Syllabus for
ENG 104-03
College
Writing and Rhetoric
Missouri Western State
College
Department of English,
Foreign Languages, Journalism
Division of Liberal Arts and
Sciences
English
104-03 -- College Writing and Rhetoric
Instructor: Dawn Terrick
Fall
2002
MWF
9:00-9:50 JGM 105
Instructor: Dawn Terrick
Office: SSC 222S
Office
Phone: 816-271-4313
Office
Hours: MWF 10:00-12:00, TTH 11:00-12:00
and by appointment
Email: terrick@missouriwestern.edu
Required Texts:
The Little,
Brown Reader. Ninth Edition. Eds. Marcia Stubbs, Sylvan Barnet and
William E. Cain. Addison Wesley
Longman, Inc.
The New
Century Handbook. Brief
Edition. Eds. Christine Hult and Thomas
Huckin. Allyn and Bacon.
Required Materials:
Computer disks for revising and
saving work.
Notebook for notes, class work,
journal entries, etc.
Folder(s) to keep all writing and
portfolio work.
Course Description:
"Language is the most vivid and crucial key to identity: It reveals the private identity, and
connects one with, or divorces one from, the larger, public, or communal
identity."
-James Baldwin
Good writers are also good readers of the works of other writers and of
their own notes and drafts. The habits they
develop as readers of others for instance evaluating assumptions,
scrutinizing arguments and perceiving irony empower them when they write,
read and revise their own notes and drafts.
-Marcia Stubbs and Sylvan Barnett
One thing that is always with the writer no matter how long he has written
or how good he is is the continuing process of learning how to write.
-Flannery
OConnor
Course Goals:
Reading
and Writing: Reading can help us to
make sense of our experiences and of our lives by providing us with connections
between ourselves and the larger world.
We, as human beings, must understand our complex and changing world and
we can accomplish this by understanding how language reflects and affects our
world. In this course, we will be
reading various texts and then writing about those texts. Writing about a text leads us to read that
text critically and intelligently, stimulates our thinking and will enable us
to react to that text. In order to
achieve these goals, we will:
Read and respond to various texts, such as textbook
readings, media such as television,
movies and advertising, and our peers' work.
Read and study written texts to improve and refine our
own writing.
Summarize, analyze and evaluate
texts.
Understand, find, shape, address and write arguments.
Engage in journal writing and
collaborative writing.
Revise our written work.
Participate in peer revision
groups.
For
common objectives/means and institutional competencies for ENG 104, also refer
to the English department website at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/eflj/eng104.asp
Methods of Instruction:
Methods
of instruction include textbooks, lectures, class discussions, group work, informal
writing assignments and formal writing assignments. Students will be expected to participate in peer revision groups
and in-class writing exercises.
Journals: 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 summary, personal response and
analysis and be, on average, one full page.
Entries can be hand-written or word-processed and must be clearly labeled.
The collection dates will coincide with the collection dates of your
formal writing assignments/mini-portfolios; your journal entries will be a
component of your mini-portfolio. Journal
entries will be graded on content and will be part of your grade for the
portfolio and 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 portfolio and the course.
(Note: During these sessions I
will also evaluate drafts).
Policies:
Attendance
and Class Preparation/Participation:
Students are expected to attend every scheduled class meeting. Each student will be allowed five absences. More than five absences will likely affect
your final grade. However, please feel
free to speak to me about any extenuating circumstances for I reserve the right
to excuse some absences. If you are
going to miss class due to a school-sponsored event you must notify me in
advance. Also, 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.
Late
Work: 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. I will not accept/grade any other
late papers. This is important because
you must complete, turn in and receive a grade for all papers in order to pass
this class. Consequently, if you submit
more than one late paper, you will fail the course. If you are not in class on the due date you are still responsible
for submitting your assignment on time.
Late in-class writing assignments will not be accepted.
Grading
Policy: Your grade will be determined
on the writings and portfolios you submit and your class attendance and
participation over the course of the semester.
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:
· Five formal writing
assignments. A student who does not turn in responses to all five writing
assignments will not pass the course even if the grades achieved in the other
writing assignments are satisfactory.
Summary:
100 points
Essay
One Mini-Portfolio: 100 points
Essay
Two Mini-Portfolio: 100 points
Essay
Three Mini-Portfolio: 125 points
Essay
Four Mini-Portfolio: 125 points
· Final exam and compilation
of all major writing assignments: 100 points
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.
Academic
Honesty Policy: 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 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. Please note carefully the statement on plagiarism on the
departmental website, found at http://www.missouriwestern.edu/EFLJ/plagiarism.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.
Please
note that you must complete all writing assignments in order to pass this
course. In addition, admission into ENG
108 requires a "C" or higher in ENG 104. All drafts and final papers for this course must be
word-processed. It is also important to
save all work on disks, keeping back-ups if necessary.
Please
feel free to come see me if you have any problems or questions. I believe communication is very important
between an instructor and her students and, as a result, I will make myself
available to you for any reason.