Course Syllabus
Winter 2013
ENGL&
101 ENGLISH COMPOSITION I
Instructor: James
Torrence
E-mail: Please contact me via our Instructure
Canvas class site e-mail.
If the class site is down, e-mail me at: jtorrenc@bellevuecollege.edu
Textbooks:
The Complete Persepolis, by Marjane
Satrapi
The Complete Maus, by Art Spiegelman
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel
Course description:
Welcome to English
&101 online. In this class you will have opportunity to be exposed to and
reflect upon a series of graphic novels, further explore ideas through
developing and completing your own essays using the writing processes all
writers employ, and provide constructive and supportive feedback to essays
composed by other class members. Since good reading and good writing are
intimately linked, be prepared to READ and RE-READ the assigned books carefully
and participate in discussion with the whole class.
What will you then
typically do from week to week? Here's a list of typical English 101 activities
you'll participate in during the course:
Read the assigned texts, at least
twice. Though it may seem counter-intuitive to some, graphic novels tend to be
rather complex, so allow extra time to re-read them. In another words, read
the books at least twice and take notes (or use whatever mnemonic method of
works best for you).
Join other students in regularly
scheduled large group discussions about your shared responses to the readings
where you will be graded on your posted responses and comments.
Begin, revise, and then post with your
peer review group two major essays during the course of the quarter.
Provide constructive evaluations, for
which you will be graded, for other peer review group members' essays.
Submit your revised/final copy of each
essay to your instructor, via e-mail.
Course Outcomes:
Demonstrate various invention
practices: brainstorming, free writing, outlining, and journaling.
Demonstrate ability to write in
various modes: personal narrative, expository, analytical, descriptive, and
argument.
Demonstrate the phases of writing:
brainstorming, drafting, revision, final copy.
Explore sources of writing: reading,
thinking, analyzing, and discussion.
Create a thesis statement that
expresses the focus of the paper, does not point out the obvious, and is
written as a complete sentence.
Develop and include enough details and
examples to support the identified thesis and reinforce the essay's focus.
Demonstrate various patterns of
organization and use the organization pattern that suits your identified
purpose and audience.
Demonstrate awareness of Audience in
your writing.
Artfully combine Audience, Purpose,
and Tone in compositions written in and outside of class.
Write in a vocabulary appropriate to
your subject and identified audience.
Begin and conclude a paper
effectively.
Show effective control of mechanics:
paragraphing, punctuation, and spelling.
Differentiate between key ideas and
supporting details in reading.
Locate the thesis statement in reading
assignments.
Practice good group skills: i.e. give
useful feedback and make use of feedback you receive.
Develop self-assessment skills.
Assignments:
Intro essay = 50 points
Essay #1 = 100 points
Essay #2 = 150 points
Essay #3 = 200 points
Self evaluation essay = 50 points
s Completing peer
evaluation forms = 150 points (50 points per evaluation cycle)
s Posting rough drafts before deadlines
for peer evaluation = 90 points (30 per draft)
s Posting responses in weekly
discussions = 140 points (20 points per
discussion)
s Posting comments in weekly
discussions = 70 points (10 points per
discussion)
*GRADES FOR ANY WORK COMPLETED AFTER
DEADLINE WILL BE LOWERED CONSIDERABLY. I WILL BE PARTICULARLY STRICT WITH THE
DEADLINES FOR SUBMITTING YOUR ROUGH AND FINAL DRAFT ESSAYS.
*IN ORDER TO GET CREDIT
FOR THE COURSE, ALL WORK MUST BE COMPLETED BY THE LAST DAY OF OUR CLASS ONLINE.
Grade scale:
A
94-100%
C+ 77-79%
A-
90-93%
C
74-76%
B+
87-89%
C-
70-73%
B 84-86%
D
66-69%
B- 80-83%
F 00-65%
Formal Essay Grading Criteria:
There
are five things I look for when I am grading your writing. They are:
1. Content. Most importantly, your ideas
must be fully developed with vivid, concrete detail. The topic and thesis
statement must be significant and clearly expressed. Basically, the paper
as a whole should be interesting and substantial. Plagiarized material
will earn you a 0 for the assignment in which it is found.
