English Composition 1011 (EngC 1011) : University Writing and Critical Reading (UWCR)

Department of English,

University of Minnesota,

Section 17: Fall Semester 2001

12:45pm-02:00pm TTh (09/04/01-12/14/01),

LindH 340, TCEASTBANK, 4 credits Tuesday, Thursday

25 seats

Instructor: Kevin L. Callahan (please call me Kevin).

E-mail: call0031@tc.umn.edu

Home telephone: (612) 623-7685 before 10 PM

Office telephone: (612) 624-3361

Office hours T,Th 11:45 am-12:45 pm Office: 2-170 Electrical Engineering/Csci bldg (just east of Lind Hall)

Office mail box: Outside 306 Lind Hall (outside the Student Writing Center and just down the hall from the classroom).

Course Description:

EngC 1011. University Writing and Critical Reading. (4.0 cr).

English Composition 1011 is an introduction to academic writing. Students will learn to communicate clearly in a university setting and be able to write clearly for other communities. Students receive feedback on their writing through writing workshops and instructor comments. Students learn about both the process and the form of academic writing and research. By the end of the course, students should be able to approach the process of academic writing as a series of specific tasks. These include library research, documentation and citation of sources, brainstorming, listmaking, outlining, freewriting, organizing, revision with multiple drafts, preparation and use of a personalized editing checklist, proofreading, obtaining peer editing and review, preparation for publication, and electronic and paper publication. By the end of the course, students should be familiar with the form of academic writing and the conventions of standard written American English. Students should be able to make good choices about their punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, citation format, and style. Students should be able to identify and analyze an author's audience, purpose, arguments, and assumptions and be able to produce written text to meet university-level standards of persuasiveness, precision, and correctness of form.

Class Website

There is a class website for this section at http://www.oocities.org/kevinlcallahan/composition.html. Remember to type in web addresses carefully since they are case sensitive on a personal computer, i.e. capitalization matters. It is highly recommended that you visit the website early in the semester. It has a copy of the course syllabus, useful links, and other information to assist you with the class. This website is created and maintained by your instructor and can conveniently provide information 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Your instructor teaches EngC 1011 and EngC 1014.

Please do not be concerned or anxious if you are "computer illiterate" when you start the semester. The use of the computer for email and web searches is very easy and there are many resources available to teach you how to use these tools. Please feel free to contact me about any problems that you are having. I am available to give individual assistance to students who want to learn how to use the computer, use email and the web. The Student Writing Center also has computers and people who can help you. The many computer labs on campus and Shepherd Labs are staffed with people who can assist you. All you need to do is ask. The librarians at Wilson Library have also specifically asked composition instructors to tell students NOT to be so reluctant to ask questions at the reference desk.

Contacting the Instructor

You are welcome to contact me by email at call0031@tc.umn.edu or to call me at home. I am probably most easily reached by email. Please feel free to talk to me about any issue relating to the course, or computer problems, and to ask questions at any time during the class. I am also available during office hours immediately after the class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Do not hesitate to ask for my assistance. Believe it or not, that's what they pay me for! I am easily available with a prior appointment. To make an appointment, call 623-7685 and ask to schedule a time that suits your convenience.

The U of M Writing Requirement:

"This requirement is effective fall 1999 for freshmen, fall 2001 for transfers. One or two first-year writing courses are required, depending on the student's college of enrollment. Four writing intensive courses are required. Two of the courses must be upper division courses, one of which should be taken in the student's major." (Source: U of MN website http://www1.umn.edu/commpub/libed.html)

It may not be a wise decision to register for several "writing intensive" courses while you are taking this one since there will be writing assignments every week in this course.

Class Reading, Quizzes, and Writing Assignments

This class requires about 20 to 25 pages of reading per week (with a short quiz each week on Tuesday on the readings) and about 2 to 3 pages of polished writing each week. There are several major written assignments designed to give students experience writing and publishing for different audiences. Many of the early assignments are short. The complexity and academic formality of writing assignments will gradually increase and become more challenging as the student progresses through the course.

This is primarily a writer's workshop course. Group interaction and peer review of other students' papers is a requirement of the course and participation is part of the grade. Most students enjoy working with others to improve their writing skills and find the interaction to be a lot of fun. A short worksheet is due every Thursday as a warmup exercise to improve editing skills.

