Syllabus:
Engl& 101 – English Composition I
Instructor:
Julianne Seeman
Spring Quarter 2013
Campus E-mail: jseeman@bellevuecollege.edu
A syllabus is
a contract and so the language and length can be pretty daunting. On the other hand, its purpose is to make the
course work and expectations clear. I
hope our Syllabus does that, but doesn’t leave you awash in anxiety in the
process. Let me know right away if you
have questions, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Print off the
Syllabus and keep it in your course notebook.
*When you
have finished reading and digesting your Syllabus, email on our course site me
to tell me that you
(1)
Have
read the Syllabus, and that
(2)
You
understand and accept the responsibilities as a learner in our course
Our course is
conducted entirely on-line. I check
into our course daily, and I will always
try back to you within twenty-four hours.
I am working from home this quarter, but if you feel that you need to
meet with me, I will try to make arrangements to meet with you on campus.
I have SKYPE
and you can also phone me. Let me know
if you wish to call me and I will send you the number. Tell me when you will be
calling so I can be available.
My work week
runs from Sunday evening through Friday evening. If you send me an email late
on Friday, you may need to wait until Sunday night for a response.
If CANVAS
goes down, you can always contact me at my college email address.
Please
download and print off the supplemental materials in that Module on your
homepage
A Writer's Companion (Fourth Edition) by Richard Marius
(ISBN 0-07-304015-0)
40 Model Essays: A Portable Anthology
by Jane E. Aaron and Ellen Kuhl Repetto
Hacker: A writer’s Companion is recommended.
It is small, filled with useful, well-organized information, and fits easily
into your backpack.
You will also need
A Course Notebook in which you can keep
copies of course materials and
assignments.
A functioning
computer, a high-speed Internet connection, and reliable computer back up.
A thumb-drive
to back-up your work.
An
‘outcome" is something you must be able to do at a C - or better by the
end of the quarter.
Our course
assignments are designed to introduce you to the expectations of college level
writing and to meet these outcomes:
Think and read critically: carefully read, analyze, interpret and evaluate claims, beliefs,
texts and/or issues.
o Frame questions, define problems, and position
arguments.
o Consider multiple points of view and understand
the difference between inference, speculation, assumptions, beliefs, facts,
opinions, biases and ‘cultural filters’.
o Read and respond appropriately for the purposes
of interpretation, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and/or judgment.
o Demonstrate an understanding of a main
point/thesis and relevant supporting details.
Compose and revise in context: shape written responses for
different audiences and purposes.
o
Follow a workable process for prewriting, drafting, revising, and
editing.
o
Develop and support thesis statements that are mature, complex and
significant.
o
Construct unified paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting
details that advance the thesis.
o
Use different Rhetorical modes including Description, Explanation,
Argument, Summary, Compare/contrast, and/or analysis.
o
Offer style, tone, and rhetorical conventions,
which are directed, to an identified audience or purpose
Reflect and evaluate: recognize and incorporate newly acquired skills.
o
Develop the ability to critique your own and
others’ work.
o
Understand habits which undermine the
effectiveness of your writing.
o Use comments from your
instructor and peers to help you to revise and strengthen a piece of writing.
Most college
instructors assume that the average student will study one to two hours outside
of class for every hour spent in the classroom—a total of 5-10 hours per week
for a five-credit course. I expect roughly the same total time commitment, even
though you're not attending class on-campus.
I expect you
to be on-line, sometimes only briefly, four or five days a week. You will take reading quizzes each week, and
generally participate in discussion on more than one day a week; however,
you'll control your own time. You'll never have to be on-line at a specific
hour.
Your Summary Calendar shows the major
assignments and the dates they're due.
The instructions for each week are in
that week’s Assignment pages in the Modules.
For example, the instructions for Week 1 are in Module 1.
These are the assignments you'll do in
our course:
1.
Quizzes
on chapters you will read in Marius (1-2 pts each).
You can take the first two quizzes twice; after that you will take each quiz
once
2.
Essay
drafts (5 points each)
3.
Discussion
papers/Peer Review (5 Pts each)
4.
Revised
Draft Sets (10 points each)
5.
Substantially
revised Essay (5pts)
6.
Portfolio
(includes Essay 3) (30 points)
*Be sure to
back up all of your discussion papers and essays on a disk or flash drive. You'll
need them in portable form in case your computer breaks down or you lose your
connection to the Internet.
The Modules
are on the Homepage. Each Module builds on material that has been covered in
the previous Module. The Module Overview
gives a summary of that Module’s assignments and emphasis.
Additional
Modules include Basic Course Information, additional, helpful readings, and
instructions on Canvas and on-line learning.
