English 1303, Section XXXXX (TA name) 1 English 1303 Freshman Composition I, Fall 2010 Instructor Name: Section Number: XXXXX Office Location: 000XX Meeting Time: XXXXXX Office Hours: XXXXXXXX Class Location: XXXXXX Office Phone: 713-743-XXXX Email Address: WebCT/Vista Site: Course Goals and Methods: English 1303 satisfies 3 of 6 hours of the U of H core curriculum Level I (Composition) requirement. The catalog describes this course as “A detailed study of the principles of rhetoric as applied in reading and writing expository essays.” More specifically, this course will help you identify and effectively use a variety of tools and strategies available to you as you face academic and day-to-day writing tasks. We will approach writing both as a way of thinking and as a way of communicating thought. We will focus on the concurrent activities of invention, elaboration, and revision, moving in and among them as we explore the choices available to us as writers. More specifically, we will use invention to discover what it is possible to say; we will use our drafts to discover more precisely what we want to say and how we want to say it; and we will use our revisions to further develop our thoughts and to make sure they are working for our intended audiences, moving back and forth among these activities as we mold and shape our work. In class we will discuss assigned readings, but we will also work in small groups to explore and refine our responses, both to the readings, and to one another’s written drafts in progress. The key to succeeding in this course is to understand writing as an ongoing process of thinking, drafting, rethinking, and redrafting. As important as getting a “finished” draft down on paper will be the process of drafting, exploring, and then changing and refining that draft to better meet your writing goals and your audience’s expectations. Finally, we will work on preparing manuscripts that are professional. We will address mechanics, grammar, and presentation as rhetorical issues that either further the objectives of the writing or detract from its effectiveness. Prerequisites: In order to be enrolled in English 1303 students must meet one of the minimum test scores following: TASP/THEA 240 or TASP/THEA Exempt; TSWE 40; SAT 500 Verbal; ACT 19 Verbal; COMPASS 6; TOEFL 4.5; or PENSSE. It is the student’s responsibility to show the instructor proof that he or she has met the course prerequisites. Students who do not show proof by the 6th day of the semester will be dropped from the course. Core Communication Course Exemplary Educational Objectives (Learning Outcomes): The student who completes this course will be expected to: 1. understand and demonstrate writing processes including invention, organization, drafting, revision, editing, and presentation.English 1303, Section XXXXX (TA name) 2 2. understand the importance of specifying audience and purpose, and make appropriate communication choices in such areas as voice, tone, level of formality, etc. 3. recognize, understand, and apply the conventions of format, structure, and style appropriate to a variety of rhetorical modes, situations, and genres, i.e., description, exposition, narration, scientific writing, and self-expression, in written communication. . Texts:  John D. Ramage, John C. Bean, and June Johnson, Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, 5th custom ed. (custom-cut for University of Houston), Pearson 2009. • Lester Faigley, The Brief Penguin Handbook, 3rd ed. (Pearson Longman, 2006). . Copies of these textbooks, and all textbooks for Core Curriculum Courses, are available in the reserves section of M. D. Anderson Library (Access Services, 1st floor). Course Requirements: • Students will write several shorter assignments (1-2 pages) and three longer essays (3-5 pages); longer essays will require multiple drafts. • Students should type all assignments, and the print should be dark enough to read easily. Students are responsible for saving copies of any work turned in for grading. • Students must turn in all assigned work to be eligible to pass the course. • Students should turn in assigned work on time. • Students are expected to attend class. Students with more than 6 hours of unexcused absence (4 T/Th classes, 6 in a MWF class) may be dropped for excessive absence at the instructor’s discretion; while such withdrawal is not automatic, excessive absence will affect the final grade in any case (see attendance policy under “Professionalism”). Other than religious holidays, as detailed below, only University-sponsored activities count as excused absences. • Religious holidays may be excused if the student submits a notice to the instructor stating his or her intention in advance of the absence. • Students are expected to do their own work. The University of Houston Academic Policies define and prohibit academic dishonesty as follows: “’Academic dishonesty’ means employing a method or technique or engaging in conduct in an academic endeavor that the student knows or should know is not permitted by the university or a course instructor to fulfill academic requirements” (Article 3.02; see Student Handbook URL www.uh.edu/dos/hdbk for further details). The primary concern in this course is plagiarism, again defined in the Academic Honesty Policy: “Representing as one’s own work the work of another without acknowledging the source.” Plagiarism will be dealt with according to its type and severity: faulty citation of sources will be treated as a matter for teaching and revision; willful and knowing academic dishonesty will be dealt with according to University policy and can result in failure of theEnglish 1303, Section XXXXX (TA name) 3 assignment or the course, and/or suspension from or expulsion from the University. Academic Support Services: “In compliance with the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Center for Students with DisABILITIES (CSD) provides ‘reasonable and necessary’ testing accommodations for qualified students with health impairments, physical limitations, psychiatric disorders, and learning disabilities.” Students who want to know more about these services should consult the Student Handbook, or should contact CSD in Room 110 of the Justin Dart, Jr. Center for Students with DisABILITIES (building #568), 713-743-5400 (voice)