All sections of this course differ according to the instructor's individual approach and teaching philosophy. My own approach is to try to expose students to the many different genres of writing and to keep the weekly writing at about two to three pages per week on most weeks, depending on the assignment. This keeps the subject matter moving and provides a consistent, short, and steady writing cycle. Since a semester is 15 weeks long, this comes to about 35 pages of writing for this section of EngC1011. Some instructors prefer to assign longer but less frequent papers.

For some reason, the published Fall Course Guide (perhaps in error?) indicated that for this course there will be "15-20 pages of writing per semester, [and] 4 papers." It is possible that this may be a descriptive leftover from the time when the course was taught in only 10 weeks on the quarter system or there may be some instructors assigning 15-20 pages of writing for a 15 week class. In any event, for this section you should expect to write about two to three pages of polished writing per week, which most students find to be both a reasonable and a "doable" workload for a writing class.

Class Writing Assignments

(1.) Introductions.

The Class Listserv Assignment:

Your first email assignment is simply to send a short description of yourself to the class listserv at

engc1011sec17@tc.umn.edu. This email will then be distributed to all current members of the list, which includes your section 17 classmates and your instructor.

Note: All University of Minnesota students have their own free personal email accounts and have access to University of Minnesota computer labs. You should activate your email account during the first week of classes by calling 612-626-4276 or go to http://www.umn.edu/initiate. If you already have your own preexisting email account that you would prefer to use e.g. a hotmail.com account, please send me an email at call0031@tc.umn.edu and I will add that email address to the listserv.

(2.) Autobiographical Sketch (3 pages). Writing for yourself, your family, and posterity: - In this exercise you will create an "external permanent memory" through narrative personal writing. Your topic may be entertaining or serious and usually describes a personal experience, e.g., The Fender Bender, The Roomate from Hell, Meeting my Uncle Frank - the bootlegger, My First Job at College, A Trip to the Boundary Waters, My Worst Blind Date, etc. This should be on a topic that has happened after you began college (i.e, do not rewrite any papers for this class from earlier in your life or pick a subject from your high school years). The Class Bulletin Board: You will "publish" your Autobiographical Sketch to the rest of the class by posting it on the class bulletin board at

http://members2.boardhost.com/engc/ (The class bulletin board is linked to the class website as a blue button on the left side of the webpage.)

(3.) Film Review, Concert Review or Restaurant Review: Evaluating and thinking critically about popular culture. Students may choose to do a Film Review, Concert Review, or Restaurant Review. The Final Draft will be submitted to the Class Bulletin Board and a local newspaper.

(4.) A Letter to the Editor (2 pages). Writing persuasively as a citizen in a democracy.

Topics may include current public issues such as using cell phones while driving, the ethics of animal research at the U of M and the ethics of animal rights activism, the absence of working fire alarms in the art building, inadequate gun safeties on Winchester Model 94 rifles before 1991, the need to enforce existing laws to decrease bicycle accidents with pedestrians on campus, the effectiveness of the anti-tobacco commercials in Minnesota, the problem of alcohol abuse at campus social events, parking problems at the U of M, etc.

Letters to the Editor will be posted on the Class Bulletin Board and emailed to a publisher e.g. The Minnesota Daily, City Pages, Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, etc. (These are sometimes published.)

(5.) Resume (1 page), Scannable Resume (1 page), Cover Letter (1 page), References (1 page). Writing for business and a business audience.

In this exercise you will bring in a want ad for a job you would like to obtain for Spring Break, or next summer, (e.g. lifeguard in California, Minnesota Daily photographer, airline courier, movie critic, tour guide, web designer, etc.) and write a finished resume in regular format, scannable format, or .rtf format which could be posted on 2 websites e.g. the University's employment website at http://clalink.cla.umn.edu or a general employment website such as http://www.hotjobs.com or http://www.jobtrak.com.

(6.) Summarizing academic sources and proper citation. Students will read Ronald Siegel's article (written for a general audience) on the effects of sleep deprivation and Michael Harner's academic article on the historical connection between hallucinogens and medieval witchcraft. They will then read and summarize Dr. Siegel's Scientific American medical research article (scientific/technical writing) on hallucinations. These journal articles in history, medicine, biology, archaeology, and anthropology will provide a useful background and preliminary resources for the major research paper that follows. The American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual citation format should be used.

(7.) The Personal Editing Checklist is an assignment to create an editing checklist tailored to the individual student.

(8.) The Library Research Tutorial is designed to familiarize students with how to use the computer to find books and articles in the library.

(9.) The Prospectus and Annotated Bibliography Assignment is designed to familiarize students with these tools for prewriting a major academic research paper.

