COURSE SYLLABUS and CALENDAR
Course Name & Number: First Year Composition Semester & Year: Fall 2016
ENGL 1301/ Graham E2
Catalog Description: Principles and techniques of expository and persuasive writing; critical thinking and textual analysis; essays and research methods. Prerequisite: Satisfactory placement test score or passing grade in ENGL 0305.
Textbooks & Materials:
Required : Lunsford, Andrea, Michael Brody. Lisa Ede. Beverly J. Moss. Carole Clark Papper. Keith Walters. Everyone’s an Author With Readings 2nd Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. 2017
ISBN: 978-0393265293
Lunsford, Andrea, The Everyday Writer
ISBN 978-1457698477
Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of English 1301, students should be able to accomplish the following:
- Identify the author’s purpose, audience, and rhetorical strategies in assigned readings.
- Compose unified, developed, clear, and coherent essays.
- Revise essays for unity, development, clarity, and coherence.
- Use Standard English.
- Locate, appraise, and select scholarly research materials from print, electronic media, and Internet sources appropriate to research question.
- Synthesize research findings, avoid plagiarism, and use MLA style of documentation.
Instructor’s Name: Marcia Little Office Phone #: (940) 521-0720
Email: mlittle@nctc.edu
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday: Before and after class; Tuesday and Thursday: Before and after class or by appointment.
Department Chair: Kristen Weinzapfel Office Location: Gainesville Telephone: 940-668-3342
Email: kweinzapfel@nctc.edu
Grading Policy & Procedures:
Here is how to calculate your grade…
- Writing Assignment I 100 pts
- Writing Assignment II 100 pts
- Writing Assignment III 100 pts
- Rough drafts, quizzes, Writing Activities 100 pts.
- Professionalism Grade 25 pts
- Final Exam 50 pts
*note* If, any time, I suspect students are not reading the required material, I will administer quizzes.
Evaluation of Writing Assignments: For you to get anything out of this course, you will have to apply the writing and strategies we work on in class to your own writing. Therefore, when I evaluate your writings in class, I will evaluate them by a clearly laid out set of “evaluation criteria,” which will be attached to each assignment. Please take note of these because they are what I am looking for when I am grading your writing.
Writing assignments will be presented in small groups and you will receive your grade the same day you hand in the assignment. Failure to present to the group will result in a lower score. On presentation day, come to class at your appointed time, with 3 copies of the essay, and be prepared to share your essay with the group. Groups will be assigned in the first weeks of class.
Email Correspondence: I reserve 24 hours to reply to students’ emails. Emails constitute correspondence between instructor and student; therefore, remember your audience when sending emails. Email correspondence may contribute positively or negatively to your professionalism grade.
Professionalism Grade: Your college courses are also opportunities for you to learn what it means to be a “professional” in your field. Therefore, I expect you to act like a “professional” student in this course. This means that you should consider:
- The quality of your participation in and preparedness for class (including your other classmates and me).
- Your assertiveness. (An assertive student exhausts all available resources of information before contacting me. In other words, read the assignment sheet closely before emailing me to ask how many sources are required in your paper, and if you are unsure how to cite a source, look it up in your handbook or a credible, online source (such as Purdue Owl)).
- The quality (and effort) of your required drafts, notes, and daily assignments.
- Turning in your writing assignments on time as assigned.
- Your class attendance and tardiness.
Rough Drafts: For all writing tasks, you will be required to show evidence of the writing process by presenting several rough drafts, which is considered to be part of the writing assignment. I may require you to submit them to CANVAS and/Tutor.com. If you do not show evidence of the writing process, I will not evaluate your Writing Assignment.
Submitting Writing Assignments: The final copies of all writing assignments must be submitted to Canvas.
Since each writing assignment builds on the previous one, you may not skip any writing assignments and still pass the course. In other words, all writing tasks are required.
Core Objectives:
Foundational Component Area: Communication
Courses in this category focus on developing ideas and expressing them clearly, considering the effect of the message, fostering understanding, and building the skills needed to communicate persuasively. Courses involve the command of oral, aural, written, and visual literacy skills that enable people to exchange messages appropriate to the subject, occasion, and audience.
