Department of English, Foreign Languages and Journalism

Office: JGM 304C (beginning of semester)

Tel: 1-660-271-4317 (work)

Office Hours: 9-10 MW, 2-4 M and 2-3 W

Required Texts

Ballenger, Bruce and Barry Lane. Discovering the Writer Within.

Miller, Robert Keith and Suzanne S. Webb. Motives for Writing,

Required Supplies

• A 2 to 3 inch three-ring notebook for class use.
• At least 200 sheets of non-spiral bound notebook paper
• One ½" to 1" l three-ring binder for submission of end-of term portfolio
• One clean, cased, regular size audio-cassette.

Course Objectives and Philosophy

See http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/genstud.aspfor goals, objectives and means for ENG 104.

General Studies goals fulfilled by this course

Student will acquire knowledge to think critically and reason analytically and to write clearly and effectively: two goals stated on under the MWSC catalog description of the General Studies Program.

Instructor’s Writing Philosophy

I believe that everyone can write and that everyone has something unique to say. No one else has had your particular experiences. Increasing your ability to choose, develop, and communicate those experiences in the most effective way forms the basis of this class. I believe in the process approach to writing, but I don’t teach or expect each student to follow my process or a process. I do, however, expect students to try all the prewriting activities to determine which works best for them in a given situation.

I believe that the best teacher of writing is another writer; therefore, I will frequently write with you and will share my materials with you as they are being drafted. I have designed the course grading system to encourage as much experimentation and growth as possible.

This class is graded by the portfolio method of grading.

Your grade will be determined on the basis of a portfolio due April 13, 2001. This portfolio will contain at least three finished pieces of writing, one of which must come from class and demonstrate your ability to handle a particular task. For the designated "class paper," the portfolio must contain all prewriting, drafts, and responses from others.

You will self-grade your portfolio using the same rubric I will use to determine the grade for the portfolio. We will share grades with one another at the individual conferences.

On April 16 and 18, 2001, I will meet with each of you individually to discuss the portfolio and the grade it has earned for the class. You have the option of revising and resubmitting the portfolio on or before April 30, 2001.

Minimum class grading standards

In order to pass the class, a student

*must have no more than six absences total in the class;

*must complete and receive credit all five writing assignments;

*must submit the fastwriting journal as part of the portfolio;

*must submit a self-graded portfolio on the due date;

*must attend a scheduled portfolio conference; and

*must attend the scheduled final session.

Mid-term grades

Mid-term grades will be based on class attendance, completion of required work, and class participation. This grade will count as 20% of the final course grade.

Attendance Policy

Note that attendance can affect your grade in the class; therefore, attendance is critical because we are always building on the class before. Consider class sessions as a support workshop where we will help you solve problems, resolve issues, discuss structure, etc. so you can achieve your best.

Grade lowering. Peer response sessions are required; no paper will be credited if you have missed a required peer response session. Your course grade will be lowered if you have more than 3 absences, if you fail to complete daily work, or if you do not participate in class.

Guaranteed failure. A student who misses peer response sessions or accumulates more than 6 absences will receive an F in the class. A student who does not attend or participate in the final session (Friday, May 4 11:30 am) will receive an F in the class.

Writing Due Dates

Assignments: You will do five writing projects in this class. Specifications for the assignment and more detailed calendars will be given to you as we start each assignment. Due dates are as follows:

Project # 1 January 31, 2001

Project # 2 February 16, 2001

Project # 3 March 9, 2001

Project # 4 March 30, 2001

Project # 5 April 13, 2001 (Self-reflective essay—SRE--as part of portfolio)

Self-evaluation of writing:

When an project is due, you will complete a self-evaluation of that project which will be attached and submitted. Specific prompts will be handed out the day the project is due. If this response does not accompany it, the project will not receive credit and will be returned to you unread.

Feedback

Letter grades are not given on the writing assignments. Instead feedback is given by way of: an audio-tape containing my spoken reactions on your paper, my written comments on your paper, and a rough ranking (by thirds) of your paper in comparison to the other papers submitted on the assignment.

Caveat

These indicators are not convertible to letter grades. I welcome conferences with anyone who has questions about the paper, the tape, or how the paper might fit into the final portfolio.

Minimum paper standards

Each submitted project must meet the following minimal standards. A project submitted which does not meet all of this minimum will not receive credit or be responded to by the instructor (a minimum requirement for passing the class):

1. the author has not received a peer response;

2. the author has not provided peer response to others;

1. the author does not submit the required materials, including

the audiotape and self-evaluation response, and

2. the author has not word-processed in the correct format

Due dates and extensions

All assignments are due so I can do three readings of your work and return the work to you at our next session. If you do not meet the due date, I do not guarantee return of the project to you in a timely fashion.

Fastwriting (Freewriting)

We will begin most classes with a fastwriting as a way to get warmed up. Most often we will be using the Ballenger and Lane book to do this, so starting at session #2, bring Ballenger and Lane to every class. Make sure you date each fastwriting. As part of the portfolio, you will submit the fastwritings; you will be able to select 5-6 assignments to delete from the portfolio. However, if you miss a class, you are still expected to complete the B&L assignment for the day.

Academic Honesty Policy

It is expected that all students will produce their own work. Plagiarized and/or falsified work will be assessed under the penalties in the Student Handbook.

Student Disability Policy

It is the responsibility of the student to make known to the instructor any disability that might prevent maximum performance in the course (a hearing loss, for example). The instructor and the student will then work out procedures to accommodate the student.

Week 1-3 Introduction, get acquainted, work on first writing project (Ch 9 of Motives Writing to Experiment with Form—possible a Johari window.)

Project # 1 due 1/21/01

End of Week 3 through Week 5

(February 2-February 16) Work on Project # 2

(Chapter 4 "Writing to Interpret Information")

Project # 2 due 2/16/01

Week 6 through Week 8

(February 19-March 9) Work on Project # 3

(Chapter 10 "Writing to Understand Reading")

M February 19 President’s Day – no school

Project # 3 due March 9

Week 9 through Week 10

(March 19-March 30)

(Chapter 7 "Writing to Persuade Others")

Project # 4 due March 30

Week 11 through 12

April 2-April 13)

Writing the Self-Reflective Essay

Putting together the portfolio

Portfolio (containing SRE as Project # 5) due April 13

Week 13

M April 16 No class – portfolio conferences

W April 18 No class – portfolio conferences

End of Week 13 through Week 15

Evaluation and revision activities

Last day of class Monday, April 30, 2001

Last day to resubmit a portfolio for regrading

W May 2 Study day

F May 4 Final session 11:30am -1:20pm in JGM 311

Attendance required