What is English Composition I?
COURSE TEXTS AND MATERIALS
-
Nadell, Langan, and McMeniman.
The Longman Reader, 6
th ed.
-
Kirszner and Mandell.
The Pocket Handbook, 2
nd ed.
-
English Department.
A Guide to Writing & Word Processing, 2
nd ed.
(2003 Custom ed.)
-
King, Richard.
Library Research for Writers.
PURPOSE OF THE COURSE
Knowing how to write is a necessary skill that each student must master in order to prepare
for
any academic or occupational field.
This course is designed to transfer to other colleges and to prepare
the student for the types of writing that will be required in many other courses.
English Composition I is designed to help students develop their
ability to think, to organize, and to express their ideas clearly and objectively.
Course units are arranged by the instructor to facilitate student
success and to meet the course goals.
Upon completion of ENGL 101, students should have the competencies
listed below:
·
Write a well-organized essay with a clear introduction, body, and
conclusion.
·
Establish a firm thesis in the introduction.
·
Understand the importance of pre-writing activities, including
narrowing a topic, generating ideas, determining the audience and the relationship between audience
and content, and determining an appropriate tone.
·
Develop an order and logic in the presentation of the essay
appropriate to different rhetorical modes, including argumentation, analysis, and an essay test
mode.
·
Support the thesis statement with specific examples and
details.
·
Support the thesis with valid reasons and evidence.
·
Use effective sentence structure and avoid fragments, run-ons, and
comma splices.
·
Follow the standards of written English especially in regard to
punctuation, agreement, and spelling.
·
Understand the value of the revision process for the development of
ideas and for achieving the quality expected of the completed writing
assignments.
·
Find and select appropriate outside sources, identifying information
relevant to a thesis, use sources to support a thesis, and document the outside sources correctly.
PLACEMENT AND ASSESSMENT
Students are not permitted to enroll in English Composition I without the necessary
placement scores or successful completion of developmental writing courses.
Students who are placed in READ 009, Fundamentals of Reading, Level I,
are not permitted to enroll in ENGL 101.
To ensure correct placement, all students in the first week of the
semester must complete a diagnostic/assessment essay that follows departmental guidelines.
Placement may be changed the first week based on evaluation of the
writing sample.
During the last two weeks of the semester, an in-class assessment
essay is assigned.
The second essay counts 5% of the final grade and is assigned a letter
grade.
For the assessment of the
course, samples of the pre and post essays taken from all Composition I sections are
compared using an assessment rubric.
METHODOLOGIES
With each writing assignment, students will practice the concept of writing as a
process of prewriting, organizing, drafting, and revising.
Along with short lectures and discussions of sample essays,
instructors will guide students through the writing process and provide feedback on student writing
through a variety of methods, including checking outlines and drafts, conducting conferences, and
organizing peer editing sessions.
Much class time will be spent writing under the guidance of the
instructor.
Students are expected to complete all reading assignments and to come
to class each day prepared to write and participate in discussion.
REVISION POLICY
Each paper will receive a letter grade.
Individual instructors will determine whether essays may be revised
for grade improvement.
However, students should not expect improvement of their grade without
completing a true revision, one that reflects improvement in content and style as well as
corrections in grammar and spelling errors.
No revisions will be permitted for papers that are late, plagiarized,
or written on unapproved topics.
CONTENT
A.
Basic
Skills
A portion of the semester will be devoted to reviewing the following
basic skills:
subject -verb agreement, sentence structure, pronoun-antecedent
agreement, and punctuation.
Other aspects of basic grammar may be individually assigned as needed.
More importantly, basic skills will continue to be evaluated with each
student essay.
Without adequate control of basic skills in grammar, students will not
meet the
minimum standards for their assignments.
B.
Short
Writings
Besides the six required essays in Composition I, students will be
doing some short writings.
Individual instructors may assign work for this unit in a variety of
ways including paragraph writing, reader responses, journal writing, research reporting, and
writing from sources.
Since all students will need to learn to write from sources,
paraphrasing and summarizing will be part of this unit.
