Spring 2005
Office: SDC 307; phone: 587-4235
Office Hours: MW 1-2, Tuesday 12-3, and by appointment
Course Description
This course is designed to prepare you for reading and writing at the college
level. Over the course of the semester you will learn to better express yourself
in your writing by generating ideas, developing thesis statements, planning
paragraphs, organizing compositions, and choosing rhetorical strategies. Since
the only way to learn to write well is by doing it, prepare to write a great
deal for this course. Keep in mind, though, that you aren’t doing this
for me; you’re doing it for yourself: good writing (and the clear thinking
it requires and promotes) will serve you well on this campus and beyond.
You should also know that this is probably unlike any writing course you have taken. It will be conducted as a series of workshops and in-class conferences, so your personal initiative in getting the work done will be an important factor for success. Also, your individual papers will not be graded in a traditional way. Instead, your work will be approved as you go (or given back to you for more revision until it is approved), and twice during the semester your work will be submitted as a portfolio for grading. See below for details.
Required Texts & Materials
Being
a Writer. Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff
Hult Handbook Bundle (includes The Brief New Century Handbook
& CourseCompass packet)
A
Theory of Everything. Ken Wilber
A simple three-ring folder or binder (to store all of your
writing and turn in as your portfolio)
Course Requirements
Portfolio: In this course, each approved writing assignment
will be collected in your writing portfolio. Based on what
grade you wish to be eligible for, you will determine how many assignments
you complete. Once at midsemester and once at the semester’s end, you
will choose and polish two of the approved writing tasks in your portfolio and
submit them, with the rest of your work, for a portfolio grade.
Attendance: You are required to attend.
Though you are allowed three personal days of absence, you are still responsible
for meeting all assignment deadlines. Each unexcused absence beyond three will
result in a one-grade reduction of your final grade going into the final (e.g.,
B to C+, C+ to C). Until I confirm them as excused, all absences will be considered
unexcused. Any student with more than five unexcused absences will be subject
to an instructor-initiated drop through Alfred State College Academic Regulation
AR502.7.
If you arrive late or leave early without my prior consent or for reasons other
than illness, you may be considered absent without excuse. Similarly, lack of
preparation for class and/or failure to participate may be counted as an unexcused
absence.
Participation: Come to class prepared to share your ideas and
insights. Remember, all I have to judge you on is what I see: you are what you
do. Your participation grade is affected by your attendance and includes your
involvement in class discussion, your attentiveness and response to your peers’
writing, quizzes, and any other class activity.
Comprehensive Language Usage Exam (CLUE): The purpose of the
CLUE is to help you identify the deficiencies in your knowledge of basic grammar
so you can improve them. You are required to pass with at least a 70% grade
by Friday, March 25, and an 80% grade by the end of the semester in order to
be eligible to earn a grade above D+.
The CLUE will be administered four times before March 26. A fifth exam will
be given the second to last week of class to those who have received at least
a 70% grade (28) but who have not yet passed with 80% (32).
A grammar lab will be held in this classroom (SDC 112) Monday through Thursday
from 7-8:30 pm, and I highly recommend it if you find you are having difficulty
with the CLUE.
Quizzes: In order to gauge your progress with the texts, I
will give a few unannounced quizzes. These will be part of your participation
grade.
Weekly pCLUEs: Until you pass the CLUE
with 32 or more, you are required to take at least one practice CLUE (pCLUE)
every week until March 25. After that, if you have passed with at least a 28
(but not yet passed with 32), you must continue to take a pCLUE every week.
Furthermore, each time you fail, you must complete and turn in a Grammar
Worksheet for that week. Those who fail to do this assignment will not be
eligible for a passing grade in the course. If you like, you may take more than
one pCLUE in a week and turn in the sentence revision worksheet for that exam,
in order to fulfill your weekly pCLUE requirement early (11 pCLUEs or until
you pass the CLUE).
The goal of this assignment is to focus your efforts on passing the CLUE back into your writing, which is where any study of grammar should start.
Final Exam: This is a department-wide essay exam based on readings
supplied well in advance of the exam period. All essays will be read and graded
by the English department faculty. Based on this assessment, your final grade
in Freshman Composition may be raised one full letter grade, remain the same,
or be lowered one full letter grade.
Students with a grade of Honor A (higher than A) going into the final will be
excused from the final exam. Students earning an F will not be eligible to take
the final exam. Any student who has not received an exemption and does not take
the exam will receive a failing grade for the course.
Academic Integrity: I expect you do your own work honestly
and fairly. Plagiarism or any other form of academic dishonesty is grounds for
a failing grade in this course. If you ever have doubts about what might be
considered academic dishonesty, please feel welcome to check with me before
turning in your work.
Grading
Portfolio 75%
Participation 25%
This page was created January 15, 2005. Last updated January 15, 2005. Please with any questions.