1. Mission Statement for
NOC:
Northern Oklahoma
College, a multi-campus learning community,
provides high quality, accessible, and
affordable educational opportunities and services to allow citizens to develop
to the full extent of their abilities, to succeed in a competitive global
environment, and to be effective life-long learners.
2. Course Title:
English Composition 1213
3. Objectives
Upon
completion of this course the student will be able to:
a. Understand the connection between audience,
subject, and purpose, and adapt writing style accordingly.
b. Discuss the use of persuasive appeals in
varied texts.
c. Quote, paraphrase, summarize, and cite
materials in MLA format.
d. Evaluate and analyze source materials of
various types.
e. Recognize and synthesize opposing points of
view in writing.
f. Demonstrate correct usage of grammar,
mechanics, and punctuation.
g. Compose at least one essay in class and a
minimum of four out-of-class essays.
4. Instructor Information:
·
Email Address: john.richard.stevens “at” okstate.edu
·
Office Hours:
I
am always available before and after class, and by appointment.
5. Textbook and Materials
James, Missy and Alan
P. Merickel. Reading Literature and Writing Argument. 3nd ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson
Prentice Hall, 2008.
Optional:
Rasmussen, Kirk
G. The
Prentice Hall Writer’s Guide to Research and Documentation. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.
VanderMey, Randall,
Verne Meyer, John Van Rys, and Pat Sebranek.
The College Writer: A Guide to Thinking Writing, and
Researching. 2nd ed. Boston:
Houghton-Mifflin Company, 2007.
6. Course Policies:
·
Class attendance
rules: Regular attendance is required to be
successful in the class. I will use the
administrative warn and drop system. After
three (3) absences, I will issue a warning and after six (6) accumulative
absences, I may withdraw you. Moreover, more than three (3) absences will
affect your participation grade, perhaps to the point of zero in the
participation component of this course. Arriving late or leaving early is
unacceptable, and three (3) instances results in a charged absence. Arriving
five (5) minutes or more late results in a charged absence; leaving early
results in a charged absence.
·
Essays: The length of each
essay will be determined by the specific prompt for each given assignment.
Essays must demonstrate original thought, development, and organization. For each essay assignment, you will be given
a schedule of readings, exercises, and drafts required. All essays must be
typed, double spaced, and in MLA format. Grading criteria for each essay will
be reviewed in class.
·
Formatting of all
course work:
All course work must be in a 12 point Times New Roman font. Other fonts,
particularly those generating a deceptively higher page count, are
unacceptable, and such papers will receive a lower grade. Margins are to be
either 1 inch or 1¼ inches, the latter of which is the default setting in MS
Word. Always double space. Do not turn in any typewritten single spaced
work or I will reduce the grade by a minimum of one full letter grade. Do not
turn in any handwritten work, for it will be returned to you at the earliest
opportunity, and is considered to be late until a properly formatted version is
turned in. Adhere to the page count guidelines for all assignments. If any of
the above problems persist, I will grade the assignment as a zero.
·
General guidelines
for late work:
when class ends on the due date, the work is late.
·
Late/Missing work and
your participation grade: Lateness will affect your participation grade, perhaps
to the point of zero in the participation component of this course. Students
are responsible for consulting the instructor about work missed due to absence,
regardless of the reason.
·
Late major projects (the
essays):
If a student fails to hand in an essay on the due date, the paper will receive
a ten-point deduction per class period if handed in within the week. After one week from the date due, the paper
will not be accepted.
·
Late policy on all
other course work:
All course work loses 5% per calendar day late, including weekends, breaks,
holidays, etc.
7.
Evaluation and
Assessment of Course:
·
Grading:
The grading scale for this course is as
follows:
90-100 A 80-89 B 70-79 C 60-69 D 50-59 F
The final course grade will be based on total
points possible.
Proofreading: A paper must have both content and correct
mechanics if it is to communicate well.
Students should proofread their work carefully. Tutors are available in the Tutoring Center
to help with writing and editing.
·
Extra
Credit—Course Policy: There is no extra
credit.
8.
Writing
Component:
Northern
Oklahoma College is committed to helping students improve writing. The college
expects all courses to contain a writing component as part of the evaluation of
student progress. We expect students to
produce written work that is focused, well developed, organized, and relatively
free of grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors. Papers that fall short of this standard will
not be accepted; the work will be returned to the student for revision within a
reasonable time.
9.
Academic
Integrity:
Academic dishonesty
or misconduct is not tolerated at Northern Oklahoma College. Whether in the form of plagiarism or cheating,
it is a serious matter that can result in expulsion from the institution. Representing someone else’s ideas as one’s
own or using unauthorized notes, aids, or other means to improve scores on an
assignment, a project, or an exam will result in disciplinary action against
the student. The disciplinary procedures
are as described in the NOC Student Handbook). Disciplinary action for
students who are enrolled in both OSU and NOC classes will follow the OSU
policy on Academic Misconduct and Dishonesty (http://comp.okstate.edu).