2. Organization. Your essay should be ordered in logical steps,
which remind me that your mind is at work behind the essay. The
organization of the essay should reveal a sense of symmetry, beginning with an
introduction and ending with a conclusion. Your paragraphs should be
properly developed (typically 4 to 8 sentences) and should be linked with
transitions. Overall, the structure of the essay should be coherent,
cohesive, and clear.
3. Expression. Your sentences should be forceful, but not
monotonous. Your language should be appropriate (not slang), precise (not
vague), and efficient (not wordy). Your tone should complement the
subject, distinguish the writer, and define the audience.
4. Mechanics. Use proper grammar. Use proper syntax.
Avoid punctuation, spelling, or usage errors.
5. Format. Use 10-point font. Use standard academic document
design.
****For
more information on my grading practices, please review my "Grading
Matrix," which is linked to the left. As a final note, please remember
that your assignments need to be submitted in a professional manner and on
time. Late work loses 10% of its point value for every day late and
will be graded at the end of the quarter.****
Computer skills and this class:
Are you expected to be
on the competitive edge with Bill Gates? Of course not, but. . . you do need to
know how to navigate the web using your web browser (e.g. Firefox, Chrome,
Safari, etc.), e-mail your assignments as attachments (and open up others), be
comfortable with a word processing system, AND HAVE ACCESS TO AND USE MS WORD
(or a Word-compatible application, such as Open Office), upload (and download)
programs and files with ease, have all the hardware and software necessary, and
so forth. What's important in all this is that you know what resources you need
for this course and know how to access those resources
Finally, you must always have a back-up plan for completing your work, in
case your server is down, computer crashes, etc. And for distance
education questions, contact the folks in Distance Education (via
landerso@bellevuecollege.edu or Phone: 425-564-2438 or l-877-641-2712 toll
free).
DO keep a hard copy of
this contact info handy for easy access!!! If you really need it, you probably
won't be able to access the course site for it. If you contact me, for
example, with a problem (via our class mail), I may advise you to contact these
folks, but I won't use precious "class time" to type the e-mail
and/or telephone numbers.
Ethics with online academic work:
Do you think this is a subject
everyone thinks about but no one talks about? Well, here is the scoop for this
course. Do your own work. If you use an idea or example from an assigned text,
be sure you let the reader know. If you "borrow" an essay from
another, either a relative, a friend, or someone online and submit it as your
own, you will receive an "F" for that assignment. If it happens
again, you will receive an F for your final course grade. You should find the
work YOU DO in this course to be enriching and rewarding. You may even discover
a beginning of a novel or collection of essays in your writings by the end of
the quarter.
Online etiquette:
1. Be honest but courteous
in your postings, responses, comments. Remember that, unlike a traditional
classroom, we don't have the other ways of communicating including the whole
repertoire of body language, of speaking and seeing and listening IN
PERSON. We just have our screen and our words, so please use them
carefully.
2. Rude or disrespectful
comments directed at other members of the class or at the instructor are
not acceptable.
3. If you feel a student
has attacked you or treated you respectfully, do not respond.
Instead, contact your instructor, and he will handle the matter.
4. Consider this class
like a community where we learn from each other in a supportive and academic
environment.
5. Please refer to
the Arts & Humanities Policies (http://bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/policy.html). It is
your responsibility to be familiar with the policies of this course and the
Arts & Humanities division.
Values Conflicts:
Essential to a liberal
arts education is an open-minded tolerance for ideas and modes of expression
that might conflict with ones personal values. By being exposed to such
ideas or expressions, students are not expected to endorse or adopt them but
rather to understand that they are part of the free flow of information upon
which higher education depends.
To this end, you may
find that class requirements may include engaging certain materials, such as
books, films, and art work, which may, in whole or in part, offend you.
These materials are equivalent to required texts and are essential to the
course content. If you decline to engage the required material by not
reading, viewing, or performing material you consider offensive, you will still
be required to meet class requirements in order to earn credit. This may
require responding to the content of the material, and you may not be able to
fully participate in required class discussions, exams, or assignments.