Instructor: Dr. Gordon B.
Leighton
E-mail: gleighto@bellevuecollege.edu *
Phone: 425-564-6168
Office location: R230E
Office Hours: Daily
9:30-10:20 A.M. and by appointment
*I do not routinely check
e-mail after hours, so allow at least one working day for a reply. I do not reply to e-mails written in
shorthand, since this a course in standard English. (10SNE1, for example, should be written as
“Tennis, anyone?”)
Course Outcomes
|
Read
and Think Critically |
Compose |
Revise |
Editing |
|
Demonstrate
ability to make reading connections in writing Uses appropriate college level vocabulary and academic
language Summarize
accurately Demonstrate
an awareness of themselves as learners of Academic Language Actively
participate in discussions concerning the interpretations of texts Reflect,
evaluate and draw
conclusions about texts |
Develop
own writing process based on exposure to various established methods Narrow
scope of a topic for the purpose of development Create
organized, unified, well-developed text Use a
variety of writing strategies including but not limited to description,
narration, illustration, comparison, contrast and analysis |
Develop
self-editing and/or error recognition skill Improve
the ability to respond to critique from teachers and peers Improve
the ability to critique their own work and others Identify
and break habits that detracts from effective writing |
Use
correct Word Forms Use
basic verb tenses and forms appropriately Use
correct suffixes to signal verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs Use
accurate subject verb agreement Improve
sentence structure and variety; recognizes and avoid fragments and run-ons Improve
ability to write concise sentences Use
correct punctuation and mechanics |
How Outcomes will be met
Students will be given the
opportunity to write regularly in and out of class and will receive feedback
promptly.
Students will view films and
hear discussions on the writing process and the conventions of academic
writing.
Students will be given
opportunity to learn to correct the most common errors in college writing.
Students will be given the opportunity to revise and correct their own
writing and the writing of others.
Grading
Course will be graded as
follows:
75% Papers 1-5 (15% each) Late
papers are downgraded one letter per day and will receive “F” after one week.
25% Participation: This is a
subjective element of the grade. See below for explanation.
Papers must be in proper form to
receive credit. Rewriting papers after grading is not allowed unless we make
special arrangements well in advance of the due date.
Participation
Participation
is a key element of any course. Please note that excessive absence will result
in a grade of “F,” no matter what you have been receiving for grades on the
work you have completed.
This portion of the grade is necessarily subjective. I will start with a base grade calculated from attendance alone, and then adjust up or down from there:
1-3 absences A range
4-6 absences B range
7-9 absences C range
10 absences D
over 10 absences F
for the course, not just for participation
If, for any reason, I decide not to fail you if you go over ten absences, the participation portion of the course will be “F.” Please do not give me any excuses for absence. I will always assume that you are absent for a very good reason. But remember that in the end, an absence equals an outcome of zero. If you know in advance that you cannot come to class regularly, it is best you drop early and sign up for an online course, which may better suit your schedule.
Some factors that enable me to give a higher grade than the base:
Some factors that cause lowering of the base grade:
*If disruptive behavior occurs and continues after I speak to you, expect to be sent to talk with the Dean of Students, who may place you on academic probation or take other steps to remove you from the class.
**I regularly receive comments that ringing phones annoy and distract my students. Please disable all phones or other communication devices in my class. If you have a genuine emergency (impending birth or death in the family, for example) see me in advance, and we can make arrangements for you to be accessible.
Books and Materials Required
Buscemi: 75 Readings, 12th
edition (Not 75 Readings Plus or any of the other 11
editions!)
Instructor’s Expectation
Professionalism in the Classroom
Any professional situation requires that we treat one another with dignity and respect, as is required by the BCC Affirmation of Inclusion. Each class session should be treated as a professional appointment that requires your complete attention and presence for the full time.
In my classes I require that you observe the following professional courtesies:
1. Please arrive on time every day with the appropriate texts and materials and stay for the entire class. Late arrivals or early departures cause disruptions that are unacceptable to your colleagues. Please do not come to class if you can’t arrive on time (within 2-3 minutes); the latest arrivals should sit near the door so that disruption is kept to a minimum.
