Morris 1 Michael Morris Office: C-264, Eastfield College English 1302 Phone: 972-860-7247 Section 4004 9:05-10:00 MWF (L303) Section 4006 10:10-11:05 MWF (L305) Spring 2011 E-mail: [email protected] Office hours: 8-9 a.m. (other times by appointment) Quick Links: Introduction and basic policies (below) Textbook Attendance In class expectations Late work Plagiarism Grades and basic descriptions of assignments General Schedule of Assignments Formatting and writing hints Essay Assignments Grading Standards Additional Policies and Procedures Syllabus This course is an extension of English 1301 with a particular emphasis on argument and research. Encountering English (like our encounters with other subjects) can help us grow, and I hope that you come to this class with at least a small desire to grow as a person, whether or not you now have confidence in your abilities as a writer. It is in this spirit that I welcome you to English 1302, Composition/Rhetoric II. I look at learning as a participation sport. While I certainly have opinions about what we will read and do this semester, real learning is not likely to occur for you if you sit there and pretend to listen to me ramble on. You will learn more and get more out of the course if you actively take part: read carefully, write thoughtfully, revise with genuine concern for what you are doing, and discuss what you discover or fail to discover. Alright, so now that we have gotten out of the way some of my views on this subject, let's get to some of the administrative details of the course. Textbooks and materials: Quick Access, sixth edition, by Lynn Quitman Troyka and Douglas Hesse. ISBN-13 978-0-205-66481-8 Dawson, George and Richard Glaubman. Life Is So Good. ISBN-0014010.0168 Most essays will require research. I recommend that you buy and use a good dictionary and perhaps a thesaurus. You should bring these, as well as paper, to each class meeting. In addition, you should consider buying at least one diskette to save your work on since all papers will be typed and submitted electronically. You are also required to have and provide a valid email address.Morris 2 Attendance: Be here. If you miss class, you will miss vital information about the material and assignments that we are discussing and graded work not completed on time cannot be made up. You will also miss opportunities to work and learn. Be on time. Class begins at the time scheduled according to my watch. If you are more than ten minutes late, you are considered absent, though you might be welcome to participate in some class activities. Anything missed, even if during the first minutes of class time, cannot be made up. Should you miss more than three class periods, I will drop your final grade one letter. If you miss five or more, expect to fail the course. Expect me to conform to any policies set forth by Eastfield College concerning excessive absences. Expect a zero for what you do not complete. Note: November 17 is the last day to withdraw with a grade of “W.” Participation and feedback: As a part of the attendance policy, you should note my guidelines on properly formatted writing assignments. After two warnings to format work correctly, I stop reading any writing assignments that do not adhere to the formatting guidelines provided for you on this syllabus and in the handout “Before and After,” available on the course website. This is because I believe the student may not be reading feedback, and thus not fully participating in the course. Note: “Students who are receiving any form of financial aid should check with the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from classes. Withdrawals may affect your eligibility to receive further aid and could cause you to be in a position of repayment for the current semester. Students who fail to attend or participate after the drop date are also subject to this policy.” In class: Come prepared. This means read any assigned material before class begins. It also means that you should be ready to discuss what you read and what you are writing about. While I do not want to foster stuffiness, I ask that you remain respectful of others, of me, and of yourself. During class, you must do work on material related only to this course, mostly likely the project the class is working on. While you are in class all pagers and cellular phones and other electronic equipment must be turned off and put away. You will not use alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs at any time during my class. You will not bring a weapon of any kind into my class. The only weapon you need is your mind. Also, while you are in the classroom, all work on the computer must be toward assignments the class is working on. If you cannot refrain from texting or using websites unrelated to class assignments, then you will be asked to leave the class. I do not allow the use of websites like Wikipedia or About.com for research, so there is no reason to spend any time there during class meetings. Email: All students must activate their DCCCD Netmail email addresses, and use them for correspondence in the class. The website for this is www.dcccd.edu/netmail. I usually do respond to emails within 24 hours, except on the weekends. In addition, you should know that some topics are not appropriate for email conversation. This includes discussion about grades or grading policies. Grades: Your final course grade in this course will be determined on the following: Essays -- 60% of final grade: You will write four essays this semester on a variety of topics. Each paper will make use of what you learn about writing, argument, research, and documentation. You will write and work some during class time, but you will have to do some work at home on these projects as well. You will submit a draft to your peers and may write progress reports and/or compile workingMorris 3 bibliographies for me. Please be aware of the schedule so that you are prepared for each stage. Essay #1 (10%) Essay #2 (15%) Essay #3 (15%) Essay #4 (20%) Exams – 20% of final grade You will take two or three major exams this semester. The first will cover the basics of argument. The second will be cover research and documentation. The third test will be an essay exam in which you will write and develop a specific and cogent argument. Tests will be open book, not open note tests. If you are in a computer classroom, you will write your exam using