English 098: Writing Fundamentals – Clark College

Spring 2014 Syllabus – April  7

Sections: E   Instructor: Joe Van Zutphen

Room: JSH 116   E-mail: jvanzutphen@clark.edu

Blogspot: http://vanzutpheneng098.blogspot.com/

Class meeting times: 1:00 - 1:50 p.m. Daily

Office: By appointment in AA5   209

Course Description:

This five credit class will help you develop college-level reading and writing skills. During this quarter, we will work on composing effective essays and reading college level material critically. In order to accomplish these goals, we will work on active reading, online information gathering, the writing process, and peer critique. These are all skills that will help you in life as well as in class. Students who pass this course with a C or higher are writing and reading at the college level; these students are eligible to register for English 101.

College Abilities:

English 098 will explore all six of the College-Wide Abilities which ClarkCollege has recognized as being central to a college education. However, this course will focus primarily on two abilities, Communication and Critical Thinking. For the purposes of this class, these two skills are closely intertwined: the reading and writing you do here will help you develop your critical thinking skills. In turn, improving your critical thinking skills will help make your written communication more effective. As a secondary focus, we will work on another College Ability, Information/Technology, in order to prepare you to competently negotiate more advanced study.

Course Requirements:

In this class, you’ll write four essays. You will research, draft, and revise each essay, polishing each one until it is a successful piece of college-level writing. These essays will be based on challenging, college-level readings, some of which you may be asked to find yourself using the Cannell Library databases.

In addition to the four essays listed above, you will do quite a bit of in-class writing (freewrites, brainstorming, note-taking, drafting, etc.) in your Class Notebook. The Notebook is an essential part of learning that will be graded only on compliance (whether you did the work) rather than on quality of work. Be sure to bring it to class every day; having all your notes in one place will help you and you may be asked to use it at any time.

You will also have two in-class exams. During those exams, I may collect and grade your Class Notebook.

Peer response groups are also an important part of the class. We’ll use them frequently, and you will be graded on the quality of your participation in these groups.

ENGLISH 098 PREREQUISITES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Prerequisite: C or better in English 097 or Compass score of 49 or higher. 

Outcomes: At the end of the quarter, students earning a B or higher will be able to do the following:

1.       Utilize library resources such as specialized encyclopedias and Gale Virtual Reference or Opposing Viewpoints to locate information.

2.       Summarize the main points from college-level material, using basic signal phrases, quotation marks, and in-text and Works Cited citations in essays that use 1-2 sources.

3.       Explore personal experiences and knowledge and discuss college-level readings to develop responses and opinions for essays.

4.       Consider varying opinions and experiences when reading and writing, recognizing the differences among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment.

5.       Develop and organize at least one essay of 800-1000 words unified by a central idea and supported by sufficient detail and evidence grouped into focused paragraphs. Use introductions, thesis, topic sentences, paragraph breaks, transitions, and conclusions to maintain essay coherence.

6.       Adapt voice and tone; edit essays to make the language appropriate to a particular audience, reducing slang and cliché as necessary.

7.       Write complete simple, compound, and complex sentences consistently with few fragments or run-ons.  Maintain a consistent point of view and tense.  Develop vocabulary that increases the precision and clarity of their writing.

8.       Work collaboratively by expressing opinions with tact, listening to others, and shouldering an appropriate share of the workload.

9.       Assess their own work, set goals, seek and use feedback, revise and edit, practice self-discipline and persistence, and apply skills in new contexts.

Students who cannot perform all of the above outcomes with competence will get a grade of C or lower.  Students must get a C or higher to move on to English 101. 

Grading

Assignment	Points of Final Grade
Summaries (2)	20
Essay 1	25
Essay 2	30
Essay 3	50
Exams 1 and  2	40
Class Notebook	30
Homework  (including additional summaries)	70
Attendance	35
Total	300

Late Work Policy:

Late work is accepted only with the one-time-due-date extender located on the blogspot (see above); therefore late work receives a grade of zero after the extender is used ONCE.

All papers must be typed, double-spaced, in MLA format, and stapled. You are welcome to print double-sided to save paper. Papers are due at the start of class, and an assignment that is turned after is considered late. If you must miss class, email your work.

Please understand also that I will always grade assignments which have been turned in on time before I will grade a late assignment; therefore, if you turn in work late, it will not be graded as promptly, and you may need to remind me. Finally, keep in mind that no assignment may be turned in for any reason after the last regular class day of the quarter.

Texts and Materials

Text:

Langan, John. College Writing Skills with Readings, 9^thEdition, 2011, McGraw Hill. ISBN13: 978-0078036279

Other Materials:

You will need:

1) A spiral notebook for day-to-day writing in your Class Notebook.

2) An electronic storage device to store your work.

3) Access to a computer with Internet access to do assignments, download  handouts, and search library databases.

