ENGLISH 108-38: COLLEGE WRITING AND RESEARCH

ENGLISH 112: HONORS COMPOSITION

Department of English, Foreign Languages and Journalism

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Missouri Western State University

Fall  2007

OUTDOOR SEMESTER

 

PROFESSOR:     Dr. Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin

OFFICE:              EDER 215

Office hours:        10:00-10:50 MWF  MURPHY 105 (until we get a change if possible)

PHONE:               English Dept:   271-4274   or 271-4535 (Honors Office in Spratt 202)

EMAIL:              sawin@missouriwestern.edu (my preferred method of communication outside of office hours. Please use your MWSU email account and in the subject line put:  English 108 or English 112.)

 

GENERAL STUDIES OBJECTIVES:

  1. Think critically and reason analytically
  2. Write and speak clearly and effectively
  3. Function as an enlightened citizen in our society

 

COMPLETE DEPARTMENTAL COURSE OBJECTIVES AND MEANS:

Please see:  http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/eng100.asp#Course

 

REQUIRED TEXTS  (You must have your own copy)

  • Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Boston: Shambhala,1986.
  • Hacker, Diane. A Writer’s Reference. 6th edtion. Boston: Bedford, 2007.
  • Quantic, Diane D. and P. Jane Hafen. A Great Plains Reader. Lincoln, NE: U of Nebraska P, 2003.

 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

  • American Heritage Dictionary OR Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary
  • Free: The Purdue Online Writing site   http://owl.english.purdue.edu/  (for matters related to grammar, punctuation, word choice, & sentence style.)

       

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

Computer disks dedicated to this course & disk carrying case and/or jump drive

Plain pocket folder for assignment sheets and drafts of all writing assignments

Pad of white, lined 8.5 x 11 inch notebook paper for in-class writing (no pages ripped

from spiral notebooks).

 

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS:

Research Essay #1    (   900 - 1,200 words)       100   

Research Essay #2    (1,200 - 1,500 words)       100

Research Essay #3    (1,500 - 1,800 words)       100

In-class writing / tests                                         130                         

Attendance/ participation                                    40     See attendance policy below.         

PORTFOLIO                                                          30    (ENG 112 students will draft NCHC proposal)   

                                                                        500 points             

    

FOR EACH RESEARCH ESSAY:  

25  points for the process:

Research Notebook  / Copies of all sources / Bibliography / Draft & Outline / Peer Review

75 points for the final product:

  • MAIN IDEA AND ANALYSIS
  • SUPPORTING REASONS AND EVIDENCE
  • ORGANIZATION
  • EXPRESSION
  • EDITING 

 

 

GRADING POLICY:

A  (500-450) 100-90%

B  (449-400) 89-80%

C  (399-350) 79-70%

D  (349-300) 69-60%

F  (299-0)     59-   0%

N.B. I reserve the right to "round up" a student's grade whose performance

stands out significantly from others in that range.   

 

ACADEMIC HONESTY:

You are expected to do your own reading and writing in this course.  Any student who submits someone else's work as his or her own will receive no credit (0 points) for that assignment.  A major part of this course will be devoted to showing you HOW to document your sources, but you also need  to be careful in seeking the assistance of people outside this class for your written work.  Well-intentioned friends can sometimes "take over," and your ideas and voice are lost in the process.  When in doubt about how much help is allowable for out-of-class work, please see me. 

                Violations of academic honesty include plagiarism (purposely representing someone else’s words or ideas as your own), cheating, seeking credit for someone else’s work, falsifying documents or any other fraudulent activity. Violations may result not only in a failing grade on the specific assignment in this course, but failure in the course itself, or even expulsion from the university. When a student’s grade has been affected by academic dishonesty, I am required to report the incident to the Provost or to his designated representative using the university’s Academic Honesty Violation Report form.

                Please see the 2007 Student Handbook and Calendar for the specific activities identified as violations of this policy and the student due process procedure.

http://www.missouriwestern.edu/Handbook/index.pdf

Please see how to avoid Plagiarism on the following pages of A Writer’s Reference:

  • Notetaking 344-47…….In MLA papers 358-61………Using the World Wide Web 344-47

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

Why come to class?  Because it is . . .

