......................Skyline College

..........English 800: Developmental Writing -- Spring 2000

Course Meetings: T Th 9:35am-10:50am
Tues in Rm 8201 & in Lab Thurs-bldg 2
Schedule #30338 - Engl 800AD, Units 3.0

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..........................................."The desire to write grows with writing" -- Erasmus

................. "Convince yourself that you are working in clay, not marble, on paper
........................ not eternal bronze; let that first sentence be as stupid as it wishes"
.................................................................................................................................... -- Jacques Barzun

Course Prerequisites: Completion of English 801 or English 874/864 with a letter grade of "C" or better OR appropriate skill level indicated by English/Reading placement tests.

Course Classification: Credit course applicable to the Associate Degree

Course Objectives: The objective of this course is to guide students toward becoming more 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. In this class we will look closely at the writing process and the movement from writing unified paragraphs to creating essays focused on a central argument and supported with specific and appropriate detail.

Required Materials: "The only good thing you can say about banning certain books is it gets kids to read them" - Dennis Miller, The Rants. Here are the books you'll be reading this semester:

Interactions, 4th edition, by Moseley & Harris
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
The Writer's Options, 6th edition by Morenberg & Sommers
A Computer Usage card-can be purchased at the Bookstore for $5

Course Policies:

(1) Attendance-- Your active participation is necessary for you and your classmates to realize the objectives of this course. Therefore your attendance is crucial. A maximum of 4 (four) absences is permitted; each absence after the fourth will significantly lower your grade.

(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 the following class period after the due date. Late assignments beyond this will not be accepted.

(3) Plagiarism-- Paraphrasing or directly copying any text and using it as your own without proper attribution, whether you've done it intentionally or not, is plagiarism and is unacceptable and can result in failure.

(4) Class participation--- Remember that participation counts--both for your grade and in your life. It is essential that you become consciously involved in class by participating in discussions and contributing thoughtful comments, questions, and answers.

"By writing an outline you really are writing in a way, because you're creating
the structure of what you're going to do. Once I really know what I'm
going to write, I don't find the actual writing takes all that long." --Tom Wolfe

Papers: In addition to in-class writing, quizzes, and reading responses, five major papers will be written for this class. The requirements are as follows:

(1) Due Dates--Paper #1 (2-3 pages, 500-750 words)
..........Draft due 2/10, Revised 2/17
.......................... Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words)........Draft due 3/16, Revised 3/23
.......................... Paper #3 In class Midterm essay exam on Thursday 4/13
.......................... Paper #4 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words).....Draft due 5/18, Revised 5/25
.......................... Paper #5 In class 2 ½ hour written final exam on 5/25, Tues, 8:10-10:40am

(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 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-- This class will serve as a sort of a writing community in which each student can draw, as well as contribute, valuable ideas, insight, and advise on writing and presenting arguments. Each paper will be read, discussed, and commented upon by student workshop groups of three. Workshop days are very important, and therefore a missed workshop day will count as two (2) absences and a late paper will not be accepted. Students without a completed paper (meeting page and format requirements) will not be allowed to participate in the workshop. Below are the workshop dates--students must bring a copy of their paper for themselves as well as for the other members of their group:

Workshop for Paper #1: February 10th, Thurs
Workshop for Paper #2: March 16th, Thurs
Workshop for Paper #4: May 18th, Thurs

(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.

"One of the problems we have as writers is we don't take ourselves
seriously while writing; being serious is setting aside a time and saying if it
comes, good; if it doesn't come, good, I'll just sit here." -- Maya Angelou

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-In Class.................10% ..........................................Score for Paper 3 ______ x .10 = ______
Paper 4 ............................. 20% ..........................................Score for Paper 4 ______ x .20 = ______
Paper 5-Final Exam 5/25. .. 15% ..........................................Score for Paper 5 ______ x .15 = ______
Quizzes ..............................15% .......................................Average Quiz Score ______ x .15 = ______
Homework ....................... 10% .......................................% of HM completed ______ x .10 = ______
* Participation .................. 10% ......... ..........................................Participation ______ x .10 = ______
.................................................................................................*TOTAL: (convert total to %) ________
* Participation includes being prepared each day, meeting
with me at least once during the course of the semester, ...............* Deduct 1% for each absence over allowed 4.
adding to daily discussion, and giving your classmates ......................Scoring as follows: 100-90=A, 89-80=B
thoughtful responses to their writing in workshops. ...............................79-70=C, 69-60=D, 59-0=F

 

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