English 108-13:  College Writing and Research—Fall 2006

Missouri Western State University

Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Journalism

_________________________________________________________________________

 

Instructor:               Pat Smith                             Home Phone:  816-324-3163

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

Office Hours:          By appointment

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

 

 

Required Materials:

Troyka, Lynn Quitman and Douglas Hesse.  Handbook for Writers.  8th edition.  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Simon

and Schuster, 2007.

      

Recommended Materials:

 

       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 Policy:  

  • In order to improve student learning as well as to achieve compliance with federal financial aid policies, Western has a mandatory attendance policy for all 100-level courses.

 

  • You will be given an excused absence when acting as an official representative of the university, provided you give prior written verification from the faculty/staff supervisor of the event.

 

  • All other absences will be deemed unexcused.  The maximum number of unexcused absences allowed for this class before the midterm report, October 18, 2006 is ONE.  Thus, when you have TWO unexcused absences you will be reported to the Registrar’s Office, who will automatically withdraw you from this class.  The Financial Aid Office will reduce financial aid as appropriate.

 

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 single-spaced heading in the upper left corner (name, class, assignment description, and date of submission). 

§        Page numbers should be located ½ inch from the top margin in the upper right corner of each page.  Student’s last name should precede the page number.  (This can only be accomplished by using your header option).

§        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 and Due Process:  Academic honesty is required in all academic endeavors.  Violations of academic honesty include any instance of plagiarism, cheating, seeking credit for another’s work, falsifying documents or academic records, or any other fraudulent activity.  Violations of academic honesty may result in a failing grade on the assignment, failure in the course, or expulsion from the University.  When a student’s grade has been affected, violations of academic honesty will be reported to the Provost or designated representative on the Academic Honesty Violation Report forms.

 

Please see the 2006-07 Student Handbook and Calendar on page 21 for specific activities identified as violations of this policy and the student due process procedure. This handbook is also available online at <http://www.missouriwestern.edu/handbook/index.pdf>.

 

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 and related materials

►Family Research                 ►Annotated Bibliography

►Field Research                   ►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 Fall 2006

 

Aug. 29   Introduction of materials; distribute syllabus; discuss and assign Family Research Project. 

 

► Assignment for next class: 

§         Peruse Chapter 32 (512-537) for the next class session. 

§         Follow the directions and complete Exercise 32-1 (518). 

§         Search EBSCOhost for articles under “ORAL HISTORIES.”  Find and print an article that might be useful in completing your Family Research Project.  Other search engines may also be used. 

§         Bring family snapshot to next class.

 

Sep. 5     Review Chapter 32 (512-537) in class. Go over handouts on “Collecting Family Stories” (<http://buffalolore.buffalonet.org/stories/collectingfamilystories.htm>)  and “Narrative Essays, (<http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/narrative.html>).  Work on interviewing.

 

►Assignment for next class: 

§         Review Chapter 3 “Writing Paragraphs” (84-114).  Bring list of problems/questions to class to be discussed.

§         Write a 1-2 paragraph prospectus (proposal) for your Family Research Paper.  Explain who you have chosen to write about and why.  You might include possible problems/challenges  involved

§         Prospectus for Family Research Paper

 

Sep. 12   Prospectus for Family Research Paper due.  Discuss narration.  Introduce idea of  “annotation.”

               Work on annotation in class. 

 

► Assignment for next class:   

§          Choose a short article in student’s field of interest.

§         Add adequate annotations.  (Copy article.  Add typed annotations on separate sheet OR download article, add annotations, then print.  Use hightlighter or similar system to make annotations more noticeable). 

§          Working copy of Family Research Paper due.

 

Sep. 19   Have working copy of Family Research Paper in class.  Discuss Field Research Project.  Consider areas and ideas to research.  Discuss possible strategies for effective 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 (741-742) form.

§         Have sample questions ready.

§         Paper #1 (Family Research Paper) due.

 

Sep. 26   Research Project #1 (Family Research) due.  Turn in memo.  Review ideas for field research.  Consider (in class) the proposed topics.  Go over student-prepared questions.  Begin MLA documentation formatting, Chapter 34 “MLA Documentation with Case Study” (561-625).

 

►Assignment for next class: 

§         Working copy of Field Research due.

§         Complete MLA documentation homework sheet

 

Oct. 3      Working copy of Field Research due.  Topic for Annotated Bib and Research Paper due.   Further

discussion and work on Field Research topics.  Present ideas for Annotated Bib.  Discuss specific requirements and problems with documentation.  Go over MLA homework and work on examples and MLA formatting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oct. 10    Field Research Paper due.   Discuss field projects.  Work on paraphrasing and summarizing in class.  Review Chapter 33j (552-557). Do Exercise 33-3 in class.

 

►Assignment for next class: 

§         Write out (word process) Exercise 33-4, part 2.

§         Send e-mail message with topic for Annotated Bib by Oct. 16.

 

Oct. 17    Continue working in class on details of research collection and documentation. Library activity.  Midterm grades due. 

 

Oct. 24    Working copy of Annotated Bib. due. 

 

►Assignment for next class: 

§         Investigate job market, choose a position you would like to apply for, and bring a copy of the job listing.

§         Type a cover letter for the job you have selected.

§         Bring a copy of your résumé.

§         Annotated bib. due.

§         Written proposal for Research Paper due.

 

Oct. 31    Annotated Bibliography due.   Turn in letter assignment.  Review letters and résumés.  Research

opportunity. Catch up. 

 

►Assignment for next class: 

§          Bibliography for Research Paper due.

 

 

Nov. 7      Turn in Bibliography for Research Paper.  Write reflective paper in class.

 

Nov. 14    Working copy of Researched Arugment Paper due in class.  Discuss.

 

►Assignment for next class: 

§          Research Paper due.

§          Oral presentation of paper due.

 

Nov. 21    Thanksgiving Holiday.  No class.

 

Nov. 28    Researched Argument Paper due.   Oral presentations of Researched Arguments.

 

Dec. 5     Continue Oral Presentation of papers.  Return papers.  Assign final exam topic.

 

Dec. 12   Final Exam due.