JACKSON COMMUNITY COLLEGE: WRITING EXPERIENCE: English Composition 131-10 Tues/Thurs. 9:30-10:57 and English Composition 131-18 Tues/Thurs: 11:00-12:27 Instructor: Mrs. Agy Office: BW 245 Office Phone: 787-0800 ext. 7006 Office Hrs: Main Campus: T/TH 8:30-9:30, 12:30-1:00, and 2:30-3:30; Hillsdale campus Wed.: 7:30-8:30,11:30-1:30. I will also be holding OH online 2x weekly+ by appointment Email: [email protected] Please include your last name, first initial, and topic in the subject heading of the email. For example: smithk assignment #1 question COURSE TEXTS: Writing a Guide for College and Beyond Brief—Faigley—2nd edition (See Bookstore) COURSE MATERIALS: A flash (jump, thumb) drive (to back up and transport your digital files) and two pocket-folders, one for your daily assignments and graded work and one for your portfolio ONLINE CLASS and EMAIL INFO: Click the “Online Classes” link on the JCC homepage for online class site. Students should regularly check both student email accounts (access from the JCC homepage & Jet Net) for messages. WELCOME TO ENGLISH 131! I‟m excited to be here, and I am excited about our working together this term! In this class, you will be examining two purposes of our course. First, you will focus on using writing as a place to explore serious inquiry; secondly, you will broaden your experiences with writing, reading, and critical thinking. As the title of this course suggests, we will look at the different ways in which we engage the writing process and how this process helps us interact with each other. Even if we are not aware of it, we are writers in our everyday experiences. All of us participate in our communities and our workplace through writing. Whether these experiences are letters, memos, emails, directions, resumes, or the standard academic essay, we can agree that writing is an important part of our everyday lives. Some of us are comfortable communicating through writing, and some of us are not. I think some of this discomfort stems from a “mystique” that surrounds writing; we might think that some people are born writers, much like others are born singers or artists. This is not necessarily true, and this course will try to debunk some of these myths. My goal is to help you find your starting point and work with you so that you become more comfortable with and in the writing process. Since you will need to write for a variety of courses at JCC, I want you to gain confidence in your own ability to communicate through written texts. THIS CLASS IS A WORKSHOP What I mean by “workshop” is that it is a cooperative venture that I will help guide, but you and your work will drive the course. This will require your full mental and physical participation every day. We will work on activities, collect evidence from a variety of sources, discuss topics, analyze readings or films, and practice various writing strategies. You will be expected to work in groups, both inside and outside of the classroom, and you will learn how to give constructivefeedback to your peers. It is a standard expectation that college students study two hours outside of class for every hour they are in class. This will be more than enough time to complete your work. I will facilitate discussions; conference with you; offer feedback; help you with prewriting, peer review, and editing skills; and prepare you for the portfolio assessment at the end of the semester. I will come to class prepared, supportive, and energetic; I‟ll expect you to do the same. Most importantly, I want you to better understand the reasons why you make the choices you do when you write. This will require active reflection or places where you consider what you wrote, how you wrote, why you made the changes you did, and how these changes influence your purpose or your audience. Understanding the whys will help you organize your thoughts and think more critically. These are great skills to develop. The primary business of this class is to improve your writing process and skills and to find and develop your writing voice. Writing is thought on paper (or screen), a complex intellectual exercise requiring you to stretch your thinking, to think critically and make valid and accurate choices, distinctions and decisions. Like all skills, effective writing requires practice and effort. In this class, we will practice and write narrative, descriptive, informative, analytical and persuasive styles to help develop various writing skills. Although writing is more than grammar and punctuation, mastering these conventions is crucial to clear communication, and we will work on them as needed. COURSE GOALS and OBJECTIVES ASSOCIATE DEGREE OUTCOMES (ADOs) and COURSE OBJECTIVES ENG 131 course goals and objectives incorporate specific Associate Degree Outcomes (ADOs) established by the JCC Board of Trustees, administration, and faculty. These goals are in concert with four-year colleges and universities and reflect input from the professional communities we serve. ADOs guarantee students achieve goals necessary for graduation credit, transferability, and professional skills needed in many certification programs. The ADOs addressed in this course are: Writing clearly, concisely, and intelligibly -- ADO #1 (developing level) Class discussions, activities and practice will focus on: Developing a writing process Writing with attention to purpose and audience Organizing and developing ideas Writing with meaning; making connections Integrating sources with proper documentation Employing proper grammar and mechanics Working in small groups -- ADO #9 (developing level) Class discussions, activities and practice will focus on: Understanding and performing tasks, roles and decision making in group work and responding to peer writing Creating a supportive classroom environment Managing conflict Evaluating performance COURSE WRITING: Our work together will all relate to the broad theme of “community.” We might want to say that “a community is a group of people who live in the same neighborhood” or “a community is a group of people with the same ideas, beliefs, and language.” While these generalizations might be true, they are still generalizations. We will be considering the idea of “community” more closely in this course; hence, for the next twelve or so weeks you will carefully consider parts
View Full Document
Unlocking...