| Syllabus:
Instructor: Term: Time: Room: Office: Office hours: E-mail address: |
English 101 [Processes of Writing]
Maner Summer A, 2003 11:00-12:15, MTWTh 025 Millett Hall 441 Millett 12:30-2:00, MTWTh, and by appointment at other times martin.maner@wright.edu |
| Texts: | Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's, 1999. |
| Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing: Brief Edition. 3rd ed. Boston: Allyn, 2003. | |
| Wright State University. Guidebook for College Composition Courses. |
| General Education Goals
The university's General Education program has several goals, including cultivating your awareness of moral and ethical insight, increasing your knowledge and understanding, and enhancing your abilities to think critically, solve problems, and communicate effectively. For a detailed discussion of these goals, see Wright State's Guidebook for College Composition Courses. |
| Date | Topic (Key instructions and assignments to be handed in are marked in bold.) | Reading |
| Mon
6/16 |
Diagnostic quiz.
[You need a password account for this course. If you have not done so, open an account immediately by visiting the computer help desk in the library.] |
Complete the assigned readings before coming to class. Bring your texts to every class. |
| Tue
6/17 |
If you missed the first day of class, be
sure to excuse yourself before the diagnostic quiz is discussed, and then
wait to see me immediately after class. Introduction to course; class policies; discussion of diagnostic quiz. Last day to register, add classes, or receive 100% refund for A term classes. |
Writer's Reference
97-160. Graded pop quizzes over reading assignments may be given at any time. The first week is an ideal time to read ahead. |
| Wed
6/18 |
Review of basics. 70% refund begins for A term classes. |
Writer's Reference 162-214. |
| Thu
6/19 |
Review of basics. Discuss writing assignments. |
Writer's Reference
242-300. |
| Fri
6/20 |
Last day for 70% refund of A term fees. | |
| Mon 6/23 | Chapter Seven: "Writing an Autobiographical
Narrative." Discuss Paper #1 ("Writing Project" described on page 154 of Allyn & Bacon, due in three days). |
Allyn & Bacon 152-73. |
| Tue
6/24 |
Chapter One: "Posing Problems: The Demands of College
Writing." Prepare before class (in written form, to be handed in) the exercise on page 18 titled "For Writing and Discussion." |
Allyn & Bacon 5-23. |
| Wed 6/25 | Chapter Two: "Pursuing Problems: Exploratory Writing
and Talking." In-class exercise. Last day to drop without a "W." |
Allyn & Bacon 24-39. |
| Thu
6/26 |
Chapter Three: "Thinking Rhetorically about Question,
Thesis and Support." Chapter Four: "Thinking Rhetorically about Purpose, Audience, and Genre." In-class exercise. Hand in Paper #1 ("Writing Project" described on page 154 of Allyn & Bacon). Turn in printed copy AND copy on floppy disk, or on CD, or as an e-mail attachment. |
Allyn & Bacon 40-84. |
| Mon
6/30 |
Chapter Nine: "Writing an Informative (and
Surprising) Essay." Discuss Paper #2 ("Writing Project" described on page 199 of Allyn & Bacon, due in three days). |
Allyn & Bacon 197-217. |
| Tue
7/1 |
Chapter Fifteen: "Writing a Classical Argument."
Discuss Paper #3 ("Writing Project" described on page 374 of Allyn & Bacon, due in nine days). Last day for all but freshman to drop A term classes with a "W." |
Allyn & Bacon 372-416; Writer's Reference 37-48. |
| Wed
7/2 |
Chapter Eighteen: "Writing as a Problem-Solving
Process."
|
Allyn & Bacon 479-96. |
| Thu
7/3 |
In-class exercise: Peer Evaluation (described on
pages 217 of Allyn & Bacon.
Hand in Paper #2 ("Writing Project" described on page 199 of Allyn & Bacon). Turn in printed copy AND copy on floppy disk, or on CD, or as an e-mail attachment. |
|
| Mon
7/7 |
Chapter Nineteen: "Composing
and Revising Closed-Form Prose" [Lessons 1-4].
