English 1101 CRN Fall 2003 Georgia State University Instructor Day Time Place Contact Information Office Phone Office Hours Email Location Dept of English 404 651 2900 Day Time or by appointment Address Course Description This course is designed to increase your ability to construct written prose for academic rhetorical situations We will assume that all writing is motivated or rhetorical it grows out of the writer s desire to change a particular social situation You will become sensitive to writing for various purposes in all arenas academic economic cultural social and interpersonal Subsequently you will learn to produce writing that addresses particular aims A passing grade is C This course earns 3 credit hours and is a prerequisite for English 1102 Learning Outcomes Objectives By the end of this course students will be able to engage in writing as a process including various invention heuristics brainstorming for example gathering evidence considering audience drafting revising editing and proofreading engage in the collaborative social aspects of writing and use writing as a tool for learning use language to explore and analyze contemporary multicultural global and international questions demonstrate how to use writing aids such as handbooks dictionaries online aids and tutors gather summarize synthesize and explain information from various sources use grammatical stylistic and mechanical formats and conventions appropriate for a variety of audiences critique their own and others work in written and oral formats produce coherent organized readable prose for a variety of rhetorical situations reflect on what contributed to their writing process and evaluate their own work Lamb 1101 2 Required Texts and Materials Glenn Cheryl et al Writer s Harbrace Handbook 2nd ed Boston MA Harcourt College Publishers 2004 Sugarman Tammy and Lyn e Lewis Gaillet Pullen Guide and Supplement 2003 ed Packaged with Harbrace Handbook Miller Robert Keith Motives for Writing 4th ed Boston McGraw Hill 2003 A ring binder notebook photocopying costs for printing multiple copies of drafts of papers Recommended Texts a college dictionary and thesaurus Course Work 1 Reading Responses Quizzes and Short Writing Assignments 20 These include in class and out of class writing assignments that practice skills we discuss in class respond to assigned readings and serve as invention strategies for papers 2 Classwork Peer Review Required Revisions 10 These include exercises oral presentations group collaboration drafts of papers and your written and oral feedback of others papers 3 Papers 60 These include out of class essays that follow MLA format Topics and specific assignments will be provided in class but all essays will assume a rhetorical situation drafts are due a couple of days before the final paper is due specific dates will be announced Paper 1 3 5 pages long Due Sept 18 15 An essay that reflects on our readings and an experience you ve had with education Paper 2 3 5 pages long Due Oct 16 15 An essay that reports information Paper 3 3 5 pages long Due Nov 6 15 An essay that interprets information that you gathered for paper 2 Paper 4 3 5 pages long Due Dec 11 15 An essay that evaluates information 4 A final reflection essay that summarizes what you learned this semester 10 I use the university s grading scale 90 100 A 80 89 B 70 79 C 60 69 D below 60 F Course Policies 1 Late work Late work is bad for both of us it reinforces poor time management strategies and makes it impossible for me to give sustained careful feedback of your work Furthermore if you turn in work late I may not be able to return it in time for my feedback to help you on the next assignment In addition much of the class activities we do simply cannot be made up since they focus on your active engagement with others ideas Bearing this in mind you may turn in work one class period late for a two letter grade deduction if you have an emergency Lamb 1101 3 Otherwise email a classmate for assignments you missed when you were out and come to class prepared to submit the work that is due that day 2 Submitting papers This course emphasizes the development of your ideas in various stages of the writing process We will work on your drafts in class before papers are due paperclip a copy of these rough drafts to your final papers when you submit them for a grade Final papers drafts for peer review and all out of class writing should be typed on a word processor doublespaced with standard margins and font and follow MLA guidelines Computers are available in the Writing Center 976 GCB the Learning Lab in 120 Kell Hall and the Computer Lab in 106 Library South Papers are due at the beginning of class on the date due I do not accept emailed or faxed papers for final submission without prior discussion Always keep a copy of any paper you submit so you can re submit if a paper is lost hasn t happened in my fourteen years teaching but it s a good habit to develop for future classes All essays must be completed to pass the course 3 Academic Misconduct The Department of English expects its students to adhere to the university s code of student conduct especially as it pertains to academic conduct For the university s policies on academic misconduct see in the student catalog Academic Honesty pp 54 55 or http www gsu edu wwwreg LK 4 html Academic Honesty 4 Grading Grades reflect my best and fairest judgment of the overall quality of your paper taking into account how well it fulfills the assignment and its purpose how focused and organized it is how effectively it uses evidence how effectively it communicates with its audience to what extent it engages its reader s imagination and understanding how easily it can be read and comprehended reading ease is affected by factors such as unity and coherence grammatical correctness and the physical appearance of the manuscript Letter grades To earn a grade of average a C your essay must fulfill all the requirements of the assignment present an organized fairly well supported argument that reflects awareness of the terms of our discussion If I have difficulty discerning the presence of an argument or if careless style or lack of organization significantly impede my ability to discern your argument even if the argument itself is good your grade will be lower than a C A well presented well reasoned and insightful argument with few grammatical or stylistic errors will earn a B while an argument of exceptional excellence