Freshman Composition
English 101-Semester A
Fall 1998
Instructor: Tracey Besmark
Office: 308 Phone: ext. 6371
E-mail: tbesmark@svc.edu (work)
traceyb@albany.net (home)
Office Hours: MWF: 9-10; TTH: 9-12
TEXT AND MATERIALS
TEXTS:
1. From Idea to Essay, Eight Edition. John McCuen and Anthony Winkler
2. A good, college-level dictionary. If you don't have one, purchase one.
3. The Writers Brief Handbook, Third Edition. Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz
MATERIALS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This is the first semester of a two-semester course. The main purpose of this course is to help you become a better writer. You will discover the writing strategies that work best for you and develop the writing skills necessary to succeed in college. The emphasis is on helping each of you learn to write better regardless of your present level of skill or competency.
You will focus on all aspects of what it takes to produce a finished piece of writing (from brainstorming to final draft). From your own thoughts and experiences, you will create a variety of writing forms, ranging from the strictly personal and private (journal writing) to the more "public"--writing you will share with your classmates. The course is set up in as a writers workshop in which you will both give and receive feedback from other students and the teacher. Be prepared to actively participate in both small and large group activities and discussions.
NOTE: If you are doing very well, you have the option of attempting to by-pass English 101, Semester B and moving straight on to English 102. This will require you to be self-motivated and hard working. You will need to submit your portfolio to the English Department for review.
COURSE GOALS
The main goal of the course is to help you gain more confidence in your writing abilities and to improve your writing and critical thinking skills. I also hope you will realize that writing does not have to painful--that it can be fun as well as rewarding, for through your writing you will come to know yourself a little better.
Other goals for the course include gaining the ability to:
*Achieve an awareness of how you and others write.
*Identify your writing's strengths and weaknesses.
*Develop strategies to generate topics and material.
*Understand the concepts of the essay: purpose, audience, organization, and language.
*Write successfully in a variety of essay forms (& illustrate the ability to write the 5-paragraph form)
*Revise your writing effectively.
*Critique written essays in a productive, helpful way.
*Discover your own thoughts and insights more fully.
Another goal is that you will successfully use the following technology skills:
*Using E-mail thoroughly and effectively (this includes competency with replying, setting up distribution lists, forwarding messages, using attachments) to occasionally turn in assignments.
*A good, working knowledge of the Internet and World Wide Web (this includes understanding bookmarking, using search engines, and the on-line classroom site at www.nicenet.net to post discussion topics)
The Process Approach:
~You will be practicing "Process Writing." This process consists of many interconnected stages--all leading up to the final, polished essay. These stages include: pre-writing , shaping , drafting , and revising and editing .
~What this means is that you will have plenty of time to make each essay much stronger than if you simply wrote the paper and turned it in for a grade right off the bat. Professional writers rarely submit a piece of writing for publication which has not undergone several drafts. Writers revise to get a clearer sense of what they want to say and how to say it.
~You will also be polishing essays for your portifolio reviews at mid-term and final.
REQUIREMENTS
Essays:
You will be required to hand in at least four (4), 2-4 page (at least 500 words) final essays to be evaluated for a grade. You will work on at least two drafts of each and then turn in a final draft.
Journals:
You are required to keep a journal in which you will write approximately four entries per week . In the journals I will not be marking your grammar and spelling errors, because your journal is a place for you simply to write and write some more. The point is for you to get your thoughts out on paper, to let them flow freely without worrying about grammatical stuff.
~I ask that you write for ten to fifteen minutes per entry (believe me, I can tell how long you've written by the length and quality). Most times I will give you a choice of topics on which to write your entries; occasionally, it will be up to you to generate your own topics.
~I will ask you to turn in your journals to me EVERY TWO WEEKS throughout the semester and assign a grade.
Portfolios:
You will be required to submit a portfolio at the midterm at the end of the semester as part of your grade. In here you will keep all your work, including all pre-writing, drafting, peer editing work, in-class work, and journal entries and well as grammar exercises. You will also be graded on organization, neatness and completeness.