Class Policies

Attendance: Please come to class and be on time. Missing class destroys your ability to do work successfully, is distracting to others, and is a huge waste of tuition. In addition, missing class may cause you to miss points. Assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late assignments will receive 0 credit after the one-time-due-date extender is used once. Missed tests cannot be made up except in case of emergency, and students earn credit for peer response workshops only if they participate in the workshops during class time. In short, you need to be here regularly if you want to do well.

You are responsible for finding out what work you missed. Therefore, have a peer or two you can contact to find out what you missed.

Your assignments are due whether or not you are in class. If you are sick, for example, you must email or deliver your work to me before the start of class.

During Week One, in accordance with English department policy, I will drop any student who misses a class during the first two class meetings and does not get in touch with me.

Class Courtesy: Having a safe and civil atmosphere for learning depends on all of us. When we speak with one another, especially when disagreeing, it is vital that we do so with mutual respect. Students who are disruptive or abusive towards others will be asked to leave. Also, any “side conversations” will not be tolerated and those students will be asked to leave. On a related note, it is both disruptive and rude to leave your cell phone or beeper on in the classroom. Please turn them off when you come to class. If you subscribe to the flash alert system, you may leave your phone on vibrate.

Plagiarism: Students who copy the words or ideas of any other writer without acknowledging the original author of those words or ideas are engaging in plagiarism. Plagiarism is grounds for failing this course. One of the goals of this course is to understand how to use information effectively and ethically in your writing. Once those concepts have been introduced, any instances of plagiarism will result in severe grade penalties for  the student.

ADA Accommodations:

If you have emergency medical information that should be shared, or if you require assistance in case the building should be evacuated, please make an appointment to see me as soon as possible during the office hours indicated in this syllabus.

Any student with a disability who may require some consideration or assistance in order to fully participate in this class should contact the Disability Support Services Office at 992-2314 or 992-2835 (TTY), or stop by GHL 137.

Tentative Schedule (Note: this schedule is designed to be filled in with your notes based on announcements made in class). Also, there are live updates (additions as we move through the quarter).  Scheduled college closure days for holiday: May 26.

Date	Independent Activities (take notes here!)	Class Activities	What’s Due?
Week 1	Buy textbook and spiral for Notebook, get syllabus,	Introduction to the course; discussion of syllabus; discussion of active reading and summaries; introduction to writing process. Summaries 1 and 2 assigned. Writing Notebook assigned.	Diagnostic Writing Summary 1
Week 2		Introduction to sentence grammar; introduction to peer response; review of paragraphing; basic citation methods introduced; discussion of common readings for essay 1. Peer response to summaries. Essay 1 assigned. Last day to drop without a "W" on transcript.	Summary 2
Week 3		Sentence grammar (fragments and run-ons); paragraphing techniques, continued; discussion of revision strategies.
Week 4		Discussion of thesis. Sentence grammar (fragments and run-ons); paragraphing techniques; discussion of common readings for essay 2. Essay 2 assigned	Essay 1
Week 5		Advanced citation methods introduced; peer response of essay 2. In-class exam 1
Week 6		Discussion of common punctuation, continued; discussion of common readings for essay 3. Essay 3 assigned	Essay 2
Week 7		Note: last week to withdraw from the class.
Week 8		Discussion of subject-verb agreement;discussion of pronoun-antecedent agreement; discussion of common readings for essay 3.
Week 9		In-class revision of Essay three. Grammar: pronouns, parallelism.
Week 10		Discussion of pronoun case, continued; discussion of parallelism, continued. Discussion of revision strategies.	Essay 3  In-Class Writing Notebook
Week 11		In-class Exam #2

Please note: This syllabus is subject to change; any changes will be announced in class so that you can make edits. Also, many assignments like readings, specific grammar exercises, and in-class writing exercises do not appear on this schedule, as their scheduling depends on how quickly or slowly the class proceeds. Please attend class and talk with me regularly so that you will not be surprised by changes.

SCHEDULED STUDENT OFF-DAYS: Monday, May 26  Memorial  Day.

The following information is supplied by the college and is required to be on all syllabi:

In emergencies, students should do the following:

1. Inclement weather or emergency information

Go to www.clark.edu or call 360-992-2000 as your first means of getting information.  The College does send notices to radio and television stations, but the College’s web site and switchboard are the official platforms for the most accurate information.

2. Immediate emergency communication alert

To receive immediate notice on emergencies, you can register your cell phone number to receive text pages and your email address to receive email messages.  To do this, go to www.flashalert.net .  Select “Subscribe” on the left, and follow the instructions. Mass communication will also be sent to all college employee phones and computers.

3. Fire Alarm

Evacuate the building through closest exit; evacuation maps are located in the hallways. Take personal belongings only if it is safe to do so.  Remain at least 50 feet from the building.  Notify others of evacuation.  Do not re-enter building until instructed to do so

4. Parking Lot Identifiers

New parking lot identifiers using colors and numbers have been assigned to all Clark parking lots.  To help emergency or security personnel locate you, please refer to these identifying features.

5. Security Escort

Security Officers are available for escorts. Please call 360-992-2133.