English 108: College Writing and Research—Spring 2006

Missouri Western State University

Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism

_________________________________________________________________________

Instructor: Pat Smith Home Phone: 816-324-3560

e-mail: pat.smith@sjsd.k12.mo.us

Office Hours: By appointment

Class: 6:30-9:20 p.m. Tuesdays, JGM 105

Required Materials:

Pharr, Donald and Santi V. Buscemi. Writing Today. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2005.

Recommended Materials:

A reliable handbook (New Century Handbook is the MWSU EFLJ choice)

A good college dictionary and thesaurus.

Course Description and Goals: The course objectives, goals, institutional competencies, and a sample English 108 paper are available on the EFLJ Department web page:

<http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/eng108.asp#Objectives>.

Attendance:

Since the class meets only once a week, attendance is mandatory. Emergencies and problems may interfere, but missing more than two class periods will result in an automatic F.

Class begins at 6:30.

Projects:

Each student will be required to complete four projects for this class. It is an English Department requirement that the drafts of submitted materials be word-processed. For students without access to a word processor, MWSU has several computer labs on campus. Regardless of the computer used, saving each assignment on disk is essential since revisions will be made.

Warning: Check your computer system and don’t wait until the last minute to complete an assignment. Technical problems, including computer/printer malfunctions and incompatibility do not constitute a legitimate excuse for late work or unacceptable format.

Final drafts are to be submitted in a two pocket folder, containing all pre-writing activities for the assignment. No credit will be given unless all documents, including previously marked copies, are submitted with the final draft.

Research projects receiving a grade below a C are unacceptable. It is up to the student to schedule a conference time to discuss the paper/project and to work out a revision plan leading to the resubmission of the project.

Format:

§ All papers submitted for credit are to be doubled spaced with one-inch margins.

§ For credit to be given, all assignments must have a heading in the upper left corner (name, class, assignment description, and date of submission).

§ Page numbers should be centered at the bottom of each page.

§ To avoid papers being lost or separated, a single staple in the upper left corner is required.

Assignments:

Assignments are due at the beginning of the class meeting.

Students are advised to keep all materials and papers together in an organized fashion until the final grade for this class has been assigned. It will be the responsibility of the student to produce the material in question, in the event of a disputed grade.

§ Quizzes, given during the beginning of the class session, will cover the readings assigned for that class period. There will be no opportunity to make up quizzes.

Academic Honesty:

Cheating, plagiarism, and knowingly furnishing false information in either the classroom or on paper constitute a violation of the Academic Honesty Policy as stated in the MWSU Student Handbook.
Any evidence of plagiarism will result in a zero for the assignment, but could also be grounds for a failing grade for the course and referral to the English Department Chair and the Dean of Students.

Disabled Student Policy: Any student enrolled in this course who has a disability that prevents the fullest expression of his or her potential to succeed in this course should talk to me as soon as possible so we may discuss the course requirements and options available.

Center for Academic Support: The Center for Academic Support provides trained tutors for students requiring additional reading and writing instruction. There is no cost to the student for using these services. The Center can be of assistance to the student in the following areas: proofreading a draft for mechanical correctness, writing a thesis statement, organizing ideas, and structuring ideas into an essay form. You are encouraged to make use of these services throughout this course.

Grades: The assignments for this semester include:

§ 4 Research Projects

o Family Research

o Field Research

o Annotated Bibliography

o Researched Argument Paper

§ Quizzes/In-class writings

§ Class work

§ Final Exam

Scores on these assignments will be tallied at the end of the course. Final grades will be based on the following scale:

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

Students must complete ALL assignments in order to pass the class.

Course Work for ENG108-14N Spring 2006

Jan. 17 Introduction of materials; distribute syllabus; discuss and assign Family Research Project. Students are advised to at least peruse EBSCOhost articles under “ORAL HISTORIES” and other search engines for exposure to family histories. For additional help in accessing internet sources, refer to “Searching the Internet” (570-573).

► Assignment for next class: Bring family snapshot to next class.

Jan. 24 Review Chapter 2 (24-50) in class. Narratives are covered in Chapter 7 of the text.

►Assignment for next class: Review Chapter 7, “Narration,” (172-207) and be prepared to discuss concepts and examples during the next class period. Bring a copy of a SHORT article (student’s field of interest).

Jan. 31 Prospectus (paragraph or two) for Family Research Paper due. Discuss “Narration.” Work on articles and annotation procedures.

►Assignment for next class: Review Chapter 3, “Developing Strong Paragraphs: Exploring Your Options,” (51-77) and be prepared to discuss concepts for the next class period.

Feb. 7 Have working copy of Family Research Paper in class. Discuss Chapter 3. Discuss Research Field Research Project. Consider areas and ideas to research.

►Assignment for next class: Bring a copy of a recent survey (and results) on a topic of interest to you and be ready to discuss for next class. Have topic proposal for Field Research project ready in MEMO (505-510) form.

Feb. 14 Research Project #1 (Family Research) due. Turn in memo. Review ideas for field research. Consider (in class) the proposed topics. Discuss possible strategies for effective research.

Feb. 21 Working copy of Field Research due. Topic for Annotated Bib and Research Paper due. Further

discussion and work on Field Research topics.

Feb. 28 Field Research Paper due. Discuss field projects. Present ideas for Annotated Bib. Discuss specific requirements and problems with documentation. Work on examples and MLA formatting.

►Assignment for next class: Send e-mail message with topic for Annotated Bib before March 7.

Mar. 7 Discuss Chapter 20. Continue working in class on details of research collection and documentation. Library activity.

Mar. 14 Spring Recess--NO CLASS

Mar. 21 Working copy of Annotated Bib. due. Midterm grades due.

►Assignment for next class: Investigate job market. Choose a position you would like to apply for. Bring a copy of the job listing, your cover letter, and a copy of your résumé to the next class.

Mar. 28 Annotated Bibliography due. Turn in letter assignment. Review letters and résumés. Research

opportunity. Catch up.

April 4 Bibliography for Researched Argument Paper due.

April 11 Working copy of Researched Arugment Paper due in class. Discuss.

April 18 Researched Argument Paper due.

April 25 Return papers. Assign final Exam topic.

May 2 Study Day—no classes.

May 9 FINAL EXAM due.