English 1302—Summer 2011 Page 8
English 1302. Introduction to Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing II
Instructor: Lucinda Channon July 12, 2011
Course Information: Section 004: M, T, W, & Th: 10:30-12:30 a.m.
Course Location: Room: Preston Hall 102
Office Hours/Location: M. T, W: 9:30 -10:30, or by appointment / Carlisle 212
Email:
English Department Office Phone: (Messages Only) 817-272-2692
Course Description. English 1302: Introduction to Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing II is a course that builds on the skills learned in English 1301 by providing a more extensive introduction to rhetorical and argument theories. Students learn to identify a controversial issue independently, research that issue by navigating library databases, compile a bibliography of relevant sources, map the conversation surrounding the issue, and advocate their own position by developing claims supported by good reasons and evidence. Students continue to practice recursive reading and writing processes and develop a more sophisticated awareness of context and audience.
Student Learning Outcomes. In ENGL 1302, students build on the knowledge and information that they learned in ENGL 1301. By the end of ENGL 1302, students should be able to effectively use:
In ENGL 1302, students build on the knowledge and information that they learned in ENGL 1301. By the end of ENGL 1302, students should be able to:
Rhetorical Knowledge
· Identify and analyze the components and complexities of a rhetorical situation
· Use knowledge of audience, exigence, constraints, genre, tone, diction, syntax, and structure to produce situation-appropriate argumentative texts, including texts that move beyond formulaic structures
· Know and use special terminology for analyzing and producing arguments
· Practice and analyze informal logic as used in argumentative texts
Critical Reading, Thinking, and Writing
· Understand the interactions among critical thinking, critical reading, and writing
· Integrate personal experiences, values, and beliefs into larger social conversations and contexts
· Find, evaluate, and analyze primary and secondary sources for appropriateness, timeliness, and validity
· Produce situation-appropriate argumentative texts that synthesize sources with their own ideas and advance the conversation on an important issue
· Provide valid, reliable, and appropriate support for claims, and analyze evidentiary support in others’ texts
Processes
· Practice flexible strategies for generating, revising, and editing complex argumentative texts
· Engage in all stages of advanced, independent library research
· Practice writing as a recursive process that can lead to substantive changes in ideas, structure, and supporting evidence through multiple revisions
· Use the collaborative and social aspects of writing to critique their own and others’ arguments
Conventions
· Apply and develop knowledge of genre conventions ranging from structure and paragraphing to tone and mechanics, and be aware of the field-specific nature of these conventions
· Summarize, paraphrase, and quote from sources using appropriate documentation style
· Revise for style and edit for features such as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling
· Employ technologies to format texts according to appropriate stylistic conventions
Required Texts.
Textbook and Reader: Wood, Perspectives on Argument, 6th Edition
Suggested Text.
Handbook: Hacker, A Writer's Reference - 6th Edition (With 2009 MLA Update)
Brief Descriptions of Major Assignments.
Since the art of rhetoric is oral, visual, and written, this course requires students to demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and sufficient proficiency in all three types of argument.
· Oral Rhetoric – Students will perform multiple oral presentations throughout the semester. All of these will be informal to a certain extent, but they are all important to your participation grade. Missing the oral presentation of your issue proposal, Toulmin analysis, annotated bibliography, and/or researched position paper will negatively affect your grade.
· Visual Rhetoric – Students will analyze visual arguments and incorporate visuals into their researched position paper to support their argument.
