Instructor: Gerard Canavan
Office: McIver 334K
Phone: 256-0483
Email: gerry_canavan@uncg.edu
Office Hours: 11-12 MWF or by appointment
SYLLABUS

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The purpose of English 101 is to help you become better readers and writers. The skills you learn in this course will help you throughout your college career and into the “real world” (whatever your ultimate goals may be). This course will help you hone your arguments, tailor your writing to its audience, and sharpen the critical, analytical, and rhetorical thinking skills you already have. It will also help you develop your own voice as a writer.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
• Write clearly and revise effectively
• Make an successful argument
• Make use of their individual voice in their writing
• Respond to articles and prompts
• Understand the aims and methods of intellectual discourse
• Evaluate different viewpoints

TEXTS
Required:
Wendy Bishop. On Writing: A Process Reader.
(ISBN: 0-07-237939-1)
Tim O’Brien. The Things They Carried.
(ISBN: 0-7679-02089-0)
Rita Jones-Hyde, Chris Porter, and Liz Vogel, editors. Writing Matters.

Highly Recommended:
Strunk & White. The Elements of Style.
(ISBN: 0-205-30902-X)

GRADING POLICY
Your grade in this class will be determined by two criteria:

Class Participation, Attendance, In-Class Writing, On-Time Essays, and Journals…..50%
Final Portfolio……………………………………………………….…….…………..50%

The most important part of your grade is your final portfolio, which will be at least 20 pages of revised writing, and which will be the sum total of all the work you do in this class this semester. More information on the portfolio will be provided in class.

Save your drafts! These will need to be in your final portfolio. All of the writing you do for this class is eligible for the final portfolio, so save everything.

JOURNALS
You will be expected to keep a journal in this class, with at least 1 typed page per week of material. What you write about in your journal is completely open—but please remember that I will be reading it. Do not write anything in your journal that you would not want me to see. But I encourage you to feel free to write anything in your journals.

I’ll collect your journal about once a month.

Your journal will not be graded for content, only for completion.

IN-CLASS WRITING & MINOR ASSIGNMENTS
You will do a lot of writing in this class, both in and outside the classroom. Please come prepared with a pen and paper each day for in-class writing.

You will also sometimes be given a half- or one-page assignment to complete for the next class period. Please bring a typed copy of this response to our next class.

Like your journals, your in-class writing and minor assignments will not be graded for their content, although failure to complete such assignments will negatively impact your participation grade.

WRITING LEADERS
Each student will be responsible for providing one prompt for in-class writing. The leader’s responsibilities for that day include: 1) bringing in a prompt; 2) presenting the prompt to the class; 3) leading a brief discussion of what the class wrote. More information on writing leaders and writing prompts will be provided in class.

ESSAYS & WORKSHOPS
In addition to your journal and your in-class writing, you will have three major assignments this semester: three papers of approximately 3-5 typed pages each. Each assignment will go through three revisions: first draft, workshop draft, and the final draft in your portfolio.

Your drafts will be commented on, but will not be graded. Only the final portfolio is subject to a grade.

CONFERENCES
I have put aside two weeks of class for conference time. A sign-up sheet will be distributed in class. Each student is expected to schedule appointments with me at least these two times, although I am available for further appointments if you wish.

Missing a scheduled appointment is equivalent to one absence.

ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION
Two essential parts of this course are in-class writing and class participation. As such, it is important that you come to class every day, having read any assigned material and having completed any homework assignments. Bring your books to class.

Attendance in this class is mandatory. You are allowed to miss two classes over the course of the semester. After that, your class participation grade will suffer. Three points will be taken off your final grade average for each unexcused absence over two.

Upon the sixth absence, you will receive a failing grade for the course.

Tardiness is also unacceptable. Two tardies will count as one absence. Please arrive on time.

LATE PAPERS
This class is built around the idea of revision. When you hand in a draft of an essay, I will provide comments in the margins which will suggest direction for future revision. If your paper is handed in late, no comments or suggestions will be provided for that assignment. Your participation grade will also suffer.

Your final portfolio is due on Thursday, December 2, the last day of class. No late portfolios will be accepted. If your portfolio is not in by that time, you will fail the course.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY
Students are expected to abide by the terms of the student code of academic conduct, available in your undergraduate bulletin or online at http://studentconduct.uncg.edu. I urge you all to examine this material, and consult me with any questions you may have about plagiarism and academic integrity before it becomes an issue.

Ignorance of what constitutes plagiarism is not an acceptable excuse for plagiarism. Understand that academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated and can result in a failing grade.

Students at UNCG are required to write and sign the Academic Integrity Pledge on all major work submitted for this course. The pledge reads, "I HAVE ABIDED BY THE UNCG ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY ON THIS ASSIGNMENT.”

RESPECT
This classroom is a writing community. You will all be doing a lot of workshopping and groupwork with your writing. As such, it is critical that we treat each other with the appropriate level of courtesy and respect. No one should be made to feel unwelcome here.

Failure to treat other students with the respect they deserve will severely negatively impact your class participation grade.

SAFETY
This is a night class. Even though UNCG is a safe campus, it is perfectly appropriate to feel uneasy walking alone at night. In addition to providing a shuttle service to the parking lots, the campus police department provides escorts for people who must walk alone. The escort service can be reached at 334-5919.

The campus police can be reached at 334-4444 (emergency) and 334-5963 (non-emergency).

IMPORTANT DATES
Friday, August 20 LAST DAY OF DROP/ADD

Thursday, September 16 FIRST DRAFT OF FIRST ESSAY DUE

Tuesday, September 28 First Essay Workshop Day
Thursday, September 30 First Essay Workshop Day

Tuesday, October 5 CONFERENCE WEEK — NO CLASS
Thursday, October 7 CONFERENCE WEEK — NO CLASS

Friday, October 8 LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW

Tuesday, October 12 FALL BREAK — NO CLASS
Thursday, October 14 FIRST DRAFT OF SECOND ESSAY DUE

Tuesday, October 26 Second Essay Workshop Day
Thursday, October 28 Second Essay Workshop Day

Tuesday, November 2 CONFERENCE WEEK — NO CLASS
Thursday, November 4 CONFERENCE WEEK — NO CLASS

Tuesday, November 9 FIRST DRAFT OF THIRD ESSAY DUE

Tuesday, November 16 Third Essay Workshop Day
Thursday, November 18 Third Essay Workshop Day

Tuesday, November 23 THANKSGIVING BREAK — NO CLASS
Thursday, November 25 THANKSGIVING BREAK — NO CLASS

Tuesday, November 30 Reflective Essay Workshop Day
Thursday, December 2 FINAL PORTFOLIOS DUE IN CLASS

Tuesday, December 9 FINAL EXAM PERIOD: PORTFOLIOS RETURNED, GRADES HANDED OUT