(10.) An Interdisciplinary or "Synthetic" Research Paper using correct APA format (10 pages; Cover sheet, Abstract, Body of the Text, References, Appendix). Library research, Outline, First Draft, Revision, Editing, Peer Review, Proofreading, Final Draft. Writing as an academic researcher for an academic audience e.g. your professors.

Following analysis of the above articles, students will select a major religion, scientist, artist, or philosopher, and do library research to determine if, in their judgment, there is any evidence of a connection between what the medical literature describes as "altered states of consciousness" (ASC's) and historical descriptions of religious experience, moments of scientific and philosophical insight, or artistic "vision." Students should describe the issues involved, formulate a hypothesis, do library research, report their findings, critically evaluate their sources, persuasively argue their position, and reach a conclusion.

(11.) Fiction Writing-The Short Story. Students will write a short story with a "hook," a plot twist, and produce a final class publication that they can take away from the course.

(12.) Writing and Publication to the WWW: Personal websites.

If there is time at the end of the course, students will be given instructions on how to publish their writing on the web and how to establish their own personal website for their writing.

Editing Practice/Peer Response workshops

Self-editing and proofreading are important writing skills and students will have an opportunity to practice these skills by editing each other's drafts. This will also assist the author to correct mistakes before submitting the final draft for grading by the instructor. It is often true that much of what students learn they learn from teaching each other. This is a cooperative rather than a competitive learning environment. Although all writing assignments must be the product of individual effort, students are expected to actively assist each other to spot mechanical errors and improve rhetorical style and are evaluated on how well they assist in the process of revision during peer review. You are primarily responsible for your own learning in this course and you should always turn in your best effort. Pride yourself on your writing and your ability to self-edit your own work!

Editing Practice/Peer Response comments and the First Draft are submitted when the Final Draft is handed in. A two pocket folder will be needed for this purpose. These cost anywhere from 10 to 60 cents at Office Max or the U of M bookstore. The quality and quantity of students' Editing Practice/Peer Response comments will be graded by the Instructor at the same time as the Final Drafts. There will also be a small amount of cost involved with making several copies of first drafts for peer reviewers. This cost should be about $10. There are photocopiers that take U Cards on every floor of Lind Hall. There is also a photcopier across the street in the Journalism building. The cheapest photocopies in the area are probably at Paradigm Resources in the Dinkydome with a bulk photocopying card.

Motivation and good study habits

Many (but not all) students in this class will be in their first year at the University. You are starting out fresh. Take some time to set some personal goals and high standards for yourself! This is your time in life to learn how to write. Keep your priorities in focus. It is generally the case that the more time you study, the better you will do. Do not allow anyone or anything to distract you from your studies. The goals, motivation, and good study habits you set for yourself in the first two weeks of a semester will often "set the tone" for the rest of the semester and perhaps the rest of your time at the University.

A part of developing your good writing habits for this class is learning to organize and follow a specific weekly study schedule that leaves enough time to make several self-editing revisions and to proofread your assignments before handing them in. Good writing requires good logistics and planning.

Self-revision is a part of writing. Experienced writers know that, in most situations, the more drafts you have, the better the writing will be. Henry David Thoreau rewrote his classic book Walden seven times before he considered it ready to be seen. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger required that all writing that came out of the U.S. State Department go through nine separate drafts.

In scheduling your week it is important to think ahead and to set aside a "buffer time" for unforseen events such as printer trouble, running out of ink, staples, etc. Make sure that you get yourself organized early and schedule enough time to complete assignments. Having an extra hour or two at the end of a writing assignment to clean up minor mistakes can often make a substantial difference in the aesthetic appearance of your final work product. Students who let themselves get behind and procrastinate, or try to finish assignments shortly before they are due, usually end up with a final written work product or grade that they are dissatisfied with.

Required Textbook:

Anson, C. M. & Schwegler, R. A. (2000). The Longman handbook for writers and readers. (2nd ed.). New York: Addison-Wesley Educational.

The textbook is available at Williamson Bookstore (East Bank Campus).

Later in the semester there may also be a course packet available for readings from Paradigm Resources in the Dinkydome in Dinkytown (Just across University Avenue from Folwell Hall).

Grading*

Tuesday's Weekly Quizzes: 10 points each

Thursday's Worksheets: 10 points each

Writing Assignments: the number of points varies by the assignment but most are 40 points

Editing Practice/Peer Reviewing of classmates' papers: 8 points per week

Weekly listserv: 13 points total or one point per week

*The number of total class points is subject to change if more or less time appears to be needed for a particular assignment, or if an assignment is added, deleted, or changed.

