English 1101L: Composition I

Fall 2009

3 semester hours
W 6:30-7:45 & 8:00-9:15 PM

CRN 81125
WH 203

Dr. Lee Campbell
Department of English
College of Arts and Sciences
Valdosta State University
Valdosta GA 31698-0025

West Hall 216
Office phone: 229-333-7351
Department phone: 229-333-5946
Fax: 229-259-5529
Email: jlcampbe@valdosta.edu
Web site: http://www.valdosta.edu/~jlcampbe
Office hours: W 3:30-5:30, R 12:00-2:00, by appointment, and 24/7 by email

1. DESCRIPTION: A composition course focusing on skills required for effective writing in a variety of contexts, with emphasis on exposition, analysis, and argumentation, and also including introductory use of a variety of research skills. Students will develop analytical and evaluative skills by reading and writing expository and/or argumentative essays.

 

2. OUTCOMES: Students who successfully complete ENGL 1101

  1. will learn to manage various stages in the writing process, including developing a thesis, organizing thoughts, adjusting style for an audience, revising, and editing (core outcome 4);
  2. will learn to write effective impromptu essays (core outcome 4);
  3. will learn to use computers to format, draft, revise, and edit essays (core outcome 3)
  4. will develop analytical and evaluative skills by reading and writing a variety of texts in various rhetorical modes and for a variety of purposes (core outcome 7);
  5. will analyze and articulate their own value systems while writing essays and/or otherwise responding to the ideas of others (core outcome 8).

3. MATERIALS AND REQUISITES: The required texts are

·         St. Martin’s Handbook (VSU edition, by Lunsford)

·         Language Awareness (10th ed, by Eschholz, Rosa, and Clark)

Students also will need some USB flash drives and are strongly encouraged to purchase a hardcover college dictionary: the instructor recommends Houghton Mifflin's American Heritage Dictionary.  Or visit it regularly online.

Because WH 203 is a computer classroom, this section will take advantage of its wired context.  Specifically, the class will be using Microsoft’s Word for word processing and the online instructional medium VSU calls BlazeView for sharing rough drafts of essays, completing in-class activities, and for submitting final drafts.  If they are not already proficient with these technologies, class members will need to become so.

4. ASSIGNMENTS: Class members will earn points by completing the following:

  • four final, proofread electronic essays posted to BlazeView and scored by the instructor (10 points each for 40 points total), each related to readings (outcomes i, iii, iv, v)
  • one revision of one of the first four essays (10 points) (outcomes i, iiii)
  • one impromptu in-class essay (10 points) (outcome ii)
  • four electronic drafts shared with classmates and instructor by BlazeView (1 point each for 4 points total)  (outcomes i, iii, iv, v)
  • five reading quizzes (2 points each for 10 points total) (outcomes i, iii)
  • miscellaneous activities (planning, style, and mechanics exercises) during the semester totaling 26 points (outcomes i, iii)

Each writing assignment will be prepared for by readings, lectures, class discussions, written activities, the production of a rough draft, and collaborative work. 

Topics of the four essays and the impromptu essay are tentative, but the theme of the course is certainly this: the English language.  A college graduate should have a working knowledge of the different varieties of the English language, the different ways in which it is used, its history, and its stylistic and mechanical aspects.  Besides improve their writing skills, this section of ENGL 1101 aims to prepare students to engage in reasonably informed discourse about their language.

5. GRADING OF ESSAYS: Essays will be scored and commented on according to five criteria, each criterion worth two points (each assignment worth 10 points):

  • Thesis: clarity, consistency, insightfulness, and appropriateness of an essay’s main idea
  • Development: sufficiency, appropriateness, and effectiveness of details, examples, and arguments supporting an essay’s thesis
  • Organization: effectiveness of the paragraphing of an essay's development
  • Style: correctness, readability, and appropriateness of word choice and sentence structure, including punctuation
  • Mechanics: conformity of an essay to conventions of written English and to MLA (Modern Language Association) format and reference style

The grading scale for individual assignments follows:

  • 10 = A+
  • 9= A-
  • 8= B
  • 7= B-
  • 6= C
  • 5= C-
  • 4= D
  • 3= D-
  • 2 = F

Class members can earn a total of 100 possible points during the semester. Final grades will be determined on the following scale:

  • 90-100 = A
  • 70-89 = B
  • 50-69 = C
  • 40-49 = D
  • 0-39 = F

In order to earn a C, a class member must write all five of the primary essays.