2. If you intend to use any electronic devices—computers, phones, cameras, recorders, translation devices, etc.—you must see me in advance and get my approval. Please turn off all cell phones, beepers, and other noisemakers. I get more student complaints about phones than about anything else. Even a phone in silent mode causes distraction if you have to stop, find the phone, and check the message. If you have an emergency and need to be available by phone, please arrange a special accommodation with me in advance.
3. Text-messaging, surfing the net, listening to music, etc., are all signs that you are not giving the class your full attention. Please avoid all such distractions in my class. Others are trying to concentrate, and someone playing with toys is a disruption.
4. Talking, passing notes, or other grade-school behaviors send very bad signals to your colleagues and should not occur in my classroom.
5. Please be courteous to those asking questions. What may seem a trivial question to you may be the one small point that keeps someone else from understanding the whole picture. Remember that there is only one stupid question: “I wasn’t here yesterday—did we do anything?”
6. Review the Arts and Humanities sheet on student expectations. This document is a part of my syllabus.
7. It is not a student’s right to sleep in class. I will wake you and ask you to leave.
8. I reserve the right to count partial classes (late arrival, unauthorized breaks, or early departures) as absences.
9. Failure to maintain professionalism will result in a lowered participation grade.
If disruptive behavior occurs, I will ask you to stop it. Second offences will be reported to the Dean of Students, who may take further action that can lead to your permanent removal from the classroom.
Affirmation of Inclusion
Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination.
We value our different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect. http://bellevuecollege.edu/about/goals/inclusion.asp
Division Statements
The Arts and Humanities Division
has adopted the following statements, which are a part of this syllabus. Please
read and follow them:
http://bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/policy.html
http://bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/AHGdlns-StdntGrwth.htm
You are also required to read
and follow the Writing Lab statement on avoiding plagiarism:
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
All instances of Plagiarism will be reported to the Dean for
further action. Plagiarised papers will receive the
grade of “F” without possibility of rewrite.
Student Code
“Cheating, stealing and plagiarizing (using the ideas or words of another as one’s own without crediting the source) and inappropriate/disruptive classroom behavior are violations of the Student Code of Conduct at Bellevue College. Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to: talking out of turn, arriving late or leaving early without a valid reason, allowing cell phones/pagers to ring, and inappropriate behavior toward the instructor or classmates. The instructor can refer any violation of the Student Code of Conduct to the Vice President of Student Services for possible probation or suspension from Bellevue College. Specific student rights, responsibilities and appeal procedures are listed in the Student Code of Conduct, available in the office of the Vice President of Student Services.” The Student Code, Policy 2050, in its entirety is located at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/2/2050_Student_Code.asp
Note: BC subscribes to a plagiarism-checking service, and
all papers are subject to being checked.
Bellevue College E-mail and access to MyBC
All students registered
for classes at Bellevue College are entitled to a network and e-mail
account. Your student network account can be used to
access your student e-mail, log in to computers in labs and classrooms, connect
to the BC wireless network and log in to MyBC.
To create your account, go to: https://bellevuecollege.edu/sam .
Disability Resource Center (DRC)
The
Disability Resource Center serves students with a wide array of learning
challenges and disabilities. If you are a student who has a disability or
learning challenge for which you have documentation or have seen someone for
treatment and if you feel you may need accommodations in order to be successful
in college, please contact us as soon as possible. If you are a student
with a documented autism spectrum disorder, there is a program of support
available to you.
If you are a person who requires
assistance in case of an emergency situation, such as a fire, earthquake, etc, please meet with your individual instructors to
develop a safety plan within the first week of the quarter.
The DRC office is temporarily
located in D building or you can call our reception desk at 425.564.2498. Deaf
students can reach us by video phone at 425-440-2025 or by TTY at 425-564-4110.
