University of North Carolina Greensboro

English 101 Composition

Spring 2003

Sections: 101-20 TTH 9:30 - 10:45 PETTY 116

101-22 TTH 11:00-12:15 FERGUSON 100

101-24 TTH 12:30-1:45 MCIVER 325

Instructor: Christina Scott

Office: McIver 224D Phone: 334-5866 E-mail: csscott@uncg.edu

Office Hours: M/W 9:00 – 11:30 (by appointment)

Textbooks: Across Cultures: A Reader for Writers, 5^th ed. Gillespie and Singleton

Decisions: A Writer’s Handbook, 2^nd ed. Leonard J. Rosen

Writing Matters, 2001/2002

Collegiate Dictionary, recommended

Goals and Purposes: English 101 is designed to help you become a better writer. This course will utilize your already existing skills of reading, writing and listening to aid in the process if using language to express, communicate and persuade. These skills, which you use daily, are socially interactive and mutually reinforcing; they should therefore yield a classroom setting where individual diversity is acknowledged and appreciated.

• The goals of English 101 are to teach you to read critically, write extensively, and critique and contribute to institutional and cultural discourse. Further, the course will familiarize you with the nature of communication in general, focusing mainly on the process of writing.
• Through your readings, beyond critical reading and thinking, you will learn to: respect cultural, political and historical diversity; understand the criteria by which good writing is judged; and learn that focus, development, organization, stylistic force and editorial correctness are standards by which writing is evaluated.
• By copious and daily writing exercises, both essays and in-class assignments, you will apply the theories from critical reading to explore and expand the contents of your experience. You will experiment with different kinds of writing as a way to develop your knowledge, give voice and shape to it and share it with divergent audiences.
• Finally this course gives you the opportunity to become more aware of yourself as a writer.

Procedures: This course presumes that you learn to read and write better by reading and writing regularly. Therefore, this class will be mainly a workshop course in which you write daily. These writings will take the form of four formal essays (3-5 pages in length), many drafts of these essays and countless pages of valuable text -- notes, lists, responses, homework, brainstorming, etc. Other than writing, this class will engage in serious discussions about the daily reading assignments. This may be done thorough lecture and response, class discussion, or work in small groups. Regardless of the format, the goal is to discuss the readings critically and apply what we learn to our own writing. We will also use small groups as forums for the developments and critique of students’ essays, as writing is socially interactive.

Grades: Frequently you will be asked to produce writing in the form of daily assignments. These assignments will be graded pass/fail based solely on whether or not they were completed on time and given serious effort. These pass/fail grades will constitute a total of 10% of your final grade. The next 10% of your final grade will be based on your Classroom Participation; this portion of your grade takes into consideration your level of preparation for each class, your willingness to contribute to classroom discussions and activities, and your demeanor and attitude, which are expected to be reflective of a college student. The last 80% of your final grade comes from your work towards and on a final portfolio of three formal essays.

Summary of Graded Work:

Daily Assignments 10%
Participation 10%

Rough Drafts 20%

Rough Draft #1 5%
Rough Draft #2 5%
Rough Draft #3 5%
Rough Draft #4 5%

Final Copies 60%

Final Copy #1 20%
Final Copy #2 20%
Final Copy #3 20%

TOTAL 100%

You will produce four rough drafts (3-5 pages in length): one personal, two public and one persuasive essay. Each essay will be returned to you with my reactions to guide you in revising these drafts for a second submission. During the final week of the semester you will turn in a portfolio containing a final, or polished, revision of three of these essays. Using this revision system you will not be penalized for mistakes and experiments; rather it rewards you for serious effort on daily assignments and in workshops from which you will gain invaluable knowledge for the completion of these final copies. Writing is a recursive process that assumes that good writing is the result of an unsure start, messy middles and many false trails and mistakes. From these errors and wrong turns, however, you will arrive at an acceptable and polished final product. Productive and effective writing is always the descendant of the revision process. The course assumes, also, that your final copies will observe the conventions of correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. If you have trouble with these conventions, I advise you to seek help from myself, your handbook or the Writing Center early in the semester.

Computer Assisted Composition: In this world of growing technology you can expect to make use of computers and the internet in almost all of your classes; this one is no exception. The following computer related policies apply to this class at all times:

• All essays must be word-processed using standard MLA format (double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, one inch margins all around.) There will be no exceptions. You will be penalized for not following this format on final essays. It is your responsibility to know how to do page set-up on a computer.
• All out of class work (homework, journals, anything you do outside the actual classroom) must be word processed.
• You will need two discs for this class. You will be keeping journals electronically as well as storing your papers on a disc. I will give you details about this during the first week of class.
• I may be implementing a website for this class during the first two weeks; you will be required to visit it regularly for assignments and class update. The address will be forthcoming.
• I am an English teacher, not a computer instructor. Issues with our e-mail accounts and university log-ins, faulty discs, and computer/printer problems need to be addressed to the appropriate individuals and should not affect the quality and timeliness of your assignments.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious offense in any classroom but particularly troublesome in an English class; therefore plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated. While there is a philosophical difference between intentional and unintentional plagiarism, both will be punished accordingly. Please familiarize yourselves with the university’s Academic Integrity Policy found in your handbooks. We will be discussing the definition of and ways to avoid plagiarism during the course of the semester.