Generally speaking, courses are graded as follows:

90% and above is an A

80% and above is a B

70% and above is a C

60% and above is a D

59% and below is an F

No incompletes will be given for this course.

CLA Classroom Grading and Examination Procedures

See generally http://www.cla.umn.edu/advising/cgep/

Grades

Grades describe levels of achievement. University legislation prescribes the grades and symbols that will be reported on the student's transcript.

Two grading systems exist at the University: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, F (" A-F") and Satisfactory / No credit (" S-N").
 
 

A-F Grade Base

A--Achievement outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements.

B-- Achievement significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements.

C -- Achievement meeting the basic course requirements in every respect.

D -- Achievement worthy of credit even though it does not fully meet the basic course requirements in every respect.

F -- Performance failing to meet the basic course requirements (0 grade points).
 
 

S-N Grade Base

S -- To obtain a grade of S in this class you must have the equivalent of a grade of C or better. The S is not figured into the grade point average. N means No credit.

The grading criteria generally include assessment of Content, Organization, and Presentation (including grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation, etc.). This is more fully described in a class handout on the subject.

The Weekly Short Quiz

Every Tuesday morning, at the very beginning of the class, there is a short quiz worth 10 points on that week's reading. These quizzes are to motivate you to keep up with the reading (about 20 to 25 pages per week during most weeks), ensure that you arrive to class on time, make sure that you attend every class, and is a significant part of your final grade. The quiz will be handed out when the class starts and you will have 10 minutes to complete it, although most people will be able to finish it before the ten minutes are up. If you arrive in class 5 minutes late that means that you only get 5 minutes to finish the quiz. If you arrive after the quizzes are collected (e.g. where everyone finishes early) you get zero points for that quiz. Since class time is limited, no excuses for being late are accepted, so although you will certainly have my sympathy if, for example, you had a flat tire on the way to school, that does not mean you will get any more time to take the quiz. In most cases missing one 10 point quiz will have little or no effect on your final letter grade for the class. The quizzes are designed to be straightforward and fairly easy if you have done the readings. The quizzes will usually have at one multiple choice question that is taken verbatim from (a) the online practice multiple choice test and (b) one from the interactive exercises that exist on each chapter at the textbook's online website. A link to the textbook webpage is on the class website. (The direct link to the textbook's website is http://occ.awlonline.com/bookbind/pubbooks/ansonlhb_awl/chapter1/deluxe.html). Since there are usually two different chapters to read during most weeks, that means that you should have no problem with 4 questions since they will usually be taken nearly verbatim from the practice quizzes and the online interactive exercises. Thus, 4 questions of the 10 should be extremely easy provided that you do the readings, take the online practice quiz, and do the online interactive exercises. Six questions will be made up from the readings alone (You will not pass the quiz if you only do the practice tests and interactive exercises without actually doing the readings in the book).

The Thursday Worksheet

The Thursday Worksheet is designed to improve your proofreading skills and give you a "warmup" exercise" before reading your classmates' papers. The worksheets go over various common writing mistakes and provide information on rules of academic writing that will reinforce what you will be reading in your textbook. The worksheets are homework and are due at the very beginning of class every Thursday. Since part of the reason for doing the worksheets is to provide a warm-up exercise for the Thursday Pre-Grading Workshop, no credit will be given for worksheets handed in late. Having the worksheet due at the beginning of class on Thursday also provides a motivation to arrive on time. Worksheets must always initally be completed individually rather than in a "group" setting outside of class, but you may certainly compare your results afterwards with others in the class and correct errors you spot together before handing them in. One of the purposes of the worksheets is to gain practice out of class in spotting writing errors. (On the other hand, anyone who simply copied the work of others without doing the intial work themselves would be considered copying or cheating and subject to appropriate academic sanctions e.g. they would get an "F" for the course, etc.)

Standard Format for all papers:

All final draft papers must be typed or word processed on white paper with 12 point "Times New Roman" font, one inch margins, 27 lines per page, double-spaced, with long quotations "blocked" (i.e. indented and single spaced), have page numbers, and be stapled. You should keep a copy of all of your work -- either on paper or on a disk -- of all your major papers and important assignments. Never throw away commented rough drafts from your peers and me as you will be required to hand these in with the final draft of the paper at the end of the unit.

