Course Syllabus N50 Introduction to Written Communication

ENG N50 | Spring 2018

 

Instructor: Emily Mulvihill

Email: Mulvihill_Emily@sac.edu

Class Times: Fri/Sat

Office Hours: By appointment

 

Welcome:

I look forward to a great semester working with all of you to improve your written communication skills and to 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 email me with any questions and/or to chat about your progress in the course. 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 and strong critical thinking skills. Students will learn to recognize and develop writing in various expository forms, review essential grammar patterns, and become familiar with journal and summary writing.

 

Required Texts/Materials:

Little Seagull Handbook, Norton (optional but recommended)

Hand-outs from class

Additional Canvas Readings

 

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. Also, while I understand that the parking situation can be difficult, I encourage you all to arrive on time as arriving late disrupts the class. Repeated tardiness will count towards an unexcused absence. 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 frequently as I may update materials (I will notify you ahead of time) 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%

Reading Summaries                10%

Grammar Practice                    10%

Personal Narrative                   12.5%

Response Essay                      12.5%

Homework Assignments        10%

Journal Entries                        15%

Final Portfolio                         20%

 

Reading Summaries: Each week we will have supplemental readings that will help lead class discussion and focus our conversation in-class. Throughout the semester, you will be required to turn in four summaries. These summaries will be 1 page, double-spaced, Times New Roman. Please include name, course #, and assignment at the top. These summaries should demonstrate your ability to synthesize the important content of the reading.

           

Personal Narrative/Essay Responses:

In addition to your summary and journal writing, you will be expected to write one personal narrative and one essay response. Essays will be 3-5 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman. Please include name, course #, and assignment at the top. The personal narrative will revolve around you, but the essay response will be a close examination of one of our class readings. These essays, though short, should be strong writing samples. They will be graded for their content, clarity, and grammar. Additional guidelines for each assignment will be provided.

 

Journal Entries: Each week you will write two journal responses. 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. I will be looking at both form and content, so make sure your writing is clear, concise and engaging to the reader. I will periodically ask you to turn in your journal to check-in on your progress, so make sure your journal is free of other class notes that you might need to take home. We will discuss a sample journal entry in class.

           

 

Class Schedule

The class schedule is broken down into weekly writing and reading assignments. The writing exercises and readings will prepare you to improve your writing, while the editing work will develop your skills in editing and recognizing grammar patterns.

Week	Date	Topics/ Reading	Assignments Due
1 Fri	04/13/18	Class Introductions
1 Sat	04/14/18	Work on week 1 Journal Entries	All Weekly Journals (Due Sun by 5:00pm)
2 Fri	04/20/18	Read: Little Seagull: S-1, S-2, S-3 Complete sentences, sentence fragments, comma splices S-4 verbs, S-5 subject verb agreement, S-7 Parallelism. End punctuation P-4, quotation marks P-8, capitalization, P-9 italics   Read and summarize news article of your choice for reading summary. Must be of sufficient length and content (think around 1,000 words) Links to suggested sites on Canvas. Include link to article at bottom of assignment. Print and bring in article and copy of summary to class.	Reading Summary 1
2 Sat	04/21/18	Read: Little Seagull W-8 Personal Narrative, W-2 Writing Process P-1 Commas, P-2 Semicolons   Read sample essays: “My embarrassing photo went viral” “I used to love the bride”
3 Fri	04/27/18		Personal Narrative Due
3 Sat	04/28/18	Read: Little Seagull S-6 Pronouns, S-8 Coordination, Subordination   Grammar work: Commas, Pronouns, coordination, Subordination
4 Fri	05/04/18	Write: Reading Summary 2	Reading Summary 2
4 Sat	05/05/18	Write: W-5 Arguments, W-9 Literary Analyses   Read: Sample Essay
5 Fri	05/11/18	Read: Essay Selection for Essay Response 1 Write: Essay Response 1	Response Essay Due
5 Sat	05/12/18	Read: Little Seagull: L-6 Articles, L-7 Words that build common ground and Review Grammar patterns     Complete: Grammar Packet 3	Reading Summary 3
6 Fri	05/18/18	Read: Write: Reading Summary 4	Reading Summary 4
6 Sat	05/19/18	TBA
7 Fri	05/25/18	TBA	Revisions Personal Essay/Response Essay Due
7 Sat	05/26/18	TBA
8 Fri	06/01/18	TBA
8 Sat	06/02/18	TBA	Final Project Due (Journal reflection also due by end of course)