Engl& 101 – English Composition I
Spring quarter
2013
Section LSB (#1097), TuThF, 2:30-4:20 PM; room L218
Instructor: Jim
Chin, Ph.D.
Email: jim.chin@bellevuecollege.edu; voicemail: 425-564-2080
Office:
R230L; office hours: by appointment
I. Prerequisite
Qualifying grade in
English 92/93 or qualifying placement test score. (Some students may find it necessary to
perform additional non-graded work in order to acquire an appropriate
college-level command of standard English usage, particularly in the areas of
grammar and reading comprehension.)
II. Texts and
other required materials that you’re responsible for
·
Colombo et al., Rereading America: Cultural
Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing, 8th edition
(Northwest custom edition OR regular complete edition)
·
Photocopies or printouts of additional assignments (download
from Canvas or possibly MyBC)
·
Extra copies of some of your writing for group work
·
A three-hole loose-leaf notebook with paper for
taking notes and storing class handouts
·
Pens and pencils for taking notes and writing
·
A college-level dictionary
Please be aware that you will need to pay for the
textbook and other materials, and that students in a five-credit late-start college
class may expect to spend at least twelve
hours per week on homework in addition to the hours spent in the classroom. These are basic investments of money and time
toward your educational success. You
must also use your BC student email
account and Canvas regularly.
III. Course
overview
Welcome to English 101. This
course helps you develop the critical thinking and writing skills that are
necessary for success in higher education and beyond. In this section of 101 much of our work will
involve the examination of how various materials engage with and interrogate
the dominant narratives of American culture.
These materials consist primarily but not exclusively of essays and
photographs. Writing assignments will be
derived from these works. In terms of course outcomes, upon successful
completion of English 101, you should be able to:
Think and read critically: carefully read, analyze, interpret and
evaluate claims, beliefs, texts and/or issues.
·
frame questions, define problems, and position
arguments.
·
consider multiple points of view and differentiate
between assumptions, beliefs, facts, opinions, and biases.
·
read and respond to various texts critically for
purposes of interpretation, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and/or judgment.
·
demonstrate an understanding of a text’s main
point/thesis and its relevant supporting details.
Compose and revise in context: shape written responses for different
audiences and purposes.
·
consider flexible strategies for prewriting,
drafting, revising, and editing.
·
develop and support thesis statements that are
appropriately complex and significant.
·
construct unified paragraphs with topic sentences
and supporting details that advance the thesis.
·
apply various methods of development such as
illustration, comparison and contrast, and/or analysis.
·
balance their individual voices with those from
other texts.
·
employ style, tone, and mechanical conventions
appropriate to the demands of a particular audience or purpose.
Reflect and evaluate: recognize and incorporate newly acquired
skills.
·
develop the ability to critique their own and
others’ work.
·
gain a clearer perspective of habits that may
detract from the effectiveness of their own writing.
·
respond to comments from their instructor and
peers.
IV. General work
requirements and tentative grade breakdown*
(Portfolio essays will receive letter grades ranging from A to F. Rhetorical analysis papers and quizzes will
receive numerical scores. Participation
and homework assignments will receive either a numerical score or a check (4
points, or “A”), check minus (2 points, or “C”), or no credit (F).)
1.
Portfolio essays (55%).
The “portfolio” will consist of several major essay sequences that are
completed satisfactorily (C-minus or higher), and a final retrospective essay
addressing your progress as a critical writer and thinker in this course. Sequences include preliminary work, peer
reviews, and rough and final drafts that clearly reflect the development of
your ideas. No actual portfolio will be
collected at the end of the quarter; instead, due dates for the various
components will be set throughout the term, and grades for complete portfolios will
be the sum of the major essay grades (50%) and your retrospective essay grade
(5%). Unsatisfactory portfolios receive
no credit.
2.
Timed essays
(10%). On at least two
occasions students will plan and compose an essay within a 50-minute
period. This will most likely be done
using Canvas. Students who are
unable to write the timed essays as scheduled may provide documentation of a
valid excuse in order to request a make-up.
3.
Rhetorical
analysis papers (10%). These are 1- to 2-page assignments
that are due when a reading is due. Reading
assignments will be divided into three reading sequences, and students may
write ONE analysis for each of at least three separate reading sequences. Late papers receive no credit.
4.
Quizzes (10%). To ensure
you keep up with and understand the assignments, quizzes will be given in class
and on Canvas. Students may not show up
simply to take a quiz and then leave right after.
5.
