SYLLABUS 41475 and 43887
ENGLISH 1550-41475/43887: Composition I
Fall 2009
Jesse V. McClain III
Th. 5:10-7:50 / (S) 9-11:40
DeBartolo B48/Metro
Office: T. 5:10 Rm. 250
Home: 726-8343
vandevner@zoominternet.net
REQUIRED MATERIALS
• Lunsford,Andrea A.: Easy Writer
• Carnes, Jim: Us and Them
• Youngstown State University: Writing (as) Work Bedford/St.
Martin’s
• One Flash Drive, minimum 1GB memory required
• One ½” three-ringed notebook
• A Magg Library Bar Code/Public Library Card
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________
Prerequisite
Successful completion of English 1540 or its equivalent. Willingness to work
collaboratively with others-which will mean planning, drafting, and writing
in a team. Willingness to write and research on a computer. You must use the
computers in the lab and other compatible machines to get your work done on
time. You do not have to be a typist, but you will need to be willing to
learn how to make a word processor and electronic search devices work for
you. If your keyboarding skills are such that it takes you forever to hunt
and peck to complete a paper or assignment, plan your schedule accordingly.
Course Description
This course is designed to achieve the goals stated in the English
department’s 1550 syllabus. This composition class is designed to give you
intensive practice in critically reading and writing short expository essays
of approximately 400-600 words. The course emphasizes the writing process—
generating and organizing ideas, accurately analyzing audience needs, and
attending to the quality of the final presentation (including such basics as
spelling, punctuation, and usage) through an extended drafting process. In
addition, 1550 will provide you with numerous opportunities to formulate
reasonable arguments and to support them with relevant evidence—evidence that
you will learn to gather from the selected anthology and other sources. There
will be four papers and about a dozen short, semi-formal assignments giving
you experience summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, and citing material from
assigned readings. Impromptu essay writing, the kind that might be written
for in-class examinations, will also be written. As the department syllabus
states, you must write a minimum of 4000 words. To fulfill the requirements
for this class, you will write essays for a variety of audiences and
expository purposes and strengthen your essays by revising preliminary drafts
and by editing your writing to conform to the standards of educated English.
In this course you will also think critically about and write responses to
assigned readings as well as planning writing tasks effectively by using
prewriting strategies.
The Work
In general, college courses assume that you will work outside the class. For
years now, the usual expectation has been that students will put in 3 hours
outside of class for every hour spent in class. English 1550 meets for 3
hours a week; therefore, we assume that you will put in 9 hours of effort
into your assignments outside of class. If writing isn’t your strong suit, or
if your work schedule will prevent you from putting more than a couple of
hours a week into your class work, or if you’re prone to blowing off class,
you should set your sights on passing rather than on ‘acing’ this course. As
stated previously, you will write at least 4000 words in this course. 2000
words will be of a graded nature, written both in and out of class. Your
reading assignments will come from a variety of sources and not limited to
the chosen text, reader and instructor-provided selections.
Course Procedures and Basic Expectations
Never tell me that “I know the paper’s a little short but I couldn’t find
anything in the anthology or my life to write on.” If you can’t dig up enough
material in anthology to write a serious paper on, you need try harder.
Revision and feedback are the heart of this course and necessary for good
writing. Each paper must undergo a series of drafts before it can be
submitted for a grade. Papers that do not go through the drafting/revision
process will not be graded.
Each paper must include selected quotes from the selected essays. For each
paper you must consult the chosen anthology and any essays provided in-class.
A selected reader will also be used as a primary material in this class. You
must quote from at least one of each of these kinds of sources. Obviously you
needn’t limit the amount of quoted material to one citation per category.
“How long do you want these papers to be?” Students always ask this question
and the answer is always the same, “until it is done!”
“Do we have to use these computers?” Yes!
“Does format matter?” Yes, but the basic rule for all final drafts is to
make sure your work is appealing to the eye and easy to read. In general
though, use one-inch margins all around, a serif font, and 12 pt. Plain type.
“What’s the attendance policy?” It is requested that you show up whenever
class is scheduled. Given the nature of this class, blowing off a day of
class is inconsiderate to others in your class. For this reason, I reserve
the right to reduce your grade 5% for every unexcused absence.
“What about late papers?” No late papers will be accepted.”
