Syllabus
English 102: Composition II
UW-Rock County Spring 2006
Credit Hours: 3 credits
Prerequisites: A grade of “C” or better in English 101
or exemption based on a sufficiently high placement test score.
Sections:
Section L001 (#4100) MW 8:00-9:15 a.m. Room A136
Section L002 (#4101) TuTh 8:30-9:45 a.m. Room A133
Section L004 (#4103) TuTh 11:00-12:15 Room A136
Dr. Michael Mattek
Assistant Professor of English
Office location: Andrews 256
e-mail: mmattek@uwc.edu
phone: (608) 758-5903
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Day |
My Schedule: Courses, Locations, Times, and Office Hours |
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Monday |
English #102 A136 8:00-9:15 Office Hours A256 9:15-10:00 English #261 HS06 11:00-12:15 Office Hours A256 2:00-3:00 |
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Tuesday |
English #102 A133 8:30-9:45 Office Hours A256 9:45-10:30 English #102 A136 11:00-12:15 Office Hours A256 2:00-3:00 |
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Wednesday |
English #102 A136 8:00-9:15 Office Hours A256 9:15-10:00 English #261 HS06 11:00-12:15 |
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Thursday |
English #102 A133 8:30-9:45 Office Hours A256 9:45-10:30 English #102 A136 11:00-12:15 Office Hours A256 2:00-3:00 |
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Friday |
No classes Office Hours: I am available for individual conferences by appointment only (between Noon and 3:00 p.m.) |
--“A” means “Andrews Hall” --HS means “Hyatt Smith Hall”
--If I am not in my office during Office Hours, check the classroom where I just taught.
If I am having office hours in a different location, I will leave a note on my office door.
The Big Picture:
As a student at a campus of the University of Wisconsin Colleges system, you are participating in a tradition of studying the liberal arts that goes back as far as the ancient Greeks. “The hallmark of a liberal arts education,” as stated by the Extension office of Harvard University, “is the idea of the well-rounded person—the educated generalist versus the specialized technician.” In other words, the liberal arts provide general knowledge, such as history, literature, biology, and philosophy, rather than professional or vocational training, such as medicine or welding. Empowered by this knowledge, students are able to analyze the belief systems and the logical (or illogical) arguments put forth by others, and reject them or accept them as their own. In addition, with this wider perspective on life, a liberally-educated student is able to enjoy a higher quality of life (which is different than, but not necessarily contradictory to, a high standard of living). And with the sharpened skills at analysis and logic, students become better at problem-solving—a trait necessary for professional success and personal fulfillment in the twenty-first century.
In a nutshell, a liberal arts education contains the following objectives:
--To discover truths
--To expand a person’s horizons
--To develop effective leaders
--To create better citizens
The emphasis on the liberal arts by the faculty and staff of this campus is stressed in the brochure that you received when you first enrolled here. Inside the brochure, entitled “The Best Start,” the promise was made that “you’ll be engaged in the world of ideas, exploring questions about the nature of life and human purpose.” To help fulfill that promise, this class, English #102, will enable you to not only improve your reading, writing, and critical thinking skills, but it will also enable you to become fully engaged in the satisfying, and sometimes challenging, objectives of a liberal arts education.
Course Description:
English 102: Composition II is a rhetoric course that focuses on writing which presents information, ideas, and arguments, with attention to the essay and techniques of documentation. Emphasis will be on academic writing which is applicable across the curriculum.
Course Objectives:
Reinforce Objectives from English #101:
--To develop the ability to write coherent, well-developed sentences, paragraphs, and essays,
with particular emphasis upon creating appropriate and effective topic sentences
and thesis statements.
--To develop the ability to generate an essay from the original pre-writing through stages of
revision to the finished product.
--To develop the ability to follow rules of appropriate diction and mechanical and grammatical
conventions.
--To develop the ability to read critically, especially to analyze and evaluate essays in terms of
their authors’ writing techniques.
