writing report

Syllabus

English 1010: Expository Writing Instructor: Dr. Wilt

Fall term, 2014

Contact information Required texts & materials Course goals & objectives Basic approach Assignments Assessment and grades Class participation

The University Writing Center Online tools for checking English usage Academic integrity Students with disabilities Lottery Scholarships Academic calendar and Withdrawal deadlines Questions

Instructor’s contact information Office: AMG 107 Office hours:

W: 11:00—12:00; TR 10:30—12:30 plus extended virtual office hours via D2L email

Email: Phone:

TWilt (“Email” in the blue banner headline → “Compose”, sending to TWilt). Please use only D2L email; do not try to contact me via the general Pipeline email system. D2L email is the surest, quickest way to contact me. I check it practically every day, often several times a day. Do not expect replies to emails from Fri PM through Sunday. 898-5565 (Email is usually a quicker means of contacting me.)

Required texts and materials • Bullock, R. The Norton Field Guide to Writing, 3rd ed. NY: Norton. 2013..

Course goals & objectives The main goals of this course is to prepare students to write in English at a satisfactory level for university work, to enhance students’ ability to think critically, and to encourage reflection on values in keeping with MTSU’s mission statement In keeping with these general goals, we will have these objectives as stated by the department for English 1010. Students will learn or improve their ability to

• generate a writing plan with informed writing objectives, • draw writing content from experience, imagination, and outside resources, • analyze & synthesize different kinds of texts and material, • view writing as a process, • analyze their writing strengths and weaknesses, • develop a thesis clearly with a variety of supporting evidence, in different expository genres, • adapt their writing to audience and purpose, • integrate and document primary sources accurately, • vary the structure and length of sentences and paragraphs, • with grammatical competence and use conventional spelling.

Basic approach Your written work throughout the semester will consist of

 4-5 major essays or writing projects of various genres (70% of grade), length depending on the project with a normal range of 1000-1200 words;

 Daily assignments: quizzes, in-class work, outside work related to essays, etc. (30% of grade), Tentative Schedule

Weeks Unit Focus Chapter in textbook 1-3 Reporting Information 9 4-6 Profile 16 7-9 Compare & Contrast 34-35 10-12 Evaluation 13 13-15 Résumés & Job Letters 19

More detailed schedules of classroom activities and assignments will be posted on your D2L homepage as a News item. Students are responsible for checking the D2L course page regularly so that they can know what the assignments are and when they are due and so that they can see any outside-of-class communications from the teacher concerning the assignments. “I did not know” is an unacceptable excuse for work not done in keeping with requirements & guidelines. Classes will often have a workshop format and daily assignments will include a variety of writing and reading exercises. As in most classes, one should expect to do at least two hours of outside work for each hour of class. There may be virtual classes in which work and communication will be via the web rather than in the physical classroom. If a student does not do the work for a virtual class by the time it is due, s/he will be considered absent for that class period as well as penalized in keeping with the policy for late work.

Assignments Essays/writing projects (70% of final grade). The essays or writing projects will involve writing 1000-1200 words (about two, single-spaced pages). Some or all of these projects may involve incorporating non- verbal material. Class discussions, in-class writing, and out-of-class assignments will provide guidance and material for these projects. An important draft or a final version of each writing project may be done in class and the grade may be primarily based on this text although there may be an opportunity to revise the texts for the sake of improving writing skills and grades. Daily assignments (30% of final grade). Throughout the semester, you will have in-class and graded homework assignments related to the major projects or related to more general writing concerns such as grammar and style. In-class work will frequently be graded. Those absent when graded in-class work is done will receive a “0” for that assignment as well as being counted as absent. Some assignments may be weighted two or three times more than others, depending on the relative effort expected in working on them.. For example, an assignment for which virtual class time is given may be weighted twice as much as a regular homework assignment. Quizzes cannot be taken after the deadline posted in the assignment schedule on the home page; this is because they are often discussed in the first class after they are due. Presentation of work. Most graded assignments done outside of class are submitted via D2L. The unit schedule on the homepage will tell you whether an assignment should be submitted via Dropbox or Discussions. You will also be doing much in-class writing so should come to every class with writing materials. Spell and grammar checks should always be done before presenting an assignment. MLA, APA, or Chicago style should be followed (models are given in our textbook, at MTSU’s library site, and at Purdue’s Online Writing Lab). All assignments should be formatted as follows unless there are special instructions to the contrary:

 Files must be in Word format. Minimal word-processing formats such as Notepad or Wordpad are

unacceptable.  No title page.  Single-spaced. DO NOT DOUBLE-SPACE !  Easily readable font comparable to Times New Roman 10 or 12.  For this course, do not bother adding information like

“English 1020, Dr. Wilt”. Other teachers may want you to add this, especially if they ask for hard copies of papers.