  1. intriguing to learn what goes on in the minds of other people when they read our written messages.
  2. satisfying to have real, live human beings who will listen to what we have to say face to face.
  3. a friendly way to do research when others help you to find your way.                                        
  4. more efficient for the teacher to go over homework, respond to difficulties , or  pick up or slow down the pace of the course.
  5. cost-effective in the short-run  [Aren’t you paying tuition for entrance into this class?]
  6. useful in the long-run [thousands of dollars in lifetime earnings for people with college degrees and/or written communication skills]
  7. challenging and fun . . .with your help.
  8. BECAUSE IN OUTDOOR SEMESTER we have to make the MOST of our TIME on campus since  you are privileged to be going on a 13-day semester-related field trip!  J

If you must be absent, get handouts, notes, and assignments from trustworthy classmates.  You are responsible for what occurs … even if you were unable to reach anyone.

DAILY ROSTER: Sign your complete name (no initials) every time you come.

This is how I will keep careful track of attendance.  If you do not sign it, you will be considered absent.

If you come late to class or if you leave early, you may be marked absent.

Points will be distributed as follows for the whole semester’s effort:

0 absence: 40 pts. =  A        [Excellent. An extraordinary effort and a bit of luck.] 

1 absence: 36 pts. =  A-       [Remarkable. You obviously care about your education.]

2 absences:32 pts. = B         [Praiseworthy. Your education is a priority that you have set for yourself.]

3 absences:28 pts. = C         [Understandable. Circumstances have intervened, but you are still with us.]

4 absences:24 pts.=  D        [We're losing you and don't like it. L We want you to be part of us.]

5 absences:  0       =  F         [Where have you gone? No credit for Attendance awarded in English]  

6 absences ………………...see the University Attendance Policy below.

 

UNIVERSITY ATTENDANCE POLICY:

In order to improve student learning and to achieve compliance with federal financial aid policies, Western has a mandatory attendance policy for all 100-level courses. The maximum numbered of unexcused absences allowed for English 108 / 112 before the midterm report is 5 (five). With the 6th unexcused absence, you will be reported to the Registrar’s Office, who will automatically drop you from this class. The Financial Aid Office will then reduce financial aid as appropriate. (IF you are acting as an official representative of the university and give prior written verification from the faculty or staff supervisor of the event, then you will be given an excused absence. All other absences are deemed unexcused.)

 

MAKE-UP POLICY and LATE PAPERS:

There will be no make-up opportunities for homework or in-class writing.  When a final draft of a paper is DUE, you MUST hand it in on the due date or accept a reduction of one letter grade for every day beyond the deadline. For example, a 100-point paper turned in one day late is then worth a maximum of 89 points. Two days late: 79 points. Three days late: 69 points. Four days late: 59 points. I will not accept a paper more than 5 days after it is due. 

 

DISABLED STUDENT POLICY:

If you have a recognized disability that requires special consideration, please make an appointment to see me during the first or second week of classes.  I will ask to see an official form that documents the nature of your disability. I will try to meet your needs as best I can, but you will still need to do the reading and writing required in this course.  Without such a conference and some proof of disability, you will be treated with the same consideration as other students in English 108 /112.

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES/MEANS: To learn that …

 

  1. Writing can be used for different purposes, you will
    1. write summaries to distill ideas from texts or people interviewed 
    2. write syntheses of ideas from more than one text (your own or others) 
    3. analyze the relationship between the claims, warrants, and evidence
    4. evaluate the soundness of your own and other people’s judgments 
  1. Multiple audiences exist, you will
    1. analyze the needs of different audiences 
    2. analyze unethical attempts to influence people’s beliefs 
  1. Writing is a recursive process, you will
    1. apply pre-writing strategies to discover what you know and want to learn
    2. write summary notes in the process of doing research 
    3. write drafts in which you refine your beliefs on the basis of the experience gained through research 
    4. reread first and second copies to rethink what you have discovered 
    5. revise for an organization appropriate to you main purpose and audience 
  1. Many productive ways exist to generate ideas/images, you will
    1. familiarize yourself with several reference tools in the library 
    2. locate books and journals in the library 
    3. locate source materials on electronic data bases 
    4. learn to evaluate the reliability of sources
  1. Common patterns of organization exist, you will
    1. define important terms  
    2. classify objects, events, data, and ideas discovered through research 
    3. make judgments based on criteria that can be supported and explained 
  1. Ideas are property in our culture, you will
    1. correctly cite sources inside your work
    2. provide complete references to sources in your bibliography
    3. Practice MLA research writing conventions
  1. Reading is an interactive process as a pleasurable activity and a means of acquiring knowledge, you will                        
    1. ask questions in order to discover meaning 
    2. discriminate between fact and opinion 
    3. identify explicit and implicit meanings in a text 
    4. draw correct inferences 
    5. evaluate the intentions and messages of writers, especially
    6. identify attempts to manipulate language in order to deceive 
    7. recognize problems and generate possible solutions 
  1. Editing skills enable writers to present work so that readers are not distracted from the message or experience, you will identify  independently your own most frequent errors in
    1. Grammatical
    2. Puncatuation
    3. Spelling  

 

REQUIRED FORMATTING  for out-of-class copy:

Identify yourself in the upper right hand corner:

Caroline Peterson

English 108 or 112 10 a.m.