Last day for all but freshmen to drop A term classes with a "W." |
Allyn & Bacon 497-518. |
| Tue
7/8 |
Chapter Nineteen: "Composing and Revising Closed-Form Prose" [Lessons 5-10]. | Allyn & Bacon 518-43. |
| Wed
7/9 |
Chapter Sixteen: "Making an Evaluation."
Discuss Paper #4 ("Writing Project" described on page 420 of Allyn & Bacon, due in one week). |
Allyn & Bacon 417-40. |
| Thu
7/10 |
In-class exercise: Peer Evaluation (described
on pages 415-16 of Allyn & Bacon.
Hand in Paper #3 ("Writing Project" described on page 374 of Allyn & Bacon). Turn in printed copy AND copy on floppy disk, or on CD, or as an e-mail attachment. |
|
| Fri 7/11 |
Last day for freshmen to drop an A term class with a "W." | |
| Mon
7/14 |
Introduction to English 102 and college research
papers.
Before coming to class, "click through" the following Web site: http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/eval01.htm Before coming to class, write a brief evaluation (to be handed in) of one of the Web sites listed at http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/eval16.htm You must use a WSU dial-up password connection at 879-8720 for these online exercises. AOL and other internet accounts will not work unless you set up a "proxy server" as outlined in the pop-up instructions provided by the library. |
|
| Tue
7/15 |
Portfolio workshop.
Attendance is optional; no penalty for absence. |
Bring drafts to work on. |
| Wed 7/16 | Catch up on missed material.
Review for final exam. Course evaluations. Hand in Paper #4 ("Writing Project" described on page 420 of Allyn & Bacon). Turn in printed copy AND copy on floppy disk, or on CD, or as an e-mail attachment. |
List any questions you'd like answered
as a review for the exam. |
| Thu
7/17 |
Final exam.
Hand in Portfolio. |
| Evaluation | Attendance and participation | 10% | |
| Paper #1 (Autobiographical Narrative) | 10% | ||
| Paper #2 (Informative, Surprising Essay) | 10% | ||
| Paper #3 (Position Paper) | 10% | ||
| Paper #4 (Evaluation) | 10% | ||
| Exercises and pop quizzes | 15% | ||
| Portfolio | 25% | ||
| Final exam | 10% |
| Attendance
You are required to attend every class. There are no "excused absences" for this course except under the following circumstances: 1) Your employer, or the National Guard, or a Wright State athletic team requires you to be absent from class, and 2) you notify me of these required absences during the first week of the course. All other absences are graded according to the following scale: 0-1 absence, "A" for attendance; 2 absences, "B" for attendance; 3 absences, "C" for attendance; 4 absences, "D" for attendance; 5 or more absences, automatic "F" for the entire course grade. If you wish to change this attendance policy, you must discuss this with me before the end of the first week of classes. |
| Recording Attendance and Late Arrivals
I begin class on time and take attendance at the beginning of the hour. If you arrive late, you must see me after class to have your attendance recorded. If you fail to do this, the recorded absence cannot be corrected later. Also, because late arrival is disruptive and rude to your classmates, I will count two late arrivals as equivalent to one absence. Finally, if you come to class unprepared, I may count you absent and may ask you to leave. |
| Assistance on Papers
I am happy to meet with you individually for assistance, but administrative work may force me to miss office hours occasionally. Making an appointment a day ahead of time is always advisable. Since my office hours begin immediately after class, please use the time immediately after class only for corrections to the attendance record and for brief questions. |
| Prerequisites
You are required to take a placement examination before enrolling in English 101. If you have not done so, see me immediately after the first class. |
| Class Policies |
| 1. Papers, at-home exercises, etc. are due at the beginning of the class period on the due dates indicated above. Late work (including papers handed in only minutes after I have collected work at the beginning of the class) will be evaluated but will receive an F, so if you must miss class on a due date, be sure to fax me a copy of your paper or exercise before the class meets. (See Class Policy #9, below.) |
