Teacher: Dr. Cynthia Jenéy
Office: S/SC 222-K
Phone: 271-4447
Office
Hours: Wed
And by appointment
E-mail: jeney@missouriwestern.edu
WebBoard
Online Forum:
http://miranda.cailab.mwsc.edu:8080/~english10809
Required Text:
Lunsford
& Ruszkiewicz. Everything’s an Argument. 3rd
Edition.
Materials:
·
2 Acco Binders: One for papers & resource materials; one for
personal copies of papers, plus weekly assignments & exercises.
·
Folder for handouts
·
Notebook or notepad for note-taking
This
Syllabus:
Read
this syllabus very carefully, and refer to it often. All information presented
here is regarded as part of your own knowledge for the course. All answers to
your questions about the class will be based on an assumption that you
understand the syllabus and seek further clarification. The teacher reserves
the right to alter this syllabus and to make announced changes as need arises
during the course of the semester.
Time
& Access Management:
·
Working MWSC Email & P-Drive account (know your exact
address, user ID, and password)
·
Current, viable Library card and borrowing privileges
·
Internet use (either on campus lab/library, or from home): Chapter
exercises and assignments are submitted via the course WebBoard (see URL,
above).
The Official Course
Description:
“ENG
108 students will complete three formal research based projects in addition to
other graded and ungraded work. In these assignments, students will learn how
to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the thinking of others in order to
discover, develop, and test their own points of view. Final drafts of all
formal writing assignments must be word processed. All students are expected to
be prepared for class and participate in class discussions related to reading
and writing assignments. In addition, students will keep complete portfolios of
all their writings.”
You
should keep all assignments you have completed for this class. Before any grade
appeal will be processed for a student in ENG 100, 104, or 108, the complete
portfolio of writings will have to be submitted to the Departmental Review
Committee. In order for an ENG 104 student to be admitted into ENG 108, he or
she must earn at least a C in ENG 104.
For
course goals & objectives, see the EFLJ Department website
http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/eng108.asp
This
Section of English 108 College Writing and Research:
This
semester’s course will be based upon the principles and ideas in Lunsford and
Ruszkiewicz, Everything’s an Argument.
Moreover your writing and research in this class will center upon one single
work of nonfiction which you will choose from a pre-selected list. The books
listed have been chosen for various reasons. Most have landed on bestseller
lists and some have won prestigious awards. Their subject matter ranges from
animal psychology to the horrors of life in
Class
meetings:
Read
chapters listed in the schedule before you come to class on that day.
Bring your book and come to class prepared to discuss the chapter. This course
is a writing and discussion based class—final grades are based on the quality
and substance of written work and participation, not upon quizzes and tests.
However, silence when discussion is called for may be construed as a lack of
preparedness and may cause the class to end abruptly with a pop quiz. Class
meetings are conducted under the assumption that students are well-versed in
the conventions of classrooms and academic environments. Come to class prepared, and plan to
participate and remain engaged with the materials for the entire class period. Turn off all cell phones and pagers.
In the unlikely and unfortunate event that you find yourself unprepared, come
anyway – absence only compounds the problem. Good academic habits should
produce satisfactory results. Any failure to act in a civilized, academic
manner is interpreted as an act of disruption, and the uncivilized brute will
be ejected forthwith from the premises.
Due
Dates:
Dates
for handing in all required assignments and scheduled dates for in-class
presentations are listed in the
course schedule attached. There is no room in the semester calendar for late
papers. Late papers are impossible due to the size of the class and the
cumulative nature of assignments. There is no provision for “make-up” of missed
assignments or quizzes—posting dates for weekly exercises and workshops are
automatically logged on the class WebBoard. An assignment not received on its
due date constitutes a failure to meet one of the minimum requirements of the
course. Such a failure in turn will mean failure of the course. Make a note of
all due dates now, and plan accordingly. This includes the Final Exam date:
do not ask that final exam dates be changed or rescheduled. See instructor for
details.
Attendance:
·
Do not miss class.