Please visit our website for application information into our program and other
helpful links at www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc
Public Safety
The Bellevue College (BC) Public Safety Department’s well trained and courteous non-commissioned staff provides personal safety, security, crime prevention, preliminary investigations, and other services to the campus community, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Their phone number is 425.564.2400. The Public Safety website is your one-stop resource for campus emergency preparedness information, campus closure announcements and critical information in the event of an emergency. Public Safety is located in K100 and on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety/
Final Exam Schedule
We will have final
conferences in my office instead of an exam. Conferences will be held in my
office on the last three days on a drop-in basis during posted hours.
See separate
posting for day-by-day calendar. Check site frequently for announcements.
Good Luck!
Success in college depends on three important things:
1. You must come to class regularly.
2. You must participate fully and do all the work assigned.
3. You must engage fully and take responsibility for your learning.
If you do these three things, you will improve tremendously.
Always remember I am on your side, so use my office hours as needed if you have
questions or need help.
Student Concern
Should you have concerns about
any aspect of the class, I encourage you to come to me with them. If for any
reason you don’t feel comfortable raising your concerns with me, the usual next
step would be to speak with the program chair, Steve Yarborough. You can
also refer concerns about this class to the Arts and Humanities Division Dean,
Maggie Harada (maggie.harada@bellevuecollege.edu) or the Assistant Dean, Scott
Bessho (scott.bessho@bellevuecollege.edu) in the Arts and Humanities
division office (R230). An additional resource for concerns you
find aren’t being addressed by faculty or administration is the Ombuds Office (http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/ombuds/default.html).
Daily Calendar
Have readings done on the day
they are listed. Readings are from 75 Readings, 12th Edition,
and are listed by author’s last name and page numbers. This calendar is
tentative and subject to changes I may make in class. Expect in-class writings
at any time.
September
2013
|
23 Introduction
and syllabus; Paper #1
assigned and discussed |
24 20 Common
Errors |
25 Orwell 1-8 Hughes 8-11 |
26 Useful grammar
sites |
27 Lab All of our Friday classes meet in The Writing
Lab D204 |
|
30 Gansberg 19-23 |
|
|
|
|
October
2013
|
|
1 Angelou 11-16 |
2 Grammar:
Sentence Connection |
3 Tuchman 23-39 |
4 Lab: Using
Turnitin.com |
|
7 Paper #2
assigned and discussed |
8 Baldwin 39-42 Clues to tone |
9 Didion 49-52 In-class
writing on tone |
10 Cofer 52-58 |
11 Lab Paper
#1 due |
|
14 Parker 86-90 Paper #3
assigned and discussed |
15 Goodman 90-92 |
16 Epstein 96-100 |
17 Rodriguez 103-109 |
18 Lab |
|
21 Sheehy 110-118 |
22 Noda 118-127 |
23 NO
CLASSES |
24 Viorst 127-132 |
25 Lab Paper
#2 due |
|
28 Lutz 132-138 |
29 Sante 138-143 Paper #4
assigned and discussed |
30 Catton 146-150 |
31 Conferences in
my office |
|
November
2013
|
|
|
|
|
1 Lab |
|
4 Workshop: Time Management (Reading posted) |
5 Twain 150-151 |
6 Sanders 151-156 |
7 Soto 165-170 |
8 Lab Paper
#3 due |
|
11 NO
CLASSES |
12 Workshop:
Stress management (Reading
posted) |
13 Mukherjee 158-162 film |
14 In-class
writing on Mukherjee |
15 Lab |
|
18 Workshop:
Personal Responsibility (Reading
posted) |
19 Davies 170-173 |
20 Plato 256-260 Paper #5
assigned and discussed |
21 In-class
writing on Plato |
22 Lab Paper
#4 due |
|
25 Meyer 213-220 |
26 Meyer
continued |
27 Eiseley 266-269 In-class
writing |
28 NO
CLASSES |
29 NO
CLASSES |
December
2013
|
2 Miner 260-66 Paper
#5 due |
3 Whitehead
205-213 |
4 Gould 349-358 |
5 Lake 327-332 |
6 Lab: Final Writing Sample Tan 358-364 |
|
9 Final
Conferences in my office by appointment this week |
10 |
11 Last day of
the quarter |
|
|