English 101 Syllabus

 

ENGLISH 101 - FRESHMAN COMPOSITION SYLLABUS

 

Santa Ana College Spring 2019

Dr. Jim Prothero Tuesday-Thursday 1:30-3:35

E-mail: prothero_james@sac.edu D-205

 

THIS IS AN EIGHT WEEK CLASS

You may leave messages in my box in the mailroom in the Administration Bldg. The fastest way to reach me is by e-mail. I check for messages at least twice a day.

 

Texts:

Prothero, James. The Freshman Writer as Artist: A Reader, Rhetoric and Stylebook. 1st ed. San Diego: University Readers, 2010.

Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. Vintage: New York, 1995.

Kennedy, XJ, et al. The Brief Bedford Reader. 12^th ed. Bedford: New York, 2014.

 

GRADING, RULES AND EXPECTATIONS:

100 points possible for each paper

Writing One (W1): Descriptive/Narrative

W4: Expository—choice of mode

W5: In Class Paper best candidate

Research Papers:

W2: Snow Falling on Cedars Small Research Paper, with complete bibliography in MLA format.

W3: General Research Paper, with complete bibliography in MLA format ; Note: the General Research Paper is double-weighted in the averaging due to the fact that it involves more work. It is seven pages.

 

Please read all the following carefully; you will be held to it!

• ALL PAPERS MUST HAVE AN INSTRUCTOR CONFERENCE IN ROUGH DRAFT

• All final drafts must be in the MLA format and fill five pages typed, not including 'works cited,' or they will be returned unread.

• W4 must fill seven pages typed, not including works cited.

• NO WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THE FINAL, EXCEPT THE FINAL ITSELF.

• Papers not in the MLA format will drop one grade.

• Missing, short, or incomplete papers will be given the grade of 'F.'

• No late work will be accepted without advance permission of the instructor. If you have a bona fide emergency, contact me.

• No electronic submissions without advanced permission.

• If you're not satisfied with a grade, you have two weeks to submit your paper for a regrade, provided that you conference with the instructor.

 

Class exercise notebook, or ‘Journal’: you will be required to keep a notebook for class and homework exercises. You must bring your notebook to each class. The notebook is worth 100 possible points.. The notebook will be graded on two criterion: completeness and on evidence of effort.

 

SFOC and MLA quizzes: quizzes or other assignments will be averaged and are worth 50 possible points.

 

The Midterm and the Final will be essay and are worth 100 possible points each. A bluebook is recommended for both. The Midterm will cover Snow Falling on Cedars.

 

Grading Scale: The grading scale used for averaging all grades in this class is below.

95 to 100 =A+ 90=A 88=A- 85=B+ 80=B 78=B-

75=C+ 70=C 68=C- 60=D 59 or less, no credit

 

SAC MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Santa Ana College is to be a leader and partner in meeting the intellectual, cultural, technological, and workforce development needs of our diverse community. Santa Ana College provides access and equity in a dynamic learning environment that prepares students for transfer, careers and lifelong intellectual pursuits in a global community.

 

Santa Ana College English Department’s Mission Statement

The Santa Ana College English Department provides numerous opportunities for our 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.

 

Disability 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 U-103, and their phone number is 714-564-6264. 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.

 

Plagiarism is defined as the use of someone else's ideas or words without giving credit or when your own are required. Please see the ethics statement on the college website. If it is discovered that you have plagiarized, you will receive an 'F' for that paper, and will be reported to the dean. This is a very serious offense. My definition for this class is as follows: you may receive help from others in the form of 1) proof-reading for grammatical and spelling errors and 2) the suggestion of ideas by others in general form. You may not receive help in the form of another person writing your sentences for you to any extent. Also, if you quote or paraphrase any other writer, or use their ideas, you are absolutely required to cite them.

 

Attendance Policy: Students may be dropped from the class or failed if past the semester drop date, when you have missed 4 or more classes, even if you have good reason. Leaving class at break or coming to class excessively late counts as half an absence. You are expected to be committed to the class and make it a priority. If you cannot do so for whatever reasons, even very good and important reasons, it is better to drop now and come back when you can be committed. I may not remember to drop you in time to get a W. If you decide to leave, remember to drop the class, or I may be forced to fail you, which will not look good on your transcripts.

 

Electronics Policy: Laptops are permitted but only for note-taking, paper drafting and other class-related activity. Students who are “surfing” during class will be asked to leave. Likewise, excessive texting or stepping out for too many calls will be grounds for being asked to leave. If you have better things to do, drop the class and let the people around you learn. And please silence your cellphone. No cellphones are permitted to access during the midterm or final. Paper and electronic dictionaries are permitted during the final, but not smartphones that cover these functions.

 

A Rubric is a description of the criterion by which a paper is graded. For the sake of increasing the objectivity in grading as much as possible, the following rubric will be used in grading of papers and class exercises in this class:

 

A no or almost no mechanical errors.

has depth of insight, original thought

supports the thesis clearly in well organized paragraphs, or if narrative, well structured

demonstrates consistent use of advanced writing techniques

Has no errors in the MLA format

B few mechanical errors, but still shows fluency.

isolated insights, not very original or perceptive of implications

language is mostly fluent, but has some sections strong while others are not so strong.

Support for thesis is intermittent or narrative bogs down in abstract adjectives

May be well written but does not use advanced writing techniques

The MLA Format has almost no errors

C several mechanical errors

without any particular insight that is new or unusual.

it is just simple, factual and dull sentences.

may not consistently support the thesis clearly in well organized paragraphs

Numerous errors in the MLA Format

A or B papers with many ESL type problems can earn no higher than a C.

D has numerous mechanical errors.

touches little on any point and contains little to no original thought.

It lacks clarity and is hard to read.

has no organization.

No MLA Format

Also, a paper, though well-written, that is off-topic and does not address the assignment, can

earn no higher than a D.

 

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):

• Students will use the writing process to write, in MLA format, academic essays, including a documented research paper, using appropriately chosen details, organizational strategies, more complex sentence variety, and sufficiently correct grammar, punctuation, effective word choice, and style.

• Students will be able to read critically for literal and implied meaning, identify main ideas, organizational strategies and authors’ writing strategies as well as summarize, paraphrase, and analyze written works.

• Students will evaluate and ethically use primary and secondary academic sources to avoid plagiarism and will use the library’s resources, including online databases.