·
Consult your copy of this course schedule if you do miss class, for
assignments and readings.
·
Contact a classmate for notes, and/or post a “Help!” message on the
class WebBoard thread provided for such an emergency. DO NOT email instructor with a “missed
class—need assignment” message.
·
A student with more than 4 absences (T-Th) will automatically receive a
failing grade for the course (this is the equivalent of missing more than two
weeks of class during a regular semester).
·
It is your responsibility to keep track of your own attendance in the
class.
·
Do not bring doctor's excuses or obituaries; absence is simply defined
as lack of your presence. If you miss
class it is your responsibility to contact a classmate (and of course refer to
this syllabus) regarding announcements, assignments, changes, class notes, and
additional assigned readings or writing.
Note:
consult with me in advance of known legitimate conflicts or hardships.
However, I cannot guarantee too much leeway—time waits for no human, and
English 108 is stressed for time. Serious efforts to attend, and to complete the
work for this class will be given fair consideration, especially in cases of
earnest dedication and hard work. Note: work schedules, weddings and vacation
trips do not constitute conflicts, hardships, or emergencies. Incompletes are
not an option at this time.
Your
Job:
Employment
issues are the sole responsibility of the student. Failure to attend class,
meet deadlines, or participate in assigned work is not excused due to workplace
considerations.
Contacting
Dr. Jenéy:
Office
hours are established for the specific purpose of helping students who have
questions concerning the content and assignments of the course or who may wish
to discuss the materials further. Hours are posted at the beginning of this
syllabus (and on my office door). Polite phone or written messages requesting
further help with class assignments are given priority and are answered within
48 hours, as per campus policy.
Email:
·
Do not abuse the privilege of electronic communication. Your professors
have limited time in the work day for composing and sending numerous messages
of any length or detail.
·
Do not send email concerning personal illnesses, absences or missed
assignments.
·
All nastygrams (rude or abusive messages) are saved and forwarded to
the dean of students.
·
Emails may or may not receive a response, since the campus webmail
systems are prone to shut-downs, broken routers, DOS attacks, computer viruses
and other technological failures.
·
All email messages must identify the student, the course number and
section number.
Assignments:
Requirements
for the course are four essays, a midterm, regular (approx.1/week) posts to the
electronic forum, and a final exam. The final exam will be a literacy narrative
based upon the work you have done, and the progress you have made as a writer
throughout this semester. Early in the
semester, I will give fairly specific e-forum assignments, but later in the
semester, you will have more freedom to choose your own topics. Grades will be
weighted as follows:
10% Paper #1
20% Paper #2
Class Project
20% Paper #3
20% Paper #4
10% Chapter Outlines and Written Textbook
Exercises
10% In-Class Presentation
10% Attendance and In-Class Participation
100% Total
A
note about the writing in this course: although we will all encourage each
other to be open and to explore ideas, experiences, thoughts, emotions, and
beliefs, essay assignments and the electronic forum posts shall be
considered public texts. Be mature. Be
courteous. Be excellent.
Legal
stuff:
This
course has a strict policy against writing about any un-prosecuted crime or
suspected illegal activity which you have witnessed, or in which you have been
involved. When in doubt, I will always err on the side of safety.
Electronic
Forum:
Depending
upon the available technologies, students in English 108 may be required to
post regularly to the class electronic forum. Written work posted to the forum
will include responses to exercises in our textbook, sometimes summaries of
reading material, and at other times analytical questions, commentaries, and
working drafts of formal essays. The e-forum posts will be based initially upon
specific assigned prompts, possibly becoming more open-ended over time, drawing
from the reading and writing assignments in the class. Since internet technologies
are often subject to snafu’s, crashes, viruses, and glitches, you should save a
printed copy of every post you make, as well as backing up your writing on
floppy disks.