Additional Objectives for English #102:
--To analyze the rhetorical context of a work of prose
--To analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and interpret information and ideas
--To construct hypotheses and arguments
--To integrate knowledge, research, and experience to support hypothesis and argument
--To continue to develop critical thinking and reading skills
--To gather and use information from printed sources, electronic sources, observation,
and interaction
Required Texts and Materials (Books available in the UW-Rock Co. Book Store):
The Writer’s Brief Handbook, 5th edition, (editors: Rosa & Eschholz)
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor by Flannery O’Connor
Five two-pocket colored portfolios in which to submit your final essays and rough drafts
A binder or folder for handouts and assignments
Major Assignments:
To pass the course, you must submit all five essay portfolios. Even if you do well on four essays but do not turn in the fifth, you will have to retake the entire course. In addition, you are required to actively participate in class discussions and activities.
Unit projects and contributions to the final course grade follow:
Academic Engagement:
Unit #1: Expository Essay: “Leisure” (Research using MLA formatting) 15%
Unit #2: Analytical Essay: Using Theory to “Close Read” a Short Story (MLA) 15%
Unit #3: Personal Essay: A Thematic Connection to The Great Gatsby 15%
Civic Engagement:
Unit #4: Problem/Solution Essay: (Research using APA formatting)
Improving Access to Health Care in the U.S. (APA) 20%
Unit #5: Narrative Essay: Service Learning Project 15%
Bonus added to your essay with the highest grade 5%
Attendance, In-class Participation, and Quizzes 15%
100%
Calculation of Final Course Grade:
I will be using the “Calculation of Final Course Grade” form to calculate your final course grade. A copy of this form is attached toward the back of this syllabus packet. I encourage you to keep a running calculation of your overall grade by filling in the section “Calculate Your Own Grade” when you receive your graded essays.
Essay Grading Procedures:
For each of the major essays, you will receive an assignment sheet that lists the objectives of the assignment, as well as a grading rubric that I will use to evaluate your writing and critical thinking skills. These rubrics will usually use a 100 point scale, which is used to assign a letter grade for each essay. The scale I typically use is as follows:
90-100 A
87-89 A-
84-86 B+
80-83 B
77-79 B-
74-76 C+
70-73 C
67-79 C-
64-66 D+
60-63 D
57-59 D-
<57 F
A sample essay grading rubric is attached to the back of this syllabus.
Please note: I do not add the scores from your individual essays to arrive at your final course grade. Instead, I use the letter grades that you received for each essay and plug them into the “Calculation of Final Course Grade” to determine your final grade for the course.
Attendance, In-class Participation, and Quizzes:
This semester I am going to experiment with using points for daily attendance and participation. I will use a five-point scale: if you attend class, you get 2 points; if you contribute to class discussions and actively participate in group work, you get four points; if you move the discussions into deeper territory, or excel at helping others in group work, you get all five points.
Much of the information on writing for this course will be discussed and practiced in class; since you cannot participate if you are absent, your participation grade will be directly affected by your attendance. Since we only meet twice a week, you are expected to be in every regularly scheduled class and specially scheduled activity. If you will not be able to attend, it is your responsibility to contact the instructor beforehand to explain why. If you miss due to illness, please e-mail me as soon as you are able to let me know when you will be returning to class.
I will be using quizzes to keep everyone accountable for reading the assignments, and for taking notes of important concepts discussed in class. Each quiz is usually worth five points; however, you get six questions to get the five points, so even if you miss one question you can still max out the available number of points.
Some days I will give one quiz, some days none, and some days more than one quiz. Some days I may give a reading quiz, other days a knowledge quiz, and other days both types of quizzes.
As you can see, it is entirely at my discretion, so always be prepared for class, and review your notes periodically.
At the end of the semester, I will total up your attendance, participation, and quizzes points; to partially offset days that you are absent due to illness, I will add ten points to each person’s participation grade. Then, I will create a “curve” for the class; however, your grade will not be lower than the grades on the following chart:
90-100 % of available points: A
87-89% A-
84-86% B+
80-83% B
77-79% B-
74-76% C+
70-73% C
67-69% C-
64-66% D+
60-63% D
57-59% D-
<57% F
As I said before, this is the first semester that I am using this system; therefore, there may be some tweaking of the system as the semester progresses.
Policy on Tardiness:
When you come to class late, you disrupt the entire class. Therefore, as a sign of respect for the instructor, other students, and the content of the course, you will be penalized for being tardy. For the first tardy, you will not be penalized as long as you explain to the instructor at the end of class the reason for your lateness. However, for each tardy thereafter, I will lower your participation points by three points.