· Written Rhetoric – Students will construct multiple written arguments throughout the semester. Some of these will be ungraded, but students not present for in-class writing or failing to turn in assigned homework will not receive participation points for these assignments. Additionally, students will complete six quizzes and write five papers during the semester. All written assignments must conform to MLA formatting guidelines (unless informed differently by the instructor), and should contain a works cited page and proper parenthetical citations. All papers are to be double-spaced, with 1-inch margins in Times New Roman 12 point font. The five required papers are described below.
o An Issue Proposal. This paper asks you in 1-2 pages to define an issue that you will pursue this semester.
o Summary-Analysis-Response. This paper requires you to demonstrate your ability to summarize, analyze, and respond to an argument in 2-3 pages according to the instructions on page 137 in POA.
o A Toulmin Analysis: This paper requires students to demonstrate their mastery of the Toulmin model by choosing a short article, an advertisement, a cartoon, or a letter to the editor and completing a 2-3 page Toulmin exploration of the author’s argument.
o An Annotated Bibliography: This assignment is designed to help students evaluate the usefulness of their research on a chosen topic. Students are required to find ten (10) timely, relevant academic sources, correctly cite them using MLA format, and provide an appropriate annotation for each.
o A Researched Position Paper: This paper will build upon the exploratory paper, requiring students to pick a position they addressed in their exploratory paper. Then students will write an original claim and find five to seven academic resources that help support and develop their claim. Students must then write a 7-10 page paper on their issue that includes visual support. Students will also write a one-page Toulmin analysis of their paper and a submission letter according to the instructions on page 426 in POA.
Grades. Grades in FYC are A, B, C, F, and Z. The Z grade is reserved for students who attend class regularly, participate actively, and complete all the assigned work on time, but simply fail to write well enough to earn a passing grade. This judgment is made by the instructor and not necessarily based upon a number average. The Z grade is intended to reward students for good effort. While students who receive a Z will not get credit for the course, the Z grade will not affect their grade point average. They may repeat the course for credit until they do earn a passing grade. The F grade, which does negatively affect GPA, goes to failing students who do not attend class regularly, do not participate actively, or do not complete assigned work.
· All major assignments must be completed to pass the course. If you fail to complete an essay, you will fail the course, regardless of your average. All drafts and final essays must be turned in according to instructions. Keep all papers until you receive your final grade from the university; you cannot challenge a grade without evidence.
· All written work is expected to be typed, except, of course, in-class writing, and in-class writing should look as neat and professional as possible. I will explain the paper presentation assignments when appropriate. All paper assignments will be covered in detail well before they are due.
· Grade Weighting. Your final grade for this course will be calculated in the following manner:
Participation (35%)
Daily Work (includes homework, in-class writing,
oral presentations, peer reviews, group work) 20%
Reading Quizzes 15%
Papers (65%)
Issue Proposal Paper 5%
Summary-Analysis-Response Paper 10%
Toulmin Analysis Paper 10%
Annotated Bibliography 15%
Researched Position Paper 25%
· Paper Length Requirements – Each draft and final paper has a minimum length requirement. If the assignment requires that students produce a 2 page draft, students must provide at least two full-pages type written text conforming to MLA formatting standards (1” margins, 12 point Times New Roman, double-spaced). Full-page is defined as there being no more than 1 inch of white space at the bottom of the page (including the margin). Drafts failing to conform to the minimum length requirements will result in a reduction on the draft (daily) grade. Final papers failing to meet the specified minimum length will automatically be reduced by 10%. Adjusting margins or font sizes to meet the length requirements results in assessing the penalties above.
· Folder Requirements—You must turn in the annotated bibliography and the researched position paper in a two pocket folder. In order for me to grade your essay, you must arrange all designated papers in the folder according to the instructions I will give you. You will receive no credit for a draft if you did not participate in the scheduled peer review. Keep all process work that you do before/during the writing of the essay. You will lose points if those papers are not in your folder.
