English 2010 Intermediate College Writing
Course Description
Welcome to English 2010! As seasoned veterans of English 1010, you should be ready to embrace the opportunities provided by this intermediate writing course. In 2010 you will continue to gain experience using the writing process to produce thoughtful and well-organized texts. Specifically, we will work on exposition, documented research, research on film, and argumentation/persuasion. We will continue to focus on the connection between reading and writing, and we will use class time exploring the connection between the two through discussions and writing assignments. Our class sessions will vary greatly, from small group work to individual presentations, but most days you will be expected to share your views, experience, and knowledge with the class. So, here you have it in a nutshell!
Like its predecessor, English 2010 is a survival course in that it teaches you the critical thinking, argumentation and research skills that will improve your chances of success in any field of study or occupation. And, again similar to 1010, 2010 is intended to prepare you to handle the writing assignments you will be given during your career at WSU. Only in successfully completing the writing assignments in your courses (and, quite naturally, also in this course) will you be able to "survive" at WSU and graduate with strong qualifications for the working world.
Requirements and Evaluation/Assignments and Grades
ATTENDANCE & PARTICIPATION: You will receive an attendance grade for your participation in group and individual writing and speaking activities that are part of almost every class (please, see below). By not showing up--or not showing up on time--you deprive yourself of valuable class discussion, which may, in turn, affect your work. Conversely, through your absence you also deprive the class community of your feedback (your comments and workshop activity) which is an essential element of this class. So, it's quite simple: Be there in body and mind! -- You will be allowed two (= 2) "freebies," which are intended to cover such emergencies as the day you (or the babysitter) were sick, out of town gambling in Las Vegas, or flying on the Space Shuttle . . . you get the drift. If you have more than two unexcused absences, you jeopardize your good standing in the class and thus your final grade.
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES: Your grade for the course will be based on completing the following assignments:
- Three papers
– Argumentative/Persuasive Essay, 5 pages
– Food Research Essay, 7-8 pages
– Film Research Essay, 7-8 pages.
Each of these assignments will routinely consist of notebook entries, class discussion, (several) workshops, a first draft and a second (perhaps even a third) draft. - Two screening reports
- Active classroom participation, which includes doing in-class writing assignments, attending revision workshops, completing assigned readings, actively contributing to class discussions, and working independently in small groups
- Global Revision of one of your research essays
Grades
- Three Essays 50%;
- Participation 20%;
- Two screening reports 20 %;
- Global Revision 10%
- = 100% Total
Two pieces of advice:
| ⇒ | One insight I would like you to gain from this class is that every essay is, in a sense, only a draft, an incomplete and unfinished piece of writing, regardless of its scholarly erudition and stylistic elegance. The idea that an essay is "complete and perfect" is only an illusion. For that reason, and to encourage you to revise (= re-visit) your writing, you may rewrite substantially/"globally" one of your research essays as the semester draws to a close. (An assignment not handed in in time is naturally excluded from this option). |
| ⇒ | Try to think of this course as a genuine opportunity to improve upon your writing skills, regardless of how accomplished a writer you believe yourself to be (and may indeed be, for that matter). Do not just "sit through" this class to "fulfill" a WSU core requirement. For my part, you should know that I will read, and listen to, your assignments with care and attention. |
Disability Accommodation: PPM 3-34 notes: "When students seek accommodation in a regularly scheduled course, they have the responsibility to make such requests at the Center for Students with Disabilities (SSD, #181 of Student Services Center) before the beginning of the semester in which the accommodation is being requested. When a student fails to make such arrangements, interim accommodations can be made by the instructor, pending the determination of the request for a permanent accommodation."
Emergency Closure: In the unlikely event of an extended campus closure, we will conduct our course electronically via email and virtual discussion groups. In this case, please make sure that you check your email account regularly for messages and attachments (in Word, PowerPoint, or audio) coming from me and/or your fellow seminar participants. Such messages may function as lecture substitutes, provide directions for reading and writing assignments, and contain other relevant information. Also make sure that your account has adequate storage capacity for transmitting documents. I will collect your email address and verify its availability during the first week of class. Please let me know by the end of the first week of the semester if you do not have access to a computer and/or the Internet from your home. Thanks
Core Beliefs: According to PPM 6-22 IV, students are to "determine, before the last day to drop courses without penalty, when course requirements conflict with a student's core beliefs. If there is such a conflict, the student should consider dropping the class. A student who finds this solution impracticable may request a resolution from the instructor. This policy does not oblige the instructor to grant the request, except in those cases when a denial would be arbitrary and capricious or illegal. This request must be made to the instructor in writing and the student must deliver a copy of the request to the office of the department head. The student's request must articulate the burden the requirement would place on the student's beliefs."
The Prime Directives. a.k.a. Policies or the Ground (or Golden) Rules
- Assignments must be typewritten and are due, in class, on the date specified no exceptions.
- No electronic submissions, no cell phones, iPods, blueteeth, and other "electronic devices" (the airline phrase) in class.
- For reasons of class integrity, and out of consideration to others, do not come late are leave early. Arriving in class more than 5 minutes late counts as an absence. For the same reason, I will not be able to accept late work.
- It is your responsibility to become familiar with the standards of academic integrity at WSU. Passing off someone else's work or ideas as your own will result in failing the assignment or course and a referral to the Dean of Students. "Turn-it-in" only if it's yours!
Ha Jin, A Good Fall