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English 101Q Syllabus

(Item #0991, Fall 2010)

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Instructor: Martha Silano

E-mail: msilano@bellevuecollege.edu 

Phone: (425) 564-2509

Office location: R230         

Office Hours: Tu, 10:30-11:20 AM

Mandatory Class Meeting Times: 11:30 am-12:20 pm DAILY

Classroom: L222

 

Course Description

Course Description: Many people believe that writing is a talent you're born with.  That may be the case for a lucky few, but most of us are not so fortunate.  Learning to write well is actually a continuing process of trial and error, a process that requires hard work for anyone who wishes to be a successful college student, novelist, screenwriter, or journalist.  Writing well in the academic arena also requires understanding a unique genre.  Academic writers are engaged in a conversation with other scholars in their respective fields.   To join that conversation, writers must engage in a continuous process that involves reading, planning, drafting, and revising.  In this class, we will practice all those steps as we work to become more confident academic writers. 

 

Prerequisites: Placement by assessment, or ENGL 092 or 093 with a C- or better.

 

 

Attendance

 

CLASSROOM ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY. I take attendance at the start of each class. If you miss ten (10) class meetings (20% of the course), it is likely that you will not receive a passing grade for the course.  Chronic lateness to class will also lead to a lowered final grade (two “lates” equals one absence). It is your responsibility to find out what you missed from a fellow student and check the MyBC website for new assignments or instructions you may have missed. Please let me know at the beginning of class if you need to leave early. In general it is very important to stay in touch with me, especially if you fall ill or a personal or family emergency becomes unmanageable. Note: I do not accept electronically submitted assignments without prior approval.

Course Information

Course Outcomes

By the end of the quarter, each of you should be able to 

Additionally, you will have prepared yourself to be a responsible citizen in a globally interconnected and diverse society and have increased understanding regarding:

*  the link between food and culture;

* the negative consequences of industrialized, processed, and profit-motivated food production;

* the relationship between food and health;

* the possible benefits of local and alternative food systems;

* the issue of local and world hunger;

* increased understanding of contemporary food movements such as locavorism and the slow food movement;

* ethical arguments for making conscious choices about what to eat.

 

 

How Outcomes Will Be Met / Grading

The instructor will employ and/or facilitate the following methods and practices to assist students in achieving the stated English 101 course outcomes: short lectures, field research and data collection/analysis, critical analysis of assigned readings, small and large group discussions, homework and essay assignments, peer review of draft essays, quizzes, in-class grammar and writing assignments, and other relevant activities.

 

 

 

Major Assignments:  

Diagnostic writing sample                                                         50 points

Three (3) out-of-class essays                                                 300 points

Group Project: Poetry Presentation                                       100 points

Four (4) Peer Review Workshops                                          100 points

Four (4)  grammar quizzes                                                       50 points      

Discussion/in-class exercise particiation                                100 points

Writing Lab Assignments (10 x 10)                                         100 points

In-class exercises and group activities                                   100 points

Final Exam                                                                              100 points

 

Total:                                                                                      1,000 points

 

FINAL GRADING SCALE (BASED ON 1,000 POINTS):

Letter Grade

Number Grade

# of Points

A

4.0-3.8

1000-930

A-

3.7-3.4

  929-890

B+

3.3-3,1

  889-860

B

3.0-2.8

  859-820

B-

2.7-2.4

  819-790

C+

2.3-2.1

  789-760

C

2.0-1.8

  759-730

C-

1.7-1.4

  729-690

D+

1.3-1.1

  689-660

D

1.0

  659-650

F

 

  649 & below

 

 

 

 

Late Assignments and Revision Options

 

Paper format/late assignments: I will hand out guidelines for format with specific assignments.  Late papers will lose half a grade for each day they are late (a paper is considered late if I do not receive it during the class hour that it is due). Unless we have made other arrangements, papers over 3 days/72 hours late will not be accepted (for instance, an essay due Monday must be turned in by Thursday). Late assignments may not be revised.

 

Note: To avoid lateness due to lost/corrupted files, please be sure to back up all of your writing for this class by emailing it as an attachment to yourself, or by placing it on a floppy disk, zip disk, CD, or memory stick.

