English 100: Introduction to College Writing

English 100: Introduction to College Writing

Fall 2002

Missouri Western State College

School of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism

Section 9: 1:00-1:50 MWF, JGM 109

Writer’s Workshop: 2:00-2:50 MW, SSC 222U

Section 58: 8:00-8:50 MWF, A 201

Writer's Workshop: 10:00-10:50 MW, SSC 222U

Section 59: 2:00-2:50 MWF, JGM 105

Writer's Workshop: 4:00-4:50 MW, SSC 222U

Instructor: Tom Pankiewicz

Office: SSC 222R

Phone: 271-4156

Office Hours: 9:00-11:00 MWF and by appointment.

E-mail: pankiew@missouriwestern.edu

Required Texts and Course Materials:

Dietsch, Betty Mattix. Reasoning and Writing Well: A Rhetoric, Research Guide, and Handbook. 3^rd edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003.

English 100 Writer’s Workshops. Fall 2002 ed.

Several folders

3-1/2" floppy disks and a disk-storage box

Photocopies for group work as requested

I also plan to use Gregory Howard Williams's Life on the Color Line (the text for College 101) for writing and examples throughout the semester.

Part I: Course Goals

Detailed course objectives are available on the web site for English 100:

http://www2.mwsc.edu/eflj/eng100.html#Objectives.

In general you should improve your abilities in the following categories:

writing for different audiences and purposes
active reading and critical thinking
using writing processes effectively to produce valuable results
using written conventions more accurately

Part II: Instructor's Philosophy

(Or what I believe about teaching writing and how I will apply these beliefs.)

Students learn to write by writing. In addition to major assignments, I will assign in-class writing, reading summaries and responses, and personal writing throughout the semester. This writing will be collected in a journal.

Writing is a process. You learn how to state a thesis, develop support, research a topic, influence an audience, revise a work, and discover your own voice.

Writing is revising. You will write multiple drafts of all major assignments. Multiple drafting adds focus and detail to your writing.

Writing must have an audience. I will make extensive use of peer response groups and revision workshops in class. I encourage you to confer with me whenever you have questions about your writing.

Writing requires thought. As a class, we will study how several principles of critical thinking are used in writing. You will also examine several issues in depth, developing and analyzing your thoughts about them.

Writers must be readers. We will read and discuss a variety of essays and learn how to analyze and evaluate ideas and opinions.

Writers must be self-reflective. I will ask each of you to judge your own work by writing reflective letters and taking an active role in peer response groups and conferences.

Part III. Course Information

Writing:

You will complete four major writing tasks. A student who does not turn in complete responses to all four tasks will not pass the course even if the grades achieved in the other writing tasks are satisfactory.

Task Papers. Each task paper will be evaluated according to the criteria discussed in its assignment description. Each task paper will be submitted in a process folder. The folder will include:

The final draft of the essay,
A reflection letter/essay written in class on the due date,
A narrative explaining the writing process and the contents of the process folder,
Prior drafts of the essay, dated and with personal, peer, and teacher responses attached,
Preliminary writing, and in-class writing, quizzes and written activities.

No essay will be accepted without a process folder. Tasks with incomplete or missing process folder contents will receive no grade higher than a C. Each task will account for approximately 18% of the final grade. Combined, the tasks account for 72% of your grade.

Tentative Due Dates for Formal Writing Assignments:

Task One: September 6 or 9
Task Two: October 4 or 7
Task Three: November 1 or 4
Task Four: Monday, November 26

Late Task Papers: Late essays (this is any work that is not submitted on time and includes essays left at home or "temporarily lost" by a computer malfunction) will result in a deduction of that assignment’s grade. If you are facing difficulties in completing a major assignment, please discuss the problems with me before the essay is due.

Not Yet Ready (NYR): Since you need a final grade of C or better to move on to English 104, papers receiving a grade below a C will not help you succeed. Instead of recording a low grade, I will mark such task papers are NYR and ask you to continue working on it. Writing is a process, and some papers may still be in the process of being developed at the deadline. The advantages to this policy are obvious. The disadvantages are also obvious: You will be working on two task assignments at once.

If an essay is returned as NYR, no grade will be recorded. It becomes your responsibility, however, to schedule a conference to discuss the essay, plan a revision strategy, and set a new completion deadline usually within one week of the essay's return. If an essay remains unacceptable, it will receive an F. Please note that a revision of an NYR essay does not guarantee an acceptable grade.

Manuscript Form: Essays must be word-processed and spell-checked. Page length will be measured as if you had used a double-spaced Times New Roman 12-point font, without excessive boldface or extra spacing, with 1" margins top and bottom and 1.25" margins on the sides. These are very common default settings for most word-processing programs. You may use other fonts, spacing, and margins, but doing so may vary what I regard as a full page.

