Monday, January 14, 2008

Welcome to ENG 001, Spring 08

I would like to welcome you all to ENG 001: Language & Writing at Nebraska Wesleyan University. This blog will be your primary information hub for the course. Please, check this site frequently for updates. You will be responsible for any assignments or news I post. Good luck this semester in this course, as well as your other classes.


********************************************************************
Spring Semester 2008
Section XX (TR: 2:00pm-3:15pm)
Instructor: Joshua A Ware
Email:jware@nebrwesleyan.edu
Phone: (402)476-7730
URL: http://www.eng001.blogspot.com/
Office: 110 Old Main Hours: T 3:15PM-4:15PM
********************************************************************
Course Description:
ENG 001 is a course designed to help students write with clarity, confidence, & conviction by incorporating both regular practice in writing (argument & exposition, writing as discovery, & personal exploration) & study of language & its social roles.

Course Outcomes:
By the end of first-year composition, students should be fluent in the following areas by demonstrating an understanding & competency of each area’s sub-points.

Rhetorical Knowledge:
-Focus their writing on specific purposes;
-Respond to the needs of different audiences;
-Respond appropriately to a variety of rhetorical situations;
-Use conventions of format, structure & tone appropriate to particular writing tasks;
-Consider how genres shape reading & writing.

Critical Thinking, Reading, & Writing:
-Use writing & reading for inquiry, learning, thinking & communicating;
-Consider how what they bring to a text guides their interpretation of that text;
-Understand a writing assignment as a series of recursive tasks, including finding, evaluating, analyzing & synthesizing appropriate primary & secondary sources;
-Integrate their own ideas with those of others (“enter into conversations” about various issues);
-Consider the relationship among languages, knowledge & power in their fields.

Process:
-Recognize that it usually takes multiple drafts to create a successful text;
-Develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing & proofreading;
-Understand writing as an open process that permits writers to use later invention & re-thinking to revise their work;
-Understand the collaborative & social aspects of writing processes, learning to critique their own & others’ work;
-Learn to balance the advantages of relying on others with the responsibilities of contributing their input & working on their own;
-Use appropriate technologies to do research & communicate ideas.

Knowledge of Conventions:
-Develop knowledge of genre conventions ranging from structure & paragraphing to tone & mechanics;
-Practice appropriate means of documenting their work;
-Thinking strategically about such surface features as syntax, usage, punctuation & spelling in the context of their own & others’ work;
-Understand the holistic nature of “good” writing (i.e. that surface correctness alone does not make writing “good”).

Texts & Supplies:
Most of your reading material will be found on Blackboard in the form of PDFs. These files are to be downloaded, read & brought to class as required. Additionally, the following text will be available in the bookstore:

[I will provide a MLA-formatted reference for the Key for Writers handbook soon].

Each of you, as Nebraska Wesleyan University students is required to own this text. Please, purchase it as such.

Assignment Descriptions:
You will be required to invent, draft, & revise 3 major assignments. Each major assignment must be completed in full, or you will receive an F in the course. In addition to your major assignments, you will write weekly posts & complete an in-class journal. Below are the specific assignments & the respective points attributed to each.

-Project 1: The Attentive Mind: Observation, Reflection, Insight. (20)
DUE: 02.21.
-Project 2: The Public Sphere: Advocacy, Argument, Controversy. (20)
DUE: 03.28.
-Project 3: The Personal Voice: Identity, Diversity, Self-Discovery. (20)
DUE: 05.10.
-Weekly Blog Post. (20) DUE: Assigned & Graded Weekly.
-In-class Journal. (20) DUE: Assigned Weekly.
DUE: 05.08.

I will provide specific guidelines for each assignment a few weeks before they are due. All information regarding these assignments will be discussed in class & will be subsequently posted on Blackboard; you can expect them to be roughly 5-6 pages in length.

Grading Scale:
A = 100-94 A- = 93-90 B+ = 89-88 B = 87-84 B- = 83-80 C+ = 79-78
C = 77-74 C- = 73-70 D+ = 69-68 D = 67-64 D- = 63-60 F = 59-0

Incomplete Grades:
An “I” (Incomplete) is given for work left incomplete for reasons that the instructor & department chair consider valid. Students are eligible for an incomplete grade only if they have already completed 75% of the course work. The percentage of completion is determined by the instructor. A student requests an incomplete grade from the instructor.

If the instructor & department approve the request, the student must fill out an Incomplete Agreement form (available from the Registrar’s Office) with the instructor & department chair. The work for an Incomplete must be finished within the time allotted by the instructor (maximum of one year from the close of the term in which the student is enrolled*). The instructor stipulates what the final grade will become if the work is not completed.

If the work is completed in time, the instructor determines the final grade according to the quality of the student’s performance. If the work is not completed, the Registrar assigns the grade stipulated on the Incomplete Agreement form.

A Permanent Incomplete is allowed only in cases resulting from a catastrophic event in the life of a student, such as an incapacitating illness or other problems beyond the control of the student, which prevents the student from completing the work. In such cases, the student, his or her proxy, or the instructor can petition the Executive Committee (or Dean of University College for University College students) for a Permanent Incomplete.

