Missouri Western State University

Division of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages, & Journalism

English 108 College Writing and Research

Fall 2005

I. General course information:

Course and section number: ENG 108, Section 07

Meeting time and place: 11-12:20 TTH, JGM Room 105

Instructor: Nancy Reese-Dillon

Office location: SS/C 222, Office “T”

Office hours: 8-10:50 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays

Department phone: 271-4239

email: dillon@missouriwestern.edu

II. Required Texts and materials:

Fieldworking, Second edition by Bonnie Stone Sunstein and Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater;

A two-pocket folder to turn papers in and to keep portfolio materials;

One spiral bound notebook for fieldwork and classroom journaling; and,

Photocopies of papers for group work.

III. Recommended Texts:

The New Century Handbook, by Christine A. Hunt and Thomas N. Huckin; and,

College dictionary and Thesaurus.

IV. Objectives of ENG 108:

Course Objectives: Means:

Writing can be used (a) Write summaries to distill ideas from texts or people

for different purposes interviewed

(b) Write syntheses of ideas from more than one text (your own or others)

(c) Analyze the relationship between the claims, warrants, and evidence presented in texts

(d) Evaluate the soundness of your own and other people’s judgments

Multiple audiences exist (a) Analyze the needs of different audiences

(b) Analyze unethical attempts to influence people’s beliefs.

Writing is a recursive process (a) Apply pre-writing strategies to discover what you already know and what you want to learn through research

(b) Write summary notes in the process of doing research

(c) Write drafts in which you reconstruct your beliefs on the basis

of the wider experience you gained through research

(d) Reread first and second copies to rethink what you have discovered

(e) Revise for an organization appropriate to your main purpose and

audience

Many productive ways exist (a) Familiarize yourself with several reference tools in the library

to generate ideas and images (b) Work with the Inlex-System

for your work (c) Locate books and journals in the library

(d) Locate source materials on electronic databases

Common patterns of (a) Define important terms

organization exist (b) Classify objects, events, data, and ideas discovered through research (c) Make judgments based on criteria that can be supported and explained

Ideas are property in our (a) Practice research writing conventions as outlined in the

culture and must be correctly MLA Handbook

attributed to their sources

Reading is an interactive (a) Ask questions in order to discover meaning

process that functions in our (b) Discriminate between fact and opinion

lives as a pleasurable (c) Identify explicit and implicit meanings in a text

activity as well as a means (d) Draw correct inferences

of acquiring knowledge (e) Evaluate intentions and messages of writers, especially attempts to manipulate language in order to deceive

(f) Recognize problems and find workable solutions

Editing skills enable writers (a) Continue to refine your ability to identify independently your

to polish their work in order own spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors so that

to keep the reader's attention you can achieve as “clean” a final copy as possible

focused on the message conveyed

or the experience created

For more information about the English Department at MWSU, students may check the web site at: http://www.mwsc.edu/`engdept/genstud.html. Sample papers and a complete listing of common course goals and objectives for English 100, 104, 108, 112 and 210 can be found here.

V. Basic writing requirements for ENG 108:

Students will engage in exploratory journal writing or prewriting exercises in which they will learn how to discover ideas, respond to texts, and summarize texts. Students will choose a field site to study and observe during the course of the semester. Students will be asked to choose their field site during the first weeks of class. This field site will be the topic of all of the research writing to be done in this course. Students must choose a site that they can make frequent, possibly weekly, visits. It is vital that students choose a site that fits their schedule. It is also mandatory that the students chose a site that is legal in all aspects. It is highly recommended the students choose a place, which is safe. More on all of this in class. Each of the research projects will be a paper that builds on the previous paper, adding a new dimension to the research. Students will also compile their research into an end-of-the-semester portfolio.

Students will also be writing papers that recreate or reflect on personal experiences, share information, (gathered in part from library research), and analyze and synthesize readings.

Students will complete four research projects and a research portfolio that will be graded by the instructor. A student who does not turn in a response to all projects and the research portfolio will not pass the course even if the grades achieved on the writing tasks are satisfactory. Specific information on each of these papers will be given out in class.

All final drafts of essays must be word processed. Final handwritten papers will not be accepted. Additional information regarding paper format will be given prior to each paper due date.

Students must keep a complete portfolio of all writing that is done in ENG 108. It is important that students save and date all materials generated as a part of this class, including homework assignments and in-class work. This portfolio will become part of the final exam. Portfolios are also important for the grade appeals process as the complete portfolio of writings would have to be submitted to the Departmental Review Committee.

VI. Grading policy:

Student grades will be determined on the basis progress as a writer, homework and quizzes, the writings submitted, and class participation and attendance over the course of the semester.

Grading scale: 90-100% = A

80-89% = B

70-79% = C

60-69% = D

59% and below = F

Each research project will be grading in three main areas: (1) Fieldsite Observation, (2) The paper, and; (3) Participation. Each fieldsite observation will consist of notes, a reflective writing, and a 500-word, word processed summary about the observation. If any of the three components are missing or incomplete, the score on that section of the project will be a “0.” Students will be informed when there are exceptions to this.

