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ENGL 1102: Rhetoric and Composition II
Georgia State University Perimeter College, Alpharetta
Instructor: Rob Jenkins Office hours: MTWR 6:45 – 7:00
E-mail: MTWR 11:15 – 1:00
Office: 2210 Friday by appt.
Prerequisites:
ENGL 1101 or 1101H with a C or better OR exempt via test score.
Note: The syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary. Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping education at Georgia State. Upon completing this course, please take time to fill out the online course evaluation.
Course Description: This course develops writing skills beyond the levels of proficiency required by ENGL 1101, emphasizes interpretation and evaluation, and incorporates more advanced research methods. A research paper is required. Some sections of this course are taught with computer assistance in classrooms equipped with personal computers. Keyboarding experience will be useful but is not required. (Actually, it kind of is: all work done outside of class must be done on a word processor.)
Course Overview: The purpose of this course is to hone students’ critical thinking skills and prepare them to think and write clearly in their future college courses as well as in their professional lives. To that end, we will do a great deal of reading—essays, poems, stories, even a short novel—and responding to texts both analytically and argumentatively. Students will write a total of five essays, including a research paper, a final exam essay, and a short proposal. (The first two essays and the final exam will be in the 600-700-word range, the research paper between 1200 and 1500, and the proposal about 300 – 400.) The majority of class time will be spent discussing the reading assignments and dealing with various aspects of college and professional writing, including form, style, grammar, usage, mechanics, and (of course) research and documentation. We will also have regular in-class quizzes and reflection questions dealing with the reading assignments.
Disclaimer: While discussing the literary works that we will be studying this semester, we will no doubt talk about a number of potentially controversial topics, including (but not limited to) race, gender, sexuality, religion, and politics. On rare occasions, I may state my personal opinion on one of those topics or on a related topic; when I do so, I will always attempt to label it as such. Most often, though, I will decline to offer a personal opinion, choosing instead to examine the ideas of the writers we’re studying and other relevant literary and historical figures and perhaps compare what they have said to modern-day perceptions and attitudes. In neither case am I attempting to “indoctrinate” you into any particular point of view, persuade you to adopt any specific position, or even “challenge” your personal beliefs. Rather, my purpose is to encourage you to consider, objectively, the viewpoints reflected in these literary works as you examine your own views, assumptions, and preconceptions in an attempt to formulate an informed, thoughtful, and defensible position. This is known as “critical thinking.”
Required texts: Welcome to My Classroom, by Rob Jenkins; Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card; e-text links on weekly schedule.
Course Policies (Departmental):
PROVISION FOR LATE WORK AND MAKE-UP EXAMS: Work is expected to be submitted on time. Each instructor will provide students with a policy regarding late work. When absolutely necessary, arrangements for late work and make-up exams should be made on an individual basis with the instructor.
WRITING LAB: Instructional Support Services provides academic help for day and evening students and serves as a convenient means of getting additional writing instruction. Instructors may assign lab work for those students who need or desire extra help.
AID FOR THE DISABLED: If you are a student who is disabled as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act and require assistance or support services, please seek assistance through the Center of Disabilities Services. A CDS counselor will coordinate those services.
CHEATING/ PLAGIARISM POLICY: Cheating includes any attempt to defraud, deceive, or mislead a professor in arriving at an honest grade assessment. Plagiarism is a form of cheating that occurs when students present as their own the ideas, language, or work of others. Giving unauthorized help to other students also constitutes cheating.
Unless specifically authorized by the professor, the following are examples of cheating or plagiarism, although this list is certainly not exhaustive:
1. Cheating on a test or quiz includes
· Looking at or copying from other students’ work.
· Allowing other students to look at or copy your work.
· Exchanging information with other students.
· Speaking or whispering (students may speak to professors at any time).
· Opening a textbook or notebook.
· Looking at notes.
2. Cheating on writing assignments, homework or other out-of-class assignments includes
· Copying work or answers from other students.
· Copying ideas or text from printed sources and from computer or other electronic sources without proper documentation.
· Having someone else do the assignments.
· Allowing other students to “borrow” work and present it as their own.
3. Cheating on late work or tests includes
· Providing false information or documents in order to be allowed to make up a missed test, quiz, or homework.
When source materials are used in the writing of papers, students must document the use of these sources by following the documentation style stipulated by their professor. Students who require clarification of any of the above concepts must consult with their professor.
Cheating of any kind may result in penalties ranging from a grade of F or 0 on the assignment to a course grade of F. Professors also may refer cases to the College Court for assignment of additional penalties that may include suspension or expulsion from Georgia Perimeter College. Such cases may be brought before the College Court regardless of whether or not the accused admits guilt when initially charged.
The accused should know that, at the sentencing phase, the Court may consider any previous record of cheating in determining the severity of the penalty. The Georgia Perimeter College Student Handbook section on “Academic Dishonesty” outlines the steps of due process in such cases.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY POLICY: No person shall, on the grounds of race, color, sex, religion, creed, national origin, age or disability, be excluded from employment or participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity conducted by Georgia Perimeter College.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION POLICY: Georgia Perimeter College adheres to affirmative action policies designed to promote diversity and equal opportunity for all faculty and students.
