Course Syllabus Introduction to Composition

ENG 061 | Spring 2018

 

Instructor: Emily Mulvihill

Email: Mulvihill_Emily@sac.edu

Class Times: T/TH 6:00-10:15pm

Room: D-309

Office Hours: By appointment

 

Welcome:

I look forward to a great semester working with all of you to improve your communication skills and develop strong patterns of writing and revision that will help you not only with other classes, but in other areas of your life as well. Being prepared and engaging in the class materials are the best ways to do well. Please feel free to set up a time to meet with me for any questions you may have and/or to chat about your progress in the course. I am also available to answer questions on email. Please do not hesitate to contact me, as I want all of you to do well and I am always happy to help.

 

Course Description:

This course is designed to prepare students for college-level writing with specific emphasis in developing clear, organized writing. Students will practice writing expository paragraphs using various methods (including argumentation) as well as work to refine sentence skills and grammar. Students will use the writing process to write, in MLA format, essays, including a documented paper, using appropriately chosen details, organizational strategies, sentence variety, and sufficiently correct grammar and punctuation. Students will be able to read critically for literal meaning and identify the main idea of a reading and the author’s writing strategies as well as summarize and paraphrase effectively. Lastly, students will evaluate and ethically use primary and secondary sources.

 

 

Required Texts/Materials:

Little Seagull Handbook, Norton (optional but suggested)

Hand-outs from class

Additional Canvas Readings

Three Blue Book

 

Attendance:

It is important that students attend class to receive participation points and take part in group activities. You will be allowed two unexcused absences during the semester. Since we are a condensed eight-week course, keep in mind that each absence is a significant amount of course hours/materials missed. Two late arrivals will also count as an unexcused absence, since arriving late disrupts the rest of the class. If you have any concerns or scheduling conflicts, please speak to me or email me in advance.

 

Late Work:

All work is due by the assigned date and time. Written work turned in after the due date will be deducted one letter grade for each day that it is late.

 

Academic Dishonesty:

Cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty, such as plagiarism, will result in serious consequences. Plagiarism occurs when someone presents another’s work as their own. This not only includes copying from sources without citing, but also paraphrasing without giving credit or presenting another’s ideas as your original thought. Plagiarism will not be tolerated within this class. It will result in a zero on the assignment. We will be discussing this on the first day of class. Please see me if you have any questions on plagiarism or what might be considered plagiarism.

 

Student Conduct:

This class will require student participation and involvement. In order to create an environment that is conducive to learning for everyone, students should be respectful towards the instructor as well as fellow classmates. This involves: active listening, respecting other’s opinions, and engaging in the course material. In addition, cell phone use is not allowed in class and appropriate internet use on laptops is expected. Below is a SAC link to more information on student conduct expectations.

https://www.sac.edu/StudentServices/StudentLife/StudentConduct/Pages/default.aspx        

 

Canvas:

I will update Canvas frequently and it will be on Canvas that you submit many of your written assignments. Check Canvas often as I may update materials (I will notify you through email and Canvas) or provide additional materials to help you with the assignment. Additionally, there will be an open forum space for asking questions to your classmates.

 

Special Accommodations:

Please see the instructor early on in the course with any specific accommodations pertaining to this course.

 

Grading:

Participation                            10%

Homework Assignments        25%

Personal Essay                        15%

Research Paper                        25%

In-Class Essay 1                     10%

Final In-Class Essay               15%

           

Participation:

Participation in this class is an important part of your overall grade. Engaging in course discussion and activities is required.  Participation, however, does not simply mean speaking frequently in class. It also means: being ready at the start of the class period, listening to peers/instructor, following directions, appropriate use of technology in the classroom etc. Please let me know if you have any concerns about this, as we can create strategies together to make sure you are able to participate and engage in the course materials.

 

 

Homework Assignments:

Journal Entries: Each week you will write two journal responses, and they will be a large portion of your overall homework grade. There will be a prompt each week to structure one of these mini-essays, the second will be on a topic of your choice. Journal entries should be neat, and as free of grammatical error as possible. This is a good opportunity to practice your writing skills as well as work on sentence and paragraph structure. They are due 11:59 pm Friday each week. I will be looking at both form and content, so make sure your writing is clear, concise and engaging to the reader. We will discuss a sample journal entry in class.

