SyllabusEnglish102HSpring2017CollegeWritingandRhetoric

Instructor:VictoriaM.Arthur,PhDEmail:varthur@uidaho.edu

Office:Brink229OfficeHrs:MW2:30–3:30&byappt.

COURSE DESCRIPTION English 102 is an introductory composition course, designed to improve your skills in persuasive, expository writing, the sort you will be doing in other courses in college and in many jobs. Sometimes this kind of writing is called transactional writing; it is used to transact something—persuade and inform a reasonably well-educated audience, conduct business, evaluate, review, or explain a complex process, procedure, or event. LEARNING OUTCOMES By the end of the course, a successful student should be able to...

1. Accurately assess and effectively respond to a wide variety of audiences and rhetorical situations. 2. Comprehend college-level and professional prose and analyze how authors present their ideas in

view of their probable purposes, audiences, and occasions. 3. Present ideas as related to, but clearly distinguished from, the ideas of others (including the

ability to paraphrase, summarize, and correctly cite and document borrowed material). 4. Focus on, articulate, and sustain a purpose that meets the needs of specific writing situations. 5. Explicitly articulate why they are writing, who they are writing for, and what they are saying. 6. Write critical analyses and syntheses of college-level and professional prose. 7. Be able to make the connection between questions and problems in your life both within and

outside of college. 8. Gather and evaluate information and use it for a rhetorical purpose in writing a research paper. 9. Attend to and productively incorporate a variety of perspectives. 10. Develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading. 11. Understand writing as an open process that permits writers to use later invention and re-thinking

to revise their work. 12. Give and receive constructive feedback from peers. 13. Use conventions of format and structure appropriate to the rhetorical situation and practice

appropriate means of documenting their work. 14. Locate, evaluate, organize, and use research material collected from electronic sources, including

scholarly library databases; other official databases (e.g., federal government databases); and informal electronic networks and internet sources.

Of course, we expect that you are able to carry out some of these tasks already.

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DEADLINES Administrative Deadlines The university has certain deadlines of which you need to be aware if you want to drop the course at some point during the term. Wednesday, January 25 – Last day to drop the course without a grade of W. Friday, March 31 – Last day to drop the course with a grade of W. Class Deadlines As the term progresses, you will be given major writing assignments, along with your daily writing and reading work. Each of these assignments has a firm deadline. All late assignments will receive a point deduction. TEXTBOOK (available at the UI Bookstore)

• John Ramage et al, The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. COURSE EXPECTATIONS

ClassPreparationandActiveParticipationMyphilosophyofteachingisthatstudentsareactiveagentsoftheirownlearningratherthanpassivevesselstobefilledbylisteningtomelecture.Youcannotlearntowritebylisteningtometalkaboutwriting;youmusthoneyourskillsthroughpractice.Thereforeasignificantamountofclasstimewillbespentwriting,discussingyourwritingeffortsandexperiences,andrespondingtoeachother’sdrafts.Youareexpectedtobringyourtextbookandalaptop(orwhateverwayyouprefertowrite)toeachclassmeeting.

Theminimumexpectationsforparticipationarethatyou

• completeanyreadingandwritingassignedbeforetheclass,• arriveontimewithyourbookandlaptop,and• enthusiasticallyengageinclassactivitiesanddiscussions.

Idon’tgradeattendance.Themini-lectures,discussionsandactivitieswedoinclassaredesignedtohelpyouwritethemajorprojects.Therefore,attendanceisrewardedbyimprovedperformance.Andyoucanonlyearnthehomework/processpointsfromin-classworkbyactuallybeingintheclass(anddoingtheactivity),soattendanceisalsorewardedinthisway.

UniversityofIdahoClassroomLearningCivilityClause Inanyenvironmentinwhichpeoplegathertolearn,itisessentialthatallmembersfeelasfreeandsafeaspossibleintheirparticipation,especiallyinregardstoone’swriting.Tothisend,itisexpectedthateveryoneinthiscoursewillbetreatedwithmutualrespectandcivility,withan

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understandingthatallofus(students,instructors,professors,guests,andteachingassistants)willberespectfulandciviltooneanotherindiscussion,inaction,inteaching,andinlearning.

Shouldyoufeelourclassroominteractionsdonotreflectanenvironmentofcivilityandrespect,pleasemeetwithmeduringofficehourstodiscussyourconcern.AdditionalresourcesforexpressionofconcernorrequestingsupportincludetheDeanofStudentsofficeandstaff(5-6757),theUICounseling&TestingCenter’sconfidentialservices(5-6716),ortheUIOfficeofHumanRights,Access,&Inclusion(5-4285).