Policy on Late Papers:
In order to prevent an avalanche of late papers coming in at the end of the semester, I am implementing a strict policy this semester on late papers (both rough drafts and final essay portfolios). The new policy is this: you will be penalized three points (3 pts) for each calendar day that your rough draft or final portfolio is late. These points will be subtracted on the grading rubric for that essay. For example, if you originally received 78 points on an essay, which would have been an “B-”, but your paper was submitted two days late, your new score would be 72, which equates to a “C” for the paper. In another example, a student might submit a final essay on time, but turned in the rough draft one day late; in that case, a three point penalty lowers the grade from 78 to 75, and the grade from a “B-” to a “C+”.
Note: drafts and papers will be considered “late” if they are not turned in at the beginning of class. Since I will be collecting papers at the beginning of class, you will need to bring at least two copies of your rough drafts to class.
Now, I realize that sometimes things happen beyond our control; therefore, I am giving each student two free passes to turn in papers late. Each pass will allow you to turn in a rough draft or a final portfolio up to two days late without a penalty. If you still have not turned in the assignment, you will be penalized 3 points for each calendar day after the two day extension.
I strongly urge you to save your free extensions for when you are ill, or for when family emergencies arise. In other words, use them as insurance for events beyond your control, not as a way to avoid properly planning and carrying out your work.
I am hoping that this new policy will help you to avoid playing catch up at the end of the semester, and that it will help me to streamline the grading process so that I can return everyone’s graded essays back to them sooner than in the past.
Saving Your Work:
Since floppy discs are not a reliable way to safely save the writing that you work so hard to produce, I suggest you buy a USB flashdrive from the campus bookstore or an office supply store. Also, when saving work on the computers on campus, use the H:drive rather than “My Documents” on the C:drive. This way, you can access your files from any computer on campus (rather than just the specific computer on which you were working), and you can even retrieve files located in your H:drive from home.
Activities Outside Regularly Scheduled Class Time:
Since there is a “community service component” built into my sections of English #102, you will be required to participate in a community service project off campus. This project will require you to log at least 4 ½ hours of community service over at least two days; at least one of these days must be during the designated “community service week” (week #13). Although I will cancel one class period to partially offset the increased time demands that this project will make upon you, you will need to plan ahead for the increased overall demands upon your time this course will put upon you for this project.
Academic Honesty:
The board of regents, administrators, faculty, academic staff, and students of the University of Wisconsin System believe that academic honesty and integrity are fundamental to the mission of higher education and of the University of Wisconsin System. Therefore, the University has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity and to develop procedures to deal effectively with instances of academic dishonesty. Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect for others’ academic endeavors. Students who violate these standards will be confronted and must accept the consequences of their actions.
Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct is an act in which a student: (a) seeks to claim credit for the work or efforts of another without authorization or citation; (b) uses unauthorized materials or fabricated data in any academic exercise; (c) forges or falsifies academic documents or records; (d) intentionally impedes or damages the academic work of others; (e) engages in conduct aimed at making false representation of a student’s academic performance; or (f) assists other students in any of these acts. The above acts are subject to disciplinary action. Further information may be found in the UW Colleges Student Rights and Regulations Handbook at: http://www.uwc.edu/student_services/student_R&R.pdf
Writing Assistance:
Assistance with your writing assignments is available in the Learning Support Center, Andrews 231. Faculty, staff, and trained student tutors are available to provide expert, one-on-one assistance in all stages of the writing process, including understanding the assignment clearly, generating and developing paper topics and ideas, organizing your papers, using documentation properly, and mastering grammar and punctuation. LSC hours are 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Late afternoon and evening assistance is available upon request.
To make an appointment with a tutor on campus at the Learning Support Center,
call (608)758-6519. This service is provided to you free of charge!
Another tutoring option available to you is to get assistance on-line from the UW-Waukesha Online Writing Lab, located at:
http://waukesha.uwc.edu/stud/owl/
This service is available to all students in the UW Colleges free of charge.
Whether you work with a tutor on campus or on-line, please identify for your tutor the specific skills that you wish to focus on, and supply details of the specific assignment on which you are working.
Please note: tutoring in math, science, and foreign languages are also available at the Learning Support Center here at UW-Rock County. Stop by their office for more information.
