Syllabus for ENG 104-04
College Writing and Rhetoric
Department of English, Foreign Languages, and
Journalism
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
English 104-04 -- College Writing and Rhetoric
Instructor:
Dawn Terrick
Fall 2008
MWF 9:00-9:50 pm, Murphy Hall 113
Instructor:
Dawn Terrick
Office:
SSC 222F Eder Hall
Office Phone:
816-271-4313
Office Hours:
MWF 11:00-12:00, Thursday 1:00-3:00 and by appointment
Email:
terrick@missouriwestern.edu
Required
Texts:
• Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments. Fourth Edition. Eds. Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer. Pearson Longman, Inc, 2009.
• Writing Places. Eds. Mathieu, Grattan, Lindgren
and Shultz. Pearson Longman,
2006.
• Language and
Prejudice. Ed. Tamara Valentine. Pearson Longman 2004.
(The two small readers, Writing Places and Language
and Prejudice, should be packaged
together in the bookstore)
Required
Materials:
•
Computer disks/jump drives 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
O’Connor
Course
Goals:
•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/~engdept/eng104.html
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:
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 can consist
of summary and response/analysis, response to specific questions, and/or
personal responses 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).
Mini-Portfolio System: The mini-portfolio system is explained in an
attached handout.
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 and 200-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 for this class is
5. Thus, when you have 6 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.
If you exceed the allowed absences after midterm, your final grade will
be affected. As a result, attendance is
vital to your grade and success in this class and excessive absences will lead
to failure.
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.
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. Your
presentation must be delivered on the assigned date and you will not be allowed
to use this policy for this assignment.
Late journals and in-class writing assignments will not be accepted.
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 portfolio
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.
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 and portfolios you submit,
a presentation and final examination.
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:
·
Formal writing assignments. A
student who does not turn in responses to all writing assignments will not pass
the course even if the grades achieved in the other writing assignments are
satisfactory.
Paper One -- Summary: 100 points
Paper Two Mini-Portfolio: 100 points
Paper Three Mini-Portfolio: 100 points
Paper Four Mini-Portfolio: 125 points
Argument/Presentation: 125 points
·
Final exam: 100 points (mandatory)
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 Student Handbook for specific
activities identified as violations of this policy and the student due process
procedure (beginning on page 23). This
handbook is also available online at http://missouriwetsern.edu/handbook/index.pdf.
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, specifically sections of
Community Expectations and Code of Conduct and Procedures, for further
information. This handbook is also
available online at http://missouriwetsern.edu/handbook/index.pdf
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, jump drives, etc.,
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.