English 1101-90: Composition I
Fall 2003: Tuesday-Thursday
2-3:15p
Wilson Building 119
Dr. Robert W. Hill
Office: Humanities 117
Office Hours: online, and by appointment
Telephone
and voice mail: 770-423-6346
E-mails: rhill@kennesaw.edu
AND rhill41@mindspring.com
RWH’s Web Site: http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~rhill
KSU WebCT http://courses.kennesaw.edu
Nicenet.org http://www.nicenet.org (Class
Key: 3776Z3E5Z)
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Nota bene: KSU Statement on Academic
Honesty (8-17-99)
and
KSU Student Code of Conduct
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KSU CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
ENGL
1101.Composition I.3-0-3. Prerequisite:ENGL 0099 and READ 0099
if required. Focuses on skills required for effective writing in a
variety of contexts with emphasis on exposition, analysis, and argumentation.
Also includes introductory use of a variety of research skills.
TEXTS:
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2003. ISBN 0-87352-986-3.
Gould, Stephen Jay. I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History. New York: Harmony, 2002. ISBN 0-609-60143-1.
Lamb, Wally, et
al. Couldn't Keep It to Myself: Testimonies from Our Imprisoned Sisters.
New York: Regan, 2003. ISBN 006053429X.
Rodriguez,
Richard. Brown: The Last Discovery of
America. New York: Penguin,
2003. ISBN 0142000795.
Shields, Carol. Unless.
London: Fourth Estate, 2002. ISBN 0-00-714107-6.
Occasional additional readings, listenings (tapes, CDs, etc.) and viewings (movies, TV, etc.).
COURSE GRADING:
Response writing: Almost entirely online, ongoing, at least twice
weekly, at a level that indicates your meaningful engagement with readings
and ideas suggested (a) by my weekly study questions, (b) by class discussions,
and (c) by classmates’ online response writings. ("Online" means in
contexts available to me and all your classmates: [1] http://courses.kennesaw.edu and [2] http://www.nicenet.org/.
You should alternate between WebCT and Nicenet in order to gain confidence with
both, in case one or the other fail us. Do not duplicate your writings in one
place from another.) Responses are graded twice—as of noon on
October 9 and December 4—not to be graded as formal essays (spelling,
grammar, etc.). Your week’s responses must be serious, conscientious, not
written all in one day: A or F—nothing in between. Averaged
together, response writings are worth 20% of your grade.
[I must say that it grieves me to have to lay out such prescriptive, quantitative details. Writing these responses should become second nature, proceeding from your active engagement in this conversation of scholars. When and if you think of this assignment as a task to be completed only with numerical exactitude, you have already limited the way you can be drawn into genuine exchanges with your classmates and—to speak somewhat abstractly—with ideas. Engagement is really the key—honest engagement, which will inevitably produce more than the minimum of “assignments met.” As students of yourselves as well as of subject matter, you ought to feel some obligation to think about how and why you think the way you do. Playing on the relatively safe testing-ground of academia, you’ll gain much more strength and subtlety by entering the game without the impediment of legalistic numbers-counting.—RWH, 10/17/03]
Three 1000-1200-word essays: Written with proper MLA or APA documentation and a semester-long cumulative "Works Consulted" (see a current, authoritative handbook, your professor, and/or “The Documented Essay (Notes in Progress)” at http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~rhill/docessay.htm. Keep in mind that handbooks disagree and handouts you may have used in the past disagree: our standard in every case is the current official MLA or APA style manual. Each essay requires citing at least four reputable sources, one of which must be an internet source; two others, hard-copy books or journals. Each essay is worth 10% of your grade.
Portfolio: Comprised of your three essays, thoughtfully revised in close consultation with your study groups, and a 750-900-word “cover essay” describing your processes of revision in creating the portfolio. The portfolio is worth 40% of your grade.
Final examination: Group presentations on revision processes, THURSDAY, December 11, 2-4 p.m., worth 10% of your grade.
FIRST-RUN-OF-THE-TERM SYLLABUS:
Reading assignments may be added, deleted, and/or the order rearranged. Readings and written assignments are to be completed by the
dates indicated, regardless of the pace or subject matter of our in-class
discussions/lectures; viz., when a book or reading is listed for a particular
date, you are to come to class having finished it. If you do not
bring your texts to class, you will sometimes find yourself at serious
disadvantage during certain classroom activities (as when we ask, "Where
exactly do you see that in your book? what page is that on? which line is
that?").
SCHEDULE OF IN-CLASS MEETINGS (Tuesdays
only):
1. Tuesday, August 19: Discuss intersections of thinking, reading,
writing, and talking. Selections from all four texts.
