Santa Ana College Humanities and Social Sciences Division

ENGL- 101-63435-Spring 2019

Instructor: Matthew Pelle                               Class Day/Time/Room: MW 12:45-5:15, I-208

Email: Pelle_Matthew@sac.edu                    Office Hour – Wednesday 6-7pm, D-422            

 

Santa Ana College Mission Statement

 

Santa Ana College inspires, transforms, and empowers a diverse community of learners.

 

Santa Ana College English Department’s Mission Statement

 

The Santa Ana College English Department provides numerous opportunities for students to develop and improve the reading, critical thinking, and writing skills required to succeed at their chosen careers, to meet the rigors of the writing demands at four-year transfer institutions, and to foster lifelong learning and an appreciation of literature.

 

COURSE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

 

1. Students will demonstrate proficiency in summarizing, paraphrasing, and analyzing texts.
2. Students will demonstrate proficiency in supporting complex thesis statements with sufficient support.
3. Students will demonstrate proficiency in using standard written English.
4. Students will demonstrate proficiency in integrating and documenting appropriately-chosen sources, in MLA format, in an academic research essay.

 

TEXTBOOK REQUIREMENTS AND ONLINE RESOURCES:

• A Brief Guide to Writing Academic Arguments by Stephen Wilhoit (ISBN 978-0205568611)
• So You’ve Been Publically Shamed by Jon Ronson (ISBN 978-1594634017)
• Trust Me I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday (ISBN 978-1591846284)
• The Purdue OWL
• Canvas

 

Assignments and Point Breakdown

• Three Essays (4-6 pages each)
  • Essay 1 150 points
  • Essay 2 150 points 
  • Essay 3 150 points
• In-class Essay (highest score of two recorded) 100 points
• Research Project             150 points
• Bibliography             50 points
• Presentation             50 points
• Drafting Work             100 points
• Participation, classwork, and homework 100 points

1000 points total

Grade Totals

                             

The college uses a full letter (as opposed to a +/-) grading policy. Therefore, based on the points you earn, your grade in the course will be one of the following:

           

A: 900 – 1000 B: 800 – 899   C: 700 – 799   D: 600 – 699   F: 599 or less

 

Note: each student must earn at least 700 points (a C) in order to receive a passing grade in the class. 

 

Essays

 

The bulk of your grade this semester will be based on writing.  You will write four out-of-class essays that will grow in length as the semester progresses, supplemented by two in-class essays.  Each out of class essay will have two weeks dedicated to it, and will require a draft at the half-way point.  Each draft will be worth 25 points, which you will earn if the draft is long enough and on topic. I never grade drafts, but rather provide feedback and advice on how to revise the draft into a complete essay.  Writing is a process, and these drafts are meant to encourage this process. 

 

The in-class essays are intended for us to learn and practice timed writing, and will be evaluated as writing done quickly.  They will deal with similar material as the longer essays, but with more directed goals.  We will discuss the differences between long term and short term writing as we approach the first in-class essay.

 

The fourth out-of-class essay will be a research project.  You will be required to cite a number of sources that you research yourself, complete an annotated bibliography prior to beginning writing, and present your research to the class on the final day of class.  We will be generating a list of topics for the whole class to pick from early in the semester, so start considering now what you might want to write an 8 to 10 page paper on.

 

Essay Length Policy

 

The page length requirements assume you fill the page completely to meet the minimum requirement. In other words, the 4 to 6 page essays must be at least 4 FULL pages, and the 8 to 10 page research essay must be at least 8 FULL pages. If you don’t reach these minimum lengths, it will affect your grade.

 

For the 4 to 6 page papers, if you fill between 3 and a half and 4 full pages, your grade will be capped at a B. If you don’t reach at least 3 and a half pages, your grade will be capped at a C. If you don’t reach the 4th page at all, you’ll receive the paper back from be without a grade and instructions to finish it. This is NOT a failure, but it is not a passing grade yet either. I will expect you to see me to discuss when you need to have it resubmitted.

 

For the research paper, there won’t be an opportunity for me to return short papers. Papers that reach the 7th page but fail to fill 8 pages will be capped at a B, papers that reach the 6th page will be capped at a C, and papers that fail to reach the 6th page will not receive passing grades.

 

Revisions

 

Revision is a huge part of the writing process, and so this class is designed to encourage it.  In addition to the drafting process done while working on an individual paper, you will have the chance to resubmit a revision of one of the first three out-of-class essays for a higher grade.  You must discuss your choice of essay with me beforehand.  The revision grade will replace the original if it is higher.  You will never receive a lower grade than the original, so you have nothing to lose. 

 

Late Work

 

All assignments must be turned in on time, at the beginning of the class period they are due.  I do understand that sometimes life all piles up at once, and sometimes things conspire against you.  For this reason, I will allow you to turn in ONE essay late, at the beginning of the next class period, no questions asked.  I recommend that you only use this allowance if you absolutely must.  Any other late papers will lose ten points for each day (not class period, but day) they are late.

