SYLLABUS. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7 th ed.

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1 English 111RB: Effective Writing McCormick Winter Trimester 2012 ENL111 / McCormick Syllabus and Schedule of Assignments 1 SYLLABUS Instructor: Scannell McCormick Contact: phone/voic (507) mccormic@augsburg.edu Required Texts: Flachmann, Kim Gibaldi, Joseph Mahfouz, Naguib Mosaics: Focusing on Essays, 5 th ed. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research s, 7 th ed. Cairo Modern Electronic Students are required to have a current account. Catalogue Course Description: Emphasis is on exposition, including learning research techniques and writing critical reviews. Attention is given to increasing students effectiveness in choosing, organizing, and developing topics; thinking critically; and revising for clarity and style. A writing lab is provided for those needing additional help. The minimum passing grade is 2.0. Course Objectives: 1. By the end of the term students will demonstrate, in writing done both in class and out of class, the ability a. to use a variety of methods to generate ideas; b. to discover and develop a thesis statement; c. to organize materials using the methods appropriate to purpose, content, and audience; d. to use basic methods of coherence and transition; and e. to write papers relatively free of errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. 2. Students will be able to complete successfully a research assignment. 3. Students will demonstrate an increasing ability to evaluate their own writing. 4. Students will read, analyze, and write about one substantial literary work. Course Requirements: Essays: Students will write seven essays in the course (see below). All of these essays (except the last) must be substantially revised and turned in as a portfolio at the end of the term. Essay 01: Essay 02: Essay 03: Essay 04: Essay 05: Essay 06: Essay 07: Description Analyzing a Process Comparing and Contrasting Dividing and Classifying Analyzing Causes and Effects Arguing Exit Essay written at the final meeting For all essays students will receive details as well as an assignment sheet in advance of the due date. With the exception of Essay 07, essays will always be due at the beginning of class on the day listed in the course plan. The instructor will accept no late materials (see below). Students are required to submit all essays in both hardcopy and electronic format (either on disk or an file attachment in Word.

2 ENL111 / McCormick Syllabus and Schedule of Assignments 2 Essay 06 will involve research and documentation. Essay 07 / Exit Essay is a course requirement to determine readiness to go on to other English classes. Student will develop their own thesis statements and write an essay (using an appropriate rhetorical mode) in class on. Portfolio: At the last class meeting, students will hand in a portfolio that contains Essays revised flawlessness. In edition to the final drafts, students must likewise include all peer review materials (see below). Peer Review: Before Essays 04 to 06 are due, students will peer review rough drafts in class. Students will follow the revision guideline questions in the text for each essay and hand in the answers to these questions along with their drafts of the essay. Moreover, whenever students peer review a rough draft, they must provide the instructor with a copy of the draft to be reviewed. Finally, as peer review is an essential component of the writing process, the instructor will accept no essay that has not undergone peer review. Students should note that when they turn in the final drafts of their essays in the portfolio, they will also need to turn in all rough drafts and all peer review questions as well. Thus students are urged never to throw out anything that pertains to a final draft. Quizzes: Students will take five quizzes (20 points each) that will make up 20% of their course grade. The quizzes will cover any of the material assigned for that day that is, the materials assigned during the previous week. (See the schedule of assignments) Grading: Grading is an A to F scale, with A being numerically equivalent to 4.0, and AB 3.5, a B 3.0, etc. Failure to complete any major component of this course (an essay, peer review, the final examination) will result in failing the course, no matter what the student s mathematical GPA. Grades will be determined as follows: Portfolio: 60% Peer Review: 20% Quizzes: 20% Individual essays will receive commentary intended to guide revision; in addition, the instructor will give a non-binding grade, one intended to give students an idea of the quality of, and their progress in, their work. Please note that only the entire portfolio itself, consisting of the six revised essays, will receive a binding grade. Grades on the peer review materials and on the quizzes will likewise be binding and are likewise intended to give students an idea of where they stand in the course. Bear in mind that, as fully 60% of the course will not be determined until the portfolios are graded, the most the instructor can do is to give students an approximation of their grade based on work completed up until the point at which students ask for a grade. The instructor will, however, gladly supply this approximation upon request. Please be aware that it is the policy of the English Department that in order to help insure that students become competent writers [,] [t]he passing grade in this course is 2.0. Anything below that will count as N: i.e., you will not get credit for the course.

3 ENL111 / McCormick Syllabus and Schedule of Assignments 3 Attendance and Missed/Late Word Policy: Students are allows a maximum of one absence. Students with two or more absences will be unable to pass the course. Work Load: As a rule, you should be prepared to spend at least two hours of time outside class for every hour that you spend in it. In a typical four-credit course, for example, this works out to at least eight hours of homework per class per week. If your schedule does not allow you to commit this amount of time, you will need to take this course during a term when you can. Extra Credit: No extra credit is offered in this section of ENG 111.

