English 1010: Introduction to Writing (pdf)
Fall 2006 – Sections 63, 68, 70
Instructor: Marcia Smith
Email: smith.marcia@gmail.com
Required Texts & Materials
The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing (4th edition)
Prentice Hall Guide to Grammar and Usage (6th edition)
- an email account
- a computer with internet access (your own, a friend’s, the computer lab)
- a dictionary (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate is my favorite)
- paper (ideally a notebook for English 1010 only) & pen or pencil every class meeting
Course Description & Policies
This course introduces college level rhetorical skills through reading, writing, and discussion. These skills provide a necessary foundation for success throughout your college career. Your success in this requires not only that you complete the assigned reading and writing, but also that you participate actively in the class and develop process-oriented strategies for writing. In order to succeed in this course, you will need to:
- Adhere to the conventions of Standard Written English
- Construct written documents with an awareness of audience and purpose
- Understand how different rhetorical situations require different writing strategies
- Use critical reading and thinking skills to communicate your ideas effectively
- Analyze student and professional writing samples for rhetorical effectiveness
- Research and think critically about issues you find important
- Develop flexible strategies for revising, editing, and proofreading
- Practice peer review and collaborative learning/writing techniques
UVSC policies stipulate that, “Each student is expected to take an active role in the learning process by meeting course requirements as specified in written syllabi” (VILA). The course syllabus comprises a contract between the instructor and students, who will be held to its terms and expectations for “the right to receive academic credit and/or degrees when all specified requirements and course work have been satisfied” (V.L.). In other words, you, the student, have the right to receive credit for work that meets or exceeds satisfactory performance; however, you also have the right to fail based on those same conditions of performance.
So that you may meet or exceed satisfactory performance, it is imperative that you read, understand, and adhere to the policies and procedures specified in this course syllabus. Please do not hesitate to ask for clarification of any policy or requirement you do not understand.
Plagiarism
All students are expected to be familiar with the rules for avoiding intentional and unintentional plagiarism. If you are not familiar with these rules, see the UVSC English Department’s Plagiarism Policy, linked from the department homepage at www.uvsc.edu/engl. Any assignment that is plagiarized, wholly or in part, will receive a grade of 0 (zero).
Assignment Formats
You will be required to submit five major papers, along with regular journal entries and occasional in-class writing. ALL PAPERS, other than in-class writing and journal entries, must be printed in black ink on white paper and formatted in type no larger than 12 point with 1-inch margins on all sides. Any submission that deviates from these specifications will be returned ungraded. You may not submit any paper or other assignment electronically (i.e., by email) unless instructed to do so (e.g., your journal assignments will all be submitted electronically). Any paper submitted by email will be disregarded.
Attendance & Late Work
This course depends on the active participation of all class members; your presence in class is the most basic, and necessary, form of participation. If you must miss class, please be sure to contact a classmate or the instructor to find out about any announcements or assignments you may have missed; if at all possible, contact your instructor before the day you must miss. If you miss more than six class meetings, you will not pass this class.
Late papers will not be accepted. Again: Late papers will not be accepted. If you must be out of class on the day a paper is due, you should either turn the paper in early or arrange for another student to bring your paper to class; you should not email the paper (see above for policy on electronic submission). If you turn in a paper after the assigned due date, you will receive a 0 (zero) for that assignment.
Accessibility Statement
If you have any disability that may impair your ability to successfully complete this course, please contact the Accessibility Services Department, located in WB 146. Academic Accommodations are granted for all students who have qualified documented disabilities. Services are coordinated with the student and instructor by the Accessibility Services Department: telephone 801.863.8747, TDD 801.221.0908.
Contacting Marcia
I encourage you to contact me with questions and concerns, or to discuss course topics and assignments, by email or by phone. The phone number listed above is my home number; please do not call before 10 am or after 10 pm. I check my email regularly and am happy to correspond with you about your thoughts, ideas, and responses to the class. However, please do not assume that an administrative issue has been taken care of simply because you have sent an email about it. Do not send me drafts of papers by email expecting that I will review and/or comment on them; while I welcome the opportunity to discuss your ideas and progress on particular assignments, I do not review drafts. A reminder: You may not submit papers by email.
Although I do not have an office on campus, I am available for conferences by appointment on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays before 1 pm and after 5 pm. If you’d like to talk to me in person, let me know, and we can set up a time and place to meet.
Assignment Overview
In addition to five major papers, you will be required to submit weekly journal assignments and occasional in-class writing. You will participate in peer review, a process through which you and your classmates will help each other learn strategies for revising and improving your writing. You will be assigned readings from your textbook and elsewhere, and you will be required to actively engage the readings; simply passing your eyes over the page and/or “getting the gist” will not suffice. All written assignments will be due at the beginning of class on the specified due date. Readings should be completed before class. Do not come to class unprepared, as you waste everyone’s time when you do so.
Paper 1, Problematizing a Topic
In this two-page paper, you will indicate at least a basic grasp of the features valued in college writing, specifically the ability to engage an idea in complex ways and to resist rushing into easy answers or pursuing one thesis alone.
Paper 2, Problem/Solution
In this four- to six-page paper, you will begin working on written argument by choosing a local issue (on or around campus, or in your home town) for which you acknowledge multiple possible solutions, introduce terms of evaluation, and identify/support the best possible solution.
Paper 3, Summary/Strong Response
In this four- to six-page paper, you will show that you are able to read and compress difficult material and then to enter the conversation in which the text is working.
Paper 4, Proposal/Annotated Bibliography
With this assignment, you will move from working with a single text to working with multiple texts. You will explain a research question, including topic, academic discipline, what you’re discovered through your research so far, and a plan for completing your research. You will create a two-page annotated bibliography that references article and/or book chapter length academic works, summarizes the contents of those works, and presents your findings in an appropriate bibliographic style.
Paper 5, Exploratory Research
In this four- to six-page paper, you will execute the project you proposed in Paper 4. You will write a first-person narrative of your research process, answering such questions as: What did you discover? How did your understanding of the topic change as you moved from source to source? What is the most effective organizational strategy for moving from source to source or grouping sets of sources?
Journal Assignments
Each week, you will submit at least one journal entry. Sometimes the journal topic will be assigned, and other times you will choose the topic. Your journal assignments will be submitted via a weblog, due by Friday each week; in addition, you will be required to read and comment on the weblogs of other students in the class. We will discuss in class how and where to create and publish your weblog.
Although not required, keeping a reading journal in which you record your thoughts and questions about assigned readings will prove helpful. Jotting down a few notes and/or questions immediately after reading will help you process what you’ve read and begin to engage it critically.
Revision
Revision is essential to the writing process, and learning to revise effectively will be an important focus of your work here. To that end, revision will be a required component of all but journal assignments.
Grading
Your final grade will be determined based on the number of points you accrue from a possible total of 900; each assignment or group of assignments will be weighted as follows:
Paper 1 – 100 points
Paper 2 – 100 points
Paper 3 – 100 points
Paper 4 – 125 points
Paper 5 – 150 points
Revisions/Peer reviews – 150 points
Attendance/ Participation – 100 points
Journal Assignments – 75 points
Final grades will be assigned based on the following scale:
A = 810-900 pts
B = 720-809 pts
C= 630-719 pts
D= 540-629 pts