Research Essay #1

September 13, 2007

Use regular white paper.               

Set one-inch margins on all sides.

Center the title.                     

Number each page (bottom right) if there is more than one.

Single-space within paragraphs.               

Double-space between paragraphs.

Staple ONCE in the upper left-hand corner (if more than one page)

 

DISCLAIMER for SCHEDULE OF DAILY ASSIGNMENTS: I will try to respond to the needs of students in OUTDOOR English 108 / 112  this semester. That means that the Schedule of Assignments I distribute may change. Coming to class regularly will help you to know exactly what we are doing and when things are due.

 

SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS: Dr. Sawin’s class                 FALL  2007

 

Always bring your books with you to class

  • Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Boston: Shambhala,1986.
  • Hacker, Diane. A Writer’s Reference. 6th edtion. Boston: Bedford, 2007.
  • Quantic, Diane D. and P. Jane Hafen. A Great Plains Reader. Lincoln, NE: U of Nebraska P, 2003.

 

Aug. 27: Introduction to Course

 

For class on Aug. 29, do the following:

  1. WRITE (word-process) a one-page letter to me in which you explain in some detail your best and your worst experience with writing (whether in school or not). EXPLAIN the context for the writing (what prompted it), the form it took, and the results. As you reflect back now on these two experiences, what lessons do you draw about yourself, your audience, or written communication?

        FORMAT: Your letter needs to …

    • Be dated (August 29, 2007).
    • Have a proper salutation     (Dear Dr. Sawin).
    • Have a complimentary close (Sincerely, or Yours truly).
    • Be signed above your typed name.
    • Be in 10 point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins.
    • Be centered on the page.
  1. READ in WRITING ABOUT TEXTS pages 1-13 which includes: 

o        Guidelines for Active Reading and Outlining 

o        Guidelines for Writing a Summary

o        Analyzing to Demonstrate Critical Thinking

o        Guidelines for Analyzing a Text

  1. READ in WRITING DOWN THE BONES 1-13 which includes: the Introduction / Beginner’s Mind, Pen and Paper / First Thoughts / Writing as a Practice 

 

For class on Sept. 5:

Having taken careful notes while you watched the interview of  James Welch on video, WRITE a coherent, accurate, and comprehensive SUMMARY of what he said.  Imagine an audience for yourself who has NOT seen the video. WRITE the summary for them so that if the video would be lost forever, they would know his main points.  Provide a complete and accurate bibliographic entry.

 

AFTER writing the SUMMARY, write a PERSONAL RESPONSE in which you tell us HOW seeing the video has affected your understanding of or appreciation for the novel Fools Crow which we are still reading. What did it help you to understand?

 

For class on Sept. 7:

READ A Writer’s Reference “Citing Sources; avoiding plagiarism” 358-364 which gives you some directions about putting summaries in your own words, limiting your use of quotations, enclosing borrowed language in quotation marks, etc.

 

WRITE a SUMMARY and RESPONSE to the professional article that I gave you about James Welch on Sept. 5.  Imagine as your audience those fellow students in Outdoor Semester who are not in 108/112.  Provide the complete MLA bibliographic entry.

Your summary needs to be coherent, accurate and comprehensive … while still being as brief as possible (certainly no more than one word-processed page.

 

For class on Sept. 10:

WRITE a SUMMARY and RESPONSE to the second professional article that I gave you about James Welch on Sept 7.  Imagine as your audience those fellow students in Outdoor Semester who are not in 108/112.  Provide the complete MLA bibliographic entry. Your summary needs to be coherent, accurate and comprehensive … while still being as brief as possible (certainly no more than one word-processed page).

 

In-class: (I’ll reserve a computer lab on campus) you will BEGIN to WRITE RESEARCH ESSAY #1 about Fools Crow. You may use ideas generated by your journal writing and any or all of the 3 articles and ONE video as your sources. Individual Conferences with Dr. Sawin

 

 

For class on Sept. 12

PEER REVIEW and EDITING of RESEARCH ESSAYS

 

For class on Sept. 14

 

SUBMIT RESEARCH ESSAY #1 in tip-top form

 

 

Northern Trek of Outdoor Semester leaves on Saturday, September 15.  J