Eastfield College Arts, Language, and Literature Division Fall 2011 – August 29 – December 15 English Composition I: 1301.4004 (3 credit hrs) Room C224: MWF 9:05 to 10:00 AM Instructor: Kelly Savage Contact Information: Office: C201 Phone: (972) 391-1047 or (563) 564-9040 Email address: [email protected] Hours Available: by appointment. Please include your course number (1301.4004) and full name in the subject line of any emails you send me. I will usually respond to your emails within 24 hours. If you have a time-sensitive issue, you can call me at 563-564-9040 and leave a message that I will return as soon as possible. You are also welcome to text me, but remember to include your name and the class number in the text. Course Description: Prerequisite: One of the following must be met: (1) Developmental Reading 0093 AND Developmental Writing 0093; (2) English as a Second Language (ESOL) 0044 AND 0054; or (3) have met Texas Success Initiative (TSI) Reading and Writing standards AND DCCCD Writing score prerequisite requirement. This course focuses on student writing. It emphasizes reading and analytical thinking and introduces research skills. Students practice writing for a variety of audiences and purposes. Textbooks and Other Course Materials: Johnson-Sheehan, Richard and Charles Paine. Writing Today. Boston: Pearson, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-205-61744-9. Small spiral notebook to be used exclusively for the Journaling component of this class Spiral notebook or loose-leaf paper for class notes (these two spiral notebooks may be combined IF you keep the Journal entries in a separate section) Recommended: Flash drive (office supply stores sell the basic models for about $10 or $15) Student Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of the English program at Eastfield College, students should be able to:  Understand and demonstrate the importance of purpose and audience.  Produce unified, coherent, and developed essays above the 12th grade level.  Participate effectively in groups.  Understand and apply the basic principles of critical thinking, problem solving, and technical proficiency in the development of exposition and argument.  Understand and appropriately apply modes of expression, i.e., descriptive, expositive, narrative, scientific, and self-expressive, in written, visual and oral communication.  Analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials – books, short stories, articles.  Understand and demonstrate proficiency as dictated by the writing process – planning, drafting, shaping, revising, editing and proofreading.  Use computer-based technology in communication, solving problems, and acquiring information.  Understand and utilize vocabulary above the 12th grade level.2  Understand the basic principles of research. Evaluation Procedures: You will be required to complete six essays by the end of the semester, including a timed, in-class exam essay and a research paper. The papers will be submitted in print, but you are required to keep your electronic file of each essay so that it is available upon request any time during the semester. The first four essays will be of various lengths between 2 to 5 pages long; the fifth essay will be 4 pages of preparatory work for the research paper; and the research paper will be longer. Each essay is worth 100 points except for Essay 2, which is worth 50 points and will be completed in class and Essay 6, the research paper, which will be worth 200 points. All together, your essays will make up 650 points (which is 65% of your grade for the course). Essay 3 and the Research Paper (Essay 6) will be peer-reviewed by two classmates, and the reviews must be turned in with the revised final draft. The schedule will list the dates for the peer review sessions, which will be completed in class. Those dates are mandatory attendance dates; your essays will receive a severe point-penalty that will make them almost impossible to pass if you do not participate in the peer reviews. Beginning with Essay 4, the essays will each use an increasing number of source materials that you will learn how to properly document during the semester. Those essays must have quotation marks around source language, in-text citation parentheticals, and works cited pages. Learning how to correctly document and integrate sources in your writing is an important part of your writing journey in this class. Your research paper will not be accepted for grading if it is missing in-text citations or the works cited page. Essays 1, 3, 4, and 5 may be revised and resubmitted once each for a higher grade. Simply make corrections to your work, attach a new final draft to the top of the graded paper that was returned to you, and turn it back in to me within ONE week of the date the paper was returned. Points will be added to your work depending upon the amount of revision and effort that was put into the corrections. In addition to writing essays, you are required to do the assigned reading that is listed in your schedule. This will include chapter readings that explain various genres and writing strategies, student and professional essays, and short stories. Most of the assigned readings are followed by questions you can choose from to write journal entries in your designated journaling notebook. At four different points during the semester, your journals will be collected and graded for content (not graded for punctuation/spelling/mechanics). The purpose of the journal checks is to see that you are reading the assignments and thinking critically about the information contained in the essays and stories. Each journal check will be worth 25 points for a total of 100. Each student needs to participate in the Word Presentation activity. Early in the semester, you will randomly draw a card from a stack, and that card will list a date for your presentation and a pair of commonly misused or confused words. On the designated date, it will be your responsibility to teach the class about your pair of words using a visual aid and sample sentences. You will also write fill-in-the-blank sentences for your assigned words and turn in a printed copy of your presentation highlights. You will earn up to 50 points for your presentation. More details will be given when the word cards are distributed. It is3 important to listen to your peers’ explanations of the words politely and respectfully since you will be quizzed on your