10. Use of Cell
Phones & Electronic Devices:
The use of
cell phones, palm pilots, walkie-talkies, pagers,
cameras, or other
communication devices
will not be permitted during in-session classes at Northern Oklahoma
College. If brought to class, these
devices must be turned off and stored out of sight. In the event a student is caught using an
electronic device of any nature during exams, quizzes, or other confidential
circumstances, the student will receive a zero grade for that portion of the coursework. It will be at the discretion of NOC to
determine additional consequences, which can include removal from the course
and/or removal from the institution for the dishonest act or acts. (Refer to the NOC Student Handbook for
additional information.)
The use of laptop
computers is permissible in Northern Oklahoma College classes only upon
prior approval by the specific instructor for that course. Any use of laptop computers or any other
similar learning aids that are used in a dishonest manner by the student will
result in forfeiture of the privilege to use such items in class and the
student will receive a zero grade for that portion of the coursework. It will be at the discretion of NOC to
determine additional consequences, which can include removal from the course
and/or removal from the institution for the dishonest act or acts. (Refer to the NOC Student Handbook for
additional information.)
11. Assessment of Student Learning:
Assessment is an ongoing process
aimed at understanding and improving student learning. It involves making the course objectives
measurable and explicit. It is our
intent to systematically measure the process of student learning within each
course being taught at Northern, by setting appropriate high standards for
learning quality and interpreting evidence to determine how well student
performance matches the course objectives and standards, then utilizing the
resulting information to improve student performance.
The following examples are measures
that will provide evidence of student learning: written and oral assignments
and projects, unit, chapter, mid-term, and comprehensive examinations, pre- and
post-tests, quizzes, competency based projects, observation of student
behavior, internally and externally juried reviews, portfolios, internships,
case studies, research papers, journals, essays, large and small group
projects, one on one communications between faculty and students, standardized
or national licensure tests, capstone projects, student satisfaction surveys,
national standardized tests, employer surveys on the quality of program
graduates, and others.
12. Identification of Student Learning Styles
The Northern faculty believes that all
students should have the opportunity to learn in an environment conducive to
their dominant learning style. It is our
goal to provide diverse pedagogy within each course to address the identified learning
styles for the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.
13. Statement of Student Support
If you believe you have a disability of any
type, please let me know so I can work cooperatively with you and the
Counseling Office to provide reasonable and fair opportunities for you to be a
productive and successful learner in this course. It is your responsibility as a student to
notify the Counseling Office of your disability. The Counseling Office numbers are as follows:
Tonkawa campus (580)628-6651, Enid campus (580)548-2265, or the Stillwater
campus (405)744-7116. The Student
Disability Services (315 Student Union) on the OSU campus can provide testing
to determine each student’s specific needs.
14. Course Outline:
Weeks 1-3 Personal Response Essay; Grammar
Weeks 3-6 Connections
Essay; Research Proposal; Grammar
Week
6-9 Annotated Bibliography:
Research; Documentation
Week 10-12 Bibliographic
Analysis Essay: Essay Exam; Portfolio
Weeks 12-15 Argumentative Research
Paper; Presentations
Week
16 Pre-finals Week
Week
17 Final Examination
What You Should Do to Get Started:
Read this syllabus
in its entirety, and if you have any questions ask me as soon as possible.
Also, I have provided you with a number of lectures on my website, http://www.englishdiscourse.org/englishcomposition.html, and you should read the following ones immediately: “Opening Remarks,”
and “Read This Before Turning in Any Work,” and “Read This Before Documenting
Any Sources.”
Required Software: MS Word, which is FREE OF CHARGE to all OSU
and NOC students. All assignments must be composed and turned in as a MS Word
doc file. To obtain MS Word for free, you can visit http://it.okstate.edu/mca, login and download
the software. You will need your PRISM id and PRISM default password. If you do
not have this information, or if you experience any problems at all, call the
helpdesk at 744-HELP (744-4357) and they will gladly assist you. As an
alternative, the OSU campus has many computer labs, all of which offer
computers that have MS Word. The Edmon Low Library also checks out laptops to
OSU students, and they too have MS Word.
·
How to turn in course
work: For
each of the major projects (essays), a paper copy is due during class on the
due date. Additionally, an electronic copy is due, prior to the beginning of class, on the due date, and it must be turned
in to TurnItIn.com as a MS Word doc or docx file. Use the TurnItIn.com “file
upload” method from the submit screen. You will be instructed during class
about how to create a TurnItIn.com account, and how to turn in your work. Your
essays will be considered late until both the paper copy and the electronic
copy is turned in. All other rules for late work, as delineated in section six
of this syllabus, also apply. Moreover, your electronic turn-in must be an
exact duplicate of the paper copy: in other words, no further corrections or
revisions will be accepted. Also, if the electronic and paper copies do not
match up it will have a negative impact on the assignment’s grade.