Attendance: In a writing workshop and a classroom reliant upon student discussion, attendance is mandatory. This kind of valuable experience cannot be retrieved, repeated or recaptured. The absent student will suffer from the inability to make up missed work, and the class will suffer from the absence of that student's input. Therefore, multiple absences WILL affect your grade. Each student is entitled to two absences -- for whatever reason. Use them will (i.e. sickness, family emergency,) as you never know when the unexpected will happen. Beyond that, all absences, excused or otherwise, will be penalized. Each absence after the second will lower your grade one half a letter grade; an accumulation of more than 4 total absences will result in an F in the course. I am always open, however, to understanding extenuating circumstances.

• Tardiness will be noted and, as it is intrusive and disruptive, may affect your participation grade.
• NO in-class work, quizzes included, can be made up due to absence.
• If you are absent on the day an essay is due, you will be penalized for both the absence and the late assignment.
• Extra credit opportunities MAY be given throughout the semester and can be used to alleviate penalties for absences.

Conferences: I will schedule individual conferences with you two or three times during the semester; however, you should feel free to drop in any time during my office hours, e-mail me, or make an appointment with me to discuss any aspects of the course and your writing. Missed conferences or schedules appointments will count as an absence.

Other Policies:

• Students are required to keep a folder and a computer disc exclusively for English 101 in which they will store ALL work accumulated throughout the semester and turn in this folder and/or disc at the end of the term. Essays will be submitted in these folders and/or discs along with any work leading up to that essay.
• All folders are to have two pockets and be made of paper -- standard folders only please, no binders, etc. Your name and course number should be written clearly on the outside of the folder and on the disc. Papers must have your name, course name and number, type of essay, and date on the first page.
• Late essays will be accepted under strict guidelines. Students will receive one lower grade for each day (excluding weekends) that the paper is late. Papers will not be accepted after one week past the due date for any reason; however, I will read them so that you may benefit from my comments.
• Late homework (excluding essays) or in-class assignments will not be accepted for any reason.
• The Classroom Participation portion of your grade not only reflects your active involvement in class, but also your adherence to the expected behaviors and decorum of a university classroom.

Schedule of Reading and Writing

English 101 Spring 2003

WEEK	TUESDAY	THURSDAY	NOTES
Jan 13/15		Writing Matters pp. 1-16 “Degrees of Good Writing” WM p. 99-101 Diagnostic Writing
Jan 21/23	“Reading Strategies” WM 17-19 “Mother Tongue” p. 27 “For My Indian Daughter” p. 54	“Journaling” WM 20-2 “Narrative Writing” WM p. 38-43
Jan 28/30	“Footbinding” p. 282 “Stone Throwing in India” p. 322	“The Writing Portfolio” WM 35-6 Essay 1 RD (personal)
Feb 4/6	“The Lottery” p. 313 “Does American Still Exist?” p. 357	“The Writing Center” WM 28-30
Feb 11/13	“Talking Back” p. 65 “Male Myth” p. 92 “Gay” p. 137	Essay 2 RD (tradition & culture)
Feb 18/20	“The Writing Conference” WM 26-7		conferences
Feb 25/27	“Black Men in Public Spaces” 377 “Of My Friend Hector and My Achilles’ Heel” p. 386		No Class Thursday
March 4/6	“Gregory” p. 421 “Honor Bound” 436	Essay 3RD (race & gender)
March 11/13	Spring Break	Spring Break	No classes
March 18/20	“Bricklayer’s Boy” p. 230 “Less is More…” p. 244	“Revision” WM p. 86-97
March 25/27		Essay 2 Revision	conferences
April 1/3	“You Become What You Wear” p. 485 “The Signs of Shopping” p. 477	“Argument Writing” WM 49-56
April 8/10	“Really cool…” p. 516 “Why We Crave Horror Movies” p. 506	Essay 4 RD (pop culture)
April 15/17	“Class Struggle in Hollywood” p. 500 “Hollywood: The Dark Side” p. 493	Essay 3 Revision
April 22/24	TBA	“Reflective Writing” WM 73-78
Apr/May 29/1	workshop	Portfolio’s Due
May 6/8 May 13/15	Last Day of Class 5/6 Finals 5/8 – 5/14	101-20: R, 5/8, 8-11 am 101-24: R, 5/8, 12-3 pm	101-22: T, 5/13, 12-3 pm

** This is a tentative syllabus and is subject to change at my discretion. The student is responsible for keeping up with changes in the syllabus if he or she is absent.