 

NOTE- I will never FAIL a paper simply for being late.  If you turn in a passing paper, it will pass, but will have its possible grade capped at a C.  You should turn in EVERYTHING, no matter how late.  The easiest way to fail this class is to simply not turn things in.

 

Attendance and Absence Policy

 

Attendance in classes and is mandatory and expected. You will not have the opportunity to make up missed classwork, and so must make sure you are present in order to complete it. If you know you are going to miss a lot of class, talk to me as early as you can so we can plan accordingly.

 

It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw officially from a course. Stopped attendance does not constitute a withdrawal. However, because of enrollment demands a student may be dropped by the instructor when not appearing at the first class meeting. A student may be dropped for excessive absences when the total hours of absences exceed 10% of the total scheduled hours of class. Under extenuating circumstances a student may be reinstated by the instructor.

 

 

 

 

Participation

 

To get the most out of this semester, you have to be actively engaged in all aspects of class.  While this does not mean you have to speak up at every opportunity, you must be paying attention and mentally involved in what is going on.  This is definitely the type of class where the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.  By participating in class wide discussion, small group discussion, and lecture, you will gain much more than simply being a passive presence in the classroom.  I encourage as much conversation and as many questions as the class can generate.

 

I expect all discussions to be conducted in a respectful manner.  You are allowed and actively encouraged to disagree with one another, and challenge each other’s ideas, for the betterment of your own and the rest of the class’s.  You ARE NOT allowed to engage in name-calling, verbal attacks, or any other form of abuse.  Any such behavior WILL NOT be tolerated, and offenders will be asked to leave the classroom for the day, and may face further consequences based on the severity of the attack. 

 

Classroom Etiquette

 

Please turn all cell phones to silent or vibrate, and refrain from using them during class time.  If I must remind you of this more than once, I reserve the right to ask you to leave my class. Laptops may be used for note taking and any other task that will enhance your classroom experience.  If you are caught using it for anything else, you will lose this privilege for the remainder of the semester. You are required to follow the student behavior guidelines while in this class.

 

You do NOT need my permission to leave this classroom.  If you need to step out for any reason, you may do so; I simply ask that you do so quietly.  If you vanish for the day, I will mark you absent.  You may eat and drink in class as long as it is quite and not distracting.  If the room starts to become too messy, this privilege will go away.  If the class is in a computer room, however, you are limited to water in bottles you can fully seal. 

 

The use of any recording device during class without my prior consent is prohibited, except as necessary to provide reasonable auxiliary aids and academic adjustments to students with disabilities who present official documentation form the DSP&S office to my prior to the recording. This is to protect privacy and to create a safe classroom environment where all participants can discuss potentially controversial or sensitive subjects freely. If you want to take a photograph or make an audio or video recording, you must get my prior permission. Even if you get this permission, photos and recordings are for personal use only and may not be distributed, posted, published, or shared in any manner.

 

Academic Honesty Policy (http://www.sac.edu/StudentServices/AdmissionsRecords/Pages/Academic-Honesty-Policy-.aspx).

 

Students at Santa Ana College are expected to be honest and forthright in their academic endeavors; to falsify the results of one’s research, to steal works or ideas of another person, or to cheat on an examination, corrupts the essential process by which knowledge is advanced. Academic dishonesty is seen as an intentional act of fraud, in which a student seeks to claim credit for the work or efforts of another without authorization, or uses unauthorized material or fabricated information in any academic exercise. The Rancho Santiago Community College District, as an institution, also considers academic dishonesty to include forgery of academic documents, intentionally impeding or damaging the academic work of others, assisting other students in acts of dishonesty or coercing students into acts of dishonesty. Plagiarism is defined as the use of intellectual material produced by another person without acknowledging its source. Plagiarism is a violation of the Santa Ana College Student Code of Conduct and students who knowingly steal the words or ideas of another will be be subject to a failing grade and possibly more severe action. For more information, please visit:

http://www.sac.edu/StudentServices/Library/Pages/Plagiarism.aspx

 

DSP&S Statement

 

Your success in this course is important to me. Santa Ana College and I are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all individuals with disabilities. If you have a disability that may have some impact on your ability to do well in this course, I encourage you to speak with me as soon as possible. Also, please contact Disabled Student Programs & Services so that we can all collaborate on your classroom accommodations in a timely manner. DSP&S is located in VL-203, and their phone number is 714-564-6264. TTY: 714-564-6384. Video Phones: 714-660-3075 or 657-235-2999. The DSP&S office requires documentation of your disability in order to receive reasonable accommodations. If you do not have documentation, they will work with you to acquire it. I look forward to supporting you to meet your learning goals.

 

Final Word

 

Please feel free to email me as frequently as you need.  If you need any extra assistance outside of class-time, please feel free to approach me and arrange a meeting.  I have one office hour, and am available immediately after class.