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Instructor: Kim Wells Office: FH 337 |
Class Meets: Tues Thurs section 262-- 11:00-12:00 section 263--12:30-1:45 section 271--8:00-8:50 |
Class Meets in: sections 262 &263: FH 111 section 271: FH 252 |
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Office Hours Office Hours Tues 10:00-10:50 pm Thurs 2-3:00 pm & by appointment |
Contact Info Home Phone: see paper syllabus Cell phone: see paper syllabus E-mail: [email protected] class webpage: www.womenwriters.net/bobcats/ |
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REQUIRED TEXTS: The information in this syllabus supplements that which can be found in the First-Year English Syllabus- online at: http://www.english.swt.edu/freshman.html |
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Course Description and Policies Course Description and Policies Skills that we will cover in this course are:
Grades:
Ms. Wells' Official Policies: TALK TO ME: This is the most important element of this course-- if you have trouble with any of the assignments, or you are falling behind, or you miss class, talk to me before it becomes a serious problem. I cannot help you if you come to me on the day of the final, after you've been having trouble all semester. I also will not come to you, first. You have the responsibility of making sure I know what's going on-- few problems are insurmountable if you try-- but I will not make the first effort. Talk to me, before it's too late to fix it. Students with special needs (as documented by the Office of Disability Services) should identify themselves to me at the beginning of the semester (come to office hours, call me, write me an e-mail). I will be glad to make accommodation, but need to know about them as soon as possible. Even if you have not been officially "documented," but have concerns about your learning style or other issues which might affect your performance, please talk to me. Reading Assignments: You are responsible for having the assignments READ COMPLETELY the day that your syllabus lists them; this means you must read ahead on the syllabus. We will discuss the reading in class, the day it is listed (usually on a Monday). If you have not read your assignment you will not be considered prepared for class, and may be asked to leave. Members of the Class Exchange names, phone numbers, and email addresses with several members of your class. Because you are responsible for all assignments, even when you are absent, you should know how to reach a classmate in an emergency. You may also want to contact a classmate to discuss an idea for a paper or to seek advice about an upcoming assignment. Think of your first-year English class as a community of writers; strive to become an active member of that community. You can also use the class listserv to communicate with class members. Homework/In Class Work: Homework may include exercises, both written and otherwise, short writing assignments (from essays to other types of writing), journal entries, and possibly other work that will develop writing skills. You should expect to write every day. You are expected to participate in collaborative activities, class discussions, and listen to the occasional lecture. Realize that the work I give you is not to keep you busy-- it really will help you learn to become a better writer. Trust me on this one, please. Almost every day, I will assign a topic on which you will write; you will turn these in at the end of class. They cannot be hand written, so don't think you will write it in class while we're discussing. The journal writing is a semi-formal assignment-- it does not have to be as polished as an essay, but must be well-considered and proofread. Formal elements of style & grammar should also be followed-- all must be typed. Check the daily reading schedule for your assignment-- each day's assignment is listed as "Writing" and generally consists of answering specific chapter questions; however, other assignments are possible. Your grade will be a check, a check plus, a check minus or a zero on this grade. You will have a minimum of a check if the assignment is turned in- to get the "higher" grades, you must "wow" me. Some of these daily writings will be developed into major essays. Essays: You will write one diagnostic essay and four major essays during this class. More details on this are forthcoming. Writing is a major component of the course so you should expect to write interesting, well edited, revised and grammatically correct work on each essay. You will receive a prompt for each essay long before it is due-- If you follow the prompt carefully you should do fine. The essay component of this class is worth 60% of your final grade. For your final essay, you will also give an oral presentation of your research. You are encouraged to use, and will be graded on, visual aids. More details will follow. I will not accept any papers that are more than a week late, for any reason short of a major crisis. Revision Policy: You are required to revise essay 2 for an entirely new grade You may choose to revise one other essay for up to ten extra points on your grade (you cannot, for reasons of time, revise essay 5 or the final). The second revision must be accompanied by a letter of argument- why should I take the time to regrade? What changes have you made? Revision is more than just correcting the errors I will mark on your page- and in order to get the full credit for your revisions, you must make global as well as local corrections. Revision must be turned in one week after you get the papers back, corrected, from me. More details will follow. Portfolio on the day of the final exam, you will turn in a draft of every essay you've written for the class, plus all of your daily homework writings, in a folder organized by date of assignment. You may turn in the copies I gave back to you (with markings) but you may also turn in a cleaned up copy. This portfolio is for my records. Final Exam: The final exam in any first-year English course is an argumentative essay. I will give you the topic, and you will write the exam at home, turning it in during the final exam period. The exam will count for 20% of the course grade. Attendance: Students are expected to attend EVERY class. You are responsible for providing evidence to substantiate "authorized" absences. If you know in advance that you will have to miss a class, you are responsible for informing me (but try to just make it to class, please!). I will take attendance every day! I am SERIOUS about this policy- if the difference between an "A" and a "B" for your course grade is your attendance grade, you will get the lower grade! Attendance includes late arrival-- after three tardies, you will begin to be counted absent. You are allowed two unexplained absences before you will begin losing points on the 10 % attendance grade. You will receive an F for the course, regardless of your grade on the essays, if you miss more than 8 unexplained days of class- that is TWO WEEKS of class. Deadlines: Late papers and assignments cause conflict in everyone's schedule. Unless you discuss problems that may cause you to turn in late assignments with me, preferably ahead of deadline, your paper grade will be dropped by up to 10 points for every non-weekend day you are late (this includes non-class days!). Obviously, you want to turn in your assignments when they are due. YOU CANNOT PASS THIS CLASS WITHOUT COMPLETING ALL OF YOUR ASSIGNMENTS IN A TIMELY MANNER. Presenting others' work as your own-- Plagiarism policy.
Any apparent scholastic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism) will be
promptly reported to the proper authorities and will result in
a grade of "F" for the course and a letter of reprimand
in your file. Any assignment that does not appear to be deliberate
plagiarism but fails to include proper and clear attribution
of sources or direct quotation will receive a grade of Zero.
Don't tell me you just "knew" all that factual information.
Also, assume that I know more about how to find information on
the Internet than you do, and WILL find any paper you copy &
paste. Reading Schedule Abbreviations Note: FOR = Fields of Reading: Motives for Writing.
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