English 1540

Fall 2006

Mr. Jesse V. McClain III, BS, MS, NBCT

Course Code 0916 (6:35-7:50 and 8:05-9:20)  M—DeBartolo 250, W—DeBartolo 252

Office hours: Tuesday, 5:35-6:35, English Department, DeBartolo or by appointment

Contact: 330-726-8343 (home)

                 330-742-3414 (YSU English Department)

E-mail:    vandevner@zoominternet.net

English 1540 is open to students based on composition and reading test results (CRPT). This is also a computer course to a large extent. A fee for this course purchases and maintains computer hardware, software, supplies, and support services.

Prerequisites:

You must have passed high school English or taken equivalent courses. If you are not sure if you are in the right class, check with your teacher.

Course Description:

In Introduction to College Writing, students practice adapting college-level conventions, organizational strategies, and revision and editing techniques to a variety of writing tasks. The course focuses on responding to written texts to demonstrate expressive, analytical, and evaluative thinking. Students will divide time between the classroom and the writing lab where they are given the opportunity to acquire and develop basic word-processing and electronic skills. The course does not count toward the graduation requirement in composition. Grading for this course is ABC/NC.

General Education Requirements: (Material describing the general education requirements and goals are taken directly from the Introduction to College English general syllabus.)

Introduction to College English fulfills YSU’s General Education Writing Requirement and fulfills GER goals 1, 2, and 3:

Goal 1: Write and speak effectively. Students demonstrate communication skills necessary to function in society and to compete in the global marketplace.

Goal 2: Acquire, process, and present quantitative and qualitative information using the most appropriate technologies, including computers. Students demonstrate the ability to select and use effectively the most appropriate technologies for gathering, analyzing and manipulating, transmitting, storing and presenting information.

Goal 3: Reason critically both individually and collaboratively, draw sound conclusions from information, ideas, and interpretations gathered from various sources and disciplines, and apply those conclusions to one’s life and society. Students will demonstrate the ability to reason critically, to distinguish among forms of argumentation, and to derive justified conclusions.

For further information about GER and GER goals, consult the YSU Bulletin, your advisor, or the University’s website at www.ysu.edu.

Goals:

This course will help you to

Ø       extend the critical reading and thinking skills and abilities you developed in Writing I.

Critical thinking is required at every step of the writing process. It is particularly important when collecting data through research, analyzing its validity and usefulness, and presenting it to a discerning audience, as you will in Writing II.

Ø       continue practicing the writing process that you learned in Writing I.

Writing is a complex activity that involves several steps: generating ideas, drafting, revising, getting feedback, and editing. Writing II adds the element of original research, which must also be incorporated into the writing process.

Ø       locate a variety of research sources through the library and the World Wide Web.

We live in an electronic age, and computer technology has affected the entire communication process, including the writing process. Your Writing II class will frequently meet in a computer lab, and you will have the opportunity to learn to use the World Wide Web as a research tool. In addition, you will have access to the resources of a modern library (Maag) with its traditional print sources, as well as the resources of OhioLINK, electronic databases, and online journals.

Ø       evaluate the reliability, importance, and relevance of research sources.

Evaluation of the reliability, importance, and relevance of sources is an important exercise of critical reading and thinking. This process has become especially important in the electronic information age, when we have witnessed a proliferation of information unsanctioned by the usual channels of traditional print publications.

Ø       shape an argument to appeal to a specific audience for a specific purpose.

Information, carefully gathered, evaluated, and selected, becomes useful when marshaled to persuade an audience to accept the given thesis. Questions about which information should be gathered, which information is most persuasive, and which presentation style is most effective will be addressed.

Ø       select and use an appropriate document style (e.g. APA, CBE, MLA, and Chicago).

You must not merely avoid plagiarism, as important as that is. You must also learn to credit the source of information you present by observing rules of documentation carefully, thoroughly, and correctly. This is an important scholarly duty.

Books and Materials:

Fowler, H. Ramsey and Jane Aaron. Little, Brown Handbook. New York: Longman, 2005. 6^th ed.

Eschholz and Rosa. Outlooks and Insights. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 1995. 4^th ed.

1 flash drive with at least 256 memory

Portfolio folder with two pockets.

(2) 1 inch binders

A Magg Library bar code

An active email account to access information and receive notes from instructor and access Turnitin.com.

General Information:

As you will see from the assignment sheet, you are responsible for in-class exercises and writing; out-of-class reading, computer work, and research; and out-of-class writing of all sorts.  ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE TURNED IN ON THE ASSIGNED DUE DATE IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT FOR THE PAPER. IF A PROBLEM ARISES, YOU MUST CONTACT ME IN ADVANCE OF THE DUE DATE.

You have a variety of reading assignments. Make sure that you have the reading done on time and thoroughly. Bring the relevant books to class—we will be moving from between the traditional classroom and the computer lab.

You will have many in-class projects and assignments, many of which will include the Internet of more traditional research sources (such as the library). You have to keep up! Rewrites: If you are not satisfied with your final essay’s grade, you have the opportunity to rewrite it until the date and time on turnitin.com is locked.

Attendance:

Since the written assignments will be made and discussed in class, and since a significant amount of writing will be done in class, regular class attendance and participation in class discussion and activities are absolutely necessary to pass this course. If you miss class, find out from your colleagues what you missed. Your grade will be lowered one third grade if you have more than three unexcused absences. A formal record of attendance will be kept. Tardiness: Excessive tardiness will affect your grade. If you are habitually late to class, you will be counted as absent.

Individual conferences will be required in order to discuss various aspects of your longer investigative essay. Failure to attend any of these scheduled conferences may result in your receiving a No Credit grade for the course.  If a problem arises, please contact me as soon as possible in order to reschedule the conference.

Grades:

You must satisfy the course requirements and receive at least a C- average in order to receive credit for the course.

Portfolio #1….1^st Essay                                                                       10%                        A=90+

Portfolio #2….2^nd Essay                                                                      15%                        B=80-89

Portfolio #3….3^rd Essay                                                                      20%                        C=70-79                 

Final Paper…..4^th Essay                                                       .               30%

Short Essays, Assignments and Class Participation                    20%

Final Presentation                                                                                 5%

Plagiarism:

This means copying another person’s writing word-for-word, paraphrasing or summarizing without citing your sources. This is a serious offense and may result in a variety of consequences from a failing mark on an individual paper to failing the course and keeping a record in your file noting the infraction. If in doubt, ask for help.

Incomplete Policy:

The YSU policy states that you must be passing the course with a C and the problem must be out of your control. The teacher determines whether an incomplete is warranted in the situation. All incomplete grades must be completed within a year or the grade reverts to an F on your transcripts.

Important Date:

Last day for withdrawing with a grade of W:   Fri., Nov. 2^nd, noon.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

(subject to change)