Syllabus | Printer-friendly Version
Introduction | Readings | Technology | Attendance Policy | Late Papers | Participation | Plagiarism | Formatting | Grading
Objectives:
English 106 introduces you to various strategies for understanding and composing written argument backed by research. More specifically, you will hone your ability to write persuasively and clearly as well as learn how to use sources in a way that is appropriate, relevant, practical, and effective.Goals:
- To introduce students to writing as a process of planning, drafting, revising, and editing as opposed to a one-draft activity.
- To help students understand that writing is a means of discovery and learning--about themselves, their culture, and others. Writing is one way we discover what we think because we have to put it into words. It is a means to examine a subject from a variety of perspectives, and an aid in considering the cultural and social contexts which underlie language use.
- To provide students with skills they need to write successfully inside and outside their professional disciplines; to state, develop, and support a point; to organize an exposition of an argument.
- To emphasize the inherent rhetorical situation of writing: writers using language to communicate with readers about their subjects. To show that writing is audience-based and how that fact influences writing.
- To emphasize the flexibility of text as opposed to a mechanistic view of the text. All writing does not have to be the same number of paragraphs, topic sentences in the same position, etc. The quality of communication through writing is what is important.
- To demonstrate that structure, style, and grammatical and mechanical correctness are all important because of their roles in communication since incoherence, awkwardness, and errors can diminish a writer's credibility and authority.
Paper-based Text:
Everything's An Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz
Virtual Texts:
- Internet (including E-mail, FTP, and WWW)
- Blogger
- pdfs (portable document files) available as downloadable documents on this website
Basic responsibilities:
This course is designed for students with various levels of technological expertise. However, all students are expected to meet certain basic technology responsibilities:
- Have access to your Purdue Career Account
- Configure your @purdue.edu email address for use in PC labs
- Become proficient sending and receiving email attachments via Netscape Messenger
- Check the online course calendar before the beginning of each class
- Become more proficient with unfamiliar hardware and software.
- Maintain back-up copies of all assignments via your home directory, disks, and/or email attachments to yourself
Classroom computer use guidelines:- Face whoever has the floor and is speaking unless we are actively using the computers. Do not sit with your back to speakers when they are speaking.
- Use the computer productively and appropriately. Surfing the web, checking email, doing work for other classes during class time will result in your being marked absent for the day.
- Type and print only when you are asked to do so. Typing or printing while other students or the instructor are giving presentations will result in your final grade being reduced by one full letter grade.
To get the full benefit of your education, attendance and class participation are necessary. If you are cutting class, you are jeopardizing your education as well as your grade. Excessive absences will not be tolerated.
If any student has more than five unexcused absences he/she will fail the course.
After being absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed. One way to do so is to check the Weekly Calendar page on this website, but use whatever means you can. If you have an excused absence, you may make up graded assignments. Make-up assignments must be turned in no more than one class meeting after your return.
There are no make-ups for unannounced (pop) quizzes.
Tardies:
Tardies are annoying and disruptive for both teachers and students. Students who come after I have called roll at the beginning of class will not be counted as having attended that day. The same is true for those who leave early. Three tardies will count as one unexcused absence.Conferences:
Conferences are an essential part of the course. Missing a conference is counted as an absence. Since we're on such a tight schedule with the conferences, you MUST get there on time. TWO tardies to conferences count as an unexcused absence.
I will accept late papers only at my discretion and no later than one class period after the original due date. The paper grade will be lowered ten points per day.
The responsibility is yours to submit papers on time. Have a friend submit your paper if you are unable to do so, but make sure your friend is reliable. Papers that are submitted outside of class (for example, left under the door or left in the wrong mailbox) will receive a grade of "0" if they are lost, and will have points deducted for late submission if they are late. For your own sake, do not put off the assignments are make excuses. Do your work on time.
You will participate actively yet respectfully during class meetings and discussions, including peer critiques and group work. You will be responsible for making sure that your group gets work accomplished in a timely and satisfactory manner, and you will participate in that process to the best of your ability. You will pay attention during class and not disrupt it by talking, playing around, or doing outside work.
Plagiarism is the failure to credit someone else's work in your paper. Deliberate plagiarism results in a zero, and if repeated an F in the course. Unintentional plagiarism (forgetting to credit paraphrases or direct quotations properly) is still serious and results in a 50 for the assignment. We're going to go over proper paraphrasing and quoting in detail, but if you ever have any questions about it, you should ask me or look at the OWL website (Purdue Online Writing Lab).
The papers in this class follow MLA guidelines for formatting. You can find these guidelines laid out at the OWL website.
You must complete all the major projects to pass the course. Since writing is a process, for each project you must submit multiple components of your work (including preliminary assignments, research notes, drafts, etc.).
Point values for assignments & participation:
Your final grade will be compiled by adding the total points you have earned throughout the semester.
- Analytical Argument Essay: 150 points
- Multi-Source Essay: 200 points
- Annotated Bibliography: 150 points
- Research Paper: 275 points
- Multi-Media Presentation: 75 points
- Participation, homework, attendance, and quizzes: 150 points
Point total conversion scale:
A: 900 - 1000 points
B: 800 - 899 points
C: 700- 799 points
D: 600 - 699 points
F: Below 660Expectations:
Papers that receive high scores have these characteristics:
- Treatment of subject shows good critical intelligence, careful workmanship, and originality.
- Organization is so clear that the reader knows at all times what the purpose is and how the writer intends to accomplish it.
- Paragraphs are coherent and are developed as fully as their function demands.
- Sentences are clear in meaning and so constructed as to contribute precisely and effectively to the writer's purpose.
- Choice of words is exact, appropriate, and sensitive.
- Grammar, punctuation, and spelling conform to accepted usage.
- Few, if any, minor errors and no major errors.
Well, that's it. It's important that you understand all of this (that's why it's so long and involved), so if you have any questions about this or anything else, please ask me. I reserve the right to amend these policies for special circumstances. Good luck with the class!