Effective Date of this
Description/Syllabus: Fall 2009
Prepared by: Dr. Rhonda Wilcox
Course
Description/Syllabus
Course Designation
(discipline abbreviation & number): ENGL 1101
Course Title:
Composition I
Class hours per
week: 3
Laboratory hours
per week: 0
Credit hours: 3
Division offering
course: Humanities
Course description
for college catalog:
A composition
course focusing on skills required for effective writing in a variety of
contexts, with emphasis on exposition and analysis and including the use of
research skills.
Prerequisite: Placement in ENGL 1101 or exit from
Developmental English and/or Reading. If you are presently enrolled in any DST
English or DST Reading course, you are not eligible to take any regular English
(ENGL) course. In order to enter English 1102, you must earn at least a C in
this course. For most institutions, a C or better is required to transfer.
NOTE: According to new University System of
Georgia Regents’ rules, entering students
must take the Regents’ Test during their first semester unless they are
placed in Learning Support. Sign up online for the Regents’ Test as if it were
a course (though it is not). The course number is ENGL 2990. Sign up for a
section which includes both Essay and Reading, unless you are exempt. And as
our website says: “For complete Regents’ Test information, practice tests, and
helpful hints, visit Gordon’s website. The link is on Gordon College’s home
page, or you can go directly to www.gdn.edu/program/regents/.”
The Humanities Division’s formally stated objectives for all
English 1101 classes are listed below:
English 1101 Course Objectives
In order to successfully complete ENGL 1101, the student should fulfill these objectives:
Literacy Objective
Students must read, comprehend, and respond to college-level writing.
Critical Thinking
Objectives
Students should develop or improve their ability to engage in the following:
Process Objectives
Students should develop or improve their ability to recognize and apply complex writing processes, including but not limited to the following:
Product Objectives
Students should develop or improve their ability to produce an organized, coherent, and developed essay demonstrating a mastery of Standard Written English. Successful demonstration of these skills include the following:
Course content:
Personal Narrative
Essay
Revision*
Basic Expository
Essay
Revision*
Comparison/Contrast Essay
Revision*
Classification/Illustration Essay (documented)
Final Exam Essay
*A student who makes a C or below on any of the first three
essays must
revise it. A student who makes an A or B on an essay may
omit its revision, though
each student must revise at least one essay (even if only to
aim for an A+).
Any student who
fails to turn in any of these papers (including required
revisions) will
fail the course.
A student must pass the in-class final exam essay in order to get a C or better in the course.
Students will be required to produce revisions, the
Classification Essay, and
possibly other assignments, on a computer (available in the
Instructional Complex and the library; or students may use their own).
Class participation, brief writing assignments (e.g.
in-class paragraphs),
pop quizzes (usually on reading assignments), and exercises
will make up the remainder of the student's grade.
The kinds of
instruction may include class preparation for writing,
small-group critiques of finished essays or preparatory
work, oral presentation and
evaluation of papers, lectures, discussions, and other
activities.
Each student will
have a minimum of three required conferences with the
instructor. Either the student or the instructor may
schedule additional
conferences. Students MAY NOT MISS OTHER CLASSES in order to
attend a required
English conference. If a student is found to be missing
another class in order to
attend a conference for this class, the relevant essay will
be penalized five
points. Any student who has genuine difficulty scheduling a
conference should
discuss the problem with the instructor outside class.
Required Texts:
Gordon College Reference Guide: With Material from Prentice
Hall Reference Guide, 3rd custom ed, by Muriel Harris. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall/Pearson, 2009.
Literature and Ourselves: A Thematic Introduction for
Readers and Writers.
6th ed. Ed. Gloria Mason Henderson, Anna Dunlap Higgins, Bill Day, and Sandra
Stevenson Waller. New York: Addison-Wesley Longman, 2009.
Required folder: Attach papers (essays
and revisions) in the folder, earliest assignments on the bottom (i.e., reverse
chronological order). AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER, TURN IN THE FOLDER (required to pass). Make sure that your
name, written on the outside, can be easily read.
Recommended Text:
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, newest
edition.
Grading:
Essay 1--10%
Essay 2--10%
Essay 3--15%
Essay 4--15%
Revisions=Essay 5--20% (Average of the student's revision
grades=20% of the course grade.)
