ENGL 201-LSA

Syllabus and Course Policies

Spring 2007

Instructor: R. Scott Nelson Office Location: R230

Office Hours: Office Phone: (425) 564-3064

M – F, 8:30 – 9:20 a.m. Email: rnelson@bcc.ctc.edu

and by appointment (this is the best way)

Required Texts:

Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing, 5^th ed., Sylvan Barnet & Hugo Bedau

ISBN# 0-312-41275-4

Additional Materials:

1 file folder (letter size please, not legal) for turning in papers

1 notebook with paper for keeping a journal

Course Description:

This course is designed to prepare you for the academic writing you do at BCC and writing you will do in your careers and personal lives beyond BCC. It is a course designed to teach you not what to think, but how to think on your own. Ultimately, you should learn to be a better thinker, who is able to think critically about topics, other people, and yourself; a better rhetor, who is able to analyze a specific situation and adjust your writing to fit accordingly; and a better communicator, who is able to express ideas effectively.

Upon completion of English 201, you will be able to

• objectively summarize college-level material, identifying primary and supporting assertions;

• use a variety of available research methods and sources that demonstrate a familiarity of library research skills;

• understand and evaluate these sources critically;

• correctly incorporate and cite a variety of academic research sources to support your own argument;

• plan, draft, and revise writing based on your analysis of audience, topic, and own ideas;

• synthesize the above skills into your own researched argument;

• and professionally present this argument to a real person or group.

Assignments:

Throughout the course, you will have 4 major graded paper assignments:

1. an objective summary

2. an analysis of an argument

3. a synthesis paper

4. a major researched argument presented to a real person or group

All assigned work done outside of class is required to be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font with one-inch page margins unless otherwise specified. This includes drafts as well. Drafts must meet the minimum word count, or will not be considered done and will be subject to the ten-point penalty outlined below. (HEED THIS WARNING.)

In addition to these assignments, I will require you to bring a journal to class daily. This journal will be turned in, for a grade, at the end of the course

Course Grade:

Some assigned work might not be graded, but prompt completion of all work is essential to pass English 201. Grades will be lowered by ten points for each element missing if students fail to turn in any prewriting, drafts, peer responses, or photocopies of any sources used in the paper. This includes a 10-point penalty if you are absent on the day drafts are due, or on peer review days.

You must complete all written assignments to pass the course.

Assuming that you have complied with such matters, your course grade distribution is as follows:

Paper 1	20%
Paper 2	20%
Paper 3	20%
Paper 4	30%
Journal entries, grammar logs, and participation	10%

Papers will primarily assessed based upon the Shared Criteria for Evaluating Writing (available as a handout from the class website on myBCC), which we will discuss at length in class.

Make-up and Late Work:

Most writing is done with a deadline in mind, and all writing can be improved if given enough time. Therefore, it is unfair for one student’s late paper to receive a higher grade than a student’s paper that was turned in on time. Late papers cannot receive a higher grade than the lowest score of papers meeting the deadline. The easiest way to avoid this penalty is to turn your assignments in punctually. There is no extra credit available for this course.

Grading System:

Numerical Grade	Letter Grade	What it means
98 – 95	A	Excellent Writing
95 – 90	A -
89 – 88	B +	Good Writing
87 – 85	B
84 – 80	B -
79 – 78	C +	Competent Writing
77 – 75	C
74 – 70	C -
69 – 68	D+	Unsatisfactory Writing
67 – 63	D
62 – 60	D-	Failing
59 and below	F

Notice that any grade below a 63 for the quarter does not receive credit for the course.

Grammar logs:

Grammar logs are be due the day after you receive each graded paper, unless I specify otherwise. They are to be done on a separate sheet of paper assignment (not corrected inside your paper). At the end of my comments on each paper, I will designate some grammatical problems you are having in your paper. For your grammar log entries, you must 1. list the name of the problem and define it (using a grammar handbook); 2. rewrite all sentences from your paper with this problem, correcting the grammatical error. Do not rewrite the incorrect sentence, but instead only write the correct sentence. You need only correct the types of errors I designate in my end comments (after the “G.L.:”).

For example:

Pronoun reference error: Except for some indefinite pronouns, the meaning of a pronoun depends upon its having a definite antecedent (single word to which it refers). If the reader cannot discern with absolute certainty what the antecedent is for each pronoun, you have made a pronoun reference error.

