Syllabus - English 101

Winter Quarter 2004

Instructor: Karrin Peterson

Tel: (425) 898-9562

Primary e-mail: Karrinpeterson@aol.com

This page gives you the general requirements and expectations for English 101.

Outcomes for English 101:  By the end of this quarter, you should be able to:

  • demonstrate invention practices such as brainstorming, free writing, outlining, and journaling
  • demonstrate the ability to write in the various modes (personal narrative, expository, analytical, descriptive, and argumentation)
  • be comfortable with the three phases of writing: drafting, revising, and editing for a final copy
  • explore sources of writing through reading, thinking, analyzing and discussion
  • create a thesis sentence that suggests the focus of a paper but does not point out the obvious
  • locate the thesis statement in reading assignments
  • develop and include enough details and example to support the thesis
  • differentiate between key ideas and supporting details
  • organize your paper in a way that complements the thesis
  • demonstrate the importance of audience in organization, vocabulary, and supporting details
  • demonstrate your own style and a recognition of the style of other writers
  • create effective opening paragraphs
  • understand how your audience, purpose, and tone unite to create effective writing
  • use appropriate vocabulary and word choice for your subject and audience
  • create effective conclusions
  • demonstrate control of the mechanics of writing (paragraphing, spelling, punctuation, grammar)
  • practice how to give useful feedback and receive constructive criticism in peer groups
  • develop the ability to self assess your writing

Assignment Sections: As you will see, our course is divided into seven sections. Sections one through seven ask you to read designated chapters in your textbook, exchange a draft and critique with a Peer Editing partner, submit a finished essay to me.

Textbook:

St. Martin's Guide to Writing, 6th edition, will be the required text, available through the BCC Bookstore. You will be asked to read, either carefully or quickly, many of the chapters in this textbook. A few chapters will not be assigned.

You may purchase your textbook online or in person from the bookstore. To purchase textbook online, go to the BCC home page, http://www.bcc.ctc.edu . From here, go to the Distance Education home page, http://www.distance-ed.bcc.ctc.edu .

Click <Ordering Books> on the left. Click <Ordering Online> and follow the directions given. You can find store information and hours of operation at http://bookstore.bcc.ctc.edu.

Policy on Paper Lateness: All required assignments must be completed in order to pass the course. Late written work is generally not accepted absent a compelling reason.  Punctuality is important for your progression in the course.

Reading Standards: You will see on the assignment pages that you may read some chapters quickly while you should read others very carefully. In general, devote as much time as you can to reading, and pay close attention to the good instructions you get from time to time in your textbook on the process of critical reading. Remember that close reading requires concentration and reflection. You will be accountable, with respect to grades, for producing papers that conform to the standards and techniques set out in the readings.  You should also read all material from me very carefully and follow the instructions exactly, as failure to do this can result in your receiving a lower grade.

In Class Work and Home Work:   This class is set up to be a writing workshop.  I will not be lecturing on what you read in your text each class meeting.  Your readings are to support your writing processes and you will be held responsible for applying those concepts to your writing.  We will work with the general concepts discussed in your text in a practical manner as we develop your writings in class.  I will be available to address any questions you have about the concepts you read about in class and via e-mail.  For you to succeed in this class, you will need to be self motivated about completing your readings and coming to class prepared to engage in the writing seminar format that I have for our class this quarter.  If you do this, I guarantee that your writing will improve and you will learn how to produce well planned, well written, and interesting essays.

Exercises: You will be required to turn in answers to exercises for many of the readings.  The points for each exercise vary.  The points for the exercises are stated with the exercise assignment.

Tests: There will be nine small quizzes on writing fundamentals. There will be no final test or quiz in this class.

Writing Assignments: You will be asked to submit six (6) assigned essays by given dates.  You will be asked to submit two short written assignments that you will e-mail to me (because you will be asked to look at resources available to you online).  You will also be asked to prepare one short written analysis of an argument.

Journal Assignment:  You will be asked to keep a journal to help you with your writing and in class learning.  This is an important learning tool for the format of my class.  I will be reviewing your journals randomly throughout the quarter and checking them off for points at the end of the quarter.  You must show me your completed journal by the end of the quarter or I will not grade your final paper.  You will find that if you complete the journal assignments, it will be extremely easy for you to write your final paper.

