__________BELLEVUE COMMUNITY COLLEGE_________

Fall 2008

English 101

Michael Meyer

Office: R 230 F Phone: 564-2537 Email: mmeyer@bellevuecollege.edu

Office Hours: 11:30-12:20 daily and by appointment

Text: Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, Wendell Berry

Course Outcomes:

By the end of the course, students will be able to

Write effective essays which demonstrate the ability to:

Use all stages of the writing process

Produce a substantive topic

Use a variety of modes, such as narration, exposition, analysis and/or argumentation

Address a variety of audiences

Given a text, demonstrate the ability to:

Analyze it for structural elements

Evaluate and interpret it

Differentiate their personal opinions and assumptions from the author’s

Articulate a realistic sense of their own writing performance in specified criteria areas.

Grades: Portfolio=75% (Includes all drafts of all essays)

Attendance, participation and seminar papers=15%

Group Project = 10%

Portfolio: See page two.

Seminar Papers: Write a personal reaction to each of the essays we read. Each of these entries must be at least one full page, and each must include specific references to the essay. Papers are due class-time on the day the reading is assigned. .

Attendance: I expect each student to commit to the class and to attend every day. So that I will not be in the awkward position of adjudicating “excuses,” ALL absences, for whatever reason, will count. You are given nine absences to use as you see fit. Your grade for attendance will be determined as follows:

A = 1-3 absences

B = 4-6 absences

C = 7-9 absences

STUDENTS WHO ARE ABSENT 10 OR MORE TIMES WILL RECEIVE A FAILING GRADE.

Late Assignments: All assignments are due in class on the specified date. On days when drafts are discussed, either in groups or as a class, those without drafts will be excused to complete the work and suffer an absence for the session. Absence on the day a paper is due does not grant an automatic extension. The penalty for a late essay is at the discretion of the instructor.

Portfolio Description

A portfolio is a collection of written work selected by the student and put together as an artist might assemble a group of his or her best paintings. The portfolio is submitted for grading at the end of the quarter. This gives the instructor the opportunity to respond to student writing in progress, to offer suggestions for continued revision as well as praise for improvement, and to suspend the grade until students have learned, practiced and refined writing skills. Please make your document look professional. I suggest a loose-leaf binder with tabs so that the evaluator can easily find each paper and remove it if necessary. Since this will be a thick document, please choose some kind of binder that will keep things together and will not fall apart.

Document should include, in this order:

I. A one-two page, typed, double-spaced self-evaluation. Briefly describe your writing process, and then tell me which three papers are your best and why they are effective. Your evaluation should include insight into your writing process as well as your comments on the final products. You may want to address these critical questions: 1.) What is an effective paper? 2.) How do I attempt to meet the standards of an effective paper? 3.) How successful was I at meeting these goals? I suggest a substantial paragraph on each of the three papers. The final paragraph should include a frank self-evaluation of the portfolio, including the grade you think the portfolio deserves. I will give your statement considerable weight, but reserve the right to lower or raise the grade as I see fit.

II. Three papers the student judges as his/her best

A. Ranked in order of quality

B. All drafts of all papers, immediately following the final draft

III. One completed and revised paper not chosen as best work

A. Final draft

B. All drafts of the paper, immediately following the final draft

IV. Seminar Papers

Evaluation of Portfolio

I. Document compliance:

A. Professional appearance

B. Completeness

II. Self-evaluation and assessment

A. Three papers flagged

B. Good reasons for selection and good sense of process

C. Your grade for yourself

III. Final drafts of all five papers with three flagged as "best"

A. Conceptually revised

Clear, significant central themes

Sufficient development of ideas

Paper appropriate to the assignment

Address audience

B. Organizationally revised

C. Edited, with careful attention to problems I have previously flagged