PlagiarismItisacademicallydishonest,andsometimesillegal,topresentsomeoneelse’sideasorwritingasyourown.Ignoranceisnotadefense:itisyourresponsibilitytomakesureyouusepropercitation,sogetassistance(fromme,forexample)ifyouareunsure.

Sometimesstudentsplagiarizebecausetheydonotfeeltheycancompletetheassignment.Ifyouhaveconcernsaboutthequalityofyourworkoryourabilitytomeetdeadlines,pleasetalktomeaboutit.Thereisalwaysabetteralternativethanplagiarism,whichmaycauseyoutofailtheassignmentorthecourseandwillbereportedtotheDeanofStudents.FormoreinformationseethePlagiarismPolicyontheEnglishDepartmentwebsite:http://www.class.uidaho.edu/english/comp/plagiarism.htm.

DisabilityAccommodationTheUniversityofIdahoiscommittedtoprovidingequalandintegratedaccessforindividualswithdisabilities.Thiscommitmentisconsistentwithlegalrequirements,includingSection504oftheRehabilitationActof1973andtheAmericanswithDisabilitiesAct(ADA)of1990,andembodiestheuniversity’shistoricdeterminationtoensuretheinclusionofallmembersofitscommunities.

Ifyouhaveadisabilitythatyoufeelmayimpairyourabilitytocompletetheworkinthiscourseasitisdesigned,pleaseletmeknowassoonaspossible.AllaccommodationsmustbeapprovedthroughDisabilitySupportServiceslocatedintheIdahoCommons,Room333,885-6307.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS Major Writing Assignments

• ResearchTopicProposal:50points• AnnotatedBibliography:100points• ResearchPaper:100points• PublicStatement: 50points

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Process Work Therewillbeshorter(“invention”or“prepwork”)writingassignmentsdueregularly.Theseassignmentsarespecificallydesignedtohelpyougeneratematerialtowritethemajorassignments.Completedraftsarealsoincludedinthiscategory.Foreachmajorassignment,youwillalsobeaskedtoreadandcommentonthepapersofotherstudents.Thenumberofpointsavailablefromprocessworkisroughlyequivalenttothetotalpointsforthemajorassignments.GRADING Gradingcriteriaareprovidedforeachmajorassignment.A=90–100%B=80–89%C=70–79%D=60–69%F=59%andlessOnlythefirstthreearepassinggrades.

A Representsachievementthatisoutstandingorsuperiorrelativetothelevelnecessarytomeettherequirementsofthecourse.

B Representsachievementthatissignificantlyabovethelevelnecessarytomeettherequirementsofthecourse.

C Representsachievementthatmeetsthebasicrequirementsineveryrespect.Itsignifiesthattheworkisaverage,butnothingmore.

W

StandsforWithdrawal.ThisisthegradeyouwillreceiveifyouwithdrawfromthecourseafterJanuary25thbutonorbeforeMarch31st.AWhasnoeffectonyourGPA,butyoucanhaveonly20WcreditsduringyourtimeasanundergraduateatUI(aboutsixcourses.AfterMarch31styoucannolongerwithdrawfromthecourse.

N

StandsforNoCredit.AgradeofNhasnoeffectonyourGPA,butitdoesmeanthatyouneedtotakethecourseagain.YouwillearnagradeofNifyourgradeisanNandyouhavedonealltheworkforthecourse.Youalsomusthavemadeagoodfaithefforttocompletealltheassignments.HandinginjustanypieceofwritingjusttoavoidgettinganFwillnotwork.

F

StandsforFailure.AgradeofFhasanegativeeffectonyourGPA.Ifyoufailtohandinanymajorwritingassignmentordonotmakeagood-faithefforttosucceedatamajorassignment,youwillautomaticallyearnanF.IfyouraveragegradeisanNbutyoudidnotcompleteoneofthemajorcomponentsofthecourse(oneofthemajorpapersofallofthehomeworkassignmentsordrafts),youwillautomaticallyearnanFinthecourse.ThereisnoreasonforreceivinganFinthiscourse,unlessyousimplyfailtosubmittherequiredwork.

I

Standsforincomplete.UnderveryunusualcircumstancesyoucouldbeassignedanIncompleteinthecourseifsomethinghappenedtoyouwithinthelasttwoweeksofthesemesterthatmadeitimpossibletocompletethecourse(aseriousaccidentorillnessthatleftyouhospitalizedandverysignificantpersonaltragedy,etc.

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REPEATING THE COURSE Youmaynothandinthesamepapersyouusedinaprevioussemester.Ifyouarerepeatingthecourse,youneedtowritenewversionsoftheassignments.