ENGLISH COMPOSITION I

ENGLISH COMPOSITION I

Distance Learning 2007

Professor: Linda Cohen Phone: 508-588-9100, Ext.: 1815

Office: H114 Brockton Campus Cell: 508-243-8815

Office Hours: Online or in person by appointment

E-mail address: lcohen@massasoit.mass.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

ENGL101 English Composition I 3 credits

English Composition I is a course designed to help students develop and organize extended pieces of writing. Students will focus on the correct and appropriate use of language and the organization and development of paragraphs and essays. Research techniques and documentation of sources will be included. Constant reading and frequent writing will be required.

Prerequisites: Preparing for College Reading I (ENGL091) and a grade of C- or higher in Introductory Writing (ENGL099) or waiver by placement testing results, or Departmental Approval

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

English Composition I is a course designed to help you become a better writer. It can help you to think more clearly, plan more efficiently, write with more ease and fluency, and communicate more effectively. By the end of the course you should be able to:

1. Gather information from personal experience as well as reading and research in order to generate ideas and support for essays that will serve in academic settings and help prepare for writing in career and community settings.

2. Assess information and ideas in order to discover connections and develop a clear purpose/thesis for an essay.

3. Write logically organized, analytical essays that will appeal to an audience through introductions that gather attention and provide focus, unified body paragraphs that support a thesis/purpose, and conclusions that reach a satisfying close.

4. Revise drafts of essays with an awareness of audience to improve organization, development, and clarity.

5. Edit essays according to the rules of Standard American English so that the reader is not distracted from the essay’s purpose/thesis by grammatical and mechanical errors.

6. Write essays that analyze and interpret ideas generated by non-fictional and fictional readings and thoughtfully integrate material from those readings.

7. Compose essays that apply fundamental techniques of research and documentation.

8. Compose outside of class largely correct, word-processed essays that are written through a process of gathering information, reflecting, crafting, and multiple drafting.

9. Compose a satisfactorily correct in-class essay that demonstrates the ability to write independently and to focus expression within the time constraints of classroom writing across the disciplines.

10. Strengthen Core Competencies* in order to increase success in this and other courses and in the workplace.

*Critical Thinking, technology skills, oral communications, quantitative skills, reading, and writing

COURSE MATERIALS:

· Kirszner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide, 9^th edition. Boston. Bedford/St. Martin, 2004.

· Hacker, Diana. Rules for Writers, 5^th edition. Boston: Bedford/St./Martin's, 2000.

· WebCt course space participation and assignments.

· Writing materials as assigned by professor.

CLASS METHODOLOGY: Reading, writing, revision, online threaded discussion, exercises, quizzes, peer-assessment, self-assessment, and online conference.

WORK FOR THE COURSE:

1. Assigned reading

2. Online threaded discussions

3. Assigned exercises

4. Essays ranging from 400-600 words which should meet the departmental standards that will be distributed to you.

5. A documented essay of over 500 words.

6. Other assigned tasks.

ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION: WebCt allows me to see the first and last time you log on to the site and the total number of times you’ve accessed the site. If you have not submitted any required assignments over the course of two weeks time, you will be withdrawn from the course.

· There are no requirements for how often you should access the site as long as you have responded to all online discussions and submitted all formal assignments on time. However, I will be posting information and assignments for each week on or by Wednesday at midnight (unless otherwise noted), so make sure that at least every Thursday you check in for anything new.

· All formal assignments will be submitted to me as MS-Word documents via WebCT email. If you do not have MS Word, please save documents in Rich Text Format (.rtf). If you don’t I won’t read it and you won’t get proper credit. In other words, if I’m submitting a Descriptive Narrative file it may look like: lcohen_DN.doc; lcohen_DN.rtf; or lcohen_DN.txt. It will not have a .wps or .wpd file extension.

· For course calendar information, see the Calendar section of your WebCT site. I will post assignments there each week, as well as in the Course Materials area.

· I generally access the site daily, Monday through Friday, and will respond to your email within 24 hours, in most cases. I may not access the site on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays.

· I will generally read your discussion entries within 24 hours of your posting them, but will not respond to every discussion posting every time.

· You will receive feedback on your rough drafts within 48 hours (Monday-Friday) and will receive graded response on final drafts at least a day or two before the rough draft of your next essay is due.