6. LATE WORK: Essays submitted after the rest of the essays have been graded by the instructor will be marked as late. Members will lose two points per late assignment. No assignments completed in class, such as the sharing of rough drafts, reading quizzes, proofreadings, or miscellaneous graded activities, can be made up; if you aren’t in class for an activity—for whatever reason—there’s nothing the instructor can do about it. .

7. ATTENDANCE: Attendance will be taken twice each meeting: at 6:30 and at 8:00 PM, meaning that the class will actually meet 30 times.  In accordance with VSU policy, no member who misses 20 percent of class meetings--six times--will pass the course.

8. CIVILITY: Late arrivals, early exits, ringing cell phones, irrelevant web surfing, grumpy behavior, and rude comments are disruptive. Arrive on time, do not exit early, turn off your cell phone ringers, do not surf the Internet, cheer up, and be civil.

9. SCHEDULE: The following schedule is tentative; class members are expected to keep up with changes announced in class.  Readings will be provided as the class progresses.

Ø  Aug 19

·         Introduction to the course

·         Lecture on the varieties of the English language

·         Introduction to essay 1—your varieties of English

·         Introduction to BlazeView

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapters 28 and 29

2.      “Saying ‘Adios’ to Spanglish,” Leticia Salais, Language Awareness

3.      “From Outside, In,” Barbara Mellix, Language Awareness

4.      “Whither the Southern Accent?” Jeffrey Collins and Kristen Wyatt, Language Awareness

5.      Essay 1 assignment

Ø  Aug 26

·         Discussion of readings

·         Reading quiz

·         Discussion of essay 1 assignment

·         Planning activity for essay 1

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapters 15, 16, and 18

 

Rough draft of essay 1 due on BlazeView by M, August 31

 

Ø  Sep 02

·         Discussion of

1.      quoting

2.      paraphrasing

3.      in-text citations

4.      works cited page

5.      MLA format

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Reading quiz

·         Responses to rough drafts

·         Citing a source for essay 1

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapters 46 and 54

Ø  Sep 09

·         Proofreading activity

·         Final draft of essay 1 due on BlazeView by end of first half

·         Lecture on history of the English language and speech communities

·         Introduction to essay 2—analysis of one variety and its speech community

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapters 26 and 27

2.      “A Brief History of English,” Paul Roberts, Language Awareness

3.      “Speech Communities,” Paul Roberts, Language Awareness

4.      “I Think, Therefore IM,” Jennifer 8. Lee, Language Awareness

5.      “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public,” Myriam Marquez, Language Awareness

6.      Essay 2 assignment

Ø  Sep 16

·         Discussion of readings

·         Reading quiz

·         Discussion of essay 2 assignment

·         Planning activity for essay 2

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapters 37 and 52

 

Rough draft of essay 2 due on BlazeView by M, September 21

 

Ø  Sep 23

·         Discussion of citing sources for essay 2

·         Discussion of readings

·         Reading quiz

·         Responses to rough drafts

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapter 34

Ø  Sep 30

·         Proofreading activity

·         Final draft of essay 2 due on BlazeView by end of first half

·         Lecture on rhetorical situations

·         Introduction to essay 3—analysis of language in a rhetorical situation

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapter 3

2.      “Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled,” Donna Woolfolk Cross, Language Awareness

3.      “Intensify/Downplay Schema,” Hugh Rank, Language Awareness

4.      “Weasel Words: The Art of Saying Nothing at All,” William Lutz, Language Awareness

5.      “Jesus Is a Brand of Jeans,” Jean Kilbourne, Language Awareness

6.      Essay 3 assignment

Ø  Oct 07

·         Discussion of readings

·         Reading quiz

·         Discussion of essay 3 assignment

·         Planning activity for essay 3

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings

1.      St. Martin’s chapter 50

 

Rough draft of essay 3 due on BlazeView by M, October 12

 

