3870 Spring 1999

English 3870 Introduction to Abstracting and Copyediting

Assignments	Course Description	Course Objectives	Grades
Policies	Portfolio	Syllabus	Textbooks

This class meets in GCB 1021 MWF at 0900 (9 a.m.)

Tentative Syllabus for Spring Semester 2000

Date	Topic	Reading	Remarks/Assignments
#1 Jan. 10-12-14	Introduction & Overview
#2 Jan. 17-19-21	Introduction to Writing Abstracts	CP 2-9	Writing Assignment #1 (Abstract) due 1/24
#3 Jan. 24-26-28 #4 Jan. 31 & Feb. 2-4	Introduction to Editing	CP 10-21; TW Ch 1	*No Class on Jan. 17 (State Holiday)* Writing Assignment #2 (New Kid on the Block) due 2/7
#5 Feb. 7-9-11	Copymarking	CP 23-27; TE 3	Worksheets #1-4; Application #1 (#4.1 Nitrogen Dioxide) due 2/14
#6 Feb. 14-16-18	Readers & Documents	TE 2
#7 Feb. 21-23-25	Basic Copyediting	CP 28-35; TE 5 & 6	Worksheet #5
#8 Feb. 28 & Mar. 1-3	Mechanics of Copyediting	CP 37-42; TE 7; WW Appendixes A & B	Worksheets #6-7; Application #2 (#7.1 Environmental Impact Statement) due 3/6
#9 Mar. 6-8-10	Grammar & Usage	CP 44-59; TE 8; WW Ch 1-5	Worksheet #8
#10 Mar. 13-15-17	*No Class All Week--(Spring Break)*
#11 Mar. 20-22-24 #12 Mar. 27-29-31	Punctuation	CP 61-79; TE 9; WW Ch 6	Worksheet #9; Application #3 (#9.1 Urban Planning) due 3/27; (Early Registration for Summer and Fall 2000 runs all of week #12)Application #4 (9.2 Monoclonal Antibodies) due 4/3
#13 Apr. 3-5-7	Editing Quantitative Material	CP 81-85; TE 10	Worksheets #10
#14 Apr. 10-12-14 #15 Apr. 17-19-21	Proofreading	CP 87-94; TE 11	Worksheet 11; Take-Home Worksheet (Ten Tips...) due 4/17Take-Home Final (#11.1 The Human Genome Project) due 5/1No Class on Apr. 21 (State Holiday)
#16 Apr. 24-26-28	Introduction to Advanced Editing	CP 96-105; TE 4	Take-Home Final due 5/1
#17 May 1	Review	None.	Take-Home Final (#11.1 The Human Genome Project) due 5/1
May 10 (Wednesday)	Final Exam		0800-1000

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Required Textbooks

Brooks, Brian S., James L. Pinson, and Jean Gaddy-Wilson. Working with Words: A Concise Handbook for Media Writers and Editors. 4th ed. St. Martin's, 1999.

CoursePak English 3870: Introduction to Abstracting and Copyediting. Spring 2000.

Rude, Carolyn D. Technical Editing. 2^nd ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1998.

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General Remarks

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.

Also, it's a pretty good idea to keep a backup copy of everything you write. You'll need a 3.5" DS/DD (720 KB) or DS/HD (1.44 MB) "floppy," and these are available at the bookstores.

Format Standards

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).

If you should discover one or two typing errors (typos), neatly correct the mistake(s) by crossing out the error(s) and writing the correction(s) above (three or more errors require both correction and reprinting).

Late Assignments

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.

Submitting Assignments

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
Writing Assignments (2-3)	10%
Application Assignments (4-6)	55%
Final Exam (Take Home)	35%
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

Letter Grade

What the Grade Means

A (100 - 92)
Your boss would be impressed and remember you at promotion time.

B (91-83)
Your boss would be satisfied with the job but not over impressed.

C (82-70)
Your boss would be disappointed and ask you to revise before others saw it.

D
(That animal lives somewhere else.)

F (69-0)
Your boss would start looking for someone to replace you!

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Course Description

This course is designed to help students develop skills and techniques for editing material that is technical in nature, especially material that has been written by another author. In order to achieve this, this course stresses copymarking, copyediting, and proofreading. Of course, the mechanics (spelling, abbreviations, and capitalization), grammar and usage, and punctuation are properly emphasized.

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Policies

Attendance
Participation
Plagiarism

Attendance

Because this course is built on a building-block format, in which each assignment builds upon the one before and prepares students for the assignment to follow, attendance is essential.

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!).

Participation

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!).

Plagiarism

In the past, I have encouraged students to review their assignments as they prepare for future assignments. In order to do this, students necessarily have to have each assignment returned to them. Some students have allowed their friends (fellow members of clubs, fraternities, or sororities, not to mention those they are dating or their best bud) to make photocopies of their assignments (or worse yet) place their original, corrected copy in club/fraternity/sorority file).

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.

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Portfolio

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 required to be submitted then.

To help keep your material from getting mixed up with the work of other students, please place all graded material (as well as drafts, but not an assignments that may be due on the last day of class) inside a 10" x 13" envelope, and secure it by opening its clasps (please don't lick the glue and seal your envelope; the glue tastes ucky, and glued envelopes are darn hard to open). Envelopes are available at most bookstores for about 20 cents. In the upper left-hand corner of the envelope, label as follows:

Name

ENGL 3870-001

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 the start of Fall Semester 2000; any packets not picked up by Labor Day will be disposed of in an ecologically safe manner #};=).

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Course Objectives

During this course, students will have the opportunity to:

Develop an understanding of the editing process and its role in the development, printing, and use of a publication.
Develop productive attitudes and habits.
Prepare for their role as a professional and for ongoing learning once this course is completed.
Copymark documents using established symbols and conventions.
Learn the function of a document style sheet and how to create and use two types of document style sheets.
Identify reasons for editorial emendations and edit objectively instead of arbitrarily.
Increase their mastery of grammar, the mechanics (spelling, abbreviations, and capitalization) of American English, and punctuation.
Distinguish proofreading from copyediting, and proofread for verbal and visual aspects of a technical document.
Copyedit reference citations and technical and quantitative material.
Copyedit visuals.
Learn more about the resources that are available to editors, including style manuals, professional organizations and periodicals, and publications about writing and editing.
Learn what an abstract is and how to write one.

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'DA P'RFESS'R'S PAGE

Created May 1, 1998

Last Updated Nov. 29, 1999

Table 2: Grades and What They Mean
Letter Grade	What the Grade Means
A (100 - 92)	Your boss would be impressed and remember you at promotion time.
B (91-83)	Your boss would be satisfied with the job but not over impressed.
C (82-70)	Your boss would be disappointed and ask you to revise before others saw it.
D	(That animal lives somewhere else.)
F (69-0)	Your boss would start looking for someone to replace you!

English 3870 Introduction to Abstracting and Copyediting

Required Textbooks

Assignments

Table 1: Summary of Assignments & Percentage of Final Grade

Table 2: Grades and What They Mean

Letter Grade

What the Grade Means

Policies

Attendance

Participation

Plagiarism