Exam=Essay 6--20%
Pop tests, class participation, etc.--10%
Standards:
A=90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79; D=60-69; F=below 60
The following
description of grade standards (composed by the faculty of
Elon College) further explains the evaluation process:
A: This indicates
clearly superior work. The A theme has significant content
and a clear purpose that it successfully accomplishes
without major errors of
any kind. Its organization and style are appropriate to the
subject, which is
so restricted that it can be intelligently treated within
the limits of the
paper. It handles the mechanics of punctuation, sentence and
paragraph
construction, and the choice of diction and idiom logically
and appropriately.*
B: This indicates
writing that is clearly of good quality. Although the B
theme will probably lack some of the insight and tight
control of superior work,
it demonstrates the same ability of handling significant
content according to
a clear purpose. Its organization and mechanics are free of
major errors.*
C: This represents
average college work, but it possesses few distinguishing
qualities. It may show some breakdown in logic and
organization, careless
proofreading, and a deficiency in writing mechanics.
D: This grade
indicates a piece of writing that falls below average college
work. Although the D theme may show a potential for average
achievement, it is
flawed by mechanical errors, such as those of spelling,
punctuation, and
capitalization. It does manage to convey its ideas to the
reader, but its
organization is probably weak.
F: This indicates
unacceptable college writing. It is likely to be marred by
serious errors of punctuation, spelling, diction, sentence
and paragraph
construction. The subject is likely to be incoherently
presented.
*Unlike the Elon College faculty, I might allow one or two
major errors in a standard length
A or B paper, respectively; and I do consider length in
terms of the
proportion of errors.
Some examples of serious errors are: sentence fragments; comma splices; fused
sentences
Some examples of lesser errors are: capitalization mistakes; inappropriate (vs.
inaccurate) diction; hyphenation errors
Student evaluation
of instruction (Your
chance to grade the teacher!)
Near the end of
this course, you may be asked to evaluate the instruction
of the course by filling out a standard form that is used
college-wide. Your
honest responses on the form will assist the faculty of the
college in
providing the best possible educational experiences for
Gordon students. In other
words, your evaluation of my work can help me to improve,
just as my evaluation
of your work can help you to improve.
Plagiarism,
Cheating:
The English
faculty of Gordon College views any form of cheating as a
serious violation of commonly accepted standards of honesty.
All student work
must be solely that of the person submitting the work. Any
giving or receiving of
unauthorized help from others or from notes or other
materials during the
course of taking a quiz, test, or exam or in writing a paper
will result in an F
on the work; any use of forbidden materials such as rough
drafts during the
course of in-class writing will also result in an F for the
assignment. Note
that an F on the work involved in cheating is the minimum
punishment; if
justified by aggravating circumstances, the matter may be
referred to the Academic
Dean and/or the Judicial Committee.
Moreover, when
source materials are used in the writing of papers, the
student must document such use of sources both by clearly
indicating material
being used as quotation and by giving proper recognition
when ideas or
information has been paraphrased or summarized; the
following principles enunciated in
the section on avoiding plagiarism in James D. Lester's Writing Research
Papers: A Complete
Guide, 8th
edition, should be scrupulously observed:
1. Acknowledge borrowed material by
introducing the quotation or paraphrase with the name of the authority. This
practice serves to indicate where borrowed materials begin.
2. Enclose within
quotation marks all quoted materials.
3. Make certain
that paraphrased material has been rewritten into your
own style and
language. The simple rearrangement of sentence patterns
is unacceptable.
[It is unacceptable to simply rearrange sentence patterns.]
4. Provide
specific in-text documentation for each borrowed item. For
example, MLA
[Modern Language Association] style requires name and
page for all
in-text references. Requirements differ for other fields.
5. Provide a
bibliographic entry on the Works Cited page for every
source cited in
the paper.
6. Omit sources
consulted but not cited in the text. This point is important.
You do not want
your instructor leafing back through the paper trying to
find your use of a
source that, in truth, was not cited. (140-41)
LIBRARY HOURS: Mon-Thu 7:45 am--10pm; Fri 7:45 am--5 pm; Sun
2--10 pm
Business
procedures
Attendance: You may receive a WF if you fail
to attend regularly. If you
receive a WF, you will be ineligible for VA and other
financial assistance.