The
instructions, quizzes , grammar review, and handouts for each week are in that
week’s Learning Module.
Introductory assignments are in Start Here. Complete these assignments right away. Then
begin Week 1 assignments. Week 1 is
April 1-5.
Quizzes on A Writer's Companion are short—four to
six questions each, 12-15 minutes in length.
The questions will be literal and Multiple Choice. The purpose of the
quizzes is to make sure that you understand the material in Marius. All quizzes are open-book,
however the quizzes are timed. Be sure to read the chapter at least twice
before the Quiz, marking the main ideas in each chapter.
1.
Formulate
a clear, worthwhile main point and focus on it throughout your essay;
2.
Support
your ideas with accurate, relevant facts, examples, illustrations,
explanations,
3.
And identify the sources of the information
fully and accurately;
4.
Use
different patterns of organization, which are appropriate for your
subject: Narration, Explanation,
Analysis, Definition, Cause and Effect, and/or Comparison/contrast;
5.
Summarize
and Synthesize material(s) from different sources;
6.
Adapt
your vocabulary and tone of voice so that you can reach your intended readers;
7.
Edit
to make sure that you have written your sentences clearly and in the Active
Voice, that you have clarified, tightened and refocused them, and finally
corrected errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
I know this
all sounds like a lot of work, and it is; but the results are well worth the
effort. In addition to earning a good
grade, you will be able to communicate your ideas to your audience. And that is a gift to yourself and to your reader.
Caution: 5
paragraph essays are a good way to learn the basics of Expository writing in
the early grades, but they are not
appropriate for college level essays.
For each
essay assignment, you
will write a plan, a working draft, and a revised draft. At the end of the
quarter, you'll revise one draft set again for your portfolio. How to Write a
Plan is covered in the handout Essays and
Critiques.
You will
write your essays in Standard College
Format. The instructions for Standard College Format are in Basic Course Information. This is the standard format for all typed
college essays unless your instructor tells you otherwise. I will not read a
Draft Set or Portfolio that is not written in Standard College Format.
You will post
your Plan and Working Draft for each essay in Discussion and help each other
revise your work.
You will turn
in a complete Draft Set, consisting of the revised plan and revised draft of
your essay, an assessment of your writing, and a copy of a Critique, which you
completed for another student in your group.
The instructions for Draft Sets are in the Week 3. You will not turn in
a Draft Set for Essay 3. You will include that essay as part of your Portfolio.
I will use a
Rubric to evaluate your Draft Set. I will comment directly on your writing and
offer recommendations for further revision.
Please
download and print off the handout on Discussion
Expectations and papers. It is in Basic Course Module.
You will
write discussion papers for the weeks you do not have an essay due.
Discussions
help you to understand the essays and identify suitable topics and development
for your essays.
Peer Reviews
enable students to help on another achieve their best work. Your will read and
provide a peer review for 2 essays for each writing assignment. Peer Reviews allow you to apply your learning
from Marius and Arron and to help each other write
the best essay that you can.
You will use
the information in Peer Critique
Guidelines and Essays and Critiques to
help you respond productively to each other’s writing. They are in the Week 3
Module.
At the end of
the course, you'll revise and polish two essays, including Essay 3, write a
final self-evaluation, and put all of them together into a virtual
portfolio. Your portfolio is your
final exam. It will show how well you've achieved the stated outcomes for
English 101. You will find detailed
instructions for your Portfolio in Module 4.
How you
write and present your ideas is as important as what you say.
Sloppy presentation undermines your credibility. Mistakes in grammar and
spelling make it hard for your reader to follow and understand what you are
saying.
Grammar is a
criterion in the evaluation of the writing you complete for our course. Each
essay will expect mastery of a different set of grammar skills, and build on
the ones learned in the previous Module.
You will find
resources in each learning Module, in Marius, Chapter 7, and your handbook.
Tutors in the Writing Lab on campus are available to help you. I will also send the class
notification of presentations on study skills, test taking, and writing and
grammar presented in the Writing Lab and Student Success Center. I encourage you to attend if you can.
Print off the
Summary Calendar. It is in Basic Course Materials. Consult it regularly so you know when
assignments are due.
When you see
an assignment on the calendar, it means you should finish that assignment by
the date and time it is due. For
example, a Quiz on Monday means that you need to have read the assigned
material before you take the Quiz.
Because this
is an interactive, skill-building class, which relies on your timely
participation, you will need to turn in assignments when they are due. The Summary
Calendar will help you to plan your time so that you can meet the
assignment due dates.
Essay
drafts and discussion papers are
due by midnight on Tuesdays.
Draft Sets
are due on Friday,
but you have until Sunday at midnight to turn them in. However, the earlier you
turn in your Draft Set, the sooner I will be able to read and evaluate your
work.
