English 103 Class Requirements
| OBJECTIVE: This
class is designed to develop your ability to read, write, and think as
an educated person so that you can better make sense of the complicated
world in which you live and work. English 103 helps you overcome the
natural tendencies to reason egocentrically, socieocentrically, or
ethnocentrically and instead to argue critically—an essential skill
needed throughout your academic education and in all professions. It is
this ability to think and argue critically that creates endless
possibilities. It is worthwhile to learn how to think rather than what
to think.
Specifically, our goals are to master the elements of argumentation, recognize effective and ineffective arguments in various forms, write persuasive arguments that reflect critical thinking skills, and follow Modern Language Association style guidelines. Texts: Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. 7th ed. By John D. Ramage and John C. Bean and June Johnson MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. By Joseph Gibaldi (RECOMMENDED BUT NOT REQUIRED) COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Learning argumentative writing, especially in an online forum, is a complicated process. Because discussion of the readings, and ideas related to argument, greatly enhance your understanding and critical thinking skills, requirements include three documented essays following MLA guidelines (7-9 full pages each), one response paper (2-3 pages each), responses to weekly online discussion boards, and a hard-copy portfolio. You must complete and receive a passing grade in all of these requirements if you are to receive a grade of "C" or better in the class. This means that if you miss a paper, or if you submit a paper late, you will not be able to pass the course, and therefore, I may drop you. Additionally, papers that receive a "D" will need to be revised in order for you to continue in the course. See the Revision Policy below. GUIDELINES: All writing assignments should have careful attention to errors and neatness. The assignments must follow proper MLA style and documentation (including Works Cited). Instructions for each paper are on the module pages. Each week we are working on a new module even though you still may be working on an assignment from the previous week. Some of the assignments take two or more weeks to complete. Some are completed in one week. It is important to read and understand the instructions on the module pages. All of your work should be submitted in a word processed form (particularly Microsoft Word). If you are using Word 2007, you will need to save your work as "Word 97-2003.doc" in order for me to open it. All of your work will be submitted via email by the due date designated on the assignment schedule with the exception of the portfolio which must be submitted in hard copy. Details about this follow in the 6th week. NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. Major concepts, explained in the lectures and in the text, will form the basis for discussion in online discussion boards. Participation in the online discussion is mandatory. You must respond to the discussion question each week, and comment on at least two other students' comments in order to receive credit. ACADEMIC HONESTY: Online classes are at a disadvantage for judging original work. I cannot possibly, really know whether or not you are writing your papers yourself. The assumption is that you will be learning from the work you do and your papers will show improvement from the beginning to the end of the course. If there are obvious differences in the language that you write in emails or in the chat discussions and what occurs on your papers, I may ask you for evidence of originality of your work. This will be in the form of some writing process, prewriting, research notes, etc. Additionally, you will be required to submit all papers to Turnitin.com prior to submitting them to me for a grade. You will be given access to an originality report that will help you see how you cited sources within your document. You will have an opportunity to fix any errors in the document before you submit it to me for a grade. Any papers that have obvious plagiarism are subject to an automatic "F" on the assignment and an "F" in the course. REVISION: You will be writing revisions of each assignment in the course capstone project, the portfolio. The portfolio project is your opportunity to demonstrate how much you have learned in the semester. For this project, you will be revising each of your writing assignments. You will also write an introduction letter for your portfolio in which you describe in detail some of the things you have learned and how what you learned is incorporated into changes in your papers. Information about this project is described in the week 7 module. GRADING: Your work will be graded on a point system. All assignments must be completed ON TIME. The due dates and times are listed on the assignment schedule. NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. Your final grade will be based on the 100 point scale listed below. Three formal essays (3 @ 20 pts. each) =
60 pts. |