Missouri Western State College, Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism

English 104:  College Writing and Rhetoric

 

 

Teacher:           Dr. Cynthia Jenéy

Office:              Eder Hall 222-K

Phone:              271-4447

Office Hours:    MW 12:30-2:00 | T-Th 3:30-4:30

E-mail:              jeney@missouriwestern.edu

 

Required Text:

Schwegler, Robert A. Patterns of Exposition. Seventeenth Edition. New York: A.B. Longman, 2004.

Aaron, Jane. The Little, Brown Essential Handbook. New York: A.B. Longman, 2006.

 

Make sure you have read assigned sections of the textbook before coming to class on the day readings are listed. Come to class prepared for quizzes and discussion based on the assigned reading.

Quizzes over assigned reading will occur frequently, at the instructor’s discretion.

 

Other Course Materials:

 

The Official Course Description:

ENG 104 students will complete four formal writing assignments in addition to other graded and ungraded work through which they will learn how to discover ideas, respond to texts, and summarize others’ ideas. In these assignments, students will learn how to analyze readings and share information with others by reading and responding to course texts and other materials gathered through research. Final drafts of all formal writing assignments must be word-processed, and possibly submitted electronically. All students are expected to be prepared for class. All students are expected to participate in class discussions related to reading and writing assignments.

 

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/eng104.asp

 

This Syllabus: Read this syllabus and the attached schedule 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 the course schedule and to make announced changes as need arises during the course of the semester.

 

Class meetings: Class meetings are conducted under the assumption that students are well-versed in the basic etiquette of classrooms and academic environments.

o        Come to class on time and remain until the end of the period.

o        Be prepared, and plan to participate and remain engaged with the materials for the entire class  period.

o        In the unlikely and unfortunate event that you find yourself unprepared, come anyway – absence only compounds the problem.

o        Turn off/silence all cell phones and pagers.

o        Do the assigned reading (No, really, trust me on this).

 

Due Dates: Dates for handing in all required assignments are listed in the course schedule attached. There is no room in the semester calendar for late papers. There is no provision for “make-up” of missed assignments or quizzes, as worksheets and quizzes are usually completed and scored during the class period. An assignment not received on its due date constitutes a failure to meet one of the minimum requirements of the course. All minimum requirements must be met for a passing grade.  Make a note of all due dates now, and plan accordingly.

 

Attendance: If you miss class, get notes and assignments from a classmate.  A student with more than 4 absences (T-Th/M-W classes) will automatically receive an “F” for the course.  Do not bring doctor's excuses or obituaries. Do not ask your mother (or husband or boss) to call my office, since FERPA regulations forbid me to discuss your enrollment in my course with any outside party.  It is your responsibility to keep track of your own attendance in the class. If you miss class follow the class schedule regarding reading assignments and class notes; you are advised to contact a classmate via email or telephone for class notes and any announcements made during a class you have missed.

 

Students who consult with me at least 48 hours in advance of known legitimate conflicts or hardship will be given consideration on a case-by-case basis. 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: Weddings and vacation trips do not constitute conflicts, hardships, or emergencies. Conflicts at work, doctor’s appointments, or your children’s school are also not considered hardships or emergencies. Your 4 absences may be used at your discretion, but it is probably a good idea to save them in case of real illness or emergencies.

 

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 on my office door and on the English department web site. Polite phone or written messages requesting help with class assignments are answered within 48 hours.

 

Email: All email messages must be courteous, clear, concise, and directly related to specific content in the course. Some general rules for emailing professors:

1.       If your email makes the instructor’s life harder, it will probably not garner the results you want.

2.       Messages must include your full name, the course in which you are enrolled, your campus email address, and a specific subject line.

3.       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.

4.       All nastygrams are saved and forwarded to the dean of students.

5.       Unsigned emails that do not identify the student, the course number and section number will probably be lost.

6.       Do not send email detailing personal illnesses, absences or missed lectures/assignments—you are responsible for missed lectures and assigned material (contact a classmate and consult the course syllabus/schedule).

7.       Always use your campus email account to send messages to your professor; many faculty members use strict spam-filtering controls on their email client software, and will miss the messages sent from sweetiepiedoll@hotmail.com.