Ø  Oct 14

·         Discussion of citing sources for essay 3

·         Discussion of readings

·         Reading quiz

·         Responses to rough drafts

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapter 53

Ø  Oct 21

·         Proofreading activity

·         Final draft of essay 3 due on BlazeView by end of first half

·         Lecture on the history of words—etymology and semantic change

·         Introduction to essay 4—analysis of a word, phrase, term, or label

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapter 30

2.      “The Language of Prejudice,” Gordon Allport, Language Awareness

3.      “The Meanings of a Word,” Gloria Naylor, Language Awareness

4.      “The B-Word?  You Betcha,” Andi Zeisler, Language Awareness

5.      “In Defense of the ‘Chick Flick,’” Gloria Steinem, Language Awareness

6.      “’Queer’ Evolution: Word Goes Mainstream,” Martha Irvine, Language Awareness

7.      “On Language: You Guys,” Audrey Bilger, Language Awareness

8.      Essay 4 assignment

Ø  Oct 28

·         Discussion of readings

·         Reading quiz

·         Discussion of essay 4 assignment

·         Planning activity for essay 4

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings

1.      St. Martin’s chapters 51 and 55

 

Rough draft of essay 4 due on BlazeView by M, November 2

 

Ø  Nov 04

·         Discussion of citing sources for essay 4

·         Discussion of readings

·         Reading quiz

·         Responses to rough drafts

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapters 32 and 33

Ø  Nov 11

·         Proofreading activity

·         Final draft of essay 4 due on BlazeView by end of first half

·         Lecture on academic language and language use

·         Introduction to essay 5, impromptu—academic writing and reading

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings:

1.      St. Martin’s chapter 61 and 66

2.      “Discovering the Power of Language,” Malcolm X, Language Awareness

3.      “On Being 17, Bright, and Unable to Read,” David Raymond, Language Awareness

4.      “How to Write an Argument: What Students and Teachers Really Need to Know,” Gerald Graff, Language Awareness

5.      “Its Academic, or Is It?” Charles R. Larson, Language Awareness

6.      Essay 5 assignment

Ø  Nov 18

·         Discussion of readings

·         Reading quiz

·         Discussion of essay 5 assignment

·         Planning activity for essay 5

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Assignment of readings

1.      St. Martin’s chapters 38 and 47

Ø  Dec 02

·         Discussion of final assignment: revision of a previous essay

·         Style and mechanics activity

·         Impromptu essay written in class and posted to BlazeView

Ø  Dec 09

·         No in-class meeting: revision due on BlazeView by midnight

There is no in-class final exam; the revision is your final exam.

10. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Although class members will complete all but one writing assignment outside of class, members are expected to do their own writing; plagiarized assignments will be given a zero. To plagiarize is to "take and use as one’s own the writings or ideas of another" (American Heritage Dictionary), whether these be found in print or online materials.  Nothing is assigned in ENGL 1101 that cannot be well done by each student him/herself.

11. SPECIAL SERVICES: Class members requiring classroom accommodations or modifications because of a documented disability should discuss this need with the instructor at the beginning of the term. Class members who require assistance but who are not officially registered should register with the Access Office.

12. INSTRUCTOR: The instructor was born to Canadian parents in Peoria, Illinois, May, 1960. Born in 1925, his parents told him stories of Manitoba during the Depression.  The instructor listened to monophonic Beatles records on a portable turntable; watched the Vietnam War on the nightly news and his three older brothers’ reactions to it; played hockey on frozen ponds; saw the first Ali vs. Frazier fight live on European television; delivered papers spreading the news of Watergate (are there any paperboys left?); kept score in bowling with a pencil; learned to drive with a stick in a VW Bug and a three-on-the-tree Dodge; attended his first rock concert at Soldier Field in Chicago (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer; Foghat; J. Giles, Climax Blues Band) and saw his last a couple of years ago (Dylan and Haggard); typed college papers on a manual typewriter; bought his first computer at the age of 30—after completing his dissertation; and ran off his first class handouts with a ditto machine.  Besides Peoria, the instructor has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia; Bogotá, Colombia; Geneva, Switzerland; Normal, Illinois; West Lafayette, Indiana; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Arkadelphia and Hot Springs, Arkansas; Valdosta, Georgia; and Riverview, Florida, where he currently makes a home with his wife and three children born in 1995, 1998, and 2000, as well as two dogs and four cats. Riverview is located in the Tampa Bay area, where the instructor's wife works.  This means he commutes once a week (to Valdosta and back), usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  He's not on campus Monday or Friday, so take advantage of email, BlazeView, and the office hours.