English 111 - Composition I - Winter 2001
Roz Weedman, Associate Professor of English
Office S-28 Phone: (517) 686-9534
E-mail: rzweedma@alpha.delta.edu
Office hours: M & W 12 - 1; T 12:30 - 1:30
Links to Assignments:
Course Calendar (Part
1)
Journal Assignment
Personal Essay
Second Essay
Annotated Bibliography
Composition I: Writing and Reading about
Americans at Work - Syllabus
Course Purpose
Welcome to English 111. This course is designed to help you come
together as a community of readers and writers to become a more comfortable
and accomplished writer and reader in a college setting. The theme
of our course, Writing and Reading about Americans at Work, will help keep
us centered as we learn the necessary skills to become an accomplished
writer. Most people come to college concerned in some way with their
future in the world of work, so this is a particularly good subject to
focus on for college students.
All students at Delta College taking English 111 will be striving toward
these twelve outcomes:
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In writing a formal composition, you will consider audience and purpose.
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You will use writing processes to generate and organize ideas, including,
where appropriate, revision.
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You will include a clear articulation of the important ideas.
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You will select, organize, and present details to support a main idea.
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You will demonstrate the ability to move between generalization and detail.
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You will write effective introductions and conclusions.
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You will employ the conventions of standard written English.
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In writing tasks that involve both reading and writing, you will demonstrate
the ability to derive meaning from a piece of writing.
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You will demonstrate the ability to distinguish between the meaning one
makes of a text and the author's intended meaning.
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You will paraphrase and summarize accurately.
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You will develop critical thinking skills.
In assessing progress, you will reflect upon and assess the progress
revealed in a body of
work.
Attendance
Attendance is absolutely essential for your optimum success in this course.
If you miss in excess of three classroom hours prior to midterm, you may
be dropped from this course, at my discretion. Absences will have
an effect on your grades. In the event you must be absent, late,
or leave early for some extraordinary reason, it is entirely your job to
discover what you've missed. I suggest trading phone numbers with
classmates. You must contact me regarding time you have missed and
not the other way around. An absence does not excuse late work nor
does it mean work due next time is not due for you. You can leave
a voice mail message for me anytime at the office number listed at the
top of this syllabus. I answer e-mail promptly.
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Student
Responsibilities and Ground Rules
Students should plan on participating appropriately as follows:
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Attend every class arriving on time and staying the whole time.
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Keep up with all reading and writing assignments in order to achieve course
outcomes.
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Be prepared each class to take notes and participate appropriately.
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Be respectful of all others in the room and handle disagreements without
personal attacks.
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Maintain a positive attitude and a willingness to learn all you can.
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When asked, bring extra copies of your papers for workshop sessions.
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All major assignments and some others are required to be typed.
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You need an e-mail address.
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Instructor
Responsibilities
I will do the following on your behalf:
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Plan and facilitate activities for each class geared toward course objectives.
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Read your work at appropriate stages. Give you useful and timely
feedback.
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Assess your work including grades where appropriate.
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Assist with any special problems you may have with the course offering
suggestions.
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Make myself available to you at reasonable times outside the classroom
hours.
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Recommend your next course in English.
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Maintain a positive and respectful attitude and help you learn all you
can.
Late
Assignments and Missed Work
Assignments are due at the beginning of the class period. Late drafts
and final papers cannot be given credit for any in-class purposes such
as writing workshops. They will be accepted up to one week late with
a 10% grade reduction. Beyond one week, late papers are not accepted.
Quizzes cannot be made up nor can work done in class for points.
If you are absent on a workshop day, you can arrange with another student
to respond to each other's papers, but those responses will be discounted
for being late.
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Classroom Atmosphere
This is a workshop course, not a lecture course. So, you will need
to be ready to participate actively. You will have to get to know
each other. You should be willing to speak up with questions and
comments. The atmosphere will be more relaxed than in some classes.
You may eat and drink in class if you are quiet and clean up after yourself.
In this type of class, students can find it easy or tempting to lose
track of the task at hand. If this happens, I will urge you and you
should urge each other and yourself to get back on track.
You should also work on your listening skills. Time is too short
for me -- or your classmates -- to stop and repeat for one person or a
small group of students who didn't listen.
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Grades
Assignments and activities will be given points as follows. Keep
track of your points and you will always know where you stand in the course.
I will also give you a midterm grade sheet as well as one other before
the end of the semester. If you need to know more than that, just
ask me.
Memoir: Prewriting
25
Discovery draft 25
Final Draft
100
Second Essay: Prewriting
25
Discovery draft 25
Final draft
100
Annotated bibliography:
Prewriting
25
Discovery draft 25
Final draft
100
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Total points for the above three major writing assignments:
450
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Action letter
50
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Response to action letter
20
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Quizzes and in-class work
150
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Total number of points available:
670
The total number of points available could change a little depending on
how many points on individual quizzes, how many in-class activities get
points, and so on. However, the concept for figuring your grade remains
the same: Take the total number of points earned, divide by the total
number of points available, and you will have your percentage of credit
earned.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE ON GRADES: YOU CANNOT PASS THIS COURSE
UNLESS YOU HAND IN YOUR MEMOIR, SECOND ESSAY, AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
IN ALL THEIR VARIOUS STAGES. THIS IS A GATEWAY CRITERION FOR PASSING
THIS COURSE.
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Books and Expenses
The following required books are in the Delta College Bookstore:
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Rivethead by Ben Hamper
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Working by Studs Terkel
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Geeks by Jon Katz
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English Handbook by Diana Hacker
You will also need something to keep your papers organized such as a three
ring binder. You absolutely need to own a stapler and carry it in
your book bag.
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Academic Integrity
Plagiarism, the taking of another's ideas or words without properly crediting
the source, is a serious transgression of academic integrity and will result
in at least a failure on that particular assignment. Egregious plagiarism
(out and out blatant cheating) may result in failing the course at my discretion.
Other types of cheating -- such as cheating on a quiz -- could have the
same results.
Final Note
I know this is a required course and that many of you wouldn't have chosen
it, given a choice. But my experience is that students, once engaged
in this course, really do enjoy it and learn from it. So, now that
you are committed anyway to this course of action, approach it with enthusiasm
and the desire to learn as much as possible and engage in the activities
as much as possible. The grade will follow from this as a natural
course. Rather than becoming obsessive over your grade, become concerned
with the quality of your work. Boredom and interest are self-generated.
You make a decision to become bored or become interested. Give yourself
a break and become interested!
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Final Final Note:
Odd Semester
I will not be with you at the beginning of this semester due to the fact
that a moron ran a stop sign and nearly killed me in a car crash at the
end of the previous semester. So, I am under doctor's orders to spend
a little more time recuperating at home. I hope to only miss two
weeks. The worst scenario is I might miss four weeks. I don't
expect this. Sandy Augustine has graciously agreed to fill in for
these couple of weeks. I know you will extend her every courtesy.
She and I will try to keep the transition problems minimal. Please
feel free to e-mail me to introduce yourself or ask questions anytime during
this period before I am back in the classrooom. Believe me, I am
anxious to be back in the classroom where I love to be and look forward
to meeting each and every one of you. To repeat my e-mail address:
rzweedma@alpha.delta.edu.
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Return to Weedman's Homepage.
Return to Delta's Homepage.
E-mail instructor.