C.
Essays
In addition to the assessment essays and short writings, students will
write at least six essays for evaluation.
Students will write a minimum of 5,000 words excluding rough drafts
during the semester.
These essays will include an essay test, an analysis essay, and an
argumentation essay.
In order to develop multiple modes of thinking, instructors will
assign at least three additional essays based on different rhetorical modes from the following
categories:
description, comparison-contrast, narration, exemplification,
classification, process, cause-effect, and definition.
Instructors will require that in at least one paper students will
incorporate outside sources into their writing and use MLA or APA style
documentation.
For each essay assignment, instructors will give specific guidelines
and work with students as they prepare to submit a final draft.
Individual instructors may use a variety of methods to help students
with the drafting process.
A final draft of each assigned essay will be submitted by the student
and receive a grade from the instructor.
Each assignment will have specific criteria determined by the
instructor, but all essays are evaluated to determine how well the student does the
following:
1.
Write a well-organized essay
with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.
2.
Establish a firm thesis in
the introduction.
3.
Support the thesis statement
with specific examples and details.
4.
Use effective sentence structure and avoid fragments, run-ons, and
comma
splices.
5.
Follow the standards of written English, especially in regard to
punctuation,
agreement, and spelling.
D.
Basic Research
Students will learn how to conduct basic research using library
facilities including learning how to use the electronic databases such as Inspire, FirstSearch, and
NewsBank, and how to use other source material from the Internet.
Learning how to evaluate the reliability of all source material is a
necessary skill for conducting any form of research.
As part of this unit, students will learn how to properly document all
source material, including those derived from electronic sources, according to MLA or APA
standards.
COURSE POLICIES
A.
Attendance
Attendance is required.
Attendance will be taken every class meeting and students are expected
to arrive on time
.
A late arrival will be counted as absent.
The university attendance policy will be followed, and students with
excessive absences will be withdrawn from the course.
A student may receive a grade of "WF" if he is not passing at the time
he is withdrawn from the course.
B.
Preparation of
Manuscripts
·
All papers written outside of the classroom
must be written on a word processor.
·
12-point size Times New Roman font must be used.
·
Any variations must be approved by the instructor.
C.
Deadlines
It is the student's responsibility to hand in work on time and to be
sure each essay meets the Minimum Writing Standards required for the assignment.
Each essay will receive a letter grade.
If any essay is
not completed, the final grade for the course will be dropped one letter
grade.
Late papers will receive a lower grade.
A paper that is late will be lowered one letter grade for each day
that it is late.
NO
late papers will be accepted one week after the due date.
NO paper will be accepted after the last day of class.
D.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of using another person’s words or ideas as if
they were one’s own.
Professors may take the following actions against plagiarism, as
explained in the
Vincennes
University Catalog
, “Student Conduct”:
“The alternatives for action by the professor may include,
but not be limited to, failing grade of the assignment, or the course, or the withdrawal from the
course.
The student will also be referred to the Dean of Students, who will
determine appropriate disciplinary action in keeping with procedures used in the handling of other
types of student conduct situations.”
Any student who is found to plagiarize on a paper or who permits his
or her own work to be copied will automatically receive zero points for that paper.
The student may also receive a failing grade for the
course.
E.
Disabilities Statement
Students who need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, who
have emergency medical information to share with the instructor, or who need special arrangements
in case the building must be evacuated should contact their instructor as soon as
possible.
F.
Conduct
English Composition I faculty are obliged to conduct classes in a
professional manner.
According to the
Vincennes University Manual
, faculty will require students to exhibit appropriate behavior for college work.
“Students not showing proper cooperation and respect should be warned
and then ordered from the classroom” (
Vincennes University Manual
G-9).
Faculty will enforce this policy in order to ensure a positive
environment for Composition I students.
EVALUATION
A.
Grading Criteria for
Essays
An
“A” Essay:
·
Explores the subject in depth.
·
Provides a clear thesis that is well supported by specific examples
and concrete details.
·
Has an effective pattern of organization.
