English 102: Composition II
Fall Semester 2003
10-10:50,
C164
MWF
Professor: Dr. Cassandra
Phillips
Office: W136
Office Phone: 521-5522
Office Hours: MWF 7-8,
Campus Email:
cphillip@uwc.edu
Welcome to Composition II, a
rhetoric course that focuses on writing which presents information and ideas
effectively—with attention to techniques of documentation. This course emphasizes critical reading,
thinking and writing. Although English
102 partially fulfills the English competency requirement, the skills you
develop will be useful in a variety of different courses. In addition to the many writing assignments
that you will be called upon to complete during your college career, you will
also be required to examine, analyze, and think about issues and problems in
new ways. Writing is a great tool for
exploring the parameters of complex topics and it will continue to serve you in
future professional writing tasks.
Throughout the semester, we will focus on writing in many different
ways. We will investigate cross-cultural
negotiation from multiple perspectives, considering different points of view,
and write a series of analytical, argumentative essays about these relationships. We will do this through the completion of six
essays, all of which will be explained in much greater detail during the course
of the semester:
Upon the successful
completion of English 102, you should be prepared for the critical reading and
argumentative writing required in cross-disciplinary writing-intensive courses,
upper-level writing courses, and future professional writing tasks. This course is therefore organized around a
sequence of assignments that will enable you to develop your abilities through
extensive writing, revision, and discussion of ideas. Class sessions will be conducted in a
student-centered forum with frequent essay workshops in preparation for the
final portfolio.
Composition I or exemption
based on placement test score.
·
Columbo, Gary,
Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle. Rereading
·
Hacker, Diana. Rules For Writers, Fifth Ed.,
·
A good college
dictionary (optional, but necessary)
·
Two computer
disks (one for backup) to store your work
·
A three ring
binder and/or substantial folder to hold assignments/drafts, etc.
·
Lots of
LOOSELEAF paper
·
Manila folders
Composition classes rely on
student participation and your presence is therefore essential, both to you and
the class. I will take attendance every
day. English Department guidelines
state that students cannot miss more than nine classes and still expect to pass
the course. This policy includes all
“excused” absences as well, which means you should save your absences for true
emergencies—illness, a funeral, a religious holiday, sick children, unavailable
childcare, etc. It doesn’t pay to waste
them on oversleeping or a day at the beach.
This policy can be altered only under very special circumstances. Since we have less than three hours a week, it
is important that you are on time and stay until the end of each class
session. Arriving late or leaving early
is disruptive to class activities in session.
If you arrive late, you must inform me at the end of the class or you
will be marked absent. Frequent
tardiness or early departures will affect your grade.
This course is divided into
six units, each of which produces an acceptable version of an essay. These required essays will remain
individually ungraded, but will have both peer and instructor comments for
further revision. The final week of
class will be devoted to the preparation of your course portfolio. Your final course grade will thus consist of
two parts: a portfolio grade and a process grade. ***Failure
of either part results in failure of the entire course—this means you cannot
fail process and still expect to pass the course, and vice versa!***
·
Portfolio (50%)
Many university
programs across the country have adopted the portfolio method of
assessment. This course will also employ
a portfolio system of evaluation. This
means that no work win the course will be assigned a grade until the end of the
semester; rather, the course work will be responded to (by your teacher and
your peers) with suggestions for revision. This system of evaluation allows
students to continue working on assignments throughout the semester, applying
what they are learning to early assignments.
At the end of the semester, you will submit a portfolio of work which
will be read holistically (that is, with an eye toward judging your whole body
of work for the semester; assessing the forest rather than the trees). The portfolio will include four to five
formal writings—four or five of your best essays and a reflective
analysis. That means that you may choose
to omit up to two of the essays that you will write during the semester. Each paper in the portfolio will have been
submitted for class and teacher review according to set deadlines. Any paper not submitted on deadline for these
reviews will not be accepted for the portfolio. Regardless of what you include in your
portfolio, you must complete all six essays by their set deadlines in order to
pass the course.
·
Process (50%)
In this class, your full
participation and willingness to work in this intellectual endeavor is
expected. Process work will be measured
through discussions, peer review, homework, presentations, and diverse group
assignments. This is not a lecture
class; people learn by developing their own positions on issues and ideas. The best way for people to develop these
positions is by working through the issues and ideas themselves, within a
community of others participating in the same learning process. The success of our class in many ways relies
upon the engagement of course participants.
The instructor and/or a small number of students alone cannot carry the
discussions or determine their directions or content. Likewise, the success of class workshops
depends on the engagement of all participants.
If you show up unprepared, they cannot work on your paper; likewise, if
you are unwilling to engage in substantive dialogue about the writing of your
group members, they will not receive assistance in re-seeing their paper and
advice on how to make it stronger. In
order to participate effectively, you must be prepared. Respect for the contributions of all students
is essential for collaborative work.
Remember, process credit is easy to get if you work consistently, easy
to lose if you don’t. Thus, your process
grade consists of daily work, quizzes, presentations, homework, and peer
review.
Because so much of the work
required for English 102 involves revising successive drafts of essays, late
work throws off the careful sequencing of writing assignments. As a general rule, then, late work will
not be accepted and it is definitely in your best interest to submit all
assignments on time. Not only will you
receive credit by doing so, but you will also receive feedback to help guide
your revisions. Although credit cannot
be earned for classwork or assignments submitted after the due date, you are
welcome to make an appointment to discuss the assignment with me if you would
like. The late work policy is a strict
one: I do understand that life sometimes poses unavoidable difficulties. You will therefore be allowed one late essay
(excluding the final portfolio) with no deduction. Be aware, though, that the late assignment
must be submitted at the beginning of the next class period. If you accept your responsibility to keep up
with all work assigned for the course, you should avoid any last-minute
problems.
Plagiarism, or the
deliberate representation of another’s work as your own, is unacceptable in the
academic community and a serious violation.
As a class, we’ll discuss means of properly incorporating others’ ideas
and crediting sources. If you are unsure
about whether you may be plagiarizing, just ask.
I strongly encourage you to
take full advantage of my office hours from the first week of class. I am always glad to talk with you about your
progress, specific assignments, and any questions or concerns you may have
about the reading or the course in general.
If my office hours conflict with your schedule, we can make an
appointment, or we can talk over email at any time.
The
This schedule is meant to
provide an outline for the first several weeks of the course. It is subject to change with due written
notice to the class. Please note also
that more detailed descriptions of reading and writing requirements will
accompany each project assignment in the form of a “Unit Schedule” as the
semester continues.
W 9/3 Introductions, discuss syllabus, texts, and presentations
Hwmk: Read
F 9/5 Diagnostic essay, discuss contents and 1-15.
Hwmk: Read handout
on argument
M 9/8 Introduce essay #1, freewriting exercise,
discuss handout
Hwmk: Read handout, work on essay #1
W 9/10 Writing exercise, discuss handout, group work
and reflective memos
Hwmk: Work on
Essay #1
F 9/12 Draft of Essay #1 due, peer review
M 9/15 Essay
#1 Due, introduction of presentations, assign groups
Hmwk: Presentation schedule and topics
W 9/17 Presentation sign-ups, introduce essay #2,
begin readings in class
Hmwk: Read argumentative
handout, write two short essays
F 9/19 Discuss 49-90, discuss essays, group activity
Hmwk: work on
essay #2
M 9/22 Draft of essay #2 due, with copies, peer
review
W 9/24 finish peer review
F 9/26 Essay #2 Due
The Board of Regents,
administrators, faculty, academic staff, and students of the