Syllabus

English 102
Fall 2015

College Writing and Rhetoric

Instructor: Victoria M. Arthur,
PhD
Email:
varthur@uidaho.edu
Office:
Brink 229
Phone:
885-6156 (messages
only)

Office Hrs: MW 3:30 - 4:30; T

10:00 - noon
Course Info:
Sect. 11: MWF 12:30 - 1:20
pm, TLC 241
Sect. 17: MWF 2:30 - 3:20 pm,
TLC 147

COURSE DESCRIPTION
English 102 is an introductory composition course, designed to improve your skills in persuasive,
expository writing, the sort you will be doing in other courses in college and in many jobs. Sometimes
this kind of writing is called transactional writing; it is used to transact somethingpersuade and inform
a reasonably well-educated audience, conduct business, evaluate, review, or explain a complex process,
procedure, or event.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the course, a successful student should be able to...
1. Accurately assess and effectively respond to a wide variety of audiences and rhetorical situations.
2. Comprehend college-level and professional prose and analyze how authors present their ideas in
view of their probable purposes, audiences, and occasions.
3. Present ideas as related to, but clearly distinguished from, the ideas of others (including the
ability to paraphrase, summarize, and correctly cite and document borrowed material).
4. Focus on, articulate, and sustain a purpose that meets the needs of specific writing situations.
5. Explicitly articulate why they are writing, who they are writing for, and what they are saying.
6. Write critical analyses and syntheses of college-level and professional prose.
7. Be able to make the connection between questions and problems in your life both within and
outside of college.
8. Gather and evaluate information and use it for a rhetorical purpose in writing a research paper.
9. Attend to and productively incorporate a variety of perspectives.
10. Develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading.
11. Understand writing as an open process that permits writers to use later invention and re-thinking
to revise their work.
12. Give and receive constructive feedback from peers.
13. Use conventions of format and structure appropriate to the rhetorical situation and practice
appropriate means of documenting their work.
14. Locate, evaluate, organize, and use research material collected from electronic sources, including
scholarly library databases; other official databases (e.g., federal government databases); and
informal electronic networks and internet sources.

Of course, we expect that you are able to carry out some of these tasks already.

DEADLINES
Administrative Deadlines
The university has certain deadlines of which you need to be aware if you want to drop the
course at some point during the term.
Friday, September 4 Last day to drop the course without a grade of W.
Friday, October 30 Last day to drop the course with a grade of W.
Class Deadlines
As the term progresses, you will be given major writing assignments, along with your daily
writing and reading work. Each of these assignments has a firm deadline. All late assignments
will receive a point deduction.
TEXTBOOK (available at the UI Bookstore)

John Ramage et al, The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing (6th edition).

COURSE EXPECTATIONS
Class Preparation and Active Participation
My philosophy of teaching is that students are active agents of their own
learning rather than passive vessels to be filled by listening to me lecture. You
cannot learn to write by listening to me talk about writing; you must hone your
skills through practice. Therefore a significant amount of class time will be spent
writing, discussing your writing efforts and experiences, and responding to each
others drafts. You are expected to bring your textbook and a laptop (or whatever
way you prefer to write) to each class meeting.
The minimum expectations for participation are that you

complete any reading and writing assigned before the class,

arrive on time with your book and laptop, and
enthusiastically engage in class activities and discussions.

I dont grade attendance. The mini-lectures, discussions and activities we do in

class are designed to help you write the major projects. Therefore, attendance is
rewarded by improved performance. And you can only earn the
homework/process points from in-class work by actually being in the class (and
doing the activity), so attendance is rewarded in this way.
English 102 Syllabus 2

University of Idaho Classroom Learning Civility Clause

In any environment in which people gather to learn, it is essential that all
members feel as free and safe as possible in their participation, especially in
regards to ones writing. To this end, it is expected that everyone in this course
will be treated with mutual respect and civility, with an understanding that all of
us (students, instructors, professors, guests, and teaching assistants) will be
respectful and civil to one another in discussion, in action, in teaching, and in
learning.
Should you feel our classroom interactions do not reflect an environment of
civility and respect, please meet with me during office hours to discuss your
concern. Additional resources for expression of concern or requesting support
include the Dean of Students office and staff (5-6757), the UI Counseling &
Testing Centers confidential services (5-6716), or the UI Office of Human Rights,
Access, & Inclusion (5-4285).
Plagiarism
It is academically dishonest, and sometimes illegal, to present someone elses
ideas or writing as your own. Ignorance is not a defense: it is your responsibility
to make sure you use proper citation, so get assistance (from me, for example) if
you are unsure.
Sometimes students plagiarize because they do not feel they can complete the
assignment. If you have concerns about the quality of your work or your ability
to meet deadlines, please talk to me about it. There is always a better
alternative than plagiarism, which may cause you to fail the assignment or the
course and will be reported to the Dean of Students. For more information see
the Plagiarism Policy on the English Department website:
http://www.class.uidaho.edu/english/comp/plagiarism.htm.
Disability Accommodation
The University of Idaho is committed to providing equal and integrated access
for individuals with disabilities. This commitment is consistent with legal
requirements, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and embodies the universitys
historic determination to ensure the inclusion of all members of its communities.
If you have a disability that you feel may impair your ability to complete the
work in this course as it is designed, please let me know as soon as possible. All
accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services located
in the Idaho Commons, Room 333, 885-6307.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Major Writing Assignments

English 102 Syllabus 3

Research Topic Proposal 100 points

Annotated Bibliography 100 points
Research Paper
o Rough Draft
200 points
o Final Draft
100 points

Process Work
There will be shorter (invention or prep work) writing assignments due
regularly. These assignments are specifically designed to help you generate
material to write the major assignments. For each major assignment, you will
also be asked to read and comment on the papers of other students.
GRADING
Grading criteria are provided for each major assignment.
A = 90 100%
B = 80 89%
C = 70 79%
D = 60 69%
F = 59% and less
Only the first three are passing grades.
A
B
C

Represents achievement that is outstanding or superior relative to the

level necessary to meet the requirements of the course.
Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to
meet the requirements of the course.
Represents achievement that meets the basic requirements in every
respect. It signifies that the work is average, but nothing more.
Stands for Withdrawal. This is the grade you will receive if you withdraw
from the course after Wednesday, January 29 but on or before
Thursday, April 3. A W has no effect on your GPA, but you can have only
20 W credits during your time as an undergraduate at UI (about six
courses. After Thursday, April 3 you can no longer withdraw from the
course.
Stands for No Credit. A grade of N has no effect on your GPA, but it does
mean that you need to take the course again. You will earn a grade of N if
your grade is an N and you have done all the work for the course. You also
must have made a good faith effort to complete all the assignments.
Handing in just any piece of writing just to avoid getting an F will not
work.

English 102 Syllabus 4

Stands for Failure. A grade of F has a negative effect on your GPA. If you
fail to hand in any major writing assignment or do not make a good-faith
effort to succeed at a major assignment, you will automatically earn an F.
If your average grade is an N but you did not complete one of the major
components of the course (one of the major papers of all of the homework
assignments or drafts), you will automatically earn an F in the course.
There is no reason for receiving an F in this course, unless you simply fail
to submit the required work.
Stands for incomplete. Under very unusual circumstances you could be
assigned an Incomplete in the course if something happened to you within
the last two weeks of the semester that made it impossible to complete
the course (a serious accident or illness that left you hospitalized and very
significant personal tragedy, etc.

REPEATING THE COURSE

You may not hand in the same papers you used in a previous semester. If you are
repeating the course, you need to write new versions of the assignments.

English 102 Syllabus 5