Basis for Final Grade: Grades will be based upon the writing assignments, answers to the exercises in the book, your journal, your preparations for in class editing, and the writing fundamentals quizzes. The break down on points is as follows:

Writing Fundamentals Quizzes:  90 points (10 points each)

Exercises:  100 points total

Class Preparation Assignments (drafts of your essays):  35 points (5 points each)

Written Assignments (260):

·        E-mail assignments:  10 points (5 points each)

·        Section 6 written assignment:  25 points

·        Essay 1-101:  25 points

·        Essay 2-101:  50 points

·        Essay 3-101:  50 points

·        Essay 4-101:  50 points

·        Essay 5-101:  50 points

Journal and Final Essay:  115 points (50 points for essay, 65 points for journal)

600 total grade points possible.

GRADES: A = 600-552; A- = 551-540; B+ = 539-522; B = 521-492; B- =   491-480; C+ = 479-456; C =455-432; C- = 431-420; D+ = 419-402; D = 401-378; D- = 377-360; F = 359- and below

Re-writing Work:  You may re-write any of the graded written assignments, provided that your original assignment was turned in on time and you received a  D+ or lower on that assignment.   I have this policy because a C (or above) is a passing grade and indicates to me that you are doing well enough not to warrant the work this process entails. The re-written piece is due one week after I return the paper to you. The final paper may not be re-written. You will not have time to re-write this prior to my having to submit your grade to the college. A re-write may result in your receiving a better grade, if you take this learning process seriously.

Students in previous classes have found this re-write process to be extremely valuable in teaching them to become better writers.

Do not fall into the trap of producing a poor or sloppy piece of writing initially and then assume that you will have the time and/or ability to re-write it by the re-write deadline. First, doing this will result in your putting off really doing an assignment until you have a backlog of work waiting for you that will interfere with the newly assigned work. Second, if I receive an extremely poorly written piece, I retain the option of giving it a failing grade and prohibiting your re-writing the piece. This action shall take place at my discretion.

Since good writing requires taking the time to edit and re-write the initially produced piece, you should anticipate and expect to have to re-write at least some of your papers to get the grade that you desire. You may expect me to, initially, grade your essays very closely and completely. This is not done to as a gesture of meanness. All good writers are very self critical of their writing and aware of their bad writing habits. This is what makes them good writers.

My Grading Habits: I do not grade on a pre-determined curve. A review of my grading would show that grades in the B range (B+, B, B-) predominate. I therefore expect most of my students in this course will have grades above the C range. Some students will probably have grades in the A range. However, others may have grades in the C range. Do not feel discouraged. I consider C and C+ writing as entirely respectable for college students. We grow in our writing ability as we meet the challenges of reading and writing in a wide variety of college level courses.

Format for Writing Assignments: At the left hand corner at the top of your essay, give your name, our course number, the current date, and the number of the writing assignment.

Double space and enter a title without quotation marks in the center of your paper.

Double space and begin your essay, using double spacing within paragraphs.  Indent at least five spaces at the beginning of each paragraph.

Use a font that is easy on my aging eyes, such as Times New Roman, Courier, or Arial in a 12 pitch.  (Don’t use 14 pitch to make a thin essay look longer.)

Correction Symbols and Comments on Graded Essays: I will use correction symbols from the inside of the final page of your textbook in marking your essays. Please make yourself familiar with these symbols. I will try to make my comments polite, clear, and helpful. If they seem confusing, please ask for further clarification.

Communicating with the Instructor: You are encouraged to communicate individually with me in person or by e-mail at Karrinpeterson@aol.com when you are perplexed by an assignment or when something unusual in your life prevents you from meeting an assignment. With rare exceptions, I read and reply to my e-mail messages night and morning five working days a week. 

Special Accommodations:  You should communicate with me promptly if you have a disability that requires any special accommodations be made for you to participate in the class or use the computer as assigned.  I will help you contact the offices at BCC that can assist you.

Class Attendance and Make-up Work:  I do not allow the make up of missed in class assignments or quizzes.  If you fall ill on a date when an essay is due, you can arrange to turn your essay in to me via e-mail on the due date.  Campus policy requires that you not miss more than ten (10) days worth of classes during a quarter for a live class.  Since we meet twice a week, each class period is worth two and a half (2 ½ ) days.  So, if you miss four of our classes, you have missed ten days of class time.  Campus policy requires that I give you a failing grade if you miss more than ten days of class.