·
Has fully developed paragraphs and well constructed
sentences.
·
Contains no fragments or major errors in grammar and contains few if
any minor errors in grammar.
·
Meets the Minimum Writing Standards and all requirements of the
assignment.
A
“B” Essay:
·
Examines the subject in some depth but not in as much complexity as
the “A” essay.
·
Supports a clear thesis with examples and details but may need
additional support.
·
Has a clear, effective organization.
·
Employs generally well constructed paragraphs and
sentences.
·
Contains no major errors in grammar but may contain a few minor
errors.
·
Meets the Minimum Writing Standards and all requirements of the
assignment.
A
“C” Essay:
·
Examines the subject acceptably but lacks depth.
·
Has a thesis but does not support the thesis with sufficient examples
and details, depending heavily on unsupported generalizations.
·
Shows a skeletal overall organization.
·
Contains inadequately developed paragraphs and occasionally awkward
sentences and may lack necessary transitions.
·
May contain one major error in grammar and several minor
errors.
·
Meets the Minimum Writing Standards and all requirements of the
assignment.
A
“D” Essay:
·
Does not examine the subject in any depth.
·
Lacks a clear thesis.
·
Demonstrates major problems in organization.
·
Contains poorly developed paragraphs and awkward sentence structure
that create problems for the reader.
·
Contains major and minor errors in grammar.
·
Does not meet the Minimum Writing Standards or the requirements of the
assignment.
An
“F” Essay:
·
Fails to examine the subject in any depth.
·
Lacks thesis, supporting details, or examples.
·
Lacks any coherent organization.
·
Contains undeveloped paragraphs and faulty sentence structure that
make the essay incoherent.
·
Contains major errors in grammar and repeated minor
errors.
·
Does not meet the Minimum Writing Standards or the requirements of the
assignment.
B.
Minimum Writing
Standards
All papers must meet the Minimum Writing Standards.
Failure to meet these standards will result in grade reductions, as
described below.
Standards Addressing Major Errors
A failure to meet any one of the following standards will result in failure of the
paper.
1.
The essay must be the original work of the student whose name
appears on the paper.
Additionally, all uses of outside sources must be documented or the
paper will not be
recognized as the work of the student.
2.
The essay must complete the assignment as defined by the
instructor.
3.
The essay must have a clearly stated thesis and a definite
organization.
Standards Addressing Additional Errors
A failure to meet any one of the following standards will result in a below average
grade, i.e., below “C.”
Failure to meet more than one could result in failure of the
paper.
1.
The thesis must be supported by examples and
illustrations.
2.
The essay must not have more than one incomplete
sentence.
3.
The essay must not have more than three comma splices and/or fused
sentences.
4.
The essay must not have more than three misspelled
words.
5.
The essay must not contain more than three errors in
agreement.
6.
The essay must not included repeated errors in
grammar.
7.
The essay must not include errors in
documentation.
8.
The essay must be legible and neat.
Word processed papers must be properly formatted.
C.
Grades
Letter grades will be assigned for each writing
unit.
Grade
Points
A+
=
100
A
=
95
A-
=
92
B+
=
88
B
=
85
B-
=
82
C+
=
78
C
=
75
C-
=
72
D+
=
68
D
=
65
D-
=
62
F
=
50
(if paper is completed)
F
=
0
(if paper is
not completed)
FINAL GRADES
The final grades will be determined by the average of the grade
received on the following units:
Quizzes
and Basic Skills review
10%
Short
writings
10%
Essay Test
10%
Analysis
Essay
15%
Argumentation Essay
15%
Expository
Essay
10%
Expository
Essay
10%
Expository
Essay
10%
Library/Documentation Activities*
5%
(*This percent could be included as part of a research writing
project.)
Assessment
Essay
5%
V.U. Grading Scale for Final Course Grades
A
=
93 - 100
A-
=
90 - 92
B+
=
87 - 89
B
=
83 - 86
B-
=
80 - 82
C+
=
77 - 79
C
=
70 - 76
D
=
60 - 69
F
=
59 and below
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