English 1200: Freshman Composition II
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This class meets in GCB 1015 at 8 a.m. MWF
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#1 Jan. 10-12-14
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Introduction &
Overview (course requirements and procedures; review Instructor's Packet;
complete students Fact Sheets
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#2 Jan. 17-19-21
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Composition Process
& Argument Analysis
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CP 1; R&W 1-18;
chapters 1-5 & 15-34 in WE
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No
Class on Jan. 17th (State Holiday) Review
writing
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#3 Jan. 24-26-28
#4 Jan. 31+ Feb. 2-4 |
Library Research
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CP 2-8; R&W 299-311;
WE chapters 6-7
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Visit Joyner Library; Taking Notes & Avoiding Plagiarism |
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#5 Feb. 7-9-11
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Writing About Research
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CP 9-10; R&W
312-24; chapters 8-11 in WE
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#6 Feb. 14-16-18
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The Issues Paper
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CP 11-16
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Research; discuss
1st draft at conferences; research; final draft due
3/6
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#9 March 6-8-10
#10 March 13-15-17
#11 March 20-22-24 #12 March 27-28-31 |
First Argument Paper
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CP 17-21 & review
R&W 21-26 + 312-24
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Research; discuss
1st draft at conferences; research
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#13 April 3-5-7
#14 April 10-12-14
#15 April 17-19 #16 April 24-26-28 |
Second Argument Paper
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CP 17-21 & review
R&W 21-26 + 312-24
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Research; discuss
1st draft at conferences; research
No Class April 21 (State Holiday) Final draft of the First Argument Paper is due 5/1 |
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#17 May 1
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Review
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Final draft of the
First Argument Paper is due 5/1
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May 8 (Monday)
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0800-1000
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Textbooks
In addition, students will need a floppy disk large enough to hold the work for this class (a doubled sided [DD] high density [HD] 3.5" diskette). If students are planning on using the Writing Center, they will need a floppy for a Macintosh computer.
Assignments
Please notice that your fees for this semester include a Computer & Technology Fee, which entitles you to any empty seat at most of the computer labs located around campus. Although some labs are restricted (the BVTE Lab is reserved for BVTE students, the Writing Lab is reserved for freshman composition students, etc.), most students use the lab in Austin.A professional appearance establishes any writer's credibility and improves reader understanding; thus, all written work submitted for evaluation should follow the criteria below:
- Use 20 lb., white, bond paper (or whatever paper is available for printers in the various campus writing labs)--avoid onion skin or erasable paper.
- Maintain a 1-inch margin (top, bottom, left, and right margins).
- Printed text should be dark and clear but without smears and smudges (if a dot matrix printer is used, make sure to print in the letter-quality mode).
There aren't any, but if an assignment is submitted after a deadline has passed, 10 points per class meeting will be deducted for the grade awarded.
Assignments are submitted in either of two ways:
- Turning it in at the end of the class when it is due, or
- Delivering to the instructor (or his office) by the end of the day the assignment is due; actually if it's in the box by my door by the beginning of the next class day, that'll be okay, too (but remember that I get here around 7:00 a.m.).
Table 1: Summary of Assignments & Percentage of Final Grade |
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Assignment #1 (The
Issues Paper)
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Assignment #2 (Argument
Paper #1)
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Assignment #3 (Argument
Paper #2)
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Note: Add one point
to your final grade for perfect attendance; deduct 10 points for no portfolio
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Table 2: Grades and What They Mean |
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Letter Grade |
What the Grade Means |
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Very Good--A pleasure
to read, this writing excites the reader by how well it achieves the purpose
of the assignment.
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Good--Well worth
reading, this writing makes it pretty easy for the reader to gain new insights
and knowledge and to respect the writer's point-of-view.
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Fair--Not so good,
but not so bad either; this writing gives readers something for their efforts,
but not very much.
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(??????????????)
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Poor-Lacking significant
thought and hard to understand, this writing is plagued by such things
as inappropriate word choice, weird syntax, grammatical errors, misspellings,
and punctuation problems; this writing leaves the reader wondering or regretting
any effort at reading.
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Course Description
This is the research portion of Freshman Composition. In this class, students will be introduced to the techniques of using library research to write about material that requires analysis. Students will also be introduced to persuasive and argumentative writing techniques..
Although "life's little problems" often come up at the darnedest times, students are expected to be in class on time, every time, for all the time allotted to this course because it is in the classroom that information essential for the successful completion of this course is presented. However, if circumstances require your presence elsewhere, you are still responsible for material presented in class. If you anticipate any absences, please see me before hand.
As an incentive to help motivate students with their attendance, those who have perfect attendance will be rewarded by having one point added to their final grade average (additional points are not available to "give" to any students; students must get their grades the "old fashioned" way: they earn them!).
Class participation is an important element of the learning process, and students are expected to feel free to freely and openly discuss the subject at hand. Since participation demonstrates (at least in part) your preparedness for each class, you are expected to:
- Participate in class discussions and honor the Honor Code (read: Don't Plagiarize!).
- Develop and maintain a sense of professionalism and decorum at all times (by now, students should be serious about developing some degree of professionalism). Be honest--don't try to B. S. me (my two sons haven't been out of college that long!).
Know this: such action violates the university's Honor Code and does a disservice to students who "copy the 'right' solution" from past assignments. Although former students have thought they'd help their friends, they have really harmed them (by robbing students of the opportunity to learn from their mistakes). The "real world" doesn't follow this unethical practice, and if I find that any of my students (either present or former) participate in this form of plagiarism (by either copying a completed assignment of a former students or by providing an assignment for you to copy) both students will be prosecuted to the fullest of my ability. This is not a warning; it's a promise.
On the last day of scheduled class, students are expected to submit the following
- all drafts (assuming their first two writing assignments were submitted after revising one or more drafts),
- all graded material (to ensure the instructor's grade book is correct), and
- any other material the syllabus requires to be submitted then.
Spring 2000
Students who fail to submit their portfolio of work will lose 10 points when their final grades are computed.
Packets may be picked up anytime after Spring Break; any packets not picked up by the last of class next semester will be disposed of in an ecologically safe manner #};=).
During this course, students will:
- Become thoroughly familiar with the research process, especially doing research in Joyner Library.
- Develop the ability to narrow a topic for research, formulate a research question, how to take notes, and how to use and document a variety sources.
- Master the techniques for argumentative discourse and the uses of library research to support arguments.
- Become proficient in writing summaries, critiques, and syntheses--including a composition that defends an argumentative thesis by means of logical analysis and evidence derived from library research.
- Circumstances. problems, and issues--discerning conditions within which a problem has arisen; understanding the nature of the issue.
- Claims--discerning solutions to problems conceived by others, and conceiving original ways to resolve issues; wording propositions that subsequent arguments will prove.
- Warrants--discerning convictions, assumptions and values shared with readers that lead readers to accept a claim as being valid.
- Backing--discerning facts, statistics, and precedents that make warrants believable.
- Rebuttals--discerning the validity of conflicting claims.
- Using the library and the internet to identify and locate resources.
- Reading journals and documents to understand issues and develop insights.
- Synthesizing information from various sources to conceive and develop a strong claim and to identify and evaluate conflicting claims.
- Providing and tracing the background and current circumstances of a situation so that readers are oriented to a crucial problem and motivated to explore answers and solutions.
- Developing reasonable claims and supporting them with specific evidence and relative warrants.
- Explaining strengths and weaknesses of conflicting claims.
- Leaving readers convinced of the power and reasonableness of the argument.
- Correctly citing publications used to develop arguments.
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Last Updated Nov. 29, 1999 |