The essay should follow standard manuscript form with your name, your professor's name, the course name, and the date of the current draft placed in the upper left-hand corner of page one. Double spaced below this information is the centered title of the essay. Double spaced below the title begins the text of the essay. Each page of the essay is numbered. The draft of the essay is paper clipped.

Journal:

You will also keep a journal throughout the class. You will write in the journal during most classes as well as out of class.

Keeping a journal is critical in this course. Through a journal, you will be able to explore your writing voices, to sort out events and information, to summarize and respond to reading, to develop ideas, to examine incidents. Your journal will not be a diary nor will it be a notebook of free writing. My concept of a journal is a place to collect ideas, responses, raw writing, and practice. Sometimes I will wish to review individual assignments; at other times I will wish to respond to a range of writings. Therefore, the most practical journal for this course is one that is kept in a folder where individual pieces may be submitted and re-filed. Each journal entry must be dated and identified. The folder also gives those who write most comfortably on a computer the opportunity to include both word processed and handwritten documents. I will review your journal with you three or four times during the semester. It will be worth 18 percent of your final grade.

Final Exam:

The final exam will be worth 10% of your grade. The exams are scheduled for:

Section 9 (1:00-1:50) - Monday, December 9, 2:00-3:50
Section 58 (8:00-8:50) - Wednesday, December 4, 8:30-10:20
Section 59 (2:00-2:50) - Wednesday, December 4, 2:00-3:50)

Conferences:

My office hours are listed above. Your most effective learning may occur through conferences over specific essays or questions or problems. I will schedule four required conferences with you during the semester. I will also bring my calendar to every class to schedule additional appointments.

Writer's Workshop:

Throughout the course of the semester, you will attend the once-a-week, small group Writer’s Workshops (listed as "labs" in the class schedule). Some of your Writer’s Workshop materials may be used in class, and some of your class papers will be critiqued and proofread in Writer’s Workshops. You must ensure that you have the right materials in the right place.

Part IV: Grading

Your grade will be determined on the basis of the four task papers and their process folders, the journal, and the final exam.

All work will be evaluated on a point basis. Letter grades will be awarded according to the following averages:

100% - 90% = A
89% - 80% = B
79% - 70% = C
69% - 60% = D
Below 60% = F

Part V: Policies

Academic Honesty Policy:

Plagiarism is an act of theft. It is taking another’s words or ideas and calling them your own. That does not mean you cannot use another’s words or ideas to illustrate and to support your thoughts, but it does mean that you must give credit to the one whose words and ideas you are using.

If I find evidence of cheating or plagiarism, you have the burden of showing that you have in fact written the paper. You should keep thorough evidence of your writing processes for all papers so that you can meet this burden of proof. You will receive a grade of F for any paper that shows sufficient evidence of cheating and/or plagiarism. Stronger evidence proving flagrant cheating and/or plagiarism may lead to stronger penalties. Please note carefully the statement on plagiarism on the departmental web site, found at http://www2.mwsc.edu/eflj/plagiarism.html.

Attendance Policy:

This class has an attendance policy that includes Writer’s Workshops and conferences as well as in class. If you miss seven class activities (classes or scheduled conferences) or four Writer's Workshops, you will receive an F in the class. The failure will be recorded on the date of the seventh absence from class activities or on the date of the fourth Writer's Workshop absence. The only exception to this policy is an absence for a college-related activity such as an athletic trip or music performance. In such cases the sponsor of the activity will probably require that you notify me in writing. There are no "makeups" for missing activities. If you know of any circumstances likely to make this policy difficult for you this semester, you should consult with me as soon as possible to review your options.

I usually take role at the beginning of the class. If you arrive after class begins, it is your responsibility to see me after class to make sure I do not count you absent. Once class begins, my mind is on the work of the class and not on the attendance record. It is also a great time to discuss tardiness. In counting absences, I must follow my attendance record, not my memory.

If you miss a class session, you are responsible for all material covered and assignments given during your absence. In other words, if you miss, call me or see another student before the next class, so you do not fall further behind.

Center for Academic Support:

In addition to conferences with me, you may find help with your writing at the Center for Academic Support. The CAS, which is located at the northeast corner of the library building, provides trained tutors for students requiring additional reading and writing instruction. There is no cost to students for using these services. I encourage you to make use of these services throughout this course.

Civility and Cooperation:

Missouri Western requires all students to help us maintain good conditions for teaching and learning. All students will treat their classmates, teachers, and student assistants with civility and respect, both inside and outside the classroom. Students who violate this policy may, among other penalties, be counted absent and asked to leave. You should review your Missouri Western student handbook for further information.

Late or Missing Assignments:

All out-of-class assignments are due at the beginning of the class period. No late assignments will receive full credit unless you receive prior permission.

Student Disability:

Any student in this course who has a disability that prevents the fullest expressions of abilities should contact Missouri Western's special needs coordinator, Lois Fox, for possible certification of special needs and expert recommendations for assistance. You should also contact your teacher personally as soon as possible so that the two of you can discuss class requirements.