· Drafts/Peer Reviews/Presentations/Homework/Quizzes/In-Class Work. Several daily elements can negatively or positively impact your grade.
o Drafts: Each paper requires one or more drafts, and failure to submit any draft results in a 10% reduction in your final paper grade for each missed draft (these points cannot be recovered through revision).
o Peer Reviews: Each paper also requires peer reviews, and failure to be present and participate in peer reviews results in a 10% reduction in the paper grade for each missed peer review. If you miss a peer review, you will not be able to make it up.
o Presentations: Presentations occur on specific days and times; consequently, students may not make up any presentation and will receive a zero (0) for the assignment if not completed on the scheduled date and time.
o Homework: Homework is due at the beginning of class. No late homework will be accepted and students will receive a zero (0) for participation for the day.
o Quizzes: You will take six reading quizzes throughout the semester. The quizzes will usually consist of two or three essay questions. You must answer essay questions in complete sentences in paragraph format. I think that you will find the quizzes reasonably easy if you keep up with the reading. If you need to know a particularly difficult concept or section, I will tell you to study it in advance. You cannot make up reading quizzes unless you have a documented illness. If you miss class for any other reason, you miss the quiz, and you get a zero for that grade. Since quizzes are timed and are given at the beginning of class, plan to be on time.
o In-class work: Students will complete in-class work throughout the semester, and this work cannot be made up. This will definitely affect your participation grade and can affect your final essay grade if the written work is supposed to be included in your folder as part of your process work.
Late Work Policy: While I understand the extreme time constraints from which students suffer, any major assignment that is not submitted according to the policy above will receive a 5 point reduction for the first calendar day beginning at the start of class. Per the submittal policy, no excuses exist for failing to turn in an assignment. After the due date, late assignments will be reduced 10 points per class day. This means that if an assignment is due on Tuesday and you submit it after class but still on Tuesday, it will be automatically reduced 5 points. If I do not receive it on Tuesday, 10 points will be deducted each day. That means the highest grade you could make for a paper turned in Friday that was due on Tuesday would be 70. No minor assignments are accepted late.
Revision Policy: You are entitled to revise the Summary-Analysis-Response paper and the Toulmin analysis if you make a grade of C or below. No other papers may be revised. No revisions will be accepted without first participating in a conference with the instructor. Re-writes must be submitted within one week after I return the original paper. Revisions will not be accepted on essays that are turned in late. The revision grade will be averaged with the original grade in order to determine the final grade. Only one revision per paper may be submitted.
Attendance/Tardy Policy: To meet the student learning outcomes for this course, you need to come to
class. ENGL 1302 is not primarily a lecture course, and most of our time will be spent discussing argument theory, reviewing each other’s work, and—of course—writing. Because of this, after two absences, each additional absence will cause your letter grade to drop 5 points.
If you are absent, it is your responsibility to contact me for missed instructions or handouts via e-mail or during my office hours, not during class time.
If you are late, you will both miss valuable class time and disrupt the class when you arrive. You may not make up any work you miss because you are late to class. If you are more than 20 minutes late, you will be counted absent.
Attendance includes not only your physical presence in the classroom but also the presence of all textbooks, papers for peer review, and other assignments relevant to the day’s work. Bring Perspectives on Argument to every class! Failure to bring all relevant texts, papers, or homework assignments will be the equivalent of being absent for the day. Attendance also means coming to class prepared and ready to discuss reading and writing assignments.
I do not differentiate between excused and unexcused absences and no missed work can be made up unless, per university policy, the absence results from another university obligation or a severe and documented (through student affairs or licensed physician) medical condition. Students with outside university requirements (e.g., athletics) are required to provide the necessary excused absence form from the sponsoring department. Any students missing because of official campus activities or religious holidays have to turn in their assignment before class is missed, and all of these types of absences require written documentation in order not to count against the total number of allowed absences.
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism. It is the philosophy of The University of Texas at Arlington that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. "Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts." (Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Series 50101, Section 2.2) You can get in trouble for plagiarism—even if you do not intend to cheat—by failing to correctly indicate places where you are making use of the work of another. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the conventions of citation by which you indicate which ideas are not your own and how your reader can find those sources. Read your handbook for more information on quoting and citing properly to avoid plagiarism. If you still do not understand, ask your instructor.