 

Option to Revise: You will have the option of revising essays 1, 2, or 3 after I have graded them. Revisions are due on a specific date during the 8th week of the quarter. I will grade the revised essay and then average it with the grade you initially received on the paper. This averaged grade will be your final grade for the essay. Late assignments may not be revised.

 

The BC College Grading Policy is located on page 10 of the Course Catalog and also on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/3/3000_grading.asp. 

 

 

Books and Materials Required

Required Textbooks:

 

Textbooks are available at the BC Bookstore and online at http://bcc.collegestoreonline.com.

 

The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter. Rodale Books. Peter Singer and Jim Mason. ISBN-10: 1594866872.

How to Write Anything. Bedford/St. Martins. Spiral. 1st Edition. John J. Ruszkiewicz. January 2009. ISBN-10: 0312452261; ISBN-13: 978-0312452268.

Classroom Learning Atmosphere

Instructor’s Expectations

 

I expect you to get to class on time (and ideally rested and fed!), prepared, and ready to actively participate in the day’s activities. Chronically being late or unprepared will lead to a lowered participation grade.

 

I do not allow make-up work. That means that if you do not turn in your homework, in-class essay(s), quizzes, or in-class writing on the day it’s due, you forever lose the opportunity to receive points for that work. Additionally, to receive full credit for peer review sessions and in-class discussions, you must be in class.

 

This course focuses on the theme of food sustainability. Sustainable food practices are ones that could conceivably continue in perpetuity without damage to culture, the environment, or to those people who live in proximity to or who work to grow, harvest, and distribute the food being produced. Sustainability, having its root in sustain, also relates to the eating of food that sustains rather than causing illness or disease. When we label a practice sustainable, we are also considering the degree to which this practice preserves biodiversity, achieves its affects by taking small actions that lead to large impacts, and fosters healthy and just economies, along with taking into consideration the impact the practice will make on the local ecosystem.  Sustainability skills include intellectual openness, a sensitivity to cross-cultural perspectives, an ability to work collaboratively in groups, an ability to think laterally (connect the dots), an ability to reflect on how one’s personal choices affect sustainability, thinking critically and relying heavily on observation and empiricism, practicing civic responsibility, and reflecting on one’s knowledge, values, and commitment through a variety of media, including literary and artistic expression.

 

As a student in a sustainability-themed course, you will be expected to consider the local as well as global impact of your personal choices when it comes to food purchasing and consumption, including how far your food has traveled to get to your plate, along with how the food you eat is grown, produced, processed, packaged, and disposed of. You will also be expected to make connections between small changes in behavior and potentially huge global impacts.

 

Throughout the quarter we will be reading, viewing films and videoclips, and discussing and writing about FOOD: what it means to us, our peers, and professional writers, where it comes from and how it isaltered along the way to the supermarket—how it is grown, who grows it, how it is processed, who decides what is safe to eat, etc. You are not expected to know much about this subject when the quarter begins, but plan on being challenged to examine your own food purchasing and eating habits and, in general, the way you think about food and how it is produced. I ask that you keep an open mind as we explore heated topics such as global warming, the fast food industry, and industrialized meat production.

 

Affirmation of Inclusion

 

Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination.

 

We value our different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect. http://bellevuecollege.edu/about/goals/inclusion.asp

 

Plagiarism

 

All assignments you complete for this course must present your own ideas in your own words. If you copy someone’s exact words, you must put them in quotation marks. Even if you summarize or paraphrase someone else’s ideas or facts, you are obligated to cite the source of those facts and ideas, that is, tell us where you found your ideas/facts. I will teach you the basic conventions for citing your sources using MLA (Modern Language Assoication) citation guidelines, and you will learn more about these conventions as you take upper level humanities courses.

 

I will not accept an essay you have downloaded from the Internet or copied from someone else, an essay you wrote for an earlier class, or an essay in which you present someone else’s words or ideas as your own. Essays that don't present your own ideas in your own words or essays in which you don't cite your sources are considered to be plagiarized. If you plagiarize, I'll give you a zero for the assignment or assignment sequence. If you plagiarize a second time, you'll fail the course. Please note that once it is determined that your work is not your own, I will not negotiate a plan for relieving yourself of the consequences of your actions. For a more detailed explanation of plagiarism, read the official policy of the Division of Arts and Humanities: "Student Procedures and Expectations" http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/artshum/studentinfo.html. 