- Critical Thinking Skills (CT)- to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information
- Communication Skills (COM)- to include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral, and visual communication
-Teamwork (TW)- to include the ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal
- Personal Responsibility (PR)- to include the ability to connect choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decision-making
Scholastic Integrity: Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but not be limited to cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion. See Student Handbook “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Conduct [FLB- (LOCAL)]” #18. Disciplinary Actions [Student Handbook, p. 164, #5] “When cheating, collusion, or plagiarism has occurred beyond any reasonable doubt, the instructor may give the student or students involved an “F” on a particular assignment or in the course. [See Scholastic Dishonesty FLB (Local)] The instructor shall make a written report of the incident and of the planned action to his Department Chair. The Department Chair shall report the incident and action to appropriate instructional dean who shall review the case, notify the student and, if necessary, take further action. This may involve either probation or suspension of the student or students in question. If such disciplinary action is deemed necessary, the Dean of Student Services shall be notified, and the action shall be taken through that office.”
*Note* Students who plagiarize in my ENGL 1301 will fail the course. This also means students will not be able to drop the class with a “W”.
Attendance Policy: Because each day of instruction is important, attendance to each class meeting is imperative and mandatory Every single class is important. To miss one class is to miss important information. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to learn from the course calendar, or from other students, what you missed. Make up work will be honored only for students who miss class because of a school-sanctioned field trip, athletic event, religious holiday, or in dramatic instances circumstances. In most cases, I will require students to turn in assignments prior to missing class. Be prepared to honor this rule if you are an athlete or participate in extra-curricular activities.
Disability Accommodations: The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) provides accommodations for students who have a documented disability. A disability is anything that can interfere with learning, such as a learning disability, psychological challenge, physical illness or injury. Accommodations may include extra time on tests, tests in a distraction reduced environment, volunteer note taker in class, etc. On the Corinth Campus, go to room 170 or call 940-498-6207. On the Gainesville Campus, go to room 110 in the Administration (100) Building or call 940-668-4209. Students on the Bowie, Graham, Flower Mound, and online campuses should call 940-668-4209 to arrange for an intake appointment with OSD. North Central Texas College is on record as being committed to both the spirit and letter of federal equal opportunity legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, ADA Amendments Act of 2009, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-112).
ACCESS Program: The ACCESS Program provides accommodations for students who have a documented disability. A disability is anything that can interfere with learning, such as a learning disability, psycho-logical challenge or physical illness or injury. Accommodations may include extra time on tests, tests in a non-distracting environment, a note taker in class, etc. On the Corinth Campus, contact: Wayne Smith, ACCESS Coordinator, at (kwsmith@nctc.edu), 940-498-6207 or Penny Cogbill, Departmental Assistant, at (pcogbill@nctc.edu, 940-498-6212) or William Leija, Departmental Assistant, at wleija@nctc.edu, 940-498-6224 in Suite 170. For the Gainesville, Bowie, or Graham Campuses, contact Yvonne Sandmann, ACCESS Specialist, at (ysandmann@nctc.edu, (940) 668-7731 ext. 4321) in Room 110 on the Gainesville Campus. NETWORKS is a childcare reimbursement program that may assist technical students with partial childcare reimbursement for those who apply and qualify. Contact Yvonne Sandmann, ACCESS Specialist, for more information.
Student Success Center: The Student Success Center is designed to help all students at NCTC develop tools to achieve their academic goals. This program also links students to FREE tutoring, including a Writing Center, a Math Lab, and free 24/7 online tutoring and helps new students acclimate to college by providing computer lab services for prospective students. All students are invited to visit the Student Success Center on the Corinth Campus go to rooms 170, 182, or 188; on the Gainesville Campus go to rooms 114 or 111; on the Flower Mound Campus go to room 111, on the Bowie Campus go to room 124.
TRIO Program: TRIO Programs are federally funded programs which offer services designed to assist students in achieving their academic goals. Services include educational workshops, academic advising, tutoring, personal counseling, career counseling, cultural enrichment, and financial aid information. Students may be eligible for TRIO if they are currently enrolled at North Central Texas College, have academic need, and meet at least ONE of THREE criteria which include: 1) first generation status—neither parent has graduated from college, 2) income level is within federal low income guidelines, and/or 3) has a documented disability. TRIO is located in Room 170 on the Corinth Campus, Room 112 on the Gainesville Campus, and Room 124 on the Bowie Campus. Contact Jessica DeRoche, TRIO Coordinator, at jderoche@nctc.edu, 940-498-6212 on the Corinth Campus for more information.