PAPERS: All essays are to be submitted in proper manuscript format—that is, typed in Time New Roman 12-point font, one-inch margins, double-spaced, with your name, class and section number, assignment description, and the date in the upper-right corner. Pages are to be numbered in multiple page works. All essays that make use of outside sources require a correctly formatted works cited page.

POLICY FOR LATE ASSIGNMENTS:

If circumstances require you to submit an essay late, I will give you one extension (no questions asked). In order to get an extension, you must leave me an email message in WebCT sometime before midnight on the night before the essay is due. After that extension is used up, late assignments will be graded down one grade per class period, i.e. a “B” becomes a “B-“; a “B-” becomes a “C+”.

Grading*

Assignments

Value

Drafts/Online Discussion **

20%

Bedford Researcher, Exercise Central, & Rules for Writers Exercises

10%

Essay #1

10%

Essay #2

10%

Essay #3

10%

Annotated Bibliography

10%

60-minute essay #1 (Mid-semester Exam)***

Essay #4 (Documented Essay)

20%

60-minute essay #2 (Final Exam) ***

Grading for Online Discussion:

On a weekly basis, I will post prompts on tis site for you to respond to. Before you respond, you should also read responses that other students in the class have written. Unless you are the first to respond, you are required to consider and comment on at least on other person’s response in your entry. These entries will be scored from 0-3

0= You did not do, or barely attempted the assignment.

1= You attempted to respond, but your response lacks development, originality and/or does not

completely satisfy the assignment.

2= You wrote a response touches on some or all the issues you are asked to cover in the prompt, but the

writing is only minimally developed or lacks depth.

3= You created a thoughtful, well-written response that satisfies the assignment

Responses posted after the day they are due will automatically lose one point.

· Assignments or schedule is subject to change with notice.

· **These assignments will be due throughout the semester

· ***A grade of “C-“ or better on at least one timed essay is required to receive a passing grade in the course.

PLAGIARISM: Plagiarism means using another person's words or ideas without giving that person credit. It is a form of cheating and theft and can easily be avoided by using the documentation we will cover this semester. Any student found plagiarizing or cheating on an assignment will fail the course and be subject to further disciplinary action in accordance with college policy.

ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT:

In order to ensure that accommodations are implemented in a timely manner, students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in the classroom are encouraged to contact a disability counselor on campus as soon as possible. At the Brockton Campus, students with learning disabilities should contact Andrea Henry, Disability Counselor for Learning Disability Services, at extension 1805. Students with physical disabilities at the Brockton Campus should contact Mary Berg, Specialized Populations Counselor, at extension 1425. At the Canton Campus, students should contact Stan Oliver, Disability Counselor, at extension 2468.

The Writing Center: The Writing Center, located downstairs in the Student Center, is an excellent resource that provides all students with free, drop-in help in all phases of the writing process. Making use of the Writing Center will very likely raise your grade; if you are having difficulty with your writing, I encourage you to visit the Writing Center. In some instances, I may specifically refer you to the Writing Center; in these cases, your visit to the Center is a required class activity.

TENTATIVE READING AND EXERCISES

BSC ENGLISH 101 SUMMER 2007

Readings should be done by the Tuesday of the week they are listed under so you will have ample time to respond to the posted discussion threads and your fellow classmates.
First drafts of essays needing to be edited should be submitted Wednesdays by 6:00; edited Fridays by 6:00; and final copies posted in Assignments Sundays by 11:00 p.m. (The last paper is due Thursday Aug. 9 by 6:00)
Discussion Threads should be completed Thursdays by 6:00 p.m.
Exercise Central exercises should be completed Saturdays by 11:00 p.m.
The calendar posted in Course Documents and in Syllabus has a few PowerPoints and other information listed on particular dates which are meant to support your learning for the week. They are for your information and can be found in Course Documents. I urge you to look at them, but there is no deadline.
EC is Exercise Central which sends me a copy of your work. You will get points for doing the work, but I won’t be chasing after you if you don’t do it. Do a few of the examples until you feel comfortable and move on. Try a couple of the more difficult ones, and then move on. If you don’t understand the exercise, look up the topic in QA, your grammar handbook. Some of you are better than others and won’t need to spend much time at all on the topic.