 

Reading Responses/ Summaries: Sometimes in addition to the journal entries, I will ask you to summarize or respond to an out-of-class or in-class reading. This is in lieu of a quiz, so that I can assess your understanding of the material as well as a chance for you to practice your writing skills. They will be graded on clarity as well as content and grammar usage. Additional information about these assignments will be provided. Together, the journal entries and the reading responses/summaries will make up most of your homework grade.

           

Grammar Practice: Even the best of writers need to brush up on their grammar now and then. This grade will be composed of all of the different grammar practice assignments we will complete both in and out of class. Do your best on these assignments and reach out with questions when necessary.

 

 

Personal Essay:

In addition to your summary and journal writing, you will be expected to write one personal essay. Final drafts of this essay will be 5 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman using MLA format. We will also be working on various stages for this essay including: an intro paragraph and thesis, an outline, and a rough draft. Each of these drafts will compose a holistic grade that accounts for the progress made through additional drafts. This essay, though relatively short, should be a strong writing sample as it will be graded for content, clarity, and grammar. Additional guidelines for this assignment will be provided.

           

Research Paper: The research essay is the largest writing assignment of the course. You will be required to research, draft, edit, and finalize a paper using MLA format. The final draft should be 8-10 pages double spaced, Times New Roman with a works cited list and proper use of academic sources. Like the personal essay, we will be going through many stages of this paper. You are expected to keep all of your drafts including pre-writing, note taking, bibliographies etc. as the final grade will be composed not only of the final, but the work put into the various drafts as well.

 

In-Class Essays: Mastering the in-class essay is a particularly useful skill as it encourages you to: work efficiently, summarize material, and respond in an organized and thoughtful manner. We will do at least one practice essay before the first graded one so you get a sense of the process. We will be discussing strategies for doing well on these essays in-class and further hand-outs on expectations will be provided.  

Week	Date	Topics/ Reading	Assignments Due
1 T	04/10/18	In Class: Introductions	N/A
1 TH	04/12/18	Read: “I Used to Love the Bride” and “My Embarrassing Photo Went Viral” Links on Canvas. Print and bring w/notes to class.   Gather thoughts about Personal Essay
2 T	04/17/18	Personal Essay Introduction and Outline Bring 3 printed copies to class   Summarize a news article of your choice in 500-700 words. Select a news article of sufficient length and content (think around 1,000 words) Links to suggested sites on Canvas. Print and bring summary and article to class.   Print Little Seagull Reading: S1-7, L1-4	Personal Essay Introduction/Outline
2 TH	04/19/18	Personal Essay Draft 1: Bring 3 copies to class   Little Seagull Reading: P1-4 8,9 and W-5, W-9	Personal Essay Draft 1
3 T	04/24/18	Personal Essay Final Draft   Prepare for practice in-class essay	Personal Essay Final Draft
3 TH	04/26/18	Preview questions for in-class essay 1	In-Class Essay 1
4 T	05/01/18	Little Seagull Reading: R1-2 W-10
4 TH	05/03/18	Paper 2 topic brainstorm with 3 potential sources	Topic Brainstorm  w/ potential sources
5 T	05/08/18	Annotated Bibliography In-Class: Paper Meetings   Little Seagull Reading: R-3 synthesizing ideas	Annotated Bibliography
5 TH	05/10/18	Final paper outline   Little Seagull:  R-4 Integrating sources, avoiding plagiarism W-3 Developing Paragraphs W-4 Designing what you write	Outline Due
6 T	05/15/18	1st Draft argumentative paper	1st Draft Argumentative Paper (by noon)
6 TH	05/17/18
7 T	05/22/18	2nd draft argumentative paper	2nd Draft Research Paper
7 TH	05/24/18
8 T	05/29/18		In-Class Final Essay
8 TH	05/31/18	Final Draft of Research Paper Due	Research Paper Presentation   Research Paper Due