·
Participation
grading: Your
Participation grade is determined by the following factors: how much you
participate in discussions; the careful thinking demonstrated by your
remarks. There are also other variables involved that will negatively
affect your grade, which include the following: late arrival to class; late work; missing work; unsatisfactory in-class work; lack of preparation, which means
failure to be prepared for peer revision workshops and/or other activities;
unprofessional conduct; your failure to meet any other requirements of this
syllabus. Moreover, I expect you to participate in every class by significantly
adding to class discussions, which means group discussions, as well as the
discussions led by me. I expect your reading, writing, analyses, and
discussion to reflect careful thought and preparation. Considering these
policies, if you are absent three (3) or less times but you create a
situation that negatively affects your grade, you will receive a grade that is
lower than 100%, perhaps to the point of zero in this component of the course.
There is also the aspect of "effective
participation." As the semester progresses, students must demonstrate that
they are effectively demonstrating previously taught skills. If, for example,
we are some weeks into the course and a student is still failing to successfully
negotiate skills that should have already been mastered, then participation
with regard to learning said skills can only be judged as inadequate. Also, if
I have reason to believe that an assignment was written at the last minute, as
opposed to its being drafted and revised over time, then it is a case where
that student has effectively been absent from participating in the writing
process. In such cases the participation grade will be reduced, perhaps to the
point of zero is this component of the course.
·
Peer revision
workshops: Peer
Revision Workshops are crucial to the draft and revise writing process taught
in this course, and you are expected to participate in all of them. I will
reduce the final grade of an essay by 5% if a peer review workshop is missed
for any reason, including absence from class. There is no way to make up these
lost points. Moreover, each time you miss a peer revision workshop your
participation grade will be reduced. Also, if your paper falls even slightly
short of the minimum page count, even if only by a line or two of text, you
will not receive credit for participation in that workshop.
Course Components and their Percentages of the Final Course Grade:
|
5% |
Personal Response Essay -- Page count
requirements: 3 full pages minimum, to 4 full pages maximum, plus a works
cited page. Due date: 9/4/08 |
|
|
Research Proposal - - Due date: 9/9/08 No direct points for this
assignment, but turn-in is required. |
|
10% |
Connections Essay -- Page count
requirements: 3 full pages minimum to 4 full pages maximum, plus a works
cited page. Due date: 9/25/08 |
|
10% |
Annotated Bibliography -- Due date: 10/16/08 |
|
3% |
Bibliographic Analysis Essay Exam - - essay exam;
participation is mandatory. No make-ups or retakes. Exam
date: 10/21/08 |
|
12% |
Bibliographic Analysis Essay -- Page count
requirements: 5 full pages minimum to six full pages maximum, plus a works
cited page. Due date: 11/6/08 |
|
5% |
Reading Skills Workshops and Portfolio -- consult the
Assignments Calendar for workshops dates. |
|
20% |
Argumentative
Research Paper -- Page count requirements: 7 full pages
minimum to 8 full pages maximum, plus a works cited page. Due date: 11/27/08 |
|
6% |
Individual Research Project
Presentation -- Due date:
as assigned. |
|
14% |
Thought Papers There are a total
of 7 Thought Papers, 2% each. |
|
10% |
Participation -- make certain that
you are aware of how late work, missing work, and other factors affect your
participation grade. |
|
5% |
Final Examination -- an essay exam,
for which participation is mandatory. No make-ups or retakes. |
Thought Papers: These are extremely short assignments that
are based on readings from our course book, Reading
Literature and Writing Argument. Before turning in one of these
assignments, you must read the prompt for Thought Papers, which is accessible
on my website.
Reading
skills workshops and portfolio: Reading Skills
Workshops will dramatically increase your skills in the following areas: 1) Read faster
2) Better understand what you read 3)
Remember better what you read
4) Optimize note-taking skills for study
You must keep an ongoing record of your semester-long progress by recording
your in-class and out-of-class practice on the Timings Handout for Speed Reading, as well as compiling a varied
selection of reading notes, both of which you will turn in toward the end of
the semester in the form of a portfolio. I will teach you how to record your
progress. Failure to maintain neat and accurate records and reading notes will
compromise your grade in this component of the course, and your participation
in these workshops also has an effect on the participation grade course
component.
Discussion Questions/Observations and Other
Random Assignments: There
are no direct points earned from turning in discussion questions and other
random assignments, some of which may be assigned during class. Still, these
are assignments, so failure to participate by turning them in on time will
result in a reduction of your participation grade. These assignments must be
typed, and are not accepted late.
THE
ASSIGNMENT CALENDAR:
TU
8-19 TODAY'S CLASS: Course introduction.
Brief overview of your first project, which is the Personal Response Essay.
Homework: Bring the following materials to our
next class:
·
The
prompt for the Personal
Response Essay
·
The Sentence
Fragments Handout
·
Sentence
Fragments Exercises # 1
·
All course books.