HARRISBURG AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ENGLISH 101 – COLLEGE IN THE HIGH SCHOOL COURSE SYLLABUS Instructor: Wes Ward Course Name: English Composition I Campus: York Course Reference Number: 25684 Office Location: CYHS 660 Term & Year: Fall & Spring 2013-2014 Office Hours: Daily 12:45 – 2:00 or by appt. Credit Hours: 3 Phone: 717-846-6789 Classroom: CYHS 626 HACC Email Address: [email protected] Class Meeting Times: Periods 1 & 3 Central Email Address: [email protected] Catalog Course Description: English 101 is designed for the development of writing clear, forceful, effective prose. Prerequisite Course(s) Required: Placement is determined through the College Testing and Placement Program or through completion of ENGL 051 with a grade of "C" or higher. ENGL 003 is a pre-or co- requisite. Required Texts: • Hacker, Diana. Rules for Writers. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. • Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. • Ross, Alfred and Paul Eschholz. Models for Writers. (latest edition). Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Supplemental Materials: Laptop, Pens, pencils, notebook, lined paper, folder for portfolio of work, and dictionary Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of English 101, students will be able to: • Respond appropriately to the needs of different audiences and rhetorical contexts in terms of voice, tone, level of formality, format, and structure • Connect critical thinking with reading and writing activities by summarizing, analyzing, critiquing, and synthesizing information from various kinds of texts • Integrate their ideas appropriately with the ideas of others in discussion and writing • Demonstrate flexible recursive writing strategies for generating ideas, planning, drafting, revising, and editing drafts • Work collaboratively with others to develop written work or to respond critically to other students' work • Demonstrate the ability to write under pressure with time constraints • Demonstrate the ability to locate, summarize, synthesize, critique, and cite college-level resources • Demonstrate a knowledge of writing conventions ranging from structure and paragraphing to tone and mechanics • Demonstrate the ability to edit writing for clarity, style, and adherence to conventions NOTE: Writing is deeply personal. It’s an opportunity to make invisible thoughts visible. What would otherwise be internalized or revealed through speaking is put into tangible letters, words, sentences, etc. for the audience to see (and touch). Never take writing for granted—it’s powerfully significant to any culture, including an academic setting like this one. METHODS OF EVALUATION Writing assignments: All writing assignments will have a deadline. Failure to meet the deadlines will result in the deduction of 25% per day. Readings: Good writers write good sentences. And good writers read. Please read all assigned material, not for the purpose of comprehension, but for the appreciation and careful scrutiny of sentence crafting. Essays: This course will consist of five formal essays, each 5 – 8 pages in length. Other format requirements will accompany each essay assignment. Quizzes: Various quizzes—grammar and comprehension—will account for hundreds of points. Do not take them lightly. Participation: Being here is a big step but contributing to the classroom environment is much better. Final: Your final exam is an in-class essay worth 20% of your overall grade. Grading System: (approximate point values) Essays 1 – 4: 100 pts. Research Paper and Presentation: 200 pts. Quizzes: 200 pts. (about 20 pts. Each) Final exam: 200 pts. 100 – 90 = A 89 – 80 = B 79 – 70 = C 69 – 65 = D 64 – 0 = F CALENDAR Week One: Introduction to the course, pre-tests Week Two: Illustration Draft / Active & Passive Voice Week Three: Illustration Essay / Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers Week Four: Description Draft / Diction and Word Choice Week Five: Description Essay / Concise Wording Week Six: Process Analysis Draft / Commas Week Seven: Process Analysis Essay / Commas Week Eight: Compare and Contrast Draft / Semicolons Week Nine: Compare and Contrast Essay / Colons Week Ten: Argumentative Research Paper / Conducting Research Week Eleven: Argumentative Research Paper / Evaluating Sources Week Twelve: Argumentative Research Paper / Avoiding Plagiarism Week Thirteen: Life of Pi Project Week Fourteen: Life of Pi Project Week Fifteen: Reflective Draft Week Sixteen: Reflective Essay Week Seventeen: Review for Final Week Eighteen: Final Exam Academic Policies Instructors Attendance Policy: In order to benefit form in-class discussions, group work, lectures, and writing activities, you must make every effort to attend each class. In the event this is not possible, remember that any student with unexcused absences totaling more than two weeks of class meetings may be dropped from the class. I may require a student to furnish documentation substantiating that an absence should be considered “excused” in absences become excessive or occur at questionable times (for example, on the day an essay is due). Any lateness or early departure will be measured