English 1301: Composition I Policy Statement Levelland Campus Spring 2011 Instructor: Kay McClellan Office: Cm 101 Office Phone: 806-894-9611 Ext 2437 E-Mail: [email protected] Office Hours: 10:00-11:00, MTWR; 12:15-1:00 MTWT; 2:15-2:30 MTWT and by appointment Section 007: 11:00--12:15 MW Cm 123 Section 010: 1:00-- 2:15 TR Cm 123 Prerequisites: Successful completion of TSI requirements for Writing and Reading. This course satisfies the core curriculum requirement for English I. Required Textbooks: Conlin, Patterns Plus, 10/e ISBN #0495802522 or #978-0495802525 Kay McClellan: English 1301: Workbook Optional Textbook: Hacker’s A Writer's Reference With MLA Updates 6/e ISBN #0-312-59332-5 The Accuplacer Placement Test: This test grades on sentence length and vocabulary, not on logic, coherence, or grammar; therefore, it's a poor placement tool for determining whether students are ready for English 1301. Students placed into English 1301 from the Accuplacer may not be ready for 1301 or be able to pass it. Course Description: This course includes a grammar review and a study of the principles of good writing, methods of paragraph and theme development, frequent essays, and collateral readings in literature and the other humanities. International students who do no have a TOEFL score of 550 must enroll in Engl 0301 or 0302. Scope/Purpose: The purpose of English 1301 is to help students to understand and apply the standards of correctness in formal thought and the written English language. English 1301 helps students to think well by teaching them to read and write well through its focus on the writing process, on the use of appropriate grammar and diction, on the use of logic, and on the different methods of essay development. Collateral readings from all areas of the humanities are included.McClellan--English 1301 Policy Statement--Page 2 Course Goals/Objectives: By the end of English 1301, the student should have written a minimum of six 500-word essays or the equivalent that reflect the following: 1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: • Use of proper audience, purpose, and subject for a writing assignment • Choice of an appropriate topic, tone, and style • Development of essays that are appropriate in logic, structure, focus, and coherence • Application of logic to create strong, concrete, and developed arguments • Analysis of essays and application of constructive suggestions as a result of peer editing or instructor comments • Revision of structural, developmental, grammatical, and mechanical problems within an essay 2. Creativity: • Topic choice; diction, tone, and style; analysis and paper development • Group work and class discussions 3. Communication/Collaboration: • The writing assignments themselves, as the ultimate goal of the course is to teach students to communicate effectively through writing • Teacher/student interaction, both in class discussions and in one-on-one help with papers • Interaction with other students in class discussions, group work, and peer editing 4. Leadership, Personal Responsibility, Honesty, and Integrity: • Regular and on-time class attendance • Responsibility for the learning process, including preparation for class, such as reading and homework; participation in class discussions, including asking relevant questions; getting assignments and/or notes if absent; and accepting responsibility for not understanding an assignment or failing an assignment • Submission of all assignments in accordance with due dates • Avoidance of all forms of cheating and plagiarism on all assignments, including improper collaboration • Respectful behavior toward instructor and classmates in order to contribute to the atmosphere necessary for learning Course Requirements: 1. Students will write a minimum of six essays or the equivalent, including the final exam, which will be graded according to the standards set forth in this policy statement. 2. Students will read short stories, poems, and essays from all areas of the humanities, participate in class discussions over them, and be tested over their understanding of the readings through quizzes, examinations, and/or written assignments. 3. Students will take quizzes over essay structure and grammar. 4. All writing will be done in class. No out-of-class papers will be accepted.McClellan--English 1301 Policy Statement--Page 3 Course Evaluation: Students' work will be evaluated by means of A, B, C, D, or F: Superior, Good, Average, Poor, or Unacceptable. Numerical grades are assigned for convenience in averaging grades only. All assignments must be completed and turned in on the date due before students are eligible to pass the class. Late work may be dropped one letter grade. Students who have not turned in all assigned essays by the final drop day for instructors will be dropped from the course. Essays will be evaluated by the following: 1. Use of the conventions of standard grammar; major grammatical errors include sentence fragments, comma splices, run-on/fused sentences, subject/verb agreement errors, pronoun/antecedent agreement, and misspelled words. 2. Use of appropriate method of development; 3. Use of the principles of unity and coherence; and 4. Use of logical, factual arguments to develop and advance the thesis of the assignment. Grading Policy: The student will write the equivalent of 6 essays; 90% of the student's grade will be determined by dividing the sum of all essay grades by the number of essays. Exception: if a student has turned in all the assigned essays and has three grades of the same kind, these represent the majority of the student's writing. If those three grades are the higher grades, the student's course grade shall be whatever grade those three are; otherwise, the grade will be determined by the following scale: 90.00%--Essays 10.00%--Final (Essay Structure 3.34%; R-O, CS, Frag 3.33%; Sentence Combining 3.33%) 100.00%--Total Attendance Policy: This is a workshop styled, writing based class, not an online nor a correspondence course; therefore, attendance is critical. In order to participate in each day's activities, students must be present. Students who miss half the period will be counted absent. Students with more than four absences (300 minutes of class) don't meet the minimum standards of