Attendance:
Regular class attendance is expected of all students. Specific requirements vary. Each instructor provides a written statement of his or her attendance policy to each class during the first week of the term. A copy of the statement is also available for examination in the Academic Affairs Office. You may miss 7 classes with no effect to their grade. Once you miss more than the allotted amount, you will receive an F for the course.

Students who are unable to attend the first meeting of a class or laboratory for which they are registered should notify the instructor or department chair prior to the first meeting of the class or laboratory. If a notification of the student’s intent is not received, the instructor, at his or her discretion, may cancel the student’s registration. Students who do not plan to attend a course or laboratory for which they are registered must officially drop the course before the drop deadline.

Students who plan to discontinue a course after the drop deadline must officially withdraw from the course before the withdrawal deadline.

In the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, faculty members keep attendance records & may report absences deemed excessive to the Student Life Office whenever counseling seems desirable. Each instructor may enforce attendance policies independently.

Students must take responsibility to be in touch with faculty regarding their anticipated absences for curricular & co-curricular activities & to make arrangements to make up work as expected. Students who anticipate absences because of curricular or co-curricular activities should make every effort to avoid other absences from classes. Guidelines regarding student absences for curricular & co-curricular activities are provided in the Student Handbook. For more information about these guidelines, contact the Academic Affairs Office or the Student Life Office.

Academic Ethics & Plagiarism:
The Code of Student Conduct states that students found to have engaged in academic dishonesty, which encompasses such activities as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, misrepresentation, & bribery, are subject to disciplinary sanctions. (See Article V of the Code of Student Conduct for a comprehensive listing of misconduct that is subject to disciplinary sanctions, as well as relevant terms and definitions.)

Faculty members have full authority in determining the action to be taken in cases of academic dishonesty. In addition to implementing the statements of the course syllabus addressing academic dishonesty, faculty may file a Report of Academic Dishonesty, or file a complaint with the University Judiciary. If a Report of Academic Dishonesty is filed, a first report on a student prompts no further action. However, if a second report for a student is filed, a formal complaint is submitted against the student with the University Judiciary. Any report after a second will launch another complaint. Complaints submitted to University Judiciary prompt a formal judicial investigation.

Students should contact the Academic Affairs Office, Student Life Office, or Registrar’s Office for more information.

Plagiarism is the use of another person’s distinctive ideas or words without acknowledgement. The incorporation of another person’s work into one’s own requires appropriate identification and acknowledgement, regardless of the means of appropriation. The following are considered to be forms of plagiarism when the sources are not noted:

-Word-for-word copying of another person’s ideas or words;
-The mosaic (the interspersing of one’s own words here and there while, in essence, copying another’s work);
-The paraphrase (the rewriting of another’s work, yet still using their fundamental idea or theory);
-Fabrication (inventing or counterfeiting sources);
-Submission of another’s work as one’s own;
-Neglecting quotation marks on material that is otherwise acknowledged.

Acknowledgement is not necessary when the material used is common knowledge.

Code of Conduct:
All members of the course must commit to creating a place of study where everyone is treated with respect & courtesy. Everyone must share in the commitment to protect the integrity, rights, & personal safety of each member of the physical & virtual class community. This includes helpful, yet courteous, discussion of individual and group writing projects. Additionally, make sure all cell phones, pagers & similar electronic instruments are turned off when in class. These devices are not conducive to a learning environment & will be treated as such.

Students with Disabilities:
Federal law requires that Nebraska Wesleyan University make reasonable accommodations to ensure that persons with disabilities will have equal access to all educational programs, activities & services. Therefore, Nebraska Wesleyan University, in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, & with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), recognizes the University’s obligation to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities.

A “reasonable accommodation” is defined as any change in an environment or in the way things are customarily done that (1) enables an individual with a disability to enjoy equal opportunities; & (2) does not fundamentally alter the nature of the activity, service, or program.

A “disabled” person is defined as one who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially affects one or more major life activities, has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such impairment.

To facilitate plans for any reasonable accommodations, students with disabilities must identify & document their needs following their admission to Nebraska Wesleyan University. It is the responsibility of the student to notify the University of his/her disability, to document the disability & to request accommodation.

Students should contact the Academic Affairs Office for further information.

*************************************************************************************
BELOW MATERIAL ADDED ON 25 MARCH 2008
*************************************************************************************

The “A” Project:

  • The project exhibits abundant evidence of critical, careful thought & analysis and/or insight.
  • The introduction immediately captures the attention & interest of the audience.
  • By the end of the introduction (whether a paragraph of pages long), the audience has a good idea what the essay will be about.
  • The central idea is clearly expressed to the audience.
  • The central idea is creative and fresh, not trivial or so well-worn as to be uninteresting to the audience.
  • The central idea is well developed & clarity of purpose is exhibited throughout the essay.
  • There are smooth, logical transitions between paragraphs & ideas.
  • Each paragraph has a clear relation to the main idea.
  • Major points are well developed—supported & illustrated with evidence &examples.
  • Evidence & examples are vivid and specific, while the focus remains tight.
  • Essay is logically organized.
  • Vocabulary is sophisticated & correct, as are sentences, which vary in structure & length.
  • Writer’s tone is clear, consistent, & appropriate for intended audience.
  • Mechanical errors are rare.
  • The conclusion does more than simply end the paper.
  • Research, if required, is correctly presented & documented.

No comments: