Skyline College

English 100 Online: College Composition -- Fall 2008

Theme: American Values and Ideologies

Instructor: Rachel Bell

Web page: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/bellr

Email: bellr@smccd.net, Voice Mail: (650) 738-4349

Office Hours: M 6-7pm & TTh 1-3pm, Room 1215

English office & mailboxes: Room 8114, 738-4202 Course Meetings: On WebAccess

Computers and Tutoring in TLC: Bldg 5, Room 5100 Course Dates: 8/20 – 12/17

LSKL 853: Get help writing papers—enroll now CRN #89422 Schedule #94114 and 91932, Units 3.0

"I love the United States, but I see here everything is measured by success, by how much money it makes,
not the satisfaction to the individual." -- John Fellows Akers, former president and CEO of IBM

"The American lives even more for his goals, for the future, than the European.
Life for him is always becoming, never being." --  Albert Einstein

Course Prerequisites: Writing Prereq: Completion of ENG 836 or 400 or ENGL/READ 846 with a grade C or higher or appropriate scores on approved college placement tests. Reading Prereq: READ 836 or 400 or READ/ENGL 846 with a grade of C or higher, or eligibility for 400-level Reading courses on approved Reading placement test, or other means measures as necessary. Transfer: UC; CSU (A2).

The Online Environment: Online is not easier than the traditional educational process.  In fact, many learners say it requires much more time and commitment, so be prepared for this as you take an online English course. Be willing to commit 5 to 10 hours per week per online course. Also, you will need a "Plan B" in case your home computer experiences any difficulties. Skyline has two computer labs (in the TLC and the CALT) that students have access to with Internet connected PC and Mac computers. Missing any online quizzes, exams, or postings due to technical difficulties will not be a valid excuse. With that said, taking an online course can open up new ways of learning for you and often increases student participation with the pressures of public speaking in the traditional classroom removed.

Course Objectives: The purpose of this course is to help students develop their ability to write thoughtfully and effectively. The premise of this course is that writing is an integral part of the thinking process and that successful essay writing depends on a mixture of creative thinking and an awareness of writing styles and forms. The objective of this course is to guide students toward becoming critical readers, writers, and thinkers through recognizing the effective writing strategies of other writers, through becoming aware of their own processes of writing, and through learning to discern logical relationships between words, ideas, and arguments.

"An American is a man with two arms and four wheels." --  A Chinese Child

Required Materials:

American Values: Opposing Viewpoints ed. Mary E. Williams

Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge by Kalle Lasn

America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories ed. Anne Mazer
The Argument Culture: Stopping America’s War of Words by Deborah Tannen

Course Policies:

(1) Plagiarism—Paraphrasing or directly copying any text and using it as your own without proper attribution, done intentionally or not, is plagiarism and will result in failure. In an online environment with its anonymity, it might be tempting to pull material from online sources without acknowledging their source. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and will result in immediate removal from and a failing grade in the course.

(2) Late Assignments—No late work will be accepted. All due dates are given well in advance; therefore I feel that it is unfair to the students who complete their work on time to accept the work from those who do not. However, because “life happens,” each student will be allowed two “late tickets” during the semester; twice students may choose to turn an assignment in 48 hours after the initial due date. Late assignments beyond this will not be accepted.
Please note: technical difficulties will not be accepted as an excuse for late work. Due dates are given well in advance so don't wait until the last minute and risk a blackout or computer crash that occurs right on a deadline.

(3) Class participation—In an online classroom, it is essential that you become consciously involved by participating in forum and chat discussions and contributing thoughtful comments, questions, and answers.

(4) Saving and Submitting Work—You must create a back up file of every piece of work you submit for grading. When files are sent attached to an email, the files should be in DOC or RTF file formats. When sending any email, identify yourself fully by name. I will check email frequently and will respond to course-related questions within 24-48 hours.

(5) Disabled Students—Reasonable accommodation will be provided for eligible students with disabilities. Contact the DSPS office for an accommodation letter (650) 738-4280.

"I like America, just as everybody else does. I love America, I gotta say that. But America will be judged."
--  Bob Dylan, singer songwriter

Papers: Five major papers will be written for this class. The requirements are as follows:

(1) Due Dates-- Paper #1 (2-4 pages, 500-1000 words) Draft due 9/9, Revised 9/16

Research Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words) Draft due 10/7, Revised 10/14

Paper #3 Midterm essay exam on Thursday, November 13th
Collaborative Research Paper #4 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words) Draft 12/9, Revised 12/16

Paper #5 Final essay exam—2 ½ hours on Weds, December 17th

(2) Revision-- E.B. White said, “The best writing is rewriting.” Because revising or “re-seeing” a piece of writing is such an important aspect of the writing process, each of the papers has two due dates. Each student will receive feedback and suggestions on each of his/her papers through online class workshop/discussion groups; then each student will be asked to revise each paper based on peer feedback. Please note: if the first due date for a paper is missed, the paper cannot be turned in at all.

(3) Workshopping-- Each paper will be read, discussed, and commented upon by student workshop groups. Students without a completed paper on the day of the workshop will not be allowed to participate in the workshop. Students not participating in workshops will lose their peer participation points for that activity, they will not receive the benefit of commentary on their writing, and if they do not turn a paper in on the workshop date, they cannot turn in a revised paper a week later for a grade. You cannot pass the course if you fail to turn in one of the 6 major papers for the course. Below are the workshop dates--students must upload a copy of their paper for their group members and comment on the writing of their group members on the day specified:

Paper #1 Workshop: Tues, 9/9 Paper #2 Workshop: Tues, 10/7 Paper #4 Workshop: Tues, 12/9

(4) Format—Papers must meet the required minimum length or run the risk of not being accepted. All papers must be typed, double-spaced, have 1” margins, and have a font of 12.


"We must stop talking about the American dream and start listening to the dreams of Americans."
--  Reubin Askew, former Florida governor and desegregationist

Course Grade: Record Your Own Grades:

Paper 1 10% Score for Paper 1 ______ x .10 = _____

Paper 2 10% Score for Paper 2 ______ x .10 = _____

Paper 3—Midterm 10% Score for Paper 3 ______ x .10 = _____

Paper 4 20% Score for Paper 4 ______ x .20 = _____

Paper 5—Final on 12/17 15% Score for Paper 5 ______ x .15 = _____

Presentation 10% Presentation score ______ x .10 = _____

Quizzes 5% Average Quiz score ______ x .05 = _____
Homework 5% Average of homework ______ x .05 = _____

HBA Folder 5% % of HBAs completed ______ x .05 = _____

* Participation 10% Participation ______ x .10 = _____

TOTAL: (convert total to %) ________

Participation includes contributing timely and well

constructed postings, chat discussions, providing Scoring as follows: 100-90=A, 89-80=B

thoughtful peer feedback on papers and postings, and 79-70=C, 69-60=D, 59-0=F

communicating with me during online/phone office hours.