Department of English, Foreign Languages, Journalism

Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Instructor: Corla Dawson

Office: Center for Academic Support—LRC 213

Phone: 816/271-4531 (Home—816/387-8651—not after 9 p.m. or before 6 a.m.)

E-mail: dawson@missouriwestern.edu

Office Hours: By appointment

Class Meeting Time and Room: 11:00-12:20 TTH, A202

Required Texts:

Literary Culture: Reading and Writing Literary Arguments, L. Bensel-Meyers, Editor

Writing From A to Z, 3^rd Edition, Sally Barr Ebest, et al.

Students with Disabilities: Anyone who has a disability that prevents the fullest expression of his or her potential to succeed in this course must notify me in writing as soon as possible, so we may discuss course requirements, options and/or accommodations.

Academic Honesty: Most cheating is accidental. If, however, I determine that a student is cheating deliberately or repeatedly, I will award a failing grade for the project and/or the course, in addition to forwarding the names and acts of all involved students to my department chair and to the dean of students.

Grading: There will be four major writing assignments. I will determine final grades based on the following:

Essay # 1 Summary (100 Points)

Essay # 2 Analysis and Synthesis (100 Points)

Essay # 3 Evaluation (100 Points)

Essay # 4 Research Project (200 Points)

Announced and unannounced quizzes—cannot be made up

Peer responses—cannot be made up

(80% of the grade will be determined from the four paper assignments.)

(20% of the grade will be determined from the quizzes over assigned readings and from peer responses.)

A = 90-100

B = 80-89

C = 70-79

D = 60-69

F = 0-59

Please Note: No one will pass this class without completing all four writing assignments, regardless of what the student's point total would indicate. If students are borderline between grades, other factors such as effort, class participation, attendance, and attitude will be used to determine the final grade.

Late Work: When papers are assigned for a given date, they are due at the beginning of the hour. I penalize all late papers 10 percentage points per day late, and any papers I do not receive at the beginning of the hour on the day they are due will be considered one day late. If something should happen that prevents you from turning your paper in on time, you must make arrangements with me before the paper is due, not afterwards.

Attendance: Punctual, regular attendance is necessary for your success in this class. I will frequently give quizzes, some announced and some unannounced, over readings and other information covered in class. Quizzes will be given at the beginning of class and cannot be made up. Peer response days are also point opportunities that cannot be made up. Although emergencies and/or illnesses do arise, students who succeed will keep absences and tardies to a minimum. If you are absent, you are still responsible for what was covered in class on the day you are absent and what is due for the next class period.

Assignments and Extra Credit: Like papers, daily assignments are due at the beginning of class on the designated date. If a draft is assigned for peer response and you come to class without your draft, you will be asked to leave and counted absent. To avoid problems with disks crashing, etc., always have a backup. There is no extra credit for this class.

• Writing can be used for different purposes.
• Multiple audiences exist.
• Writing is a recursive process.
• Many productive ways exist to generate ideas and images for your work.
• Common patterns of organization exist.
• Formal distinctions exist among different prose genres.
• Editing skills enable writers to polish their work in order to keep the reader's attention focused on the message conveyed or the experience created.
• Reading is an interactive process that functions in our lives as a pleasurable activity as well as a means of acquiring knowledge.