Participation/in-class
work (10%) and homework assignments (5%).
These include worksheets, essay drafts,
and other exercises, which will be due when requested. Each student will also be responsible for
helping lead discussion for at least one reading assignment.
* Students must receive a satisfactory score on all components listed
above to pass with a C-minus or higher.
Otherwise, the course grade may be taken from the lowest grade of the
components. Bellevue College subscribes
to the plagiarism detection website Turnitin.com. Essays, response papers, and some homework
assignments are to be submitted electronically at Turnitin.com and in hardcopy
in class.
V. General
course policies
Below are additional course
policies and requirements, some of which are outlined in the Arts and
Humanities Division’s statement on student procedures and expectations. The Division’s complete statement is online
at
<http://bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/policy.html>.
Please review the online statement so that you understand your rights
and responsibilities.
All
assigned work is required: The Arts and Humanities
Division operates under the premise that higher education and intellectual
growth depend upon the free flow of information. If students encounter material that they find
contrary to their values, they are not expected to endorse or adopt the ideas
that conflict with their personal beliefs, but they are still required to
engage intellectually with the material and participate fully in the
course. Students who decline to engage
material that they consider offensive may find themselves unable to fully
participate in required class discussions, exams, or assignments.
Attendance:
This is a “bricks and mortar”
class, and enrollment in this section is considered a commitment to be in class
ready to participate for every minute of every scheduled class meeting. Missing any class will
affect your work and therefore your grade, so if you have obligations that affect your schedule, please make
arrangements to minimize their impact on your work for this class. Missing 20 minutes or more
of a class meeting means a student is considered absent; missing up to 20
minutes means a student is considered tardy.
Being tardy twice is considered equivalent to being absent once. An absentee rate of
20% or higher for any reason means no credit for the course.
Religious observances: Students who will miss class to observe a
religious holy day must inform me in writing by the end of our second week of classes
(Week 5) so that we can work around due dates.
Classroom
environment: This course takes place in an adult learning environment in
which you are expected to take your responsibilities seriously and to treat
assignment and discussion topics thoughtfully and critically. Students who disrupt the classroom
environment will be asked to leave for the day; if disruptions persist,
students may be asked to drop the course and may be subject to disciplinary
action by the College. Please observe
the following:
·
Preparation: Come to class ready to work; bring your current reading and writing
assignments.
·
Focus: Be alert and ready to participate.
Do only work that is relevant to our course while in class. Avoid being distracted or creating
distractions.
·
Electronics: Use electronic devices only if you have gotten permission for the day
in advance. For example, if an urgent
matter requires you to be in contact, you may inform me in writing at the
beginning of class and set your phone to silent mode. Otherwise, phones, computers, iPods,
translators, etc., are to be powered off in the classroom; if you need to use
your phone, please do so outside of the room.
Acceptable work
and late work
Unless you are directed otherwise when you get an assignment, assume
that homework must be typed using the standard 12-point Times New Roman font
and have proper spacing and 1-inch margins. The work you turn in should be
reasonably neat and look like something you care about. Work that looks like it has been kept in your
pocket or that has extraneous markings (e.g., illustrations unrelated to our
work) will receive no credit or feedback, as will any work that is difficult to
read due to illegibility or general sloppiness.
Rejected work in some cases may be redone and turned in as late work; in
most cases, there will be no make up.
Homework is due at the beginning of class and you must be present at
that time to hand it in unless other arrangements have been made or it is
considered late. In general, late
homework will assessed at least a 50% penalty and work late by more than two
days will receive no credit. Under
certain circumstances, students who are in class on time without their homework may be able to arrange to turn in
their work without penalty, provided that the work comes in before the new
deadline that we arrange. Late work for
which students make no arrangements will be credited according to the above
guidelines.
If you must turn something in to me through the Arts and Humanities
office, please do not ask staff to timestamp your work. If you are emailing me an assignment due to
an emergency that prevents you from attending class, your work must be received
by the beginning of class to be considered on time.
Because of the amount of work that goes into teaching a class, I regret
to say that I will not always be able to respond immediately to emails from
absent students who want to know what they may have missed. Please
exchange contact information with one or two classmates from whom you will be
able to get notes and find out what the assignment is if you miss a class.
