EN 100 syllabus

COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Number:EN 100
Course Title: Introduction to College Writing
Fall Semester
Year: 2009
Name of Instructor: Dr. Fox
Meeting Day, Time, and Room Number: Tuesday, Friday 11:00AM - 12:15PM, Gailhac, Room 34
Final Exam Day, Time, and Room Number: Saturday, December 5, 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. room TBA
Office Hours, Location, Phone: Gailhac 23A, Wednesday 4-6; Tuesday & Friday 12:30-3:00
Office: 703-284-1568; Home 202-640-1942
E-mail: ude.tnuomyram|xofb#ude.tnuomyram|xofb

UNIVERSITY STATEMENTS

Academic Integrity
By accepting this syllabus, you pledge to uphold the principles of Academic Integrity expressed by the Marymount University Community. You agree to observe these principles yourself and to defend them against abuse by others.

Special Needs and Accommodations
Please advise the instructor of any special problems or needs at the beginning of the semester. If you seek accommodation based on disabilities, you should provide a Faculty Contact Sheet obtained through Disability Support Services located in Gerard Hall, (703) 284-1615.

Access to Student Work
Copies of your work in this course including copies of any submitted papers and your portfolios may be kept on file for institutional research, assessment and accreditation purposes. All work used for these purposes will be submitted anonymously.

Student Copyright Authorization
For the benefit of current and future students, work in this course may be used for educational critique, demonstrations, samples, presentations, and verification. Outside of these uses, work shall not be sold, copied, broadcast, or distributed for profit without student consent

University Policy on Snow Closings
Snow closings are generally announced on area radio stations. For bulletins concerning Marymount snow or weather closings, call (703) 526-6888. Unless otherwise advised by radio announcement or by official bulletins on the number listed above, students are expected to report for class as near normal time as possible on days when weather conditions are adverse. Decisions as to snow closing or delayed opening are not generally made before 5:00 AM of the working day. Students are expected to attend class if the University is not officially closed.

1.BROAD PURPOSE OF COURSE

A college-level course designed to develop writing skills through analysis of the writing process and the practice of a variety of techniques and strategies. Emphasis on essay development based on personal experience and observation. Analysis of paragraph structure and organization as well as audience and purpose. A minimum grade of C- is necessary for successful completion of this course. It does not fulfill major or Liberal Arts Core requirements, but counts as an elective.(2)

Through a review of sentence, paragraph, and essay structure, this course provides students with the practice and confidence necessary to strengthen their writing skills and prepare them for success in their next writing course, EN 101 Composition I.

2. COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of this course students will be expected to:
Write clear, well organized essays with the following characteristics:
a sense of purpose and audience;
a focused thesis;
appropriate supporting examples and details based on observation and/or personal experience;
correct and appropriate sentence and paragraph structure.

Proofread both sentences and paragraphs accurately, following the rules of standard written English.

Understand and practice the stages of the writing process.

3.TEACHING METHOD

Discussion, workshop, conference.

4.GRADING POLICY

NOTE: Students must receive a grade of C or better to pass this course.

The final grade will be determined by the following formula:
50% Completed Portfolio: 4 revised, instructor-graded essays (Essay G is worth 20%, the three other essays are worth 10% each)
40% Two staff graded essay exams, Midterm (15%) and Final (25%)
10% Class activities, assignments, and attendance

Staff-graded essays: “Staff grading” means that two or more readers from the English faculty (not necessarily including the student’s own class instructor) evaluate students’ unsigned papers, judging them according to criteria outlined in the syllabus course objectives.

Attendance: Please read carefully. Being successful in a writing class requires more than writing and turning in papers; it requires participating actively in all stages of the writing process as well as giving input to and receiving it from other members of the class. To benefit fully from each class meeting, students are expected to arrive for class on time and remain in class until the end of the session. Students should leave the room during class only for emergencies. Habitual tardiness or absence from three classes will jeopardize a student’s chances for passing this course. ABSENCE FROM SIX OR MORE CLASSES WILL RESULT IN FAILURE OF THIS COURSE.

Texting (note that your instructor can see you texting even if your phone is on your lap or behind a
book) and side conversations in class will negatively affect your participation grade. I will deduct one to five letter grades, depending on the frequency of the offence, from a student’s final participation grade for engaging in these behaviors.

WRITING GUIDELINES

ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS: You should expect to write and/or revise an essay each week as part of this course. Your instructor will give you guidelines about how to organize each of the four to five individual essays that will become part of your portfolio. (See the next paragraph, “THE PORTFOLIO”.) You must type all your work, including preliminary drafts. Since you will be revising your work many times, you are urged to use a computer and save all of your drafts on your hard drive and/or a disk to simplify the revision process.

THE PORTFOLIO: Over the course of the semester, you will be creating a portfolio, a collection of the essays that you write for this class. Each of your essays will be revised at least twice, and you will often be working on more than one essay at a time. All of the initial drafts and subsequent revisions (from the first revision through the final, polished version) become part of your portfolio. Therefore, it is important that you save all drafts that are returned to you by your instructor. At the end of the semester, you will submit your “completed” portfolio – every draft of each essay - for a grade. The end-of-semester portfolio grade will constitute 50% of your final course grade.

INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE: An important part of effective writing includes consideration
of one’s audience. You are encouraged to be aware of the social implications of
language and should, whenever possible, use language that is inclusive and gender neutral.

WORKSHOPS: Much of your work will be shared with other students in workshops. Therefore, you will handicap not only yourself but your classmates if you are absent or don’t have your work ready on time. If you come to a workshop class unprepared, you will be marked absent.

CONFERENCES: You will have four individual (one-on-one) scheduled conferences with the course instructor during this semester. These conferences may be scheduled during class meeting times and/or during the instructor’s office hours. At each conference you will discuss specific papers and your writing in general. Attendance is required. If you miss a conference or come unprepared, you will be marked absent as though you had missed a class meeting.

The dates for the staff graded essay exams are the following:

a. Midterm Week of October 26
b. Final Saturday, December 5

NOTE: The composition final exam has been scheduled so as not to conflict with other classes. Any student who has a scheduled course that conflicts with the final exam should report the conflict to the course instructor immediately.

LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER (LRC) - ENGLISH WRITING SUPPORT SERVICES

All writing, however strong, can benefit from a careful reader’s response. In addition to feedback from your instructor and your classmates, writing assistance is available from peer tutors in the Learning Resource Center LRC tutors can help at any stage of the writing process - from getting started to final editing. They can help you figure out an assignment, overcome “writer’s block,” or discover your thesis. Remember, however, that tutors are not allowed to revise or edit students’ papers for them. Any changes, revisions, or corrections must be your work.

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