Syllabus, Fall 2005

ENG 101: First-year Seminar in Rhetoric and Writing

 

Professor’s Name: Ellen Johnson                                                       Telephone: 368-5638

Evans 233C (inside WritingCenter)                                                   ejohnson@berry.edu,

Office hours: MW 8:30-11, T 9:30-12:30, H 12-12:30, F 9:30 – 11

 

Course Description.  Emphasis on development of analytical and rhetorical thinking and writing skills appropriate for civic, academic and professional audiences.  Recognition and manipulation of the basic parts of the expository essay (i.e. theses, topic ideas; transitions; paragraph structure and development; introductions and conclusions).  Introduction to elements of process writing, including pre-writing, drafting, and revision strategies and rudiments of citation and documentation. PR: Satisfactory score on college aptitude text.  A grade of C- or better is required to pass out of this course.

 

Textbooks, etc.:  Reflections on Language, by Stuart and Terry Hirschberg

A writing handbook, such as The Everyday Writer, by Andrea Lunsford

A college dictionary, such as the American Heritage or New Oxford American

A Berry College theme folder (light blue)

 

Attendance Policy:  Attendance will count toward your class participation grade.  Homework and quizzes may not be made up without a documented excuse.  In addition, any student who misses more than 2 consecutive class meetings without contacting the professor will be dropped from the class and reported to the financial aid office.  Students who miss class are expected to keep up with their work.  You must get in touch with a classmate to find out what was done in class and what assignments are due. BE ON TIME.

 

Special Requirement(s): You will be required to write five essays this semester.  One of these will be a revision of a previous essay.  Essays must be typed, double-spaced.  Essays are due at the beginning of class on the due date.  If you turn the essay in late, it will drop one letter grade, losing one additional letter grade every week that it is late.  Avoid printer and diskette mishaps by completing the assignment the day before. You will receive separate assignment sheets detailing the requirements and due dates for writing assignments.

 

            Rough drafts and invention notes must be turned in along with each essay.  These notes and drafts, along with other short writing assignments, must be brought to class when assigned as homework.  You are expected to do class readings and homework before you come to class.  I will give quizzes over the reading if needed, but I hope everyone will show they are prepared by asking specific questions, making pertinent observations, and being able to explain the issues to classmates.  Participation in collaborative writing exercises is essential.

 

 

Evaluation Components and Grading Scale

 

There will be no plus/minus grades for final semester grades.  A = 90-100, etc.

 

Homework                  10%                 Essay Grades:             98 = A+

Class participation      10%                                                     95 = A

Essay 1                        10%                                                     92 = A-

Essay 2                        15%                                                     88 = B+

Essay 3                        15%                                                     85 = B

Essay 4                        20%                                                     82 = B-

Essay 5 (Revision)      20%                                                     etc.

 

 

Grading Criteria:

 

1.               The introductory paragraph or paragraphs 1) plot a logically conceived path to the thesis and (2) provide a rhetorically effective introduction for the intended audience.

2.               The thesis is analytical rather than topical in nature, has clearly defined main and restricting ideas, and directly addresses the writing prompt.

3.               Each paragraph has a clear analytical or rhetorical (descriptive, explanatory, comparative, etc.) purpose and builds upon prior paragraphs.

4.               The paper has both inter-paragraph and intra-paragraph idea transitions where needed or appropriate.

5.               Each paragraph clearly develops its topic idea / rhetorical purpose through analysis, exemplification, or concise description.

6.               Quantity of support is adequate to demonstrate the truth value of the thesis.

7.               The essay is meaningful and non-redundant.

8.               The writer’s syntax aids idea coordination and subordination; the writer’s style aids the paper’s logical and rhetorical appeal.

9.               The paper uses at least two sources from the reader in a substantial manner. The paper also introduces, cites, and documents sources according to MLA protocols.

10.            The paper is written in Standard English and has been carefully proofread.

Editing problems:  When I see editing errors in your work I will refer you to The Everyday Writer for guidance.  I may also refer you to the Writing Center. We will not spend class time on grammar and punctuation.  Berry assumes you have mastered these already and that class time is best spent helping you learn how to think and apply your thinking to essay writing.  You must take control of this aspect of writing, spending however many hours it takes outside of class to overcome your difficulties.  Mechanical errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling will affect your grade.  Use the spell-check program on your word processor!

 

The Writing Center is located in Evans 233. The Writing Center telephone number is 238-5903.  Peer tutors, who are trained and supervised by the director of Writing Programs, are available to assist students with writing tasks in any discipline. The tutors are Berry students who are majoring in everything from English, to science to business. They continually develop their knowledge of the English language and rhetoric and writing through seminars, a Writing Practicum course, and self‑directed studies in the Writing Center.

 

Writing Center tutors can help students to:

•                  Develop critical thinking skills and invention strategies

•                  Create first drafts, emphasizing such areas as thesis construction, essay structure, and idea development

•                  Analyze the writer's purpose given the demands of the audience and writing assignment

•                  Revise drafts, emphasizing logical development of ideas

•                  Edit final drafts, focusing on grammar, punctuation, and diction

 

Writing Center Tutors will not:

•                  Simply proofread or correct mistakes in essays

•                  Offer grade estimates on papers

•                  Second‑guess teacher instruction or grading

•                  Generate or develop your ideas for you

 

The Writing Center is open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (closes at 1 p.m. on Fri.) in Evans 233 and on Sunday through Thursday evenings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (until 10 p.m. on Sun.) in Memorial Library.

 

Students with disabilities who require special accommodations must register with Ms. Van Cise, Director of the Academic Support Center, in Krannert 326.

ENG 101: First-year Seminar in Rhetoric and Writing

 

This course is devoted to moving students from merely topical to analytical and rhetorical thinking and writing.  By the end of the course, students will be able to recognize and manipulate the basic parts of the expository essay (i.e. theses, topic ideas; transitions; paragraph structure and development; introductions and conclusions) in order to develop more complex and critical ideas suited to general, academic and/or assignment-specific audiences as evidenced in their production of expository essays. To this end,  students will be introduced to pre-writing, drafting, and revision strategies. Students will also learn to evaluate and revise their writing at the sentence level in terms of syntax, grammatical correctness, and style.  Finally, the course will introduce students to effective citation and integration of secondary sources into their own arguments.

 

By the conclusion of the term, students will

·       have developed thinking-to-writing and prewriting strategies for generating writing topics and theses;

·       have developed  strategies for “writerly” revision focusing on essay organization, paragraph coherence and thesis development; as well as “readerly” revision strategies for editing at the sentence level and for style;

·       be able to develop and support an analytical thesis/ focusing idea throughout an expository essay;

·       be able to write developed and coherent paragraphs that support a thesis/focusing idea;

·       be able to integrate and cite source material appropriately;

·       be able to evaluate course readings, peer essays, and their own writing for rhetorical effectiveness.

 

Because ENG 101 is based on a thinking-into-writing model where much of the writing is preliminary to the production of finished work, pre-writing, drafting and writing to revise represent a good deal of the work of the class and could include, exercises, invention notes, group work, peer reviewing, in class writing, essay drafting and so forth.  By the end of the term, however, students should have completed at least 20 finished pages of finished work in the form of at least 4 expository essays and one revision or portfolio essay.