As a matter of
courtesy, you should explain your absences to me. However,
you should realize that even "excused" absences
count against you--not as a
moral judgment, but simply as a matter of getting business
done. As a college
student, you are responsible for all class and assigned work
whether you are
present or not. Whenever possible, you should notify me
ahead of time (in
person, by phone, by email, or by a note slipped under my
office door) if you must
miss a class, so that we can try to make appropriate
arrangements. Some work,
such as in-class essays, can only be made up (at the
teacher’s discretion) under extenuating circumstances (work not made up gets a
zero). Students who miss more than nine MWF or six TTh or MW classes normally
fail the course. Three tardies equal one
absence. With the swine flu in mind, we should make a
special effort to avoid contagion. If you believe yourself to be contagious,
email or telephone me before the class you expect to miss.
In general, it is
a good idea to save your cuts because (1) you may get
deathly ill towards the end of the quarter, and not have enough
allotted
absences left, and (2) things actually do happen in class.
If you must miss a
class and are unable to contact anyone to discover the assignment, then prepare the assignment indicated on the
tentative schedule.
Late papers: Late
papers, including revisions, are penalized five points
per calendar day. I am very strict about this policy. On the
other hand, I am
very reasonable about giving extensions (without grade
penalty) for good cause
IF you arrange the matter at least twenty-four hours in
advance. If you do
not get an extension beforehand, then the penalty will stand
unless you can
produce evidence of flood, earthquake, avalanche, or other
natural disaster
intervening in the composition process. (I.e., you must
provide evidence of a serious problem.)
My office is in
Fine Arts 202. My office hours will be: MWF 11-12 and 1-2; MW 4-5.
Feel free to visit me to talk about the course (whether you
have a problem or
just an interest). You may also leave messages on or under
my door. You may
call me at my office at 678-359-5296. My email address is rhonda_w@gdn.edu. If you
find yourself involved in an English Emergency, you may also
call me at home
(404-373-5328) until 8:00 p.m.. In general,
LET ME KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!
and
ASK FOR HELP IF YOU NEED IT!
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Week 1 (8/17-21) Diagnostic writing; language history;
grammar review;
Week 2 (8/24-28) Modes of writing; invention; Sampler
narrative essays
[President’s Convocation 2:00 pm, Wed.
Aug. 26, Alumni Hall]
Week 3 (8/31-9/4) Narrative structure; “The Man I Killed,”
799; “And of Clay Are We Created,” 1001; “Araby,” 984; “A Domestic Dilemma,” 64
Week 4 (9/7-11) Labor
Day Holiday Monday; subject choices
Week 5 (9/14-18)
Personal Narrative Essay (10%, in-class); conferences; descriptive
technique
Week 6 (9/21-25) Narrative
Revision due; thesis; expository structure
Week 7 (9/28-10/2) “Beauty Laid Bare: Aesthetics in the
Ordinary,” 858; “Beyond the Cult of Fatherhood,” 247; “Professions for Women,”
233; Sampler expository essays; expository paragraph qualities; library
orientation and test
Week 8 (10/5-9) Expository paragraph qualities, continued;
Practice Regents’ Test
[Oct. 8: Last day to drop classes
without WF]
Week 9 (10/12-16) Fall
Break Monday and Tuesday; Expository
Essay Friday (10%, in-class)
Week 10 (10/19-23) Conferences; “Dr. Spock Never Promised Us
a Rose Garden,” 49; “Everyday Use,” 136; “Hills Like White Elephants,” 297;
“The Yellow Wallpaper,” 274; comparison/contrast structure
[Real
Regents' Test Oct.
26, 27, 28.]
Week 11 (10/26-30) Expository Revision due;
comparison/contrast discussion; quotation
Week 12 (11/2-6) Comparison/Contrast
Essay (15%, in-class); conferences;
classification/Illustration structure
Week 13 (11/9-13) Comparison/Contrast
Revision due; research basics, bibliography basics; paraphrase
Week 14 (11/16-20) Style; “Future Connected By,” 141;
"A Christmas Memory," 97; avoiding plagiarism
Week 15 (11/23-27) Conferences; Thanksgiving Holiday Wednesday-Friday
Week 16 (11/30-12/4) Classification/Illustration
Essay due (15%, out-of-class); finals review
Week 17 (12/7) Regular classes (review) Monday only; final
exams for the rest of the week:
Final Exam (20%, in-class) :
For 10:00 MWF
class: Wednesday, Dec. 9, 8:00—10:00
a.m.
For 12:00 MWF
class: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 10:15 a.m.—12:15 p.m.
Throughout the semester, additional readings and writing may
be assigned.