Dates for
Quizzes are on your Summary Calendar. You will generally have a week to complete a
quiz.
*I know that
the best-laid plans can go awry; illness and emergencies happen. I hope they won’t happen to you, but if they
do, let me know, or ask someone to contact me, right away.
Because this
is a skill-building course – each assignment builds on skills learned in the
one before – you will need to complete Modules in sequence. Because of this and
because our course is interactive, I do not accept late work, unless you've
requested and received prior permission to turn in a Draft Set or take a
Quiz late. However, if you have an
emergency, contact me or have someone contact me right away.
You may not do extra credit work at the end of the quarter to make up
for work you missed earlier. And, since this is a step-by-step skill-building
course, you may not make up late or missed assignments.
Your final grade
is based on a 100-point percentage scale.
Here's the grade scale I'll use:
|
A =
95-100 A- =
91-94 B+ =
88-90 B =
84-87 B- =
81-83 |
C+ =
78-80 C =
74-77 C- =
70-73 D+ =
67-69 D =
60-66 F =
Below 60 |
You must earn
a C- or higher to move up to the next highest course (Engl
201, 235, or 271). You won't have to wait for the end of the course to register
for next quarter; you'll automatically receive the higher placement in time to
register. However, if you don’t make a C- or better in our course, your
placement will be erased, and the computer will drop you automatically from
your next highest English class. Of
course I hope this won’t happen, and I will do all I can to help you so that
you can succeed in our course and move on to the next level.
Course Responsibilities
You are responsible for
Familiarizing
yourself with CANVAS and our Course Site. (I have included instructions on
CANVAS in that Module on our Homepage.)
Reading and
following instructions and asking questions as they come up and always BEFORE
an assignment is due.
Visiting the on-line classroom daily to read
and reply to mail messages and participate in the discussion.
Posting your assignments on time, including
Peer Reviews and Discussion threads.
Treating
me and each other with respect
Keeping track of your grades/points
Obtaining and maintaining access to the
Internet
Coping with
technology problems that involve your own computer or software
Having a
reliable back-up plan in case your computer or Internet fails
I am responsible for
Maintaining our on-line classroom
Monitoring my mail and the discussion at least
once a day Monday through Friday
Responding to
your questions and concerns within two working days
Responding to
your work in a timely manner
Keeping accurate records
I expect all
participants in our class to treat everyone,
including me, with respect. Please read and follow the Bellevue
Community College Student Code. The
Student Code is available on-line (http://bellevuecollege.edu/stupro/handbook/policies/programs19.html).
You'll also
find the student code in the printed catalog and in the Student Handbook, which
is available in the ASBCC office in the Cafeteria building. You'll find more
about on-line decorum in the handout "Discussion Papers and
Discussion."
Your
essays must present your own ideas in your own words. If you copy someone’s exact words,
you must put them in quotation marks. If you summarize or quote someone else’s
ideas, facts, or words, you must say where they came from. Saying where words
and ideas came from is called “citing your sources.” I’ll teach you the basic
conventions for citing your sources now, and you’ll learn more about these
conventions as you take higher level courses.
I won’t
accept an essay
you’ve downloaded from the Internet or copied from someone else, an essay you
wrote for an earlier class, or an essay in which you present someone else’s
words or ideas as your own.
Essays
that don't present your own ideas in your own words or essays in which you
don't cite your sources are called "plagiarisms." If you plagiarize, I'll give you a
zero for the assignment or assignment sequence. If you plagiarize a second
time, you'll flunk the course.
Plagiarism is
an intellectual as well as an ethical issue. Like most college instructors, I
regard plagiarism as evidence either that you aren't capable of achieving the
intellectual goals of the course (see Goals section) or that you're
disrespectful, lazy, dishonest, or all three.
For a more
detailed explanation of plagiarism, read the section on "Academic
Honesty" in the official policy of the Division of Arts and Humanities:
"Student Procedures and Expectations"
(http://bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/policy.html).
If you have
emergency medical information to share, or need special arrangements because of
a disability, please let me know right away. If you're not already acquainted
with our Disability Resource Center (DRC), I can refer you there, or you may
contact the DRC directly by going to B132 or by calling (425) 564-2498 or TTY
(425) 564-4110. Information is also available on their website at
http://bellevuecollege.edu/drc/
Reading and
Writing Labs are available on campus and the tutors are very helpful. Tutoring is also available on campus. Take advantage of the support. It’s there to help you achieve your
educational goals.
Confused? Overwhelmed?
Take heart,
you aren't alone. Don't be afraid to ask questions, express distress, or
request help. I will do my best to help you or refer you to someone who can.
I look
forward to meeting you on line and working with you this quarter.