ASSESSMENT: The UW Colleges-wide assessment program was established to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the curriculum, programs, and services of the institution. The institution-wide assessment activities focus on analytical, quantitative, communication and aesthetic skills because they are of primary importance in the general education of our students.
The assessment will be part of a regular homework or in-class assignment, but the assessment is not a “grade” and does not become part of your transcript. Assessment evaluations are compiled and used solely to evaluate teaching effectiveness.
Each department also conducts assessment activities that address discipline-specific learning goals. This semester, some students in creative writing and literature courses will be assessed on aesthetic skills, specifically the ability to “engage with and critically reflect on a work of creative expression.” In addition, some students in composition courses will be assessed on analytic skills, specifically the ability to “interpret and synthesize information and ideas.” The English Department is conducting a research project about how “peer review” is used and perceived by students. As a part of this project, students may be asked to fill out a survey or complete one or more assignments pertaining to peer review.
Special Assistance:
Qualified students with disabilities (those who have been admitted and can provide documentation of their disability) have the right to request accommodations from the university, as stipulated within Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1976 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students needing accommodations should provide early notice to staff in the campus Student Services Office because of the time required for arranging accommodations. Students may also contact the coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities in Madison at 608-262-2001 (voice) or 608-265-5766 (TDD/TTY) for information and assistance. More information may be found at: http://www.uwc.edu/student_services/disability_services.asp
Sexual Assault and Harassment:
Respect for human dignity is essential to an appropriate university environment. Thus, sexual harassment of students and employees is impermissible and unprofessional conduct and will not be tolerated. Conduct determined to fall within the definition of sexual harassment will be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with applicable due process requirements, including, but not limited to, reprimand, temporary suspension, expulsion, or discharge of the harassing individual. Further information may be found in the UW Colleges Student Rights and Regulations Handbook at: http://www.uwc.edu/student_services/student_R&R.pdf
Campus Email Policy:
All email correspondence to your instructors MUST be sent through your official campus email account. For safety against computer viruses and to remove SPAM email messages, your instructor may delete without reading any email from an account other than your assigned UWC.EDU address. If you use any other email account (such as yahoo or hotmail) to contact your instructor – you MUST assume that the message WILL NOT be read. Students are encouraged to read their campus email regularly to stay informed of campus news and events. If you need assistance in accessing your campus email account, please contact Campus Network Administrator, Barb Palmer (office W07, BPALMER@uwc.edu), or the Campus Instructional Technologist, Judy Konkel (office A47, JKONKEL@uwc.edu).
Inclement Weather Cancellations:
Class and event cancellations are announced on local radio and TV stations (and their websites):
WJVL – 99.9 FM WCLO – 1230 AM WGEZ – 1490 AM
WKPO – 105.9 FM WSJY – 107.3 FM WISC-TV, Channel 3, Madison
WMTV, Channel 15, Madison WKOW-TV, Channel 27, Madison
Classes and events will be cancelled in blocks:
Communicate with your instructor to make up missed class time.
General Calendar
Note: Assignments and due dates are subject to change.
If changes are necessary, I will announce them in class.
More detailed calendars will be provided with each unit assignment
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Week 1: Jan. 23-27 |
Introductions Begin Unit #1: Expository Essay |
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Week 2: Jan. 30-Feb.3 |
Readings and Research on “Leisure” |
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Week 3: Feb. 6-10 |
Rough Draft due: Unit #1 |
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Week 4: Feb. 13-17 |
Final Draft due: Unit #1 Begin Unit #2: Analytical Essay Read O’Connor short stories and criticism |
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Week 5: Feb. 20-24 |
Read O’Connor short stories and criticism |
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Week 6: Feb. 27-March 3 |
Rough Draft due: Unit #2 |
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Week 7: March 6-10 |
Final Draft due: Unit #2 Begin Unit #3: Personal Essay Read The Great Gatsby |
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Week 8: March 13-17 |
