English 131 82 Writing Experience Fall Semester 2006 Mondays and Wednesdays 8 00 9 27 a m Instructor Sue Skiendziel Email skiendzsuee classes jccmi edu Telephone leave a message at the Hillsdale Center 437 3343 Course Description This course is appropriately named The Writing Experience as students will experience all aspects of the writing process from generating topics to drafting and revising to completing polished essays Students will understand what it means to write for a particular audience or purpose Through text readings and class discussions they will learn how to be more comfortable and confident in their writing The class will also be a writing community as students will read each others written works and give constructive ideas and encouragement to each other Course Objectives 1 Students will understand and practice the process of writing 2 Students will be aware of the purpose and audience for each of their written works 3 Students will learn to read critically and give helpful feedback to their classmates 4 Students will complete numerous written assignments to become more comfortable with writing and to incorporate writing into their daily lives 5 Students will use the computer for word processing The Board of Trustees of Jackson Community College has determined that all JCC graduates should develop or enhance certain essential skills while enrolled in the college Several of these Associate Degree Outcomes ADO s are addressed in this class The ability to communicate clearly concisely and intelligibly using writing skills The ability to comprehend and use information including written and oral forms The ability to work productively with others Facility in the use of computers by using the computer for word processing tasks and as a tool for obtaining information Textbook The St Martin Guide to Writing 7th ed By Axelrod and Cooper Course Materials 1 Paper and pencils pens 2 Notebook to take notes in class 3 Five 2 pocket folders 4 Access to a computer with word processing capabilities and a printer Guided Practice and Workshops GPAW All English 131 students must complete a total of sixteen hours of additional writing work outside of classroom time These hours include workshop attendance tutorial work in The Center for Student Success and other personalized writing instruction as approved by your instructor To help you accomplish this task over the course of the semester we have devised a variety of activities Please turn in documentation from each activity as you complete it I will keep a form for each student where I will keep track of your hours You are also encouraged to keep track of your hours All workshop hours must be turned in by the date that the portfolios are due A separate handout will further explain the options and requirements Grading To determine the grade for the course I use a point system The total amount of points that a student can earn for the semester is 1000 You can keep track of your own grade by recording your points received as you have work graded and returned A student s final grade will be determined as follows GPAW Guided Practice and Workshops 130 points 8 points for each hour Misc written assignments quizzes 150 points Drafts and revisions for 4 major essays 330 points Portfolio 300 points Participation 50 points Oral Presentation 40 points Grading scale 4 0 94 100 940 1000 points 3 5 88 93 3 0 82 87 2 5 76 81 2 0 70 75 1 5 64 69 1 0 57 63 5 50 56 Attendance Attendance is mandatory I do not keep track of whether an absence is excused or unexcused No points will be deducted for one absence Five points will be deducted for the second absence Ten points will be deducted for the third absence and every absence after that no matter what the reason I would recommend that you save your one excused absence for an emergency If you do miss a class it is your responsibility to contact a classmate or the instructor before the next class meeting to find out what you need to do to prepare for the next class Points will also be deducted for arriving late and leaving early My goal is for you to be successful in this class My experience has shown me that students who don t attend the classes are generally not successful in class and those who attend each class have the most chance at success Although I do not keep track of excused absences I do realize that major events can happen in all our lives such as deaths surgeries house fires etc Please tell me about the situation if such an event happens to you I will be happy to work with you so that the stresses of the coursework do not overwhelm you during an already unhappy time Late Work Policy Assignments must be turned in on time This class has a very tight schedule and if one assignment is turned in late the student will find it nearly impossible to get caught up Daily work cannot be turned in late and quizzes cannot be made up If one of the four major essays is turned in late five points will be deducted from its grade for each class day that it is late Due to system wide processes portfolios will not be accepted past their due date There are no exceptions to this Portfolios Your portfolios will be due near the end of the semester Your portfolio will contain 10 12 pages of your best writing from this class Everything in the portfolio must be reviewed by me and revised accordingly The portfolios will be graded by another Eng 131 instructor A separate informational sheet about the portfolios will be given to you Essays There will be four essays assigned for this class The first essay will be an essay about an important person in your life It will be worth 70 points The second essay will be a research paper It will be worth 100 points The third essay will be an essay called This I Believe This essay will be worth 80 points The fourth essay will be a creative essay worth 80 points There will be an assignment sheet for each essay This will be given to the students as each essay is first assigned and will give all the details for each essay Misc Writings and Quizzes Throughout the course of the semester students will be assigned various smaller writing assignments These will reinforce the learning points from the textbook and class discussions as well as providing more writing practice Additionally there may be small quizzes given over textbook readings and class discussions Participation It is expected that students will participate in class discussions and peer group discussions Everyone will get more
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