• Title of essay centered and in bold on first line; • Your name centered on a separate line, with one blank

line between the title and it and one blank line between it and the first line of your introduction;

• If there is a Works Cited, separate the title “Works Cited” (centered, in bold) from the last line of your essay by one blank line. Insert another blank line after the title, then list the references single-spaced. Do not put the Works Cited on a separate page! This practice is in keeping with practically all academic journals and magazines. (However, some teachers still ask for a separate page.)

• The name for files submitted in the Dropbox or attached to a Discussion Board entry should have your last name followed by a brief description of the assignment, for example:

o Smith article review o Johnson Essay 1

Failure to respect any of these requirements may result in not receiving credit for your work. You should of course keep copies of all assignments, on a removable medium as well as on the hard drive. Computer, printer, or email problems will not be considered a valid excuse for late or incomplete work.

Assessment and grades Percentage grades will be assigned in keeping with the scale used to calculate the final grade:

A 90-100

The work is in keeping with all requirements and guidelines. The work indicates good effort, analysis, understanding, and communication skills.

B 80-89 Work is in general good but could have been further improved by more careful attention to all requirements and guidelines, by more in-depth analysis or support, or by improved style (organization, grammar, etc.).

C 73-79 Work indicates minimally satisfactory analysis or understanding and/or minimal care/skill in communicating about it. Often, grades in this range indicate that at least one important requirement or guideline was not followed or that considerable work on basic writing skills is needed.

C- 65-72

F 50-64 There is some indication that the pertinent material was considered but the analysis or understanding appears far from satisfactory or the manner of presentation does not merit a passing grade. Requirements and guidelines were not followed to the degree expected of university students.

0 0 Work is not handed in within the acceptable range of time or not in keeping with the assignment’s requirements and guidelines.

The final grade for the whole semester will be an A, B, C, C-, F or N. In keeping with MTSU policy, “D” is not given as a final grade in English 1009, 1010 or 1020.

Explanation of “N”. N=“No grade”. Students taking the course for the first time, doing all the required work, but not achieving at least a “C” for the final grade will receive an “N”. This will keep the GPA from lowering although the student will need to retake the course. Students taking the course for the first time who do not do all the work will receive an “F” unless they have withdrawn from the course before one of the “W” deadlines. Students retaking the course who do not do satisfactory work will receive an “F”.

If you are struggling with this or other courses, it is important to be aware of the withdrawal deadlines. Late assignments. Five percentage points will be deducted for assignments handed in after the due date but before the next scheduled class meeting. Ten percentage points will be deducted if the assignment is not received by the next class but is handed in before one week from the due date. After one week, no credit can be received for the assignment and a grade of “0” will be given. University-sanctioned absences are not considered a valid excuse for handing work in late since you can submit the work electronically before you leave for the activity or while you are away. Grades are given only for assigned work. There are no extra credit possibilities. Grades are not negotiable. If I have made a mistake in entering a grade, I am of course glad to have this pointed out and to change the grade in your favor. The lowest two dailly assignment grades will not be counted.

Class participation Students are expected to

• attend class regularly, • bring to each class the materials required for active participation (writing materials and texts that

are being considered during the unit), • alertly follow classroom presentations and discussions, • diligently work on in-class exercises, • interact thoughtfully, civilly, and appropriately with other students and the teacher.

Good classroom participation, including active listening as well as thoughtful speech, contributes to a positive learning environment, benefiting both the individual and the other students. In general, the more regularly and attentively students attend and participate in class, the better they do. Those with excessive absences are unlikely to pass the course and late arrivals are a distraction to the learning environment. To encourage a positive learning environment, attendance and participation will influence the final grade as follows.

Absences in terms of class hours*

Percentage points for final grade**

0-3 +2 4-6 +/-0 7-8 -2

9-10 -5 >10 -10

*As stated below, tardiness or inappropriate classroom behavior may result in being counted as a partial or full absence. ** Positive percentage points are awarded if the teacher views the student as having regularly contributed to positive classroom dynamics (alertness, participation, etc.)

Late arrivals to class. Coming to class up to five minutes late (after attendance has been taken and a classroom activity has begun) counts as an absence of half a class hour. Coming to class more than five minutes late counts as an absence of a class hour. In general, a person may come to class more than five minutes late only twice; after that, they will need to miss the class rather than be more than five minutes late. (Exceptional cases should be discussed with the teacher ahead of time.) Courtesy and consideration of other students and of the teacher is expected. This includes:

 being on time for class (see preceding paragraph);  attentiveness to class presentations;  focus on and participation in class activities (and not in any unrelated ones);  no use of any electronic devices (in general, this includes devices for translation tools);  all electronic devices turned off & put away (no excuses) unless their use is explicitly allowed or

requested by the teacher;  no eating during class;  alert posture;  waiting until the class is over to pack books, etc.  compliance with other aspects of classroom policy as stated in “Civility in the Classroom,” at the

English department’s web page.

