English

Welcome to English 1121 Section 68! I am excited to meet you all and to help in your ability to communicate effectively through the written word! One of my favorite things about teaching this class is to see students’ writing capabilities grow and develop throughout the semester! I hope you are also excited to develop and enhance your writing through practice, revision, and help from peers and me! I take a very step by step approach to this course in order to help you in your success throughout the semester. I want to encourage you to take the opportunities I offer to revise your papers since that only helps in developing your organizational skills, grammar skills, and getting your intended purpose/point across! Like the quote on the right says, your first draft is not wrong; it could just use some improvement and more attention! We all need to communicate through the written word in everyday life, so why not enhance those skills to help in getting your intended point/opinion across? I am looking forward to taking this journey with all of you, and please know that I will be here and available to you throughout it all! Required Textbooks and Materials • A Pocket Style Manual 9th edition (eBook version) • PDF Reader: Since many of my handouts and readings are in PDF format, you will need access to a PDF program in order to view many of the files posted. • Microsoft Word or equivalent: Since you will turn in your papers electronically, you will need to use a program that I can read and make comments on through Microsoft Word. Feel free to use .doc, .docx, or .rtf. Unfortunately, I cannot read your documents when you submit them with Google or Apple pages, so please avoid those types of documents. o What is great is that you are all entitled to Microsoft Office 365 on your home machines because you are a student at ARCC! Please use the following link to install it if you haven't done so already. http://www.anokatech.edu/en/TechnologyServices/SoftwareDownloads/Micro soft/Office365

Course Description This class provides extended practice in critical reading, writing, and thinking. Course content includes the writing process, essential composition skills, and critical reasoning in various rhetorical situations. The course requires effectively reasoned and supported essays including an argumentative research paper. Course Objectives At the conclusion of the course, the student should be able to: a. Develop effective essays • By practicing writing as a recursive process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading) • By selecting information to support a thesis clearly, concisely, and logically. b. Read analytically both published texts and students' texts, including their own (i.e., identify the thesis, analyze support, and evaluate the effectiveness of the writing for the purpose and audience) c. Recognize and direct writing to a particular audience for a particular purpose; solve writing problems by: • Identifying a purpose or goal, • Describing the audience's assumptions and expectations, and • Selecting from a variety of writing strategies, the methods appropriate for meeting the writing goal. • Make language choices appropriate to their audience and context. These choices include consideration of diction, tone, consistent point of view, and style. d. Use edited Standard American English correctly. e. Recognize the basic strategies of persuasion and argument and apply these to specific writing assignments that address a variety of purposes and audiences. f. Analyze the technical elements and logical connections in their own argument and those of others. Students will use this analysis in the development and revision of their essays and as a reading strategy. g. Distinguish (in social, academic, professional, and civic arguments) assertions of value from assertions of fact or policy. Students will also recognize the role of emotional, rational, and ethical appeals in support of these assertions. h. Identify an issue, explore their position on the issue, and state their position. Students will then identify potential audiences with diverse values and beliefs, and articulate counterarguments. Finally, they will select evidence that will persuade their target audiences to accept the assertions made in their essays and research papers. i. Use various information gathering techniques (including library research, electronic sources, interviews, and/or observation) to obtain evidence which they can then use to support their assertions in their argumentative essays and research papers.

j. Analyze and evaluate sources to identify the writers’ authority, purposes, target audiences, biases, assumptions, and reasoning. Based on these analyses, students will select those sources most appropriate as support for their own assertions. k. Represent sources in their own writing through accurate summaries, paraphrases, and direct quotations. They will use a style manual to cite and document sources correctly. My Core Beliefs I Believe: • Everyone is welcome in my classroom. This includes YOU. • Everyone can pass this class! YOU can pass this class. • Writing and interpreting readings doesn’t have to be scary. But it takes practice. • Everyone is valuable and capable of learning. • Your identity, background, and experience are important, and I believe the exchange of different perspectives through reading, writing, and discussion is essential to the learning process. • Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and to explore new ideas and perspectives in my classroom. • Writing and reading are gateways to life-long success. • We are a team of people who can help each other grow and learn from each other. • Each person is responsible for their own success. • Writing and reading well opens many doors. • Responding to an Individual Discussion Area post within 24 hours is good manners. • This class will give you tools for your educational toolbox. • Sleep is important to success. • Reading and writing every day are essential practice. • Office hours are for YOU! • Revision is essential to writing, so don’t be afraid of it!