ENG 108
College
Writing and Research
Department of English,
Foreign Languages, and Journalism
College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences
Instructor: Kathy Miller
Spring 2008
TTh
Office Phone: 816-271-4318
Office Hours: by appointment
Email:
kmiller@missouriwestern.edu
Required Texts:
Rereading
Course Description:
To
provide practice with writing effective papers using field and document
research.
COMPLETE DEPARTMENTAL
COURSE OBJECTIVES AND MEANS:
Please see:
http://www.mwsc.edu/~engdept/eng.html#course
About the course: English 108: College Writing and
Research will help you learn to use sources in academic papers. You will learn
to identify and evaluate arguments in texts, and to use the texts of other
authors to support your own observations and claims. We will consider the
following questions:
Course Goals:
By
the end of the semester you should be able to:
•
Effectively construct and defend a written argument.
•
Conduct appropriate field research and library research.
•
Accurately summarize, quote, and draw inferences from oral and written
material.
•
Synthesize personal perspectives with outside sources.
•
Adequately document sources using appropriate formal citation methodology.
•
Complete necessary revision, editing, and proofreading of papers.
Methods of Instruction:
Methods
of instruction include textbooks, lectures, class discussions, group work,
presentations, informal writing assignments and formal writing
assignments. Students will be expected
to participate in peer revision groups and in-class writing exercises.
Journals/Reading Logs: You will write (informal) journal
entries/responses to most of your assigned readings. Please refer to your assignment schedule for
journal entries. These entries will be
your explanations of and reactions to the readings. Each journal entry will consist of both
summary and response/analysis and be, on average, one full page per article. Entries can be hand-written or word-processed
and must be clearly labeled. The
collection dates be at midterm and final.
Journal entries will be graded on content and will be part of your grade
for the course.
Peer Revision Groups: Prior to submitting your formal writing
assignments, you will be required to participate in peer revision groups in
which you will bring in word-processed copies of your rough draft to share with
your group and receive feedback from your group in order to help you strengthen
and revise your own written work. This
is a required activity and will be part of your grade for the paper and the
course. (Note: During these sessions I will also evaluate
drafts).
Policies:
Attendance and Class
Preparation/Participation: 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. A student will be given an
excused absence when acting as an official representative of the university,
provided the student gives prior written verification from the faculty/staff
supervisor of the event. A student will
also be given an excused absence if he or she can provide documentation and
prove that the absence was unavoidable.
Please feel free to speak to me about any extenuating
circumstances. All other absences will
be deemed unexcused. The maximum number
of unexcused absences allowed before the midterm report, March 18, for this
class is three. Thus, when you have four 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. More than
three absences will affect your final grade.
Students
are expected to attend every scheduled class meeting and arrive on time. Arriving to class late is disruptive. As a result, chronic lateness will likely
affect your final grade. Students are
also expected to come prepared to every class meeting and participate in class
discussion for this is the only way we can all share ideas, ask questions and
learn.
Assigned
readings must be completed before the class meeting when the material will be
discussed.
All
writing assignments are due at the beginning of the class period on the due
date. Each student is allowed one late
paper (and only one late paper) and this must be discussed with the
instructor. No other late papers will be accepted. If you are not in class
on the due date you are still responsible for submitting your assignment on
time. Late journals and in-class writing
assignments will not be accepted.
Please
note that you must complete all writing assignments in order to pass this
course. All drafts and final papers for
this course must be word-processed. It
is important to save all work on disks, cds, or other
electronic storage devices; keep back-ups of all papers. Email all writing assignments to yourself;
excuses of lost papers will not be accepted.
Use the following when submitting papers:
Formatting:
Revision: All formal, graded writing assignments can be
revised and resubmitted for a “new” grade.
You will have two weeks from the date the paper is returned in class to
revise and resubmit each paper. However,
you cannot revise other work. If you
miss the two-week deadline, you forfeit the right to revise that specific
paper. It is required that your
original, graded essay accompanies your revised essay, along with the grade
sheet and any peer revisions. Revision
is important because each paper covers important skills that you will need to
know for the next paper.
Grading Policy: Your grade will be determined on the writings
you submit, attendance, journals/reading logs and a final exam. Please note that smaller assignments and
class preparation/participation are very important and do affect your
grade. The components of your grade in
the course are:
Daily
Formal Writings: 40%
Attendance & Participation: 20%
Final Exam: 20%
Grading: As the semester progresses, I will
consider more elements of papers as I grade them. By the end of the semester, a
passing paper will:
Papers with four spelling errors will lose
one letter grade. I will count typos as spelling errors. Papers turned in late,
without an acceptable excuse, will lose one letter grade for each business day
they are late.
Students with
Disabilities: Anyone who has a disability
that prevents the fullest expression of his or her potential to succeed in this
course must notify me as soon as possible so that we can discuss class
requirements and accommodations. You must also contact Michael Ritter, Special
Needs Coordinator, and submit all necessary documentation to his office.
Academic Honesty Policy: 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 classroom activity. Cheating
and plagiarism are not acceptable. You
will receive a grade of F (0 points) for any paper/assignment/exam that shows
evidence of cheating and/or plagiarism.
You have the burden of proving that a paper/assignment/exam showing
evidence of cheating and/or plagiarism has been in fact written by you. You should keep thorough evidence of your
writing processes for all papers so that you can meet this burden of
proof. If you plagiarize a paper, you
forfeit the right to revise that paper; if you cheat on an exam, you will not
be allowed to retake the exam.
Violations of academic honesty will be reported to the Provost or the
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.
Common departmental requirements are listed online
at <http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/eng108.asp>.
Miscellaneous: Civility and Cooperation: Missouri Western requires all students to
help us maintain good conditions for teaching and learning. All students will treat their classmates and
teachers with civility and respect, both inside and outside the classroom. Students who violate this policy may, among
other penalties, be counted absent and asked to leave. You should review your Missouri Western
student handbook for further information.
Format for Journal/Reading Logs:
Date. Include the title and author of the article. Entries should be one to two pages in order
to establish a summary of content of reading, reaction to content, and show
depth of thinking. Pull ideas together, weigh, consider, and then write your
thoughts. The purpose of the reading log
is to serve: