“We are a storying people. We make sense of our lives through stories;
we understand our histories and glimpse our futures through stories—
our own and the stories of others.”

--Trousdale, Woesterhoff, and Schwartz, Give a Listen

The purpose of ENG101 is to teach you to write clearly and correctly. You should already have a good grasp of grammar before you begin this course. If you need grammar review, there are several courses you can take to brush up. See me for details.

Textbooks

Ø      Hughes, Elaine Farris. Writing from the Inner Self. Harper, 1991 (or any later edition).
Ø      Trimble, John R. Writing With Style. Second edition. Prentice Hall, 2000.
Ø      A good dictionary, preferably Webster’s or American Heritage.

Course objectives

In this course, you will practice:

1. Recognizing the four components of the writing situation and the way
each affects your choices.

2. Composing clear and well-supported paragraphs.

3. Writing clear and straightforward thesis statements.

4. Supporting a central idea with specific details.

5. Writing prose that is unified and coherent.

6. Organizing a short essay clearly and effectively.

7. Writing interesting introductions and conclusions.

8. Writing both informative and persuasive essays.

9. Identifying and correcting errors in your own writing and in the writing
of others.

10. Developing a language for talking about writing by participating in
group editing.

Essays and written assignments

This course is designed as a writing workshop, which means that you will do a great deal of sharing and writing and revising in class. Final polishing of essays will be done outside of class, however. You are encouraged to write your essays on a computer for easier formatting, editing, and revision.

All essays and written assignments must be typed. Doublespace all essays and assignments. In the upper righthand corner of your paper, type a heading in the following format:

Your Name

ENG101, 11:00 or 12:00

Linda Evans

Due date

No late essays or written assignments will be accepted under any circumstances! If you must miss class, you are responsible for getting your work to me on or before the due date by dropping it off early, faxing it, emailing it, etc. Rough drafts of essays must be typed and xeroxed on the first day of group editing. Those who do not have rough drafts ready when editing begins will lose 10 points on the final draft of the essay.

Grades

Your written work will be graded on the basis of correctness, completeness, clarity, originality, and maturity of expression. Each essay is worth 100 points—50 points for mechanics and 50 points for content. The graded work for this course will include:

Ten reading exercises from the textbook 200 points
(20 points each)

Four essays 400 points

(100 points each)

Two short additional assignments 100 points

(50 points each) ____________

Total points possible 700 points

Final grades will be calculated on a standard 10% scale:

A = 630 - 700 points

B = 560 - 629 points

C = 490 - 559 points

D = 420 - 489 points

F = Less than 420 points

Attendance

You are expected to attend class regularly and to participate in scheduled activities, including the final exercise. If you miss more than three classes or if you fail to turn in more than two consecutive assignments, you may be withdrawn from the class with or without notice. If your fourth absence occurs after the deadline for withdrawal, you may receive a failing grade for the course.

If you are more than ten minutes late for class or if you leave early without speaking to me in advance, you will be counted absent for the day.

Officially excused absences for participating in MCC-sponsored activities or religious observations will not be counted against you.

Beepers, cell phones, and other electronic evils

You have made a commitment to yourself, to your classmates, and to me to be present and participate in class activities. This means that during classtime, you are offline. Do not bring beepers, cell phones, etc., to class because they are disruptive and annoying. If there is an urgent situation that requires you to carry a beeper or cell phone, please speak with me before you bring the equipment to class. Otherwise, technological interruptions may be treated as absences at the instructor's discretion. You may be withdrawn from the class for repeated disruptions of class activities.

Course schedule

At the beginning of the semester, you will receive a schedule of class activities and assignments. This schedule is intended to help you budget your time so you can complete the work for this course. We will make every effort to adhere to this schedule; however, it may become necessary to adjust the schedule if the class progresses more quickly or more slowly than anticipated. It is your responsibility to keep up-to-date.

Special student population policy

If you have any physical or other disability that might hamper your progress in this course, please let me know at the beginning of the semester so that I can make reasonable accommodations for you. There are many resources available on campus for students with special needs, and I will be happy to help you identify and locate them.

Academic integrity

You are expected to uphold the principles of academic integrity in all the work you do for this course. This means that all of the work you turn in must be entirely your own. If you borrow any material from external sources, you must follow the MLA (Modern Language Association) guidelines for giving credit to the authors and publishers of the borrowed information.

Students who plagiarize (either intentionally or unintentionally) or engage in other forms of academic dishonesty such as cheating will be withdrawn from the course or receive a failing grade for the course at the instructor’s discretion.