Darby Dyer Pioneer Hall 105; Tu/Th 11-12:20 ENG 1013.

06 Composition I Contact Info: Office: CFO 127 Phone: 940-898-2253 COURSE DESCRIPTION

Texas Womans University Spring 2012

Office Hours: Tu/Th 2:30-4:00pm and by appointment Email: ddyer1@twu.edu

ENG 1013. Composition I. (ENGL 1301) Theory and practice of written and oral exposition and research in traditional and electronic environments; rhetorical principles and organization in practice. Prerequisite ENG 1003, completion of DSP process, or exemption from process. Three lecture hours a week. Credit: three credit hours. Core composition requirement. COURSE OBJECTIVES & SLOS By the end of the term, students will 1. Develop active reading and critical thinking strategies through classroom exercises aimed at the rhetorical analysis of texts and audiences, and correctly use those strategies to develop positions in assigned short papers and an end-of-term portfolio. 2. Create a portfolio clearly revealing the process of invention, drafting, revising, and editing used in developing short papers. 3. Effectively shape discourse to fit purpose, occasion, and audience in short papers and final portfolio. 4. Effectively develop major claims in short papers and a final portfolio by applying modes of expression (i.e., description, exposition, narration) as part of the rhetorical event. 5. Develop informed perspectives through peer reviews, as well as through online and class discussion with other members of their discourse community, and effectively draw on those perspectives in shaping arguments. 6. Write clear, coherent prose in assigned papers and the final portfolio, with appropriate attention to conventions of academic writing. COMMUNICATION CORE CURRICULUM EXEMPLARY EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES 1. To understand and demonstrate writing and speaking processes through invention, organization, drafting, revision, editing, and presentation. Assessment: Students will submit a portfolio documenting their writing processes throughout the term. 2. To understand the importance of specifying audience and purpose and to select appropriate communication choices.

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Assessment: Drafts of papers will be revised for and evaluated for purpose, occasion, and audience. To understand and appropriately apply modes of expression, i.e., descriptive, expositive, narrative, scientific, and self-expressive, in written, visual, and oral communication. Assessment: Students will practice modes of expression and rhetorical strategies during invention work and informal writing, leading to evaluation of these qualities in their final drafts and portfolios. To participate effectively in groups with emphasis on listening, critical and reflective thinking, and responding. Assessment: Students will participate in regular peer workshops and class discussions, and include evidence of these activities in their portfolios. To understand and apply basic principles of critical thinking, problem solving, and technical proficiency in the development of exposition and argument. Assessment: Student assignments included in the portfolio will require them to propose solutions to problems, think critically about texts or media, and participate in electronic discourse. To develop the ability to research and write a documented paper and/or to give an oral presentation. Assessment: The final project, included in portfolios, will showcase student research and documentation skills.

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS Hardin, Joe Marshall. Choices 2.0: Situations for College Writing. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead P, 2010. ** The textbook is a required component of this class. You cannot pass the class without owning the textbook. You will also need access to the following: flash drive for keeping copies of your drafts a college-level dictionary internet access outside of class (for accessing Blackboard and other links I provide for the class) Pioneer Portal (for email purposes) MINIMUM STANDARDS Heres what you must do to earn credit and a passing grade (D or higher) in this course: Attend class regularly and on time (more on attendance below) Read and annotate assignments and be prepared to discuss them. Participate regularly in class and/or Blackboard discussions. (More on participation later.) Satisfactorily (and honestly!) complete all written assignments by due dates. Attend all scheduled conferences. Note: Remember that a D is passing in college, so you must do more than the minimum to earn higher than a D in this course.

EVALUATION/GRADING Ill provide feedback on each of your essays about how to make your writing more effective, and you will have the opportunity to revise them twiceonce for peer review and again for the final portfolio, for a total of three drafts per paper. Your goal is to continually improve as a writer during the semester, and your portfolio should reflect that improvement at the end of the course. The portfolio is your opportunity to represent your best writing and is worth 70% of your course grade. (Warning: You will be in serious jeopardy of failing this course if you do not complete the minimum number of required revisions. Make sure you do all the work!) All of your work in this class must be written by you specifically for this class. Recycling papers written for previous classes is cheating. Do original work for all assignments. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Here is how to calculate your grade: 15% Peer Workshops: Peer Workshops are based on your participation as well as the feedback you provide to your peers. You will be assigned to a peer group and expected to provide valid, helpful feedback to each member of the peer group on each assignment in order to do well in this area of your grade. This portion of your grade comprises your participation during the peer review workshops, peer evaluations of second drafts (optional), and the feedback you provide to members of your peer group. 15% Attendance & Participation: Attendance is required. Excessive absence (missing four or more days of class) may result in failing this course. Participation may include the diagnostic essay, discussion boards, scheduled and/or pop quizzes, attentiveness in class, joining in class discussions, remaining on task, and any in-class work that I require turned in before the end of class. Participation grades cannot be made up. 70% Final Portfolio: Your organized electronic portfolio will include your work on all major essays (drafts, revisions, and final products), examples of your best work in the discussion boards, copies of peer reviews of your essays, and all process materials. This final portfolio should demonstrate your full capacity in writing. You will need to create a compressed (.zip) electronic file containing this work and submit it in Blackboard during the final exam period after writing your final cover letter. You must turn in the Final Portfolio and all of the drafts leading up to the portfolio to pass this course.

