SUMMER 2011

ENGL& 101 0 ENGLISH COMPOSITION I

INSTRUCTOR: James Torrence 

E-MAIL:  Please e-mail me via our class site. 

If the class site is down, e-mail me at jtorrenc@bellevuecollege.edu



COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to English #101 online. In this class you will have opportunity to be exposed to and reflect upon, a series of graphic novels, further explore ideas through developing and completing your own essays using the writing processes all writers employ, and provide constructive and supportive feedback to essays our other class members compose. Since good reading and good writing are intimately linked, be prepared to READ and RE-READ the assigned books carefully and participate in discussion with the whole class. 

What will you then typically do from week to week? Here's a listing of typical English 101 activities you'll participate in during the course:

· Read the assigned texts, at least once. Though it may seem counter-intuitive to some, graphic novels tend to be rather complex, so allow extra time to re-read them.  In another words, read the books at least twice and take notes (or use whatever method of remembering works best for you).

· Join other students in regularly scheduled large group discussions about your shared responses to the readings where you will be graded on your posted responses and comments.

· Begin, revise, and then post with your peer review group two major essays during the course of the quarter.

· Provide constructive evaluations, for which you will be graded, for other peer review group members' essays.

· Submit your revised/final copy of each essay to your instructor, via e-mail.

GRADING:

Introductory Narrative Paper and posting of bio = 5%

Essay #1 = 25%


Essay #2 = 25 %

Participation (quality and level) on text reading responses = 15%

Meeting deadlines for posting your essay for workshop review = 10%

Workshop feedback (including deadline) for other group essays = 20%

*GRADES FOR ANY WORK COMPLETED AFTER DEADLINE WILL BE LOWERED CONSIDERABLY, PARTICULARLY INVOLVING DEADLINES OF ESSAYS POSTED WITH YOUR GROUP MEMBERS OR FINAL DRAFT ESSAYS DUE TO ME. 

*IN ORDER TO GET CREDIT FOR THE COURSE, ALL WORK MUST BE COMPLETED BY THE LAST DAY OF OUR CLASS ONLINE.

TEXTBOOKS:

The Complete Perespolis, by Marjane Satrapi

The Complete Maus, by Art Spiegelman

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel

COMPUTER SKILLS AND THIS CLASS:

Are you expected to be on the competitive edge with Bill Gates? Of course not, but. . . you do need to know how to navigate the web using your web browser (e.g. Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.), e-mail your assignments as attachments (and open up others), be comfortable with a word processing system, AND HAVE ACCESS TO AND USE MS WORD (or a Word-compatible application, such as Open Office), upload (and download) programs and files with ease, have all the hardware and software necessary, and so forth. What's important in all this is that you know when YOU or your computer is lacking in something, or your provider, or when the server Blackboard is at fault.  Finally, you must always have a back-up plan for completing your work, in case your server is down, your computer broken, etc.  And for distance education questions, contact the folks in Distance Education (via landerso@bellevuecollege.edu or Phone: 425-564-2438 or l-877-641-2712 toll free). DO keep a hard copy of this contact info handy for easy access!!! If you really need it, you probably won't be able to access the course site for it.  If you contact me, for example, with a problem (via our class mail), I may advise you to contact these folks, but I won't use precious "class time" to type the e-mail and/or telephone numbers.

ETHICS WITH ONLINE WORK: Do you think this is a subject everyone thinks about but no one talks about? Well, here is the scoop for this course. Do your own work. If you use an idea or example from an assigned text, be sure you let the reader know. If you "borrow" an essay from another, either a relative, a friend, or someone online and submit it as your own, you will receive an "F" for that assignment. If it happens again, you will receive an F for your final course grade. You should find the work YOU DO in this course to be enriching and rewarding. You may even discover a beginning of a novel or collection of essays in your writings by the end of the quarter.

ONLINE ETIQUETTE:

1. Be honest but courteous in your postings, responses, comments. Remember that unlike a traditional classroom, we don't have the other ways of communicating including the whole repertoire of body language, of speaking and seeing and listening IN PERSON.  We just have our screen and our words, so please use them carefully.

2. Rude or disrespectful comments directed at other members of the class or at the instructor are not acceptable.

3. If you feel a student has attacked you or treated you respectfully, do not respond.  Instead, contact your instructor and he will handle the matter.

4. Consider this class like a community where we learn from each other in a supportive and academic environment.

5.  Please refer to the Arts & Humanities Policies (http://bellevuecollege.edu/artshum/policy.html) for all division policies. It is your responsibility to be familiar with the policies of this course and the Arts & Humanities division.