Read The Great Gatsby |
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Week 9: March 20-24 |
Rough Draft due: Unit #3 |
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Week 10: April 3-7 |
Final Draft due: Unit #3 Begin Unit #4: Problem/Solution Essay Readings and Research on “Health Care” |
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Week 11: April 10-14 |
Readings and Research on “Health Care” |
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Week 12: April 17-21 |
Rough Draft Due: Unit #4 |
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Week 13: April 24-28 |
Final Draft due: Unit #4 Begin Unit #5: Narrative Essay Community Service Projects |
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Week 14: May 1-5 |
Rough Draft due: Unit #5 |
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Week 15: May 8-10 |
Final Draft due: Unit #5 Fill out course evaluations |
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Week 16: Final Exams week May 12-19 |
Friday May 12 at 3:30 p.m. Attendance is required (Triple absence penalty) |
Mattek English #102
Grading Rubric: Problem/Solution Essay
Student Name: _____________________________
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Higher Order Concerns: Content & Complexity 30 % 18 21 24 27 --Content: --Attention grabber --Articulate the problem --Offer your solution --Provide background Information --Justify your solution (show that it solves the problem) --Respond to objections to your solution --Respond to alternative solutions --Conclusion --Complexity: Explores easily-overlooked aspects of the topic
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Middle Order Concerns: Paragraphing 20 % 12 14 16 18 --Organizing your paper by arranging paragraphs in a logical order --Adding/subtracting paragraph breaks --Focusing on one Controlling Idea for each paragraph
--Developing Topic Sentences that encapsulate the Controlling Idea --Inter-linking topic sentences with previous paragraphs --Creating paragraphs that follow the format of: Topic Sentence--Evidence or Quotation—Explanation |
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Lower Order Concerns: Conciseness, Cohesiveness, & Syntax 30 % 18 21 24 27 --Conciseness: eliminating unnecessary words
--Dynamic Word Choices: adding details and imagery
--Cohesiveness: --Transitions --Old/new Contract --Parallelism
--Syntactic variety
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Proofreading: 10 % 6 7 8 9 --Spelling
--Punctuation
--Attributive tags:
--In-text citations: |
Formatting: APA 10 % 6 7 8 9 --Cover page
--Headers
--References page:
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A B C D Score: ____________
90 80 70 60 Grade: ____________
Mattek Student Name: ________________________________
Calculation of Final Course Grade:
English #102: Spring 2006
Academic Engagement:
Unit #1: Expository Essay: “Leisure” (Research using MLA formatting) 15%
Unit #2: Analytical Essay: Using Theory to “Close Read” a Short Story (MLA) 15%
Unit #3: Personal Essay: A Thematic Connection to The Great Gatsby 15%
Civic Engagement:
Unit #4: Problem/Solution Essay: (Research using APA formatting)
Improving Access to Health Care in the U.S. (APA) 20%
Unit #5: Narrative Essay: Service Learning Project 15%
Bonus added to your essay with the highest grade 5%
Attendance, In-class Participation, and Quizzes 15%
100%
Calculate Your Own Grade: Example:
Unit #1 Grade: _____ (.15) x (_____) = ______ “C+” (.15) x (2.33) = .3495
Unit #2 Grade: _____ (.20) x (_____) = ______ “A-” (.20) x (3.67) = .7340
Unit #3 Grade: _____ (.15) x (_____) = ______ “B+” (.15) x (3.33) = .4995
Unit #4 Grade: _____ (.20) x (_____) = ______ “B-” (.20) x (2.67) = .5340
Unit #5 Grade: _____ (.15) x (_____) = ______ “B” (.15) x (3.00) = .4500
Participation: _____ (.15) x (_____) = ______ “A” (.15) x (4.00) = .6000
3.1670
3.1670 = “B” for the course
(Note: In the example, Unit #2 received the bonus 5% for having the highest essay grade)
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Grade Conversion Scale for individual unit papers: |
Score Conversion Scale for final course grade:
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A 4.0 A- 3.67 B+ 3.33 B 3.0 B- 2.67 C+ 2.33 C 2.0 C- 1.67 D+ 1.33 D 1.0 F 0.0
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3.6 A 3.4 A- 3.2 B+ 3.0 B 2.67 B- 2.33 C+ 2.0 C 1.67 C- 1.33 D+ 1.0 D <1.0 F
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Student Acknowledgement of Syllabus
I, _____________________________ have read the syllabus for Dr. Michael Mattek’s English 102 class for the Spring 2006 semester at the University of Wisconsin-Rock County, understand its policies, and agree to abide by those policies.
Signed: ________________________________
Dated: _________________________________
Student Contact Information
Student Name: _________________________________
Campus e-mail: ________________________@uwc.edu
Address: ________________________________
________________________________
Phone #: ________________________________