Missouri Western State College, Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism

English 104.08: College Writing and Rhetoric

11:00 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. • Tuesday/Thursday • JGM 104

 

Instructor: Susan Garrison

Home phone: (1-816-324-6272)

     Please note that this is a long distance call from St. Joseph. If you call me, I will call you back.

Office Hours: By appointment

E-mail: sgarrison@ponyexpress.net

 

Required Texts/Materials:

  1. Axelrod, Rise B. and Charles R. Cooper. Reading Critically, Writing Well.

       Sixth Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.

 

  1. Hult, Christine A. and Thomas H. Huckin. The New Century Handbook. 2nd Edition. Longman, Inc., 2002.

 

  1. A spiral notebook dedicated exclusively to journal writing.

 

  1. At least two computer disks.

 

  1. Three folders (2-pocket) for final drafts.

 

 

Course Description & Objectives:

 

                  Students will:

• Make journal entries to explore their minds and to extend the range of their personal lives.

                 

• Write essays to communicate ideas and impose order on their thoughts and experiences.

 

                                    • Learn to use writing processes.

 

                                    • Learn written conventions.

 

Please see the Internet site: http://missouriwestern.edu/eflj/eng104.asp for more details.

 

Attendance Policy:

                  Attendance is mandatory. Because we are all adults and emergencies do happen, you may miss two classes without being penalized. Each class you miss after that will lower your final grade by five percentage points. (For example, if your final grade is 93% and you have missed three classes, your grade will be lowered to an 88%.) You are responsible for material covered or assignments given which you missed because of absence, so ask another student to inform you of what happened while you were gone. Quizzes or other graded assignments done in class the day you miss cannot be made up.

 

Participation:

                  This is important. Come to class prepared to participate.

 

 

Students with Disabilities Policy:

                  Any student in this course who has a disability that requires any special consideration needs to meet with me as soon as possible to discuss class requirements.

 

Academic Honesty:

Do your own work. In the event that you do turn in an assignment using someone else’s work, you will receive zero points for that assignment. A second offense means that you will fail the course. We will discuss plagiarism and the importance of crediting your source in this course.

 

Center for Academic Support:

                  The Center for Academic Support is staffed by professionals and trained student tutors. It is an excellent resource for the English 104 student. There is no cost for the tutoring. The Center is located in LRC 213.

 

Journals:

                  You will keep a journal for the entire semester. Sometimes we will write in it in class, sometimes at home. Do not write anything in your journal that you do not want me to read. If you write about hurting yourself, hurting others or other who are hurting you, I have a moral and legal obligation to report it to the authorities. By the same token, I will not read all of your journal entries. If you are having a problem, do not depend on me to rescue you by reading about it in your journal.

 

                  I will occasionally pick up and give points for the journal. Please use a new page each time you write in your journal, date it, and “title” with the writing assignment.

 

Format:

                  All papers must be typed. The English Department at MWSC has a policy that all drafts are typed. If you do not have access to a computer at home, as a student you can use the computer labs on campus. Make sure you have computer disks in case you have computer problems. Always save your work on disk because you will make changes to it as each draft evolves.

 

Grading Policy:

                  Grades will be figured on a point basis totaled throughout the semester. 90–100=A; 80–89=B; 70–79=C; 60–69=D; 59 and below=F.

 

Assignments:

                  A tentative schedule is attached. Your points in the class will be based on:

 

  1. Four major papers of varying point values
  2. Journal
  3. Quizzes
  4. Class Participation