WEEK ONE

TOPICS: Introduction to class, course, texts, and preliminary evaluation exercises. The reading and writing processes; avoiding run-on sentences

Patterns: Glossary, 785-749 (review throughout the semester to be familiar with the vocabulary) Introduction: Reading to Write, 1-35; Arrangement, 37-49; Drafting and Revising, 51-79
Quick Access by Troyka (QA): Chapter 1 http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/2906/2976175/chapter_pdfs/ch01.pdf
Register using the access code in the back of your QA Textbook http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/access/Pearson_Default/2906/2976175/login.html

MLA Model essay: Create a MLA model essay template for your use during the semester. All your papers should be submitted in this format.
Exercise Central: Grammar Diagnostic Test. When prompted for Instructor email address use: lcohen@bridgew.edu
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/exercisecentral/
Avoiding run-on sentences: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/patterns10e/pages/bcs-main.asp?v=&s=99000&n=00050&i=99050.01&o (It is not necessary to do ALL the exercises you see. Do a few of level 1 and when you get good grades, do a few of level 2).

ESSAY READINGS

“Only Daughter” (Cisneros), 96

“Words Left Unspoken” (Cohen), 168

“Television: The Plug-In Drug” (Winn), 351

“Sadie & Maud’ (Brooks), 447

“Two Ways to Belong in America’ (Mukherjee), 415

“Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police” (Gansberg), 120

“Shooting an Elephant” (Orwell), 125

“Ground Zero” (Berne), 162

WRITING and ASSIGNMENTS:

Blackboard Introductions & Syllabus Critique: July 12, 11:00 p.m.

Blackboard Discussion Threads on Readings: July, 15^th, 11:00 p.m.

Exercise Central (EC) Diagnostic: July 13^th, 11:00 p.m.

EC Avoiding Run on Sentences: July 15^th, 11:00 p.m.

Formal Essay Writing: Descriptive/Narrative essay with a thesis

Draft: July 11, 6:00 p.m.

Peer Edit Returned July 13^th, 6:00 p.m.

Final Draft: July 15, 11:00 p.m.

Movie: Please find an opportunity to view the movie “Crash” (2004)

Directed by
Paul Haggis
Writing credits (WGA)
Paul Haggis (story) Paul Haggis (screenplay) ... (more)

WEEK TWO

TOPICS: Definition; Writing documented Essays; Selecting topic for final research/documented paper.

Patterns: Definition 509-523; Argumentation 555-581

Essays and Visuals in Patterns:

o Thanks to Modern Science pg.582;

o The Declaration of Independence pg. 584;

o Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls Convention, 1848, pg.590;

DEBATE CASEBOOK: Should the Draft Be Reinstated in the United States?

o A War for Us, Fought by Them (Broyles, 637)

o For Those Who Believe We Need a Draft (Jahnkow, pg. 643)

DEBATE CASEBOOK: Is Wal-Mart Good for America?

o The Case for Wal-Mart (DeCoster and Edmonds pg. 652)

o Down and Out in Discount America (Featherstone pg. 659)

DEBATE CASEBOOK: Does Media Violence Cause Societal Violence?

o Sizing Up the Effects (Bok, 671)

o Violent Media Is Good for Kids (Jones, pg. 678)

o Memo to John Grisham (Stone, pg.686)

o Violent Films Cry “Fire” in Crowded Theaters (Zimecki, pg. 691)

BLACKBOARD: Discussion Threads

Discussion threads are not listed for all the essays, so don’t think you are missing something. Although I would like you to think about all the essays and consider the discussion threads and the ideas of your classmates, it is best that you concentrate on the debate you are most interested in.

EXERCISE CENTRAL

Avoiding Faulty Construction:

http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/patterns10e/pages/bcs-main.asp?s=99000&n=00050&i=99050.01&v=&o=&ns=0&uid=0&rau=0

Confused Words: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/patterns10e/pages/bcs-main.asp?s=99000&n=00050&i=99050.01&v=&o=&ns=0&uid=0&rau=0

WEEK THREE

TOPICS: Cause & Effect; Thesis Statement for research essay.

Patterns: Cause & Effect pgs. 303-318;

Essays and Visuals in Patterns:

o Major League Baseball Brawl, Requena, pg. 344

o Who Killed Benny Paret? Cousins, pg. 346

o The “Black Table” Is Still There, Graham, pg. 366

o The Power of Words in Wartime, Lakoff pg. 377