Class work:
You will be doing a lot of writing, responding to classmates' work, grammar exercises and small and large group work during class time. I will make note of your progress and participation. Occasionally, you or your small group will be asked to present to the class.
Quizzes:
From time to time you will take quizzes which cover material we have read either from the text book or off the WWW. These will always be announced ahead of time (I will never give "pop" quizzes). But you can probably expect at least one announced quiz once a week either on grammar or on a reading assignment.
Peer Evaluations:
As stated above, you will bring rough drafts of each essay to class. You will break up into groups of two or three and edit each others' papers (there will be a check sheet to use as a guideline). You must take this peer critiquing very seriously and give fair, honest, and well thought-out criticism. Your work as a critic will be monitored, so do your best.
Nicenet Posts:
You will be asked to complete 8 Nicenet posts at www.nicenet.net. This is a free Internet classroom assistant where we, as members of this class carry on an on-line dialogue about a particular topic. I will post a prompt or discussion topic, and you will all respond to it, right there, on-line. You will be able to see all the posts of previous students; thus you may incorporate others comments or respond to others thoughts in your own posting. OUR CLASS KEY IS: A5Z09E24.
Exit Portfolio:
Rather than an exit exam, the English Department is requiring an Exit Portfolio for Eng. 101 students. This will be reviewed by English faculty to evaluate your ability to successfully write English 101 level essays. A grade of C or higher on the portfolio is needed to pass the course. More guidelines will follow.
You are required to have a one-on-one conference with the instructor two times this semester. The dates will fall a two weeks prior to mid-term and two weeks prior to finals. More details to follow.
Bi-monthly Letters:
Every two weeks you are required to e-mail the instructor. These will be answered privately and in them, you should address specific concerns or problems you are having. I may ask you to respond to something specific, but prepare yourself to write me a letter twice a month. This requires you to activate your SVC e-mail account right away.
Grammar Log:
You will keep a grammar log in your writing portfolio in which you will work on your specific grammatical trouble areas. I will spot check these periodically.
GRADING
Grading Scale at SVC:
| A = 100 - 93 | A- = 92 - 90 | B+ = 89 - 87 |
| B = 86 - 83 | B- = 82 - 80 | C+ = 79 - 77 |
| C = 76 - 73 | C- = 72 - 70 | D = 69 - 60 F = 59 - 0 |
Grade Breakdown:
Papers (including draft work). . . . 40% (10% each, totaling four)
Portfolio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20% (10% midterm, 10% final)
Journals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10%
Nicenet Posts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%
Quizzes(reading and grammar) . . . . . . 5%
Conferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%
Bi-Montly Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5%
Grammar Log. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5%
Class work, participation, other assignments. . . . . . . 5%
POLICIES:
Other Requirements:
*All final essays, and preferrably drafts, MUST be word processed or typed.
*Late Papers: I will accept no late papers unless you have made a specific arrangement with me well in advance (you'll need a pretty good reason). If you miss a day when an essay or journal or assignment is due, send it with a friend.
*All essays must be turned in. Failure to turn in ONE or more essays will result in failure for the course.
Attendance:
Attendance is required for each and every class session. Since much of the work we do will be in class, your missing a class will result in you missing quite a bit of important material. It will also affect your groups. If you do miss a class, you are still responsible for the material covered that day; see a fellow classmate for notes, etc.. If you miss more than 6 (six) sessions, your grade will be lowered daily. I will warn you privately if your attendance is putting your grade in jeopardy.
Incompletes:
Incompletes are awarded only in cases of medical, personal, or family emergencies, and are given only if at least 80% of the work is completed and the student is receiving a passing grade in this course.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism, or passing off someone else's work as your own, is a serious academic offense that will not be tolerated. See page 74 in your Student Handbook for full discussion of plagiarism.
'*It is the studentÕs responsibility to keep this syllabus for the duration of this course.
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