You
must use your MWSC email account for this forum. Do not shift around with Yahoo
and Hotmail account subscriptions, as this will confuse the moderator, and
possibly cause her to delete your membership. As moderator, I will do my best
to insure that you do not receive advertising or other unwanted messages in
your account. Expect the usual glitches and snafu’s when first getting
subscribed to the electronic discussion group. I tend to use different
technologies as time goes by, and as internet services evolve. I will try to
make it as painless and easy as possible for you, but there is a certain amount
of meticulous attention required at the outset, in order to get the forum up
and running efficiently for us all.
Academic
Honesty Policy:
You will receive a grade of F for
any paper that shows evidence of cheating and/or plagiarism. You have the
burden of proving that a paper showing evidence of cheating or plagiarism has
in fact been written by you. You should keep thorough evidence of your writing
processes for all papers so that you can meet this burden of proof. Any time another
writer’s words, ideas, or information appear in your paper they must be
properly punctuated and cited. Evidence proving plagiarism may lead to further
penalties. Please note carefully the statement on plagiarism on the
departmental website, found at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/EFLJ/plagiarism.asp.
Paper
Format:
Formal
Assignments should be typed (word-processed), double-spaced, with 1” margins
all around. The preferred typeface is Times New Roman (or a similar font), and
the preferred size is 12 point. Type your name and the date in the upper
right-hand corner. In the upper-left hand corner type “Jeney” and “English
108-16.”
Special
Needs:
The
Special Needs Office is open
|
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE |
||
JANUARY
|
||
|
T
18 |
|
|
|
Th
20 |
|
Chapter
1 Everything is an Argument |
|
T 25 |
|
Chapter
2 |
|
Th
27 |
|
Chapter
3 Readers & Contexts; Discuss Paper #1 Book Review Survey |
FEBRUARY
|
||
|
T 1 |
|
Chapter
22 Documenting Sources; Nonfiction primary text sign-up sheet. Assign Paper
#1 Book Review Survey |
|
Th
3 |
|
Chapter
22 Documenting Sources |
|
T 8 |
|
LIBRARY
DAY
Chapter 21 Assessing & Using Sources |
|
Th
10 |
|
Chapter
21 Assessing & Using Sources, Cont. |
|
T 15 |
|
Chapter
21 Assessing & Using Sources, Cont. |
|
Th
17 |
|
Paper #1 Book
Review Survey Due.
|
|
T 22 |
|
Chapter
6 Character; Assign Paper #2 Author Analysis |
|
Th
24 |
|
Chapter
4 From the Heart |
MARCH
|
||
|
T 1 |
|
Chapter
5 Values |
|
Th
3 |
|
Chapter
7 Facts & Reason; Review Chapter 21 Assessing & Using Sources |
|
T 8 |
|
Paper #2 Author Analysis Due. |
|
Th
10 |
|
Chapter
18 Evidence; Assign Paper #3 Source & Subject Analysis |
|
T
15 |
|
SPRING BREAK—NO
CLASS MEETING
|
|
Th 17 |
|
SPRING BREAK—NO
CLASS MEETING
|
|
T 22 |
|
Chapter
18 Evidence, Cont.; work on Paper #3 |
|
Th
24 |
|
Chapter
8 Toulmin Structure |
|
T
29 |
|
Chapter 9 Definitional Arguments
|
|
Th
31 |
|
Chapter
15 Visual Arguments; Discuss In-Class Presentations & Powerpoint |
|
T
5 |
|
Paper #3 Source & Subject Analysis DUE |
|
Th
7 |
|
Assign
Paper #4 Analytical Proposal |
|
T
12 |
|
Chapter
12 Proposals |
|
Th 14 |
|
Chapter
12 Proposals, Cont.; Chapter 13 Humor |
|
T
19 |
|
In-Class
Presentations |
|
Th
21 |
|
In-Class
Presentations |
|
T 26 |
|
In-Class
Presentations |
|
Th
28 |
|
In-Class
Presentations |
MAY
|
||
|
T 3 |
|
READING
DAY—NO CLASS MEETING |
|
|
|
Final Paper #4
Analytical Proposal Due
Complete Project
Due
|