4 ENL111 / McCormick Syllabus and Schedule of Assignments 4 SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS WEEK 01: JANUARY SATURDAY 07 JANUARY = CLASS MEETS 1:00-5:00 PM DUE Essay 01: Describing final draft (electronic: drop box closes at 11:55 PM Mon 09 Jan) CLASS introductions CAIRO describing Chapter 04, The Writing Process Chapter 05, Preparing to Write Chapter 11, Analyzing a Process Part IV: The Handbook Unit 01 Chapter 26, Subjects and Verbs Chapter 27, Fragments Chapter 28, Fused Sentences and Comma Splices WEEK 02: JANUARY TUESDAY 10 JANUARY = CLASS DOES NOT MEET DUE Essay 02: Analyzing a Process final draft (electronic: drop box closes at 11:55 PM Mon 16 Jan) Chapter 06, Writing Effectively Chapter 07, Revising and Editing Ch. 12, Comparing and Contrasting Part IV: The Handbook Unit 02: Chapter 29, Regular and Irregular Verbs Chapter 30, Verb Tense Chapter 31, Subject-Verb Agreement CAIRO Chapter 32, More on Verbs WEEK 03: JANUARY TUESDAY 17 JANUARY = CLASS MEETS 5:45-9:45 PM DUE Essay 02: Analyzing a Process final draft (hard copy: in class Tue 17 Jan) Essay 03: Comparing and Contrasting final draft (electronic: drop box closes at 11:55 PM Mon 23 Jan) CLASS comparing and contrasting Ch. 13, Dividing and Classifying

5 ENL111 / McCormick Syllabus and Schedule of Assignments 5 CAIRO Part IV: The Handbook Unit 03 Ch. 33, Pronoun Problems Ch. 34, Pronoun Reference and Point of View Ch. 35, Pronoun Agreement WEEK 04: JANUARY TUESDAY 24 JANUARY = CLASS DOES NOT MEET DUE Essay 04: Dividing and Classifying rough draft (electronic: drop box closes at 11:55 PM Mon 30 Jan) CAIRO Part IV: The Handbook Unit 04 Ch. 36, Adjectives Ch. 37, Adverbs Ch. 38, Modifier Errors WEEK 05: 31 JANUARY-06 FEBRUARY TUESDAY 31 JANUARY = CLASS MEETS 5:45-9:45 PM DUE Essay 04: Dividing and Classifying rough draft (hard copy: in class Tue 31 Jan) Essay 04: Dividing and Classifying final draft (electronic: drop box closes 11:55 PM Mon 06 Feb) CLASS peer review (Essay 04 rough) CAIRO Part IV: The Handbook Unit 05 Ch. 39, End Punctuation Ch. 40, Commas Ch. 41, Apostrophes Ch. 42, Quotation Marks Ch. 43, Other Punctuation Marks

6 ENL111 / McCormick Syllabus and Schedule of Assignments 6 WEEK 06: FEBRUARY TUESDAY 07 FEBRUARY = CLASS DOES NOT MEET SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY = CLASS MEETS 1:00-5:00 PM DUE Essay 05: Analyzing Causes and Effects rough draft (electronic: drop box closes 11:55 PM Mon 13 Feb) Part IV: The Handbook Unit 06 Ch. 15, Analyzing Causes and Effects Ch. 44, Capitalization Ch. 45, Abbreviations and Numbers WEEK 07: FEBRUARY TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY = CLASS DOES NOT MEET DUE Essay 05: Analyzing Causes and Effects final draft (electronic: drop box closes 11:55 PM Mon 20 Feb) CLASS peer review (Essay 05 rough) Ch. 16, Arguing Ch. 17, Recognizing a Research Ch. 18, Avoiding Plagiarism Ch. 19, Finding Sources Part IV: The Handbook Unit 07 Ch. 46, Varying Sentence Structure Ch. 47, Parallelism Ch. 48, Combining Sentences WEEK 08: FEBRUARY TUESDAY 21 FEBRUARY= CLASS MEETS 5:45-9:45 PM DUE Essay 06: Arguing rough draft (electronic: drop box closes 11:55 PM Mon 27 Feb Essay 06: Arguing rough draft (hard copy in class)\ Part IV: The Handbook Unit 08 Ch. 49, Standard and Nonstandard English

7 ENL111 / McCormick Syllabus and Schedule of Assignments 7 Ch. 50, Easily Confused Words Ch. 51, Spelling start Cairo Modern WEEK 09: 28 FEBRUARY-05 MARCH TUESDAY 28 FEBRUARY = CLASS DOES NOT MEET DUE Essay 06: Arguing final draft (electronic: drop box closes 11:55 Mon 05 Mar) CLASS peer review (Essay 06 rough) Part IV: The Handbook continue with Cairo Modern WEEK 10: MARCH TUESDAY 06 MARCH = CLASS MEETS 5:45-9:45 PM DUE Essay 06: Arguing final draft (hard copy in class Tues 06 Mar) CLASS start discussion of CAIRO Part IV: The Handbook Exit Essay strategies finish Cairo Modern WEEK 11: MARCH TUESDAY 15 MARCH = CLASS DOES NOT MEET DUE Portfolio (electronic: drop box closes 11:55 PM Mon 19 Mar) Part IV: The Handbook review Cairo Modern

8 ENL111 / McCormick Syllabus and Schedule of Assignments 8 WEEK 12: 20 MARCH TUESDAY 20 MARCH = = CLASS MEETS 5:45-9:45 PM CLASS Portfolio (hard copy in class Tues 20 Mar) Exit Essay