Syllabus for ENG 104-14
College Writing and Rhetoric
Missouri Western State University
Department of English, Foreign
Languages, and Journalism
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
English 104-14 -- College Writing and
Rhetoric
Instructor: Dawn Terrick
Fall 2009
MWF 12:00-12:50 pm, Eder Hall 210
Instructor: Dawn Terrick
Office:
222 F Eder Hall
Office Phone: 816-271-4313
Office Hours: MWF 10:00-11:50, Thursday 2:00-3:00 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.
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:
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/~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.