Once I have assessed your performance, your final grade may be reduced for absences (see below). Essay and final grades will follow an A-F grading system. Letter grades can be interpreted as follows: A-Excellent; B-Good; C-Average; D-Inferior (but passing); or F-Failure IMPORTANT: All drafts of each assignment must be turned in to earn credit for the course. Failure to turn in a draft will result in an F for a final grade. Handouts detailing individual assignments are also considered part of this course syllabus. Failure to submit a portfolio (including all essays) will result in an F for the final grade. PROGRAM AND COURSE POLICIES Syllabus Changes This document is subject to change. The instructor may modify portions of this syllabus (particularly the calendar of assignments) to adjust to issues in the classroom, learning needs of students, availability of resources, changes in university or department policy, or other pedagogical reasons. Attendance/Tardy/Participation Attendance is required for all classes in the first-year composition program. To do well in this class, you must attend regularly and punctually. This course takes a workshop approach, which means that other students will depend on your attendance to comment on their work, contribute to discussion, and participate. Therefore, when you are in class you must also participate in order to be considered in attendance. Join discussion, ask questions, and take notes! Late Assignments As a rule, the first-year composition program does not accept late assignments. Absence is not an excuse for late work. If you must miss class when an assignment is due, turn it in prior to the due date. I may accept a late assignment, but only in extremely extraordinary circumstances and with prior approval. However, even with approval, your grade will be reduced for each class day the assignment is late. We begin class on time. If you are not in class when we begin, you are tardy. You are considered absent rather than tardy if you are late by 15 minutes or more. Five tardies of 10 min. or less also constitute an absence. If you are running late and are tempted not to come to class, keep in mind that missing any instructional time may negatively affect your performance and therefore your grade in this class. NOTE: As TWU policy states, you may fail this course as a result of excessive absences (i.e. missing the equivalent of 2 or more weeks [4 days] of class). You should consider, however, that missing any number of class meetings could negatively impact your performance. If you must miss class, you should keep several points in mind: 1. Excused absences include only those absences for student illness, serious illness or

death in the students immediate family, official school activity, or recognized religious holiday (TWU Student Handbook 143). 2. You must provide documentation of your absence to the Office of Student Life for verification. 3. Absences do not exempt students from completing the required course work. (See Late Assignments above.) 4. Excessive absences, even if documented, may result in a student failing the course (TWU Student Handbook 144). Whenever you must miss class, pay me the courtesy of keeping in contact, preferably ahead of time and definitely before the next class meeting. You can... call me in my office @ 940-898-2253 leave a message and your contact number with the FYC secretary OR e-mail me @ ddyer1@twu.edu Remember: If you miss class, it is your responsibility to keep me informed and to ask your classmates what you missed. (I cannot repeat missed material for every individual who is absent; there are too many absences and too few hours in the day to do so. Please do not ask me.) Email Correspondence Instructors in the first-year composition program only reply to emails sent from TWU accounts. Also, emails are written communication, and you should be aware of your audience. Craft a subject line that reflects the main purpose of your message, use appropriate language, and sign your name (first and last) as well as indicate your class by section, day, and time. I will make every effort to reply to emails in a timely fashion during the week; however, I do not normally respond to student emails on weekends. Note: Emails you send me become my property; I have the right to share them with anyone I deem necessary. Technology Guidelines and Etiquette Cell Phones: Please respect your classmates and me. Turn OFF your phone before coming into class to avoid disruptions. Likewise, DO NOT read or send text messages. If your phone becomes an issue, you will be asked to leave the room and will be counted absent. IPods/MP3 Players: Do not wear earphones or headphones during class (whether or not the player is on). If you do so, you will be asked to leave the room and will be counted absent. Computers/Printers/Internet: Print all daily assignments and essays before class begins and be ready to turn them in when you arrive. DO NOT rely on the classroom printer; it may be low on toner or out of paper. (See late assignments.) Do not type on keyboards or use computers unless I instruct you to do so. When I instruct you to use a computer, do not access websites unless they pertain to your research/work in this class (i.e. Do not access Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, etc. unless instructed to do so.) If you do so, you will be asked to leave the room and will be counted absent.

