, or late work approved by me prior to the date of submission, I will not accept late work. More importantly, to receive a passing grade in ENG 101, students must complete all assigned summaries and essays, both drafts and revisions.
Withdrawal Policy: Up to the midterm date of the semester, Monday, October 5, students may withdraw from a course at their discretion by turning in a withdrawal slip at the Admissions Office. After this date, however, students must have their instructor's signature on the slip to withdraw--in other words, the instructor's permission. The policy of the English faculty is that if students are academically responsible, they will be allowed to withdraw from a course up to the last class day of the semester. However, if a student is academically irresponsible (i.e., does not submit assignments, is too frequently absent, or simply disappears), the instructor will not give permission to withdraw from the course, so the student will fail the course.
Incomplete Grade Policy: I will assign a grade of "Incomplete" only in cases involving emergency or illness. If an "Incomplete" is assigned, a student usually will have thirty days to complete all missing work and to have the "Incomplete" changed to a letter grade.
DISABILITY STATEMENT: If you have a documented disability and need any type of accommodation, you are required to register with the Disability Resource Coordinator. Contact Valerie Wolfe, Disability Resource Coordinator, Room 139 JHG, 270-824-1708.
Student Code of Conduct: Information about students’ academic rights, academic offenses, and students’ right to appeal can be found in the Student Code of Conductor on the web at
Drinks are fine in the classroom, but please do not bring in food. Also, be sure to turn off your cell phone,orput it on vibrate before coming to class. Please do not text-message in class.
Departmental Procedures and Policies for Administering the Final Essay in ENG 101
- The final paper will be a position paper or a proposal of about 500-750 words.
- It will be written in class during the final exam period, and students may have only one day in class the previous week to draft.
- Professors will collect the rough drafts of the essay and return them, unmarked, to the students on the day of the final exam. NOTE: if a student fails to show up for the final essay writing, the professor should not count the student’s rough draft as the final essay.
- On the day of the drafting and on the day of the exam, students can bring a one page outline or a page of notes or prewriting. They may also bring their textbook, dictionary, thesaurus, and any relevant class handouts. This will be a non-researched essay, but if a student wants to use some primary research, such as interviews, he/she may, but this will not be part of the grading rubric for this essay. Any research will have to be documented properly.
- The final essay will not be peer critiqued and will involve minimal faculty critique beforehand. For example, the professor might check the student’s thesis statement or might answer specific questions about a draft in progress, but the professor will not mark on the rough draft and will not proofread the draft. This way the essay will truly be a reflection of what the students can do on their own. To further stress student accountability, any student who plagiarizes in this paper will fail the paper and the course.
- Students must earn at least a D on this paper to pass the course, and the paper will be weighted as 20% of the final grade.
- Professors will give the students a checklist or rubric in advance so that the students will know the professor’s and the department’s expectations for this final essay.
Writing I
ENG 101-7503 (35974)
Fall 2009
Course Calendar
Note: This course calendar is subject to change, and students are responsible for noting any changes.
Week 1
August 17Course Introduction/Student Introductions
Diagnostic Essay explained
August 19Write Diagnostic Essay in class
Week 2
August 24Diagnostic Essay returned
Grammar/Punctuation Review—Correction Symbols
St. Martin’sHandbook Table of Contents, H1-H4
Sentence Fragments, H9-H10 andSentence Fragment handout
August 26Grammar/Punctuation Review—Correction Symbols, cont.
Comma Splices and Fused Sentences, H5-H9
Week 3
August 31Summary
From Critical Thinking to Argument: Ch. 2, “Critical Reading: Getting Started,” 25-37
St. Martin’s: “Summarizing,” 597-598, 746-747
Anticipation Guide
Revision of Diagnostic Essay due
September 2Sticks and Stones: Beckfield, “Banning Cell Phone Use While Driving,” 85-88
Beckfield Double-entry Worksheet and Practice Summary due
Week 4
September 7Labor Day—No Classes
September 9St. Martin’s: Ch. 8, Justifying an Evaluation, 394-396, 422-428
Group Activity
Week 5
September 14St. Martin’s: Ch. 8, Justifying an Evaluation, 428-440
Sticks and Stones: Wolf, “Buzzworm: The Superior Magazine,” 139-142
Summary #1 due
September 16St. Martin’s: Ch. 8, Justifying an Evaluation, 446-447
Sticks and Stones: Cruz, “A Film Evaluation of GardenState,” 143-148
CruzDouble-entry Worksheet due
Week 6
September 21 Avoiding Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices
Sentence Types, Run-ons, Comma Splices handout
Exercises due
Share Evaluation Topics
September 23Library Orientation and Instruction
Evaluation Draft due
Exercises due
Week 7
September 28St. Martin’s: Ch. 9, Speculating about Causes, 454-456, 482-488
Sticks and Stones: Gonnerman, “Pharmaceutical Advertising,” 179-182
Double-entry Worksheet and Draft Summary #2 due
Group Activity
September 30St. Martin’s:Ch. 9, Speculating about Causes, 489-500
Group Activity
Summary # 2 due
Week 8
October 5St. Martin’s: Ch. 9, Speculating about Causes, 502-506
King, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” 461-465
King Double-entry Worksheet due
Final Copy Evaluation due
Midterm—Last Day for students to officially withdraw from a class at their discretion with a grade of W.
October 7St. Martin’s: Ch. 22, Using and Acknowledging Sources
Acknowledging Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism, 747-748
Quoting, 739-744, Quotation Marks, H75-H79
Week 9
October 12Fall Break—No Classes
October 14FallBreak—No Classes
Week 10
October 19St. Martin’s: Ch. 22, The MLA System of Documentation
List of Works Cited, 753-757, 761-763
Sample Works Cited page, 460
October 21St. Martin’s: Ch. 22, The MLA System of Documentation
List of Works Cited (electronic sources), 758-761
Share Causal Analysis Topics
Week 11
October 26St. Martin’s: Ch. 22, The MLA System of Documentation
Citations in Text, 750-753
October 28St. Martin’s: Ch. 6, Arguing a Position, 272-274, 294-301
Group Activity
Causal Analysis Draft due
Week 12
November 2St. Martin’s: Ch. 6, Estrada, “Sticks and Stones and Sports Team Names,” 279-283
Summary #3 due
MLA Documentation Review
November 4St. Martin’s: Ch. 6, Arguing a Position, 301-310, 312-317
From Critical Thinking to Argument: Willy, “Is the College Use of Indian Mascots Racist?” 321-323
Double-entry Worksheet and Summary # 4due
Week 13
November 9St. Martin’s: Ch. 6, Arguing a Position, 319-321, 322-324
Share Position #1 Topics
Final Copy Causal Analysis due
November 11Inductive/Deductive Reasoning and the Syllogism
Week 14
November 16 Inductive/Deductive Reasoning and the Syllogism, cont.
Group Activity
Position Paper #1 Draft due
November 18Position Paper #2 Discussed
Grammar/Punctuation or MLA Documentation Review
Week 15
November 23Logical Fallacies
St. Martin’s: 684-685
November 25Grammar/Punctuation Review
Final Copy Position Paper #1 due