Corrections:

1. Everyone should bring his or her books.

2. The Mariners’ game was canceled and I lost my keys. This cancellation caused everyone much grief.

Attendance and Tardiness Policies:

I keep a record of attendance that I take at the beginning of class. If you show up late, I may not count you as present, so you need to notify me of your presence at the end of class. In addition, three instances of tardiness counts as an absence. If absent, don’t feel you must explain to me why you were absent – just know the policy and consequences for such absences. You may have three absences without penalty. After the third absence, each subsequent absence will lower your final grade for the quarter by a third of a letter grade. Missing the first week of class, or nine absences or more throughout the quarter constitutes receiving a failing grade (F) for the course. On a positive note, one absence or less for the quarter receives 3 points added to your final average. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to get your assignments and adhere to the due date schedule.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is every hardworking student’s enemy, but citations are your friends. Being able to properly cite outside sources gives your paper credibility because not only have you demonstrated mastery of a discourse community, but you also are illustrating for your audience you are well read on the issue and have done your research. Plagiarism, on the other hand, is using someone else’s writing or ideas without properly indicating they are indeed someone else’s. It is cheating. It is fraud. It is also a punishable criminal offense in some states (Washington included). Unfortunately, ignorance is not a viable excuse. It is your responsibility as a writer to avoid plagiarism. We will discuss plagiarism and tools to avoid it in class at length, and I take all plagiarism offenses very seriously. Do not turn in work that someone else has done. Do not let someone else do a lot of rewriting or proofreading for you (although feedback is encouraged). Do not copy from a book, article, or the Internet without citing the information properly. This includes copying and pasting from the Internet without citing the information and/or omitting quotation marks. Do not borrow ideas or facts that are not common knowledge without citing them properly. Those found in violation of this policy will receive no credit for the assignment, and may receive an F for the course and/or be required to have a meeting with the Dean of Students (under less-than-amicable circumstances). This policy applies to any other form of cheating in the classroom as well.

For more information on plagiarism, see the websites below:

• www.plagiarism.org

• http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/writinglab/Plagiarism.html

Other Matters:

• In order to access the handouts and assignments for this course, you must have a registered MyBCC login and password. If you have not already registered for this, immediately go to mybcc.net and do so. The materials on the course website are necessary to pass this course, and this website is different from the Arts & Humanities website.

• TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES AND DEVICES THAT MAKE BEEPING SOUNDS. Those with children or who are caring for an elderly relative may keep these devices on, but only in vibrate mode.

• I try my hardest to keep this class interesting, but sometimes education is less than entertaining. If you sleep in class, you are absent and strange things may happen to you.

• I am here to help you become better writers. If there is something you didn’t quite catch in class or need clarification on, don’t hesitate to call, email, or stop by my office to see me. I don’t mind taking extra time out of class to explain things, and I am quite approachable if you take the initiative.

• College work is difficult and time-consuming. For college-level work, you should expect two hours of homework for each hour spent in the classroom. So, for a 5-credit course, that’s 5 hours a week in class plus ten hours of homework for a total of fifteen hours of work a week. Keep in mind, with a writing class, this can be more, and remember this is a condensed late-start course. With a course focused mainly on the time-consuming tasks of researching and writing, there are some additional concerns to be aware of. You are expected to produce collegiate essays in nine weeks’ time, rather than the normal eleven to twelve. If you feel other obligations (family, employment, sports, performance arts, etc.) will cut into your attendance and/or performance in class, consider taking ENGL 201 at another time. There are also other forms of instruction (telecourses, online courses, hybrid courses, interdisciplinary studies, etc.) which may be more conducive to your style of learning.

• Students are expected to take an active responsibility in their own education and assessment process. Under federal law, I cannot discuss your academic progress, attendance, nor even your enrollment in my class with anyone other than you. Instead of a hindrance, I see these guidelines as a means of fostering a professional academic relationship with students, a relationship necessary for true education. For further reading on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), go to http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

• Students with disabilities who have accommodation needs are required to meet with the Director of Disability Support Services (in Room B132) to establish their eligibility for accommodation. Telephone: (425) 564-2498 or TTY (425) 564-4110. In addition, students are encouraged to review their accommodation requirements with each instructor during the first week of the quarter.