MONDAY, September 1: LABOR DAY, NO KSU CLASSES.
2. Tuesday, August 26: Couldn’t Keep It to Myself.
3. Tuesday, September 2: Essay One (with Works Consulted) due at 2
p.m.; I Have Landed (1-109)
4. Tuesday, September 9: Discuss Essay One
5. Tuesday, September 16: Unless.
6. Tuesday, September 23: Essay Two (with cumulative Works Consulted)
due at 2 p.m.; I Have
Landed (111-284)
7. Tuesday, September 30: Discuss Essay Two
8. Tuesday, October 7: Brown.
Thursday, October 9: First grade for response writing through noon
today
Monday, October 13: Last day to withdraw without academic penalty.
9. Tuesday, OCTOBER 14: Essay Three (with cumulative Works Consulted)
due at 2 p.m.; I Have
Landed (287-401); Study questions and assign imitations of four paragraphs, one
from each of our books, due noon Saturday, Oct. 18
10. Tuesday, October 21: Discuss Essay Three
11. Tuesday, October 28: Class discussion: Close readings of Gould as exemplary
writer
12. Tuesday, November 4: Class discussion: Close readings of Lamb, et
al., Shields, and Rodriguez as exemplary writers
13. Tuesday, November 11: Discuss final manuscript preparation:
proofreading, copy-editing, and the “cover” essay.
WEDNESDAY, November 26-30: FALL BREAK, NO KSU CLASSES
14. Tuesday, December 2: Portfolios due at 2 p.m.
15. Thursday, December 4: Second grade for response writing through
noon today
16. THURSDAY, December 11: Final Examination, 2-4 p.m.: Group presentations
on revision processes (all group members get the same grade)
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COURSE EXPECTATIONS:
Be here. Read well. Think well. Listen well. Talk well. Write well.
Stay in close contact with the online syllabus for possible changes, as well as Nicenet and WebCT for your at-least-twice-weekly response writings (at least fourteen per grading period).
I expect students to take their work seriously, to come to class prepared and willing to participate, and to treat peers and their ideas with respect.
The nature of this course demands an ongoing engagement with the texts assigned and with the class activities surrounding them. You cannot slip behind in your reading or in the writing assignments and succeed in this class. You must make a commitment now--at the beginning of the term--to follow the schedule and to ask for help with anything you don't understand as soon as you know you're in trouble. I am available through e-mail, telephone, and our online programs (Nicenet and WebCT), as well as for office appointments.
I'm always happy to help during the process for any writing assignment and to read drafts and make suggestions for revision. But I cannot offer this help unless students allow time for it in their handling of individual assignments.
In addition to individual help from me, students may consult the Writing Center (Humanities 242, telephone 770-423-6380). I may direct some students to the Writing Center for particular help. Well-trained tutors are available to assist you on WEDNESDAY through THURSDAY = 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; FRIDAY = 9 a.m. to noon; SUNDAY = 1 to 5 p.m.
EVALUATION
PROCEDURES:
Late work will not be accepted unless you make arrangements in
advance and persuade me that you have a legitimate reason for turning
in work after the announced deadline. In case of emergencies, it is your
responsibility, immediately upon your return to class, to make arrangements
about assignments you have missed. If you do not follow the procedure
articulated here, you will receive a zero for all work not submitted on time.
If you are, or intend to be, absent, I expect you to communicate with me immediately, through e-mail, Nicenet, and/or WebCT, to clarify your situation regarding missed work. There is no excuse for allowing absences to pass unexplained, and students who do so should not expect exceptions to be made for them at the end of the term.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Any student who misses more than one (1) Tuesday class during the semester may have his or her grade lowered; more than two (2) unexcused absences will result in failure for the course. We meet all together only once a week: I expect you to be in class and prepared unless you have a genuine emergency.
If you miss class for a legitimate reason, I expect you to make that reason known to me immediately (see above under "Evaluation Procedures"). In addition, any student who is persistently tardy and/or who leaves class early will be counted absent.
Because your official KSU class schedule indicates a Thursday class time, I assume you will act responsibly in sparing that time for work on this class, perhaps for group work, individual conferences, or online activities, as they may prove appropriate or necessary.
CLASSROOM DECORUM: Turn off all electronic communication devices—cell phones, beepers, etc.—before entering the classroom. These devices are inappropriate in the classroom setting. All students are expected to focus their attention on the class activity throughout the scheduled meeting time: it’s only seventy-five minutes a week.
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Return to R.W. Hill's KSU Home Page
http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~rhill
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[This page was created 9 Jan. 2002; last revised, 17
Oct. 2003.--RWH]