Grading and Standards of Evaluation
*For each major writing assignment, you will be provided with an
assignment sheet detailing the specific requirements and objectives. Final
grades are ‘weighed’ this way:
Paper One 20 pts. 1000 words or
more *20%
Paper Two 20 pts. 1000 words or
more *20%
2 Searches/Assignments TBA 10
pts. *10 %
Paper Three 20 pts. 500 words or more
*10%
Final Paper/Portfolio 30 pts. 2500 words or
more *40%
TOTAL 100 pts.
*Grades for major individual assignments will be assigned according
to the following scale:
A 95-100
A- 91-94
B+ 89-90
B 83-88
B- 82
C+ 72-76
C 72-76
C- 71
D (No Credit) 66-70
F (No Credit) 65
A-an ‘excellent’ paper
fulfills minor as well as major purposes of the assignment
clearly articulates a thesis based on good audience analysis
demonstrates an appropriate pattern of organization
features a flawless bibliography in MLA format
has smooth transitions
uses language appropriately
is well-written, interesting, and easy to read
grammatically correct, punctuated appropriately and fewer than 3 typos
B- a ‘good’ paper
fulfills the major purposes of the assignment
clearly articulates a thesis
demonstrates an appropriate pattern of organization
has a clear, concise, and appropriate writing style
is adequately developed
has a slightly flawed bibliography
may have some awkward spots and fewer than 4 ‘mechanical’ errors
C- a ‘satisfactory’ paper
articulates a thesis
demonstrates an acceptable pattern of organization
follows the conventions of standard written English
may be inadequately developed in places
may have minor errors in style, tone, or organization
a good (B) paper with a major flaw in logic, organization or tone
a good (B) paper with numerous editing errors
D- an ‘unsatisfactory’ paper
shows some evidence of having attempted to articulate a thesis
has many errors in organization, development, style, citation or tone
a satisfactory (C) paper with a major flaw in logic, tone or style
F- an ‘unacceptable’ paper
fails to address the assignment
does not articulate a thesis
contains an unacceptable number of errors in style, tone or
development
an unsatisfactory (D) paper with major flaws in tone, organization or
style
Plagiarism
Passing off the work of others as your own original work is a serious matter.
While some have found it tempting to download papers from the web
or ‘recycle’ the work of their friends, the consequences can be devastating
if you are caught. The minimum penalty for plagiarism is automatic failure of
this course and having a disciplinary action report placed in your student
file; the maximum includes dismissal from the university.
Tentative Calendar
Week One Course Introduction, Diagnostic Essay
Part One: Section 1 Personal Views of Work
Handbook:Writing Process
Week Two Part One Section 1 Continued
The Library
Assignment One Due
Handbook: Writing Process
Week Three Part One Section 1 Continued
Evaluating Sources From The Library
Handbook: Writing Process
Assignment Two-Rough Draft Due..Revision and Editing
Week Four Part One Section 1 Continued
Individual Conference Presentations
Assignment Two Due
Handbook: Sentence Grammar
Week Five Part One Section 2 Wage Labor
Handbook: Computers In Writing
Assignment Three-Rough Draft Due..Revisions and Editing
Week Six Part Two Section 2 Continued
Handbook: Sentence Style
Assignment Three Due
Week Seven Part Two Section 2 Continued
Handbook: Punctuation Mechanics
Assignment Four-Rough Draft Due..Revisions and Editing
Week Eight Peer Response
Handbook: Language
Individual Conferences
Assignment Four Due
Week Nine Section 2 Continued
Handbook: Multilingual Writers
Assignment Five-Rough Draft Due..Revisions and Editing
Week Ten Part Two Section 3 Theories about Work, Labor, and
Class
Handbook: Research
Assignment Five Due
Week Eleven Conferences
Week Twelve Section 3 Contin ued
Assignment Six-Rough Draft Due..Revisions and Editing
Handbook: Research
Week Thirteen Section 4 Issues, Problems, and Dilemmas
Conferences
Handbook: Documentation
Assignment Six Due
Week Fourteen Section 4 Continued
Handbook: Documentation
Week Fifteen Assignment Seven--Final Paper
Week Sixteen Conferences
Return Grades
Class Web Site (s):
http://teacherweb.com/OH/YoungstownStateUniversity/JesseVMcClain
MUST CHECK SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK
and
turnitin.com
MUST CHECK NUMEROUS TIMES PER WEEK
Success
"Those who want to succeed will find a way; those who don't will
find an
excuse." Leo Aguila