Bristol Community College
Course Syllabus
College Writing, ENG 11, Section A2W
Distance Learning
Assistant Professor: Debra Anderson
Phone: (508) 678-2811 x2445
E-mail Address: danderso@bristol.mass.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. or by appointment, face-to-face or in cyberspace.
Office: B214
Course Description: (taken from the BCC Catalog 2005-2006)
The first semester of freshman English is a prerequisite for ENG 12 or 14. Students may write on subjects from their own experience and/or from assigned readings, and they may be asked to share their work in class. Students are responsible for keeping their work and revising it. Students will conduct research and write a paper using research. Prerequisite: Satisfactory performance on the writing skills test or "C" or better in English 10.
Required Textbooks:
Dodd, Jack. The Ready Reference Handbook, 3rd edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon 2003.
Kelly, William J. Strategy and Structure: Short Readings for Composition, 3rd edition.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 2002.
Objectives:
At the completion of the course, you will be able to
· read critically, recognizing the difference between opinion and evidence;
· compose unified, coherent paragraphs that develop topic sentences with detailed support;
· write essays in and outside of class that use processes that include developing a thesis, discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing a finished paper;
· write essays using varied rhetorical strategies; and
· produce a research essay which uses textual evidence and is documented to Modern
Language Association standards.
Course Requirements:
· frequent written responses to prompts posted on the class online discussion board;
· one or two in-class essays;
· five revised essays (3-5 pages in length), using varied rhetorical strategies;
· a lesson on an editing issue;
· a quiz on editing issues;
· an assessment portfolio; and
· a self-evaluation letter discussing your growth as a writer.
Essays will be submitted in draft form and later in revised form. You will receive feedback on drafts before revising.
As a member of this class, you will participate in the English 11 Portfolio Assessment Project. As a participant in this project, you will benefit by being in a small class and by knowing that in order to pass this course your writing must demonstrate a level of skill that is consistent with that of students taking this course with other instructors at BCC.
I will keep a copy of all of your final drafts on file, and at the end of the semester, you will select your four best pieces of writing (One of these pieces must be an essay that uses research, and another must be an in-class essay). This portfolio will be assessed by two other members of the English Department. Portfolios will be scored “pass” or “fail.” If your portfolio passes, the grade you have earned for your coursework will be issued. If your portfolio fails, but you have earned a passing grade for your coursework, an “I” (Incomplete) grade will be issued. If you receive an “I,” the Portfolio Assessment Committee Chair will contact you, and she will help you develop and carry out a plan for working on the aspects of your writing that need strengthening. Then you will rework and resubmit your portfolio. When your portfolio passes, the grade you earned for your coursework will be issued. This “I” grade will not prevent you from moving on to English 12, but you will not receive credit for English 11 until your portfolio passes and your course grade is released. It is important that you follow this procedure, as a passing grade in English 11 is a graduation requirement.
If you do not attempt to revise your portfolio within one semester of receiving a “fail,” the Incomplete (“I”) will turn into a “fail” (“F”) for the course. In this case, you will need to take the entire course over in order to receive credit.
Online Threaded Discussion:
Online threaded discussion will be an important part of this course, as it is one of the ways that we will interact with each other. It will also provide you with an opportunity to write on topics or issues related to your major writing assignments in a less formal way. I will begin one or two threaded discussions per week and you will be expected to respond to me and other students by the stated deadline. For more information regarding online discussion, click here.
Editing Lesson Handout:
You will be responsible for developing an editing lesson handout on an editing issue from our handbook. I will assign you a topic based on issues I identify in your writing and provide you with a model for the structure of the handout. You will be responsible for preparing a brief editing exercise and correcting other students’ responses. You’ll receive more details about this assignment in week #6.
Instructional Methodology:
Instruction will be delivered through email messages, website materials, threaded discussion, small group projects, and assigned readings.
Participation policy:
· Attendance at three on-campus class meetings is required. The times and places for these meetings are as follows:
· Tuesday, September 6th from 11 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. in L-220.
· Tuesday, October 25th from 11 a.m.- 11:50 a.m., room to be announced.
· Tuesday, December 13th from 11 a.m. – 12 noon, room to be announced
Students who miss the first-week meeting must schedule an appointment with me during the first week. (Students who miss the on-campus midterm or final exams may be allowed to make up the exam, but only if we make arrangements ahead of time.)
Policy for Late Assignments:
If circumstances require you to submit an essay late, I will give you one extension (no questions asked) until the weekday. In order to get an extension, you must leave me a voice mail or email message 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 and Order of Assignments*:
|
Assignments |
Value |
|
Drafts/Online Discussion** |
20% |
|
Essay #1 |
10% |
|
Essay #2 |
10% |
|
Editing Mini-Lesson** |
10% |
|
Essay #3 |
10% |
|
50-minute essay #1 (Midsemester Exam)*** |
5% |
|
Essay #4 |
20% |
|
50-minute essay #2 (Final Exam)*** |
5% |
|
Self-evaluation Letter |
10% |
On a weekly basis, I will post prompts on this 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 one 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 that are posted after the day they are due will automatically lose one point.
Student Accountability Statement:
Plagiarism is defined as "stealing and using the ideas or writings of another as your own." 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.
*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.