Unintentional plagiarism is still considered plagiarism and is punishable; saying you did not know you were plagiarizing is not an acceptable defense. Just in case a question of ownership arises, print out drafts of your work often and keep them in a folder or binder.

 

 

Information about Bellevue College's copyright guidelines can be found at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/lmc/links/copyright.html

 

A good resource for Plagiarism is the Writing Lab:  http://bellevuecollege.edu/writinglab/Plagiarism.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Code / Classroom Atmosphere

 

Since this is a college course, I expect students to conduct themselves as though they have chosen to be here.  You can help to create a positive learning environment by respecting others’ voices and views; completing assignments promptly and conscientiously; coming to class with a good attitude and an open mind; and accepting and giving feedback graciously.

 

Cheating, stealing and plagiarizing (using the ideas or words of another as one’s own without crediting the source) and inappropriate/disruptive classroom behavior are violations of the Student Code of Conduct at Bellevue College. BC instructors have the right to excuse from class a student who interferes with instructor effectiveness and/or student learning.

 

Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to: talking out of turn, text-messaging or having laptops open during class, arriving late or leaving early without a valid reason, allowing cell phones/pagers to ring, and inappropriate behavior toward the instructor or classmates.  The instructor can refer any violation of the Student Code of Conduct to the Vice President of Student Services for possible probation or suspension from Bellevue College.  Specific student rights, responsibilities and appeal procedures are listed in the Student Code of Conduct, available in the office of the Vice President of Student Services.”  The Student Code, Policy 2050, in its entirety is located at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/2/2050_Student_Code.asp

 

Values Conflicts

 

Essential to a liberal arts education is an open-minded tolerance for ideas and modes of expression that might conflict with one’s personal values.  By being exposed to such ideas or expressions, students are not expected to endorse or adopt them but rather to understand that they are part of the free flow of information upon which higher education depends.

 

To this end, you may find that class requirements may include engaging certain materials, such as books, films, and art work, which may, in whole or in part, offend you.  These materials are equivalent to required texts and are essential to the course content.  If you decline to engage the required material by not reading, viewing, or performing material you consider offensive, you will still be required to meet class requirements in order to earn credit.  This may require responding to the content of the material, and you may not be able to fully participate in required class discussions, exams, or assignments.

Important Links

Bellevue College E-mail and access to MyBC

 

All students registered for classes at Bellevue College are entitled to a network and e-mail account.  Your student network account can be used to access your student e-mail, log in to computers in labs and classrooms, connect to the BC wireless network and log in to MyBC. To create your account, go to:  https://bellevuecollege.edu/sam .

 

BC offers a wide variety of computer and learning labs to enhance learning and student success. Find current campus locations for all student labs by visiting the Computing Services website.

 

 

Disability Resource Center (DRC)

 

The Disability Resource Center serves students with a wide array of learning challenges and disabilities. If you are a student who has a disability or learning challenge for which you have documentation or have seen someone for treatment and if you feel you may need accommodations in order to be successful in college, please contact us as soon as possible.

 

If you are a person who requires assistance in case of an emergency situation, such as a fire, earthquake, etc, please meet with your individual instructors to develop a safety plan within the first week of the quarter.

 

The DRC office is located in B 132 or you can call our reception desk at 425.564.2498.  Deaf students can reach us by video phone at 425-440-2025 or by TTY at 425-564-4110. Please visit our website for application information into our program and other helpful links at www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc

 

Public Safety

 

The Bellevue College (BC) Public Safety Department’s well trained and courteous non-commissioned staff provides personal safety, security, crime prevention, preliminary investigations, and other services to the campus community, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  Their phone number is 425.564.2400.  The Public Safety website is your one-stop resource for campus emergency preparedness information, campus closure announcements and critical information in the event of an emergency. Public Safety is located in K100 and on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety/

 

Final Exam Schedule

 

The final exam for this class will take place on Monday, December 6, from 11:30 am – 1: 20 pm.

 

http://bellevuecollege.edu/classes/exams

 

Academic Calendar

 

The Bellevue College Academic Calendar is separated into two calendars. They provide information about holidays, closures and important enrollment dates such as the finals schedule.