ENGL1302, Composition II Honors
Instructor: Dr. Kevin Eubanks
Email: Use the Canvas messaging system. If it is unavailable, use keubanks@nctc.edu
Office Phone: (940) 498-6218 (Email is a better way to contact the instructor.)
Office Address: 206 Corinth (inside 201)
Office Hours:
Monday 1-3
Wednesday 1-3
Online conferences are available by appointment.
Required Texts
Kida, Thomas. Don’t Believe Everything You Think: The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2006.
Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2014.
Course Description
Intensive study of and practice in the strategies and techniques for developing research-based expository and persuasive texts. Emphasis on effective and ethical rhetorical inquiry, including primary and secondary research methods; critical reading of verbal, visual, and multimedia texts; systematic evaluation, synthesis, and documentation of information sources; and critical thinking about evidence and conclusions.
Prerequisite: English 1301 or its equivalent.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
- Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative research processes.
- Develop ideas and synthesize primary and secondary sources within focused academic arguments, including one or more research-based essays.
- Analyze, interpret, and evaluate a variety of texts for the ethical and logical uses of evidence.
- Write in a style that clearly communicates meaning, builds credibility, and inspires belief or action.
- Apply the conventions of style manuals for specific academic disciplines (e.g., APA, CMS, MLA, etc.)
Core Objectives
- 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
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.
Grading Policy
Grades will be weighted as follows:
- two researched essays: 25% each
- four workshop paragraphs: 5% each
- poster presentation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium: 10%
- discussions, peer reviews, and other weekly assignments: 20% total
An A requires 90-100 percent; a B, 80-89; a C, 70-79; a D, 60-69; an F, less than 60.
Essay Revision Policy
You will have the option to revise and resubmit the essays until you are satisfied with the grades. To earn an “A” on an essay, you will have to revise it more than once.
Policies for Late Work
- Essays: Ten points will be deducted for each day after the due date (beginning at midnight on the due date).
- Paragraphs: One point will be deducted for each day after the due date (beginning at midnight on the due date).
- Discussion Board Participation: No credit will be given for any discussion-board posting submitted after midnight on the due date.
- Other Weekly Assignments: No credit will be given for any assignment submitted after midnight on the due date.
Policy for Technical Problems
If you experience technical problems (such as problems submitting an assignment), send an email immediately. (If you cannot access the Canvas email system, send a message to keubanks@nctc.edu.) Describe as specifically as possible what you were doing when you experienced the problem. Include any error messages that appear.
Academic Integrity
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion. See Student Handbook, "Student Rights and Responsibilities: Student Conduct [FLB- (LOCAL)]" #18. Anyone who commits such acts will fail the course and may be suspended from the university.
Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s work as your own, whether intentionally or not. Plagiarism includes copying a passage from another writer’s work without acknowledging that writer. But it also includes not paraphrasing sufficiently, or even getting an idea from another writer without acknowledging the source of that idea.
Collusion is receiving unacknowledged help on an essay. If you get help on a particular assignment, you need to describe that help in writing and submit it along with the assignment. You can always discuss your ideas with others and even let them proofread your essays; however, the actual wording of the essays should be your own.
Disability Services (OSD)
The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) provides accommodations for students who have a documented disability. On the Corinth Campus, go to room 170 or call 940-498-6207. On the Gainesville Campus, go to room 110 or call 940-668-4209. Students on the Bowie, Graham, Flower Mound, and online campuses should call 940-668-4209.
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). http://www.nctc.edu/StudentServices/SupportServices/Disabilityservices.aspx
Support Services
Counseling and Testing staff offer a variety of services to current and prospective students, such as College 101, placement testing, academic advising and course registration, transfer assistance, and College Success seminars (Time Management, Study Skills, Test Anxiety, Choosing a Major, Learning Style Strategies, Career Exploration), and much more. http://www.nctc.edu/StudentServices/CounselingTesting.aspx
Student Success offers academic coaching, tutoring, including a Writing Center, a Math Lab, free 24/7 online tutoring through Grade Results and assist new students acclimate to college by providing computer lab services for prospective students. First generation students can also participate in TRIO which offers specialized support services.
http://www.nctc.edu/StudentServices/SupportServices.aspx
Financial Aid offers financial resources for students that qualify, visit the financial aid offices for more information. http://www.nctc.edu/FInancialAidHome.aspx
Early Alert/CARES
The NCTC Early Alert program has been established to assist students who are at risk of failing or withdrawing from a course. Your instructor may refer you to this program if you are missing assignments, failing tests, excessively absent, or have personal circumstances impacting your academic performance. If submitted as an Early Alert you will be notified via your NCTC e-mail address and then contacted by a Counseling and Testing advisor or counselor to discuss possible strategies for completing your course successfully.
The NCTC CARES (Campus Assessment Response Evaluation Services) Team addresses behavior which may be disruptive, harmful or pose a threat to to the health and safety of the NCTC community-such as stalking, harassment, physical or emotional abuse, violent or threatening behavior, or self-harm. As a student, you have the ability to report concerning behavior which could impact your own safety or the safety of another NCTC student. Just click the NCTC CARES Team logo posted on MyNCTC, or send an e-mail to CARESTeam@nctc.edu. As always, if you feel there is an immediate threat to your own safety or welfare (or to another student), please call 911 immediately.