Not complying with these standards during a class may result in being counted as late or absent (two lates = one absence). At the teacher’s discretion, a student may be asked to leave class for what the teacher views to be disruptive behavior and may not be allowed back until receiving permission from Student Judicial Affairs to do so. If you miss a class, do not write to me to ask about what you missed. Contact one of your classmates so that you can get notes & info from them and, importantly, check the D2L homepage for updates and assignments. The only excused absences are for official university activities or for military duty if an official letter concerning the absence is given to the teacher . If you find that you are missing many classes due to sickness, funerals, transportation problems, etc., you are probably better off dropping out for the semester and returning when conditions are more favorable for study. You do not need to show me medical reports or any other materials related to absences since you will still be counted as absent if the reason is for anything other than an official university absence.

The University Writing Center The University Writing Center offers “free writing assistance for any assignment for any class.”. The tutors here can be a great help as you work on your writing.

Online tools for checking English usage Have you read or heard an expression in English whose meaning you would like to check? There are of course translation sites and good dictionaries (Merriam-Webster, Oxford English Dictionary). But these give very limited if any examples of actual usage. A very helpful tool, especially for speakers of other languages who are learning English, is the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the British National Corpus where you can see how an expression is used in a wide variety of contexts (examples taken from conversations, magazines, journals books).

Academic Integrity Learning to use source material responsibly will be a focus of this class. In your compositions and presentations, you must give credit for text, ideas, and images that did not originate with you. Your handbook distinguishes between unintentional and intentional plagiarism. Unintentional plagiarism, or misuse of sources, is a “teaching moment”; intentional plagiarism—such as downloading a paper, having someone else write your essay, or cutting-and-pasting with no acknowledgement of the source—is a form of academic misconduct.

I am required to report all instances of academic misconduct to the Provost’s Office. See the MTSU student handbook for an explanation as well as the possible consequences of engaging in academic misconduct. In this class, sanctions range from a mandatory rewrite for partial credit to an F in the course. The Provost’s Office may impose additional sanctions such as probation or suspension. To avoid such penalties, always do your own work and ask for help when you are using source material. You can get help in class, during my office hours, at the University Writing Center, from a librarian, or online at Purdue’s OWL.

A “Plagiarism Detection Device” will be used for drafts submitted to the Dropbox.

Students with disabilities ADA accommodation requests (temporary or permanent) are determined only by Disabled Student Services. Students are responsible for contacting the Disabled Student Services Office at 898-2783 to obtain ADA and for providing the instructor with the Accommodation Letter from Disabled Student Services.

Lottery Scholarships Do you have a lottery scholarship? To retain the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship eligibility, you must earn a cumulative TELS GPA of 2.75 after 24 and 48 attempted hours and a cumulative TELS GPA of 3.0 thereafter. A grade of C, D, F, FA, or I in this class may negatively impact TELS eligibility. If you drop this class, withdraw, or if you stop attending this class you may lose eligibility for your lottery scholarship, and you will not be able to regain eligibility at a later time. For additional Lottery rules, please refer to your Lottery Statement of Understanding form or contact your MT One Stop Enrollment Counselor.

Academic calendar & deadlines for withdrawal from a course August September

October November December December

24 6 7

10-13 28 29

25-28

2 3

4-10

Classes Begin Last day to drop with no grade; after the 6th, a “W” ” will be given if class is dropped.* Labor Day Holiday - No Classes Fall Break - No Classes

Last Day to Drop classes or withdraw completely with a Grade of “W” on RaiderNet Students withdrawing from ALL classes beginning today should complete online

withdrawal form via RaiderNet. Thanksgiving Holidays - No classes Last Day of Classes Study Day - No Classes Final exams

* The Withdrawal website gives important contact, process, & policy information. As stated there, dropping classes can have consequences for financial aid, health and personal insurance, campus Housing, veterans benefits, and subsidized housing.

Questions? Questions particular to this course? Email me. Questions about D2L in general ? Click the “?” icon on the blue banner bar for a general introduction to D2L and to the tools that we will be using in this course.

Questions about problems particular to your use of D2L or other electronic tools? Contact the IT Help Desk: 615-898-5345 or [email protected]. For example: “I can’t upload/download/read a posted document.” Questions concerning library use ? Go to their website and click “Library Help”, or call 898-2817. On our course’s homepage, a link to the library is in the top, upper-left hand corner.