English 103 Critical Thinking Lesson 1 Review Quiz before real Quiz

Students will write a total of four formal essays for this course: Essay 1 (an Issue Proposal=50 points), Essay 2 (an Exploratory Paper=100 points), Essay 3 (a Position Paper=100 points) and Essay 4 (the Research Project=200 points). For your first essay (the Issue Proposal), you will be asked to select an issue for your final research project, and that issue will be the focus of ALL FOUR essays. Each assignment will build towards the final essay and will be incorporated into your research paper. All of the essays must be written to pass English 103.

Research Paper: Once a student selects an issue (in week two) for the research project, s/he will not be permitted to change topics. The research paper, must address the selected issue, and it must meet the minimum requirements for that assignment (in terms of page number and number/type of sources as well as documentation skills). If a student fails to submit any of the required essays, or if his/her research paper does not meet the minimum requirements outlined, s/he will not be eligible for a passing grade in English 103—regardless of his/her point total in the class. A failing grade is the consequence of plagiarism. English 100 is a prerequisite for this course, and students are expected to understand what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. Chapters 11-12 on the research project will offer a review on this topic, but if you have any questions, you should ask prior to submitting your work. The consequences for plagiarism are severe. A plagiarized essay will receive a score of 0, and it will be sent (along with an “incident report”) to the Dean of Humanities. This report will become a part of the student's permanent record at the college. Because all of the essays must be submitted to pass English 103, a student who receives a 0 for plagiarism will not be eligible to pass English 103. All of your writing for this class must be original.

Discussion Board Forums: There will be a total of eleven “Discussion Board forums” for this class. Your first forum is allotted 5 points, and remaining forums are worth 10 points. Students must post two (75-word minimum) responses to each forum to receive a passing grade (7 points) for a given forum. The discussion forum questions are directed to the weekly chapter readings, and they are also designed to help you generate ideas/strategies for your essays. Participation in discussion will also allow you to “get to know” your classmates and to share general information that may be relevant to the course. Reading Quizzes: Your first 5-point quiz pertains to this course overview and the requirements of the class. There will be a total of 12 additional multiple choice and true/false timed quizzes that pertain to the assigned readings (one for each chapter). You will have between 10-15 minutes to complete these quizzes (depending on the number of questions), and they cannot be retaken or made up for any reason. Once you click on the link to a quiz, it must be completed within the allotted time. The links for the quizzes will be available only during the week that the quiz is assigned. Once you begin a quiz, do not attempt to navigate away from the page and do not hit the "back" arrow. Make sure you complete the quiz in the allotted time; if you go over time, Canvas will automatically "submit" the quiz answers you have completed.

Chapter Review Questions: You will be presented with 1-2 “review questions” for each reading assignment (chapters #1-10). There are a total of 10 assignments, and each response is worth 5 points. Review responses are not timed, and you may submit answers any time during the week they are assigned. Responses will be evaluated for accuracy, development, and writing ability.

Participation: Note that students must “check in” at least once each week to remain enrolled in this course. That means that you must participate in the weekly lesson—through discussion, homework assignments, quiz, etc. If you are unable to “check-in,” you should notify me BEFORE the assignments for the week are due, and if you fall behind this semester, you should contact me immediately. If you “disappear” without explanation, I will assume that you do not wish to remain enrolled, and you’ll be dropped. This concludes the “course overview.” I encourage you to contact me for assistance at any time during the semester: [email protected] I will respond to your emails (sent Monday-Thursday) within 24 hours. As I am often away from home on the weekends, you should make sure to review your weekly lessons by Thursday and email your questions ASAP. If you send me an email Friday-Sunday, you will not receive a response until Monday morning. If you do not receive a response to an email, you should assume that I did not receive it and re-send it.