 

Assignments: Final drafts of the required essay assignments will be word processed and handed in at the beginning of class on the due date. Working drafts and workshop worksheets will be attached. Do not send essays to the professor as email attachments.

 

Grades will be weighted as follows:

                10%         Paper #1 Process Analysis (required)

    10%         Paper #2 Exemplification (required)

    20%         Paper #3 In-Class Essay Exam: Causes & Effects (required)

    20%         Paper #4 Critical Analysis (required)

    20%         Paper #5 Definition (required)

                20%         Quizzes, In-Class Exercises, Attendance, & Class participation (required)

    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 shall be considered  public texts. Be mature. Be considerate. Be excellent.

 

Legal stuff: I have 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. Confidentiality does not apply to classmates or professors. When in doubt, I must always err on the side of safety, and you will be sent up the river.

 

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 in ENG 104:

 

Papers will be in standard MLA Style. Papers will be word-processed in Times New Roman, 12-point font, with 1-inch margins all around. Your name and the date will be in the upper-right hand corner. “English 104” (without the quotation marks) and the instructor’s name in the upper-left. Skip one space and center your paper title. Remember that new paragraphs are set off by indenting the first line, not by skipping 2 more spaces. Page numbers appear in the upper right-hand corner (but not on the first page).

 

 

 

 

 

 

English 104-17 College Writing & Rhetoric

Spring 2006

Tentative Class Schedule

JANUARY

 

 

 

T

17

Introduction; Syllabus; Policies

Th

19

Patterns 1-5 Reading as a Writer; 27-29 Planning

T

24

Patterns 29-31 Drafting; 32-39 Revising;

Th

26

Little, Brown 1-8 Introduction; 61-73 Sentence Fragments, Commas

T

31

Patterns Process Analysis: 249-255;  260-262 Juggling

FEBRUARY

Th

2

Patterns Process Analysis: 265-274 Great Song Ideas; 310-315 Live Burial

T

7

Working Draft Due Essay #1: In Class Writing Workshop

Th

9

Patterns 39-41 Editing & Final Drafting

Little, Brown 11-19 Effective Sentences; 77-83 Apostrophe, Quotations, End Punctuation

T

14

Final Draft Due Essay #1: Process Analysis; Introduce Exemplification

Th

16

Patterns Exemplification: 43-49 Using Examples; 49-54 Student Essay—Stuttering; 55-56 Trust

T

21

Working Draft Due Essay #2: In Class Writing Workshop

Th

23

Patterns Exemplification: 58-63 Complain; 71-73 Dads

Little, Brown 33-46 Verbs

T

28

Final Draft Due Essay #2: Exemplification; Introduce Cause-and-Effect

MARCH

Th

2

Patterns Cause-and-Effect: 321- 326 Analyzing Cause-and-Effect Relationships; 326-328 Student Essay—Public Documents; 334-337 Darkness

T

7

In-Class Essay Exam Strategies

Th

9

Patterns Cause-and-Effect: 340-341 Geezer

Little, Brown 46-60 Pronouns, Modifiers

T

14

SPRING BREAK—NO CLASS MEETING

Th

16

SPRING BREAK—NO CLASS MEETING

T

21

In-Class Midterm Essay Exam Essay #3: Cause-and-Effect

Th

23

Patterns Analysis: Division into Parts; 345-349 Kids in the Mall; 294-301 We Build Excitement

T

28

Film: A Day Without A Mexican

Th

30

Film: A Day Without A Mexican

APRIL

T

4

Film—Critical Analysis; Little, Brown 127-136 Integrating Sources into your text

Th

6

Writing Workshop Essay #4: Film Prospectus

T

11

Writing Workshop Essay #4: Analysis

Th

13

Patterns Analysis: 286-291 Going Places; 329-332 Time of Day

T

18

Final Draft Due Essay #4: Film Analysis; Introduce Definition

Th

20

Patterns Definition: 363-368; 369-373 Student Essay—Stars; 386-397

T

25

LIBRARY WORK DAY: DEFINITION

Th

27

Patterns Definition: 413-418 Honesty; 421-425 Courage

MAY

T

2

STUDY DAY—NO CLASS MEETING

T

9

Final Draft Due Essay #5: Definition—2:00 pm