Academic honesty,
plagiarism, and other academic misconduct
Honesty
is a core value of academic work, because it promotes creativity, originality,
and intellectual growth. Academic dishonesty, by contrast, damages
credibility and leads to intellectual stagnation. Students caught committing acts of academic
dishonesty will receive a failing grade (F) without opportunity to redo the
assignment and should expect to be reported to the College for disciplinary
action. Academic dishonesty includes but
is not limited to plagiarism (intentionally or unintentionally representing
someone else’s ideas and words as your own original thoughts), fraud
(presenting falsehoods as truth), copying another student’s answers and
responses, and doing another student’s work.
If
you have any questions about what constitutes academic dishonesty, please do
not hesitate to ask. Claiming that you
did not understand what academic dishonesty is will not excuse a
violation.
Peer reviews
Peer reviews, in which students exchange essay drafts with fellow
students—that is, peers—and offer constructive criticism on each other’s work, are
required and will count toward your participation grade. Students who miss a scheduled peer review due
to unpreparedness or absence will not earn credit for peer reviews, but their
essay must still undergo our peer review process to earn credit for the essay
itself. The only acceptable alternatives to a scheduled in-class peer review
are to get a peer from this class to review your paper using our review
guidelines OR to get feedback from a writing tutor at the Writing Lab. Papers may not be reviewed the same day you
are turning your assignment in. Be sure to ask the classmate or tutor
working with you to sign and date your draft.
Be sure to have a
saved copy of all the work you turn in, in case something gets misplaced and
you are asked for another copy. Please
do not dispose of any graded work before the end of the term.
Contacting the
instructor: The best way to contact me outside of class is to send me an email from
your BC student account. I will try to
respond promptly, but you may not always get an immediate reply. For practical and legal reasons, over email I
will not provide extensive replies, discuss grades or revisions, or address
other issues that may require lengthy dialog such as missed work and excessive
absenteeism. Please feel free to make an
appointment with me whenever you have questions, worries, or comments about the
course. Students usually find individual
meetings to be helpful, and it is always a good idea to take advantage of opportunities
to work directly with your instructors.
Additional resources: The Writing
Lab in D204 offers
individualized help for students working on course and individual
projects. The tutors won’t write or edit
your paper, but they will help you develop ideas. Please take advantage of this resource and
drop in or telephone them at 425-564-2949
for appointments. Help is also available
from the Academic Success Center, Multicultural Services, and other resources
on campus. Bellevue College is ADA compliant, and students with
accommodation needs must establish eligibility through the Disability Resource Center in B132.
Drop by their office or contact them by telephone at 425-564-2498 and TTY at 425-564-4110.
Dropping a
class: If you must drop a course, the regular Spring
quarter in-person deadline is 4:00 pm May
17 and the online deadline is midnight on May 19. Check with Registration to see if late-start classes
have a different deadline. Hardship
withdrawals may be granted after the withdrawal deadline only in cases of
verifiable hardship; students must complete 70% of course assignments
satisfactorily to qualify for hardship withdrawals.
Respecting
differences: The diversity of the student body adds to the
richness of the student experience at Bellevue College. With our varied backgrounds and experiences,
each of us brings a unique set of values and beliefs to any class, which in
turn means that we view and interpret course materials in different ways. You are expected to engage thoughtfully with the
material and with each other, which means that listening carefully to classmates
and giving them the opportunity to articulate their ideas will be as important
as speaking yourself. It is absolutely
necessary that students feel comfortable expressing their thoughts; while you
are both entitled and welcome to disagree with each other and with me, please
do so respectfully. In the classroom, online, and in your
work, personal attacks, including
those based on an individual’s race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual
orientation, as well as generally sexist, racist, and homophobic language or
acts, will not be tolerated. If you
believe the classroom environment has become disrespectful, please see me
immediately.
In case of inclement weather or regional
emergencies, check the Bellevue College website or <schoolreport.org> to
determine if the campus is open. Please
do not endanger yourself or your family and friends trying to get to school
under adverse conditions.
In case of possible exposure to the flu or any
other communicable illness, please follow campus, King County Health
Department, and CDC guidelines to prevent spreading infection, and please take
the steps to speed your recovery along—remember, your health is more important
than any class.
Final comments: Your effort is
appreciated and it will be important to invest time in this class, but
ultimately, assignment grades will be awarded based on the quality of your work
and on how well you have mastered the material we cover. You may expect that what you earn for this
course will be an honest assessment of how your work reflects your preparedness
for college-level writing. The reason
for this is because it does no one any good when students “pass” a course in
which they have not demonstrated that they have learned the skills taught in
the course and advance to higher-level courses where they are unprepared to do
the work.
Good luck and have a great quarter! J