| 2. Papers shorter than 500 words will receive grade reductions of 5 points (1/2 letter grade) for each unit (or portion of a unit) of 100 words by which they fall short. Please do not try to evade the length requirement by fooling around with large fonts and margins. A page using proper MLA format should have 1" margins on all sides, 1/3" line spacing, 27 lines to the page (unless over-ridden by widow and orphan control), plus a page header. There is no upper limit for paper length, though freshman composition papers should normally be less than 1500 words. When you turn in a printed copy AND copy on floppy disk, or on CD, make sure that the disk is labeled with your name and securely attached to the paper in some way, preferably by means of an envelope or a pocket folder. |
| 3. Properly formatted MLA templates are available at <http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/rptemp.htm>. |
| 4. Assistance on written work should be limited to the instructor, library reference personnel, and Writing Center personnel. Automatic penalty for any form of plagiarism (defined as passing off the work of someone else as if it were your own): depending upon circumstances, F for the course, written notification of the Wright State Office of Legal Affairs, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and the English Department Chair. Your papers for this course must be exclusively your own and exclusively for this course. You may not submit a previously submitted paper, nor a paper simultaneously submitted for another course. |
| 5. I normally do not grant "I" grades, since they usually cause more problems than they solve. If you miss an assignment, your grade will be computed on the basis of the work you completed, with the missing assignment counted as a zero. |
| 6. Please do not ask me what you missed. You are responsible for making arrangements with a classmate to supply you with information about classes you missed. If questions remain, see me. |
| 7. Mid-course changes in the syllabus (assignments, readings, grading policies) are sometimes necessary, and it is sometimes impossible to give sufficient advance notice of such changes. Checking your e-mail address daily is the best way to be sure that you receive important last-minute information. |
| 8. My office is 441 Millett, telephone 775-2639. You may leave messages for me with the department secretaries at 775-3136. Another convenient way to have individual conferences is via e-mail. My e-mail address is listed at the top of the syllabus and at the bottom. I check my account daily. Note, too, that this syllabus is posted on the Web at <http://www.cola.wright.edu/Dept/ENG/maner/Maner.htm>. |
| 9. Sending a fax copy or e-mail to meet a deadline is acceptable. The departmental fax number is 775-2707. (Include my name on the fax form, since this fax machine serves the entire College of Liberal Arts.) However, it is your responsibility to follow up the fax transmission by calling 775-3136 to confirm that the fax copy was received. You should always "chase" a fax copy with a regular printed copy as soon as possible, since fax copies are flimsy and often only semi-legible. If you submit an assignment as an e-mail or an e-mail attachment, you are still responsible for page formatting, which may be lost or scrambled in e-mail transmission. If you send an e-mail attachment, be sure to accompany it with a message in which you specify the attachment's file format. (Example: "The attached file is a Microsoft Word 97 document.") |
| 10. You will have accumulated only a few percentage points of graded credit by the time the drop dates arrive. Probably the best way to estimate your likely performance in this course is to ask yourself the following questions: a) Have I spent at least 16 hours (per week) of well directed work for this course during the opening weeks? b) Has a diagnostic quiz over English skills indicated that my grade is likely to be limited to C or lower, and if so, am I willing to increase the time I spend on this class to 20 or more hours per week in order to earn a C? |
| Resources |
| Wright State University Guidebook for College Composition Courses: http://www.cola.wright.edu/dept/eng/wsuwweb/guide/GBcover.htm |
| The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing Website:
http://cwabacon.pearsoned.com/bookbind/pubbooks/ramage_ab/ |
| Writer's Reference Web Site:
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/hacker/writersref |
| Writing Center:
http://www.wright.edu/academics/writingctr/ |
| MLA Online Guide to Documentation:
http://www.mla.org/www_mla_org/style/style_index.asp?mode=section |
| WSU Writing Web:
http://www.cola.wright.edu/dept/eng/wsuwweb/ |
| Online Resources for Research Writers:
http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/eng344.htm |
| E-Mail Links:
Martin Maner Charlotte Droll (Humanities Reference Librarian) Martin Jenkins (Humanities Reference Librarian) |