TOBACCO AND SMOKE-FREE CAMPUS POLICY: EffectiveOctober 1, 2014, Georgia Perimeter prohibits the use of tobacco products on any property owned, leased, or controlled by GPC. All faculty, staff, students, visitors, vendors, contractors, and all others are prohibited from using any tobacco products while on GPC property. “Tobacco Products” is defined as cigarettes, pipes, cigars, all forms of smokeless tobacco, clove cigarettes and other smoking devices that use tobacco such as hookahs or simulate the use of tobacco such as electronic cigarettes.Violations of the smoking policy will be handled under the GPC Student Code of Conduct.
STATEMENT ON DISCRIMINATION/HARASSMENT: Perimeter College seeks to provide an environment that is free of bias, discrimination, and harassment. If you have been the victim of sexual harassment/misconduct/assault, we encourage you to report this. If you report this to a faculty member, he or she must notify one of our college’s Assistant Title IX Coordinators / Student Deans about the basic facts of the incident (you may choose whether you or anyone involved is identified by name). For more information please refer to our sexual misconduct website: http://depts.gpc.edu/gpcmisconduct/index.html
Course Policies (Instructor’s):
ATTENDANCE: I will NOT withdraw you from the course for any reason, nor will I fail you solely because of absences. If you wish to withdraw from the course, you must officially withdraw yourself by submitting the appropriate documents to the Office of Enrollment and Registration (you may do this online). Remember, in the summer, one day equals one week.
However, you are responsible for all reading assignments and all material covered in class, whether you are present or not. You should not expect me to go back over material that you missed due to absence, although I may be willing to help you catch up if I believe that circumstances warrant. Regardless, I recommend that you form a network with other students in the class to share e-mail addresses and other contact information and help each other out in case someone is absent.
LATE/MAKE-UP WORK: I will generally accept essays that are submitted after the due date; however, I reserve the right to deduct up to 10 points per day, up to 50 points total. I also reserve the right not to accept essays that are more than two weeks late. If you are late to or absent from class and miss a quiz, you may not make it up.
RETURN OF ASSIGNMENTS: I will do my best to return essays within two class meetings, when they are submitted on time. Late essays I will grade at my leisure.
READING REFLECTIONS: Our assigned readings include 10 essays from Welcome to My Classroom. For five of those—your choice—you will need to complete the four “Reflections” questions at the end and turn those in. If you prefer, for two of your reflections, you may choose an essay from WTMC that was not assigned reading. I’m looking for four or five sentences—about 50 to 75 words—in response to each question. Reflections will be worth a possible 20 points each, or up to five points for each question, for a total of 100 points—the same as a regular essay.
GRADES: Your final grade will be determined as follows:
Research paper 30%
Final exam 20%
Other essays 30%
Quizzes 10%
Reflections 10%
Weekly Schedule, Fall Semester 2016
Week
/ Topics and Activities / Reading assignments1
Aug. 23 - 25 / Course introductionPrinciples of analysis / “I’m Not Paying for Your Opinion,” 21; “Our Students Need More Practice in Actual Thinking,” 65; “Cross-Training for the Brain,” 77
“The Road Not Taken”
2
Aug. 30 – Sept. 1 / Discussion of readingsPrinciples of argumentation / “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
“Cushioning the Blow”
“I Want a Wife”
“A Modest Proposal”
3
Sep. 6 - 8 / Discussion of readingsWriting style / “Politics and the English Language”
“Simplicity,” “Clutter,” and “Style”
“The Case for Conversational Writing,” 131
From Common Sense
“An Enlightening Trip to the Countryside”
“Zen and the Art of Community College Bashing”
4
Sep. 13 - 15 / Finding, using, and documenting sources / “Why Are So Many Students Still Failing Online?” 189; “Online Classes and College Completion,” 195Sample MLA research paper
How to Cite Your Sources (GPC Library)
5
Sep. 20 - 22 / Discussion of non-fiction writing assignmentIntro to poetry
Discussion of readings / Purdue OWL
“Literary Analysis as Scientific Method,” 117; “Toward a Rational Response to Plagiarism,” 53; “Purging My Syllabus,” 217
“A Psalm of Life,” “This is Just to Say,” “The Flea,” Sonnets 73 and 130,
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Sep. 27 - 29 / Non-Fiction Essay DueDiscussion of readings / “This World Is Not Conclusion,” “Birches,” “Mending Wall,” “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” “Jabberwocky,” “Buffalo Bill,” “Sunday Morning,”
7
Oct. 4 - 6 / Discussion of readingsDiscussion of writing assignment / “Grades: What Are They Good For?” 45
“Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump,” “We Real Cool,” “Homecoming,” “All These Things That I’ve Done”
8
Oct. 11 - 13 / Introduction to fictionPrinciples of fiction
Discussion of readings
Reflections Due / “Young Goodman Brown”
“Everyday Use”
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Oct. 18 - 20 / Discussion of readings / “Hills Like White Elephants”
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
10
Oct. 25 - 27 / Discussion of readingsDiscussion of literary writing assignment / Ender’s Game
11
Nov. 1 - 3 / Literary Essay DueIntro to the research paper
Choosing/narrowing topics
12
Nov. 8 - 10
/ Writing a proposal / Sample Proposal (posted online)13
Nov. 15 - 17 / Proposal DueIdentifying resources
Incorporating resources
14
Nov. 22- 24 / Thanksgiving Holidays15
Nov. 29 – Dec. 1 / Rough draft of research paperResearch Paper Due
15
6 - 8 / Final Exam