Critical Thinking Discussion Boards Because writing can help you learn better and you can learn to write through practice and feedback, you will be asked to write informal discussion board posts before each class meeting. We learn more about what we read (and what we think) if we have to write about it. (Some of the discussion board post topics are specific and will be listed in prompts or in the syllabus. If you have a reading assignment and no specific prompt has been provided, however, you should still write a discussion board entry in which you respond to and think about the reading assignment.) These discussion board postings will also be part of your final portfolio. You will receive written feedback on your entries several times during the semester. Remember that these entries are a major part of your final participation grade, and you will need to keep up with these throughout the semester. Make sure you complete the entries prior to coming to class. Our discussions will often involve the ideas you have included in your discussion board posts, and you will not be given credit for any entry written after the assigned due date and time. Peer/Group Workshops You will be responsible for obtaining in-class reviews from your peers and deciding how to address their comments effectively in your drafts as you revise. For your portfolios, you may be required to type the feedback you receive from your peers if it is not already in electronic format (so that it can be included in your portfolio), and you will explain how you incorporated this feedback when you turn it in with your major assignments. The Write Site I encourage you to visit TWUs writing center The Write Site, which is located in CFO 129. The Write Site is open Monday through Thursday from 9-4 pm and from 9-1 pm on Fridays; its services are free to TWU students. At the Write Site you can schedule up to two 30-minute appointments per week or one 50-minute appointment to work with a writing consultant, who can assist you with any phase of the writing process. As you meet with a consultant, youll discover ways not only to improve the assignment youre currently working on, but also realize how to improve as a writer. The first-year composition program expects you to make regular appointments. To make an appointment, call 898-2341 or go to go CFO 131. You can also receive online assistance from a Cyber Tutor by visiting the TWU On-Line Writing Lab at owl@twu.edu Sharing Writing/Ideas You may have noticed we will share a great deal of our writing during this semester (both in small groups and with the entire class). This sharing is intended to provide you with models of effective writing, feedback to improve your writing, and give you experience offering feedback. It is imperative we all respect this process and come to class prepared to share writing and comment constructively. Manuscript Preparation Major writing assignments must be typed (double-spaced) in black ink using a Times New Roman font (no larger or smaller than 12pt). Use MLA guidelines for spacing, margins, heading, and page numbering. Also, include a Works Cited page with each draft (even first

drafts!), but do not include a cover sheet. Print a hard copy of your work before closing the program you are using. Always save your work on your hard drive and email it to yourself. You should also save your work on a separate flash drive. (Computer labs are located in the following areas: MCL Mega Lab (218), Technology Resource Center (MCL 221), Blagg-Huey Library (Lab), Student Center (Rm. 112), and University Housing (Guinn Commons). Additional University/Program Information 1. Academic Dishonesty Statement: Honesty in completing assignments is essential to the mission of the university and to the development of the personal integrity of the student. Cheating, plagiarism, or other kinds of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will result in appropriate sanctions that may include failing an assignment, failing the class, or being suspended or expelled. Suspected cases in this course may be reported to Student Life. The specific disciplinary process for academic dishonesty is found in the TWU Student Handbook. Tools to help you avoid plagiarism are available through the TWU Libraries Quick Links under Research Help (http://www.twu.edu/library/literacy/index.htm). 2. Turnitin Statement: In an effort to ensure the integrity of the academic process, Texas Womans University vigorously affirms the importance of academic honesty as defined by the Student Handbook. Therefore, in an effort to detect and prevent plagiarism, faculty members at Texas Womans University may use a tool called Turnitin to compare a students work with multiple sources. It then reports a percentage of similarity and provides links to those specific sources. The tool itself does not determine whether a paper has been plagiarized. Instead, that judgment must be made by the individual faculty member. 3. Disability Support Policy Statement: If you think you will need reasonable accommodations to meet the requirements of this course, you must register with the office of Disability Support Services (CFO 106, 940-898-3835, dss@twu.edu ) in order to obtain the required official notification of your accommodation needs. Please plan to meet with me by appointment or during office hours to discuss approved accommodations and how the course requirements and activities may impact your ability to fully participate. 4. Dropping this Course (For freshmen enrolling fall 2007 or later): Students may drop a course without penalty before the census day of each regular semester. However, after the census date, freshmen enrolling fall 2007 or later (at TWU or any Texas public higher education institution), are allowed only 6 unexcused drops during their undergraduate academic careers. Drops after the census day will count toward the 6-drop limit unless they are supported by timely, appropriate documentation and excused by the university review process. Drops forms are available in the Registrars Office and require the signature of the student, instructor, and academic advisor.