Research Project #1 –Research Proposal 25 points

Research Project #2 – Observation Paper 50 points

Research Project #3 – Profile and Stories of the Culture 100 points

Research Project #4 – Annotated Bibliography or Literature Review 100 points

Research Project #5 - Ethnographic Essay and Research Portfolio 200 points

Fieldnotes (4 sets) 10 points each set

Quizzes TBA

Writing Exercises 10 points each

Final Exam TBA

Failure to attend the final exam will result in failure of the course.

Student grades will also be affected by lack of attendance and excessive tardies. This will be discussed in more detail in Section VIII of the syllabus.

VII. Academic Honesty and Ethics

Plagiarism or other academic dishonesty as assessed by the instructor will be the basis for a zero on any exercise or major paper affected. Acts of plagiarism may lead to disciplinary action by Missouri Western State University. The student’s name and information about the violation will be forwarded to the Department Chairman of the English, Foreign Language and Journalism Department as well as to the Dean of Students. A second violation will result in failure of the course. Students are expected to show “proof of process.” Everytime a major paper is turned in, the student must also submit all in-class writings and all drafts so the instructor may adequately see that the work and the ideas originated from and belong to the student submitting the work. The work must be done in accordance to the classroom schedule and deadlines to provide appropriate “proof of process.” This policy covers any and all participants involved with the cheating of any exercise. Total honesty is stressed and expected.

You are expected to treat others as you wish to be treated. This includes not talking while another person is talking and respecting opinions different than your own.

Turn off all cell phones and pagers before coming to class. This is mandatory and is way of showing show of respect to your fellow classmates and the instructor.

VIII. Attendance Policy:

Each student enrolled in the class is expected to arrive at each class meeting with any assigned material read and prepared for discussion. If a group evaluation is taking place, each student is expected to have his/her material ready for the group evaluation. Since class attendance, participation, discussions, and group work are such an important part of this course, your grade in the course is directly affected by your attendance or lack of. A student’s grade will not be affected by one absence. Students will lose participation points for two and three absences and when the student receives the fourth absence he/she will receive an "F" for the final course grade. Excessive tardies will also be counted as absences.

It’s important to understand that an absence is neither “excused” nor “unexcused.”

When a student is absent, he is responsible for getting the work missed in class BEFORE the next class period. An absence does not dismiss the student from the obligations of homework or deadlines.

There will be announced and unannounced writing exercises and quizzes. No in-class assignments may be made up. If a student is absent, he loses those points.

IX. Group evaluation or Writing Conferences

If a group evaluation or writing conference is being performed the final draft of the paper will be unacceptable without the required evaluation or conference. If a student misses the in-class group evaluation or fails to keep a scheduled writing conference with the instructor, (or show up late), the paper will automatically receive a grade of "F." These conferences are considered an integral part of the writing process, so the paper is considered incomplete without them. The evaluation and conference procedure will vary from paper to paper, so it’s important to listen to information given during class regarding these evaluations or conferences. Since some writing conferences may take the place of a regularly scheduled class session, it is important to understand that a missed writing conference is the same as a class absence and will be treated as such.

X. Deadlines:

All assignments are due and will be collected at the beginning of the hour, unless otherwise noted by the instructor. Any assignment turned in after the end of the class period on the same day as the due date will be considered late and may carry an automatic 50% reduction of the final grade unless otherwise excused by the instructor. Any paper turned in the following class session will be considered too late and will be given a grade of "0,” unless otherwise excused by the instructor.

XI. Disabled Student Policy:

Any student enrolled in this course who has a disability that prevents the fullest expression of abilities or that prevents or hinders the completion of class requirements as stated in this syllabus should contact the instructor immediately in writing so it can be discussed how he/she can be helped to meet class requirements.

XII. Center for Academic Support:

The Center for Academic Support provides trained tutors for students requiring additional reading or writing instruction. There is no cost to the English 108 student for using these services. The Center can be of assistance to the student in the following areas: writing a thesis statement, organizing ideas, structuring ideas into an essay form, and more. Students are highly encouraged to make use of these services throughout the course of the semester.

XIII. Tentative course schedule:

The following is a course schedule, which includes tentative reading and writing assignments and paper deadlines. A complete and detailed schedule will be given with each major writing assignment.

Research Paper #1

Research Proposal

Tues. 8/30 Course syllabus and introduction

9/1 Read “Friday Night at Iowa 80,” pages 24-43

Tues. 9/6

9/8

Tues. 9/13

9/15

Research Paper #2

Observation Paper

Tues. 9/20 Research Proposal due; Set #1 Fieldnotes due

9/22

Tues. 9/27

9/29

Tues. 10/4 Set #2 Fieldnotes due

10/6 Observation draft due

Research Paper #3

Profiles and Stories of the Culture Paper

Tues. 10/11 Observation Paper Due

10/13

Tues. 10/18

10/20

Tues. 10/25 Set #3 Fieldnotes due

10/27 Profiles and Stories draft due

Research Paper #4

Annotated Bibliography or Literature Review

Tues. 11/1 Profiles and Stories Due

11/3

Tues. 11/8

11/10

Tues. 11/15 Set #4 Fieldnotes due

11/17

Research Paper #5

Ethnographic Research Paper and Portfolio

Tues. 11/22 Annotated Bibliography or Literature Review Due

11/24

Tues. 11/29

12/1

Tues. 12/6

12/8 Ethnographic Research Paper and Portfolio Due

Final Exam: Tuesday, December 13

JGM Room 208

11:30-1:20