in terms of class attendance. Please review the definitions that follow. Remember that you are responsible for all work, information, and instruction covered during your absence from any class session. CASS – English In accordance with College Regulation 661, instructors may reduce course grades after the student has missed four unexcused class hours. The instructor may assign a grade of F or W to a student with six class hours of unexcused absence. An absence is defined as “excused” when the instructor, upon prior notification by the student, has agreed that the reason for the absence is sufficiently serious and beyond the control of the student. An absence may also be considered excused when without prior notification, the student is able to present written documentation proving that the reason for the absence was serious and outside the student’s control, and that prior notification was impossible. The instructor may decide not to ask for such documentation, but it shall be the instructor’s option to require it as well as names and phone numbers for any follow-up verification the instructor feels necessary in order to determine how to categorize the absence. It shall be the instructor’s right to decide whether any absence is to be categorized as “excused” in line with these provisions. Definition of an absence as “excused” does not automatically mean that the student will be allowed to make up quizzes, tests, examinations or work missed. The instructor will determine in each case what work, if any, the student may make up in the case of an unexcused absence. An unexcused absence is any absence, which occurs without the instructor’s prior or subsequent approval. An excess number of excused absences may also be cause for assigning a student a grade of W or F if, in the judgment of the instructor, the student has missed so much of the course and coursework as to preclude the possibility of passing the course and would violate professional ethics and constitute fraud on the part of the College. Excused absence - An absence that occurred for reasons that were: a) beyond the student’s control to prevent, and b) significant enough to prohibit attendance in class. Additionally, for the absence to be excused, the student must also have contacted the instructor prior to or on the day of the absence. It’s important to note that, depending on the number or pattern of prior absences, as absence explained as simply ‘personal’ and ‘family emergency’ may not be considered as excused unless sufficient detail is provided to the instructor. Unexcused absence – An absence that occurred for reasons that were; a) within the student’s control to prevent, and b) not significant enough to prohibit attendance in class, even if uncontrollable. Additionally, an absence may be considered unexcused if the student does not contact the instructor about the absence within a reasonable period of time. Students shall not be penalized for absence in regularly scheduled classes, except as indicated below: 1. Students are subject to policies and procedures approved in Administrative Procedure 661. Instructors requiring physical presence and participation may reduce course grades after the student has unexcused absence of 10% of the total class hours (four unexcused class hours for a three-credit course). 2. The student is responsible for ALL class work and assignments. Instructors will provide students who have an excused absence the opportunity to make up missed reports and exams, and if feasible, participation, if an absence has been excused. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor regarding missed work and assignments. Instructors may require a student to furnish documentation substantiating that an absence should be considered “excused” if absences become excessive at questionable times (for example, on the day of an exam). 3. The student is responsible for attendance on the day of examinations, unless otherwise excused. 4. Instructors have the right to recommend to the Division Administrator that a student be dropped for an excessive excused or unexcused absence that precludes the possibility of passing the class whereupon the student will be given a grade of “F” or “W”. Excessive absence is more than 15% of the class hours (six unexcused class hours for a three-credit course). The College is required by law to make attendance reports to the relevant agencies of students who are funded by veterans’ benefits, social security payments, and various other federal, state, or private scholarship programs. Students in programs that are accredited/approved by external agencies must observe these special attendance policies delineated by the external agencies and contained in the printed course syllabus. Make Up Policy: Make up work will be handled on a case by case basis. Withdrawal: A student may drop a course at any time during the regularly scheduled classes up to the school’s official last day to drop a class by completing a Drop/Add Withdrawal form. After the refund period ends, the instructor’s signature is required and the student may receive a W or F grade depending upon the instructor’s assessment of the student’s performance.