Course Objectives:
This course builds on skills that you have begun to develop in high
school. Here, the emphasis is on writing clearly, something that you
will need to do in any career. The subject matter for writing assignments
will come primarily from books that the class will read. You will
learn how to discuss your own reactions and ideas with other people
in a group, another skill that will serve you well after you finish
college. By increasing your rhetorical awareness, you will become
more aware of details in your own writing. You will improve your writing
skills through writing assignments, some done in class.
Texts:
O'Brien, Tim, The Things They Carried (New York: Random
House, 1998)
Chekhov, Anton, The Seagull (New York: Norton, 1994)
Chevalier, Tracy, Girl with a Pearl Earring (New York:
Penguin, 1999)
Hacker, Diana, A Pocket Style Manual (3rd ed.) (New York:
Bedford, 2000)
A good collegiate dictionary
Assignments:
Because class discussion and class work are important to your
success in this course, and to the experience of the entire class,
I expect you to come to class prepared to talk. As a minimum, you
need to have done the reading before class and you need to say something.
To help you avoid the problem of falling behind in the reading,
there will be very frequent short quizzes, sometimes unannounced.
You will also be asked to do Internet research and sometimes to
do work on a computer that you then transmit to the instructor.
All writing assignments count as part of your grade; short ones
done in class count as part of class participation. There will be
four short papers (500 words). You will be given details about each
assignment close to the time it is due. I encourage you to come
and speak to me about any problem you may have with an assignment,
either in getting started or in understanding the corrections that
you need to make.
Attendance:
When you are enrolled in college, I expect you understand that
being a student is your job. I expect you to participate actively
in class discussion, an obligation that requires you to be present
in class. If you miss a test, you earn a grade of zero for it. Everyone
is allowed to be absent twice, no questions asked. Additional absences
detract from your grade. In any case, when you return to class after
you have been absent, I hold you responsible for assignments that
were made during your absence. See The Rudder for college policy.
Grade:
Your final grade is calculated as follows:
Class participation
|
10% |
| In-class writing |
10% |
| Mid-term examination |
20% |
| Short Papers |
40% |
| Final examination |
20% |
Note: Late papers and other assignments will not be accepted.
NOTE: This syllabus is subject to change.
For all matters regarding academic honesty, I observe and uphold
college policy, as spelled out in The Rudder.
The following course description comes from the sustained collaborative
effort of the English faculty at Champlain College.
ENGLISH COMPOSITION
PLACEMENT
Placement in English Composition will be determined by SAT scores
and by a diagnostic essay written in class during the first week
of the course.
OUTCOMES AND HOW TO REACH THEM
Successful students will be able to communicate clearly and effectively
in writing with an audience of college-educated adults. To reach
this objective, students will use the writing process described
below.
Step One: Pre-writing - Successful students should be able
to use several strategies to discover and develop their topics,
to think about their purpose, and to consider the needs of their
readers.
A partial list of appropriate pre-writing strategies:
- Reading
- Research
- Brainstorming
- Listing
- Free writing
- Journal writing
- Chart making
- Clustering
- Outlining
Step Two: Writing/drafting - Successful students should
be able to write essays that relay information or that argue a position.
These essays should be fully and coherently developed with a central
thesis supported by sound logic and a variety of evidence.
All students will write a minimum of
four multi-draft essays of
over 500 words. Much of the writing in the course will be based
on assigned reading. One of these essays will synthesize (bring
together in a meaningful way) at least two print sources (including
computer databases such as ProQuest) and one Internet source.
In addition, at least one essay will be written in class.
Step Three: Post-writing/revision - Before submitting papers,
successful students should be able to revise essays to engage readers
and communicate clearly.
Students will reread and revise their work with special attention
to the following:
- Awareness of audience and of purpose
- Appropriateness of tone
- Clarity of thesis (stated or implied)
- Appropriate pattern of organization
- Appropriateness and consistency of point of view
- Unity and coherence of paragraphs
- Variety in length and structure of sentences
- Use of specific details and examples
- Effectiveness of transitions
- Unity and coherence of whole essay
Students will practice and use MLA (Modern Language Association)
style for typing their papers, integrating quotations and paraphrases,
and giving credit for words and ideas provided by others. MLA
style calls for in-text citations and for listing sources on
a Works Cited page at the end of a writing.
Step Four: Editing/proofreading - Successful students should
be able to read and edit
their own work and the work of others to achieve clarity and fluency
Students will practice finding, identifying, and correcting common
errors in grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and usage.
Students will use A Pocket Style Manual or A Writer's
Reference
by Diana Hacker and will demonstrate their ability to look up
guidelines about the following:
- Subject/verb agreement
- Pronoun topics--antecedent agreement, reference, and case
- Sentence fragments
- Run-on sentences: fused sentences and comma splices
- The comma
- The semicolon and colon
- The apostrophe
- Quotation marks
- Other marks
- Capitalization
- Abbreviations, numbers, italics, underlining
- Spelling and the hyphen
- Glossary of usage
Graded writing will account for at least 75% of the student's
final grade.
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