Students can also access the Department of Student Success’ website by going to www.nctc.edu and clicking on the red button in the middle of the page labeled “Tutoring and Other ACADEMIC SUPPORT SERVICES” or by going directly to http://www.nctc.edu/Student_Services/Access/AcademicandStudentSupportServices.htm.
Units of Study:
Block I: Readings
Students will read and analyze a variety of selections from the adopted textbook.
Block II: Quizzes, Examinations, and the Final Exam
Students may be required to take quizzes or tests over assigned readings and/or related materials. The class MUST meet during the final exam week. A final exam, if given, may count no more than 25% of the semester grade.
Block III: Compositions
Students will write a minimum of 5,000 words (20 pages) in a variety of compositions—formal and informal. As part of this required writing, students will produce a minimum of four graded assignments. At least two of these must use the complete writing process, which may consist of the following:
Invention
Drafting
Peer Review
Revision
Final Draft
Block IV: Grammar and Mechanics
Students will study grammar and mechanics in the adopted handbook in order to meet departmental standards. This study may be done by examination of units in the handbook or through writing as a process, according to the discretion of the instructor.
Block V: Research
Students will utilize library and electronic resources. They will submit a written assignment, such as an annotated bibliography, a documented essay, or several short compositions, using MLA style documentation. Pages generated as part of this research block are included in the required writing stipulated in Block III.
EEOC Statement: North Central Texas College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, or disability in the employment or the provision of services.
Etiquette/Professionalism Policy: Often, we will read material from a diverse group of thinkers and writers. Always, we will be sharing a variety of ideas and values, many with which you may not agree. Polite debate is welcome, insults and denigration of the ideas of another student or me is not welcome, and will not be tolerated. Any student who mocks or scoffs at anyone else in the class will be promptly dismissed, counted absent, and may not return to class until the offensive student has experienced a conference with me and the chair of the Department of English, Speech, and Foreign Language. Please conduct yourself as a professional in our classroom. Consider your academic audience, purpose, and occasion at all times.
Important Policies:
Do not text message, accept incoming calls, or use your cell phone or ipod during class. Turn off cell phones. Put them away. If you are asked to leave because you are texting, you will be counted absent for the day. Consider English class to be a distraction-free zone!
If you are asked to leave class because of behavioral issues, you will automatically lose 10 points from your overall grade. Consider your classroom audience, purpose, and occasion before making poor choices in our classroom.
General Description of Subject Matter for Each Lecture/Discussion
Events subject to change.
Writing Assignment One: Theory of Education – Weeks One – Five:
Week 1: Discuss Syllabus and Structured support services
Week 2: Discuss major Writing Assignment 1 and Readings. Learning outcomes.
Week 3: Discuss Readings and Writing Assignment 1. Features of Academic Essays. Developing and Organizing Academic Essays. Student support services tour. Library lecture. Learning outcomes.
Week 4: Discuss Reading and Writing Assignment. Discuss cohesion and tone. Peer review
Week 5: Essay presentations.
Writing Assignment Two: Cultural Myths in Advertising – Week Six –Eight:
Week 6: Discuss Readings. Reading Academic Texts. Interpreting Visual Media. Discuss Writing Assignment 2 and Learning Outcomes.
Week 7: Discuss Readings and Writing Assignment. Features of Academic Essays. Developing and Organizing Academic Essays. Learning Outcomes 2,3,4. Peer Review. Functional Sentence Review. Fragments and Run-Ons.
Week 8: Essay Presentations.
Writing Assignment Three: Coming of Age/American Dream– Week Nine-Twelve:
Week 9: Discuss Readings. Reading Academic Texts. Interpreting Visual Media. Discuss Writing Assignment 2. Learning Outcomes 1,2.
Week 10: Discuss Readings and Writing Assignments. Features of Academic Essays. Developing and Organizing Academic Essays. Learning Outcomes 2,3,4.
Week 11: Discuss Readings and Writing Assignments. Functional Sentence Review. Peer Review.
Week 12: Essay Presentations.
Writing Assignment Four: In-class Writing Exams – Week Thirteen – Fifteen:
Week 13,14: Discuss In-Class Exams. Discuss Writing Assignment 3. Learning Outcomes 1,2. Discuss Features of Developing, Studying, and Organizing in-class essays. Complete In-Class Exam. Learning Outcomes 2,3,4.
Writing Assignment Five: Final Exam:
Week 15: Self-reflective essay and In-Class Essay