American, Canadian, and British spelling varies, as do dictionaries. This class will follow the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual for citations and spelling. The APA Publication Manual's rule is stated as follows: "Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is the standard spelling reference for APA journals and books. If a word is not in Webster's Collegiate, consult the more comprehensive Webster's Third New International Dictionary. If the dictionary gives a choice use the first spelling listed" (APA Publication Manual, 1999, p.70). The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (and Thesaurus) is online at http://www.m-w.com and the latest hardcover 10th Edition may be purchased at Barnes and Noble bookstore. Purchasing the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary 10th Edition (red hardcover) for about $20 is optional but is a good long-term investment. Another optional, but worthwhile book to own is the authoritative and comprehensive Chicago Manual of Style.

Use of a spell-check and a grammar-check program is required during the proofreading process before handing in final drafts. Spell-check and grammar-check programs come with most word processing programs and can be used at the computer labs if you do not have one. Please remember that spell-check and grammar check programs are not flawless and you must always still manually proofread. Also please remember that high volume computer labs can often have computer viruses. It is not recommended that you move work between computers to a home computer on a floppy disk. It is much better to email work and run an up-to-date virus protection program on all incoming emails. If you must use a diskette, check it for computer viruses. Computer labs are available on campus for word processing.

A student should expect to spend 12 hours per week, including class time on this course. It is important for incoming students to organize and budget their limited time carefully during the week and to deliberately and consciously schedule regular specific times to do the substantial work required for the class. Many students underestimate the amount of time it takes to complete a written assignment and do not leave themselves enough time to edit, proofread, and revise. It often takes twice as long to complete a writing assignment as the best initial estimate. Good academic writing requires a certain amount of motivation, discipline, and self-sacrifice. Although some students may have been able to get through their high schools without doing any homework on weekends, most University students study at least one day on weekends.

The Student Writing Center

The Student Writing Center is available to students and provides one-to-one writing. The writing center is staffed by English Composition writing Instructors.

Policies and Procedures

Please remember that quizzes are given every Tuesday at the very beginning of the class. Unless otherwise noted, all written work is to be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date including the Thursday Worksheet. Homework assignments which come in one day late (within the first 24 hours after the time and date due) will automatically drop one grade from what they would have received otherwise (e.g. an A will automatically become a B). Homework assignments which come in more than one day late will receive no credit. Because so much of your learning in this course will occur in a workshop and in interaction with your classmates, I expect you to attend every class and participation in class is a part of your grade. If you know you will be absent, notify me in advance. Following Composition Program policy, if you miss the equivalent of one week of class, your grade may be lowered; if you miss the equivalent of three weeks of class, you may fail the course. Students are responsible for all material and assignments missed because of absence or lateness. Only in the case of family tragedy or documented medical emergency can an instructor make an exception to this rule. Acts of scholastic dishonesty, such as plagiarism, or cheating on a quiz will result in an F for the course and additional disciplinary action. "Scholastic dishonesty is any act that violates the rights of another student with respect to academic work or that involves misrepresentation of a student's own work. Scholastic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to) cheating on assignments or examinations, plagiarizing (misrepresenting as one's own anything done by another), inventing or falsifying research or other findings with the intent to deceive, submitting the same or substantially similar papers (or creative work) for more than one course without the consent of all instructors concerned, depriving another of necessary course materials, and sabotaging another's work" (Source: Classroom grading and examination procedures, CLA 2000-2001).

The general 2001 Twin Cities Campus Academic Calendar

Fall Semester 2001 (72 class days)

Tuesday Sept. 4th, Classes begin

Thursday Nov. 22nd, Thanksgiving Holiday

Thursday Dec. 13th, Last Day of this Class

(There is no Final exam in this class)

All University Cancel/Add policies and schedules are at http://onestop.umn.edu/registrar/calendars/drop_fall01.html

Disablities

It is University policy to provide on a flexible and individualized basis, reasonable accommodations to students who have disabilities that may affect their ability to participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. Students with disabilities (e.g. physical, learning, vision, hearing, psychiatric, etc.) are encouraged to contact their instructors and Disability Services to discuss their individual needs for accommodations at the beginning of the semester.

Non-native Speakers, English as a Second Language (ESL) students, and "Generation 1.5" speakers

Non-native speakers or ESL students sometimes register for the regular sections of English composition. They are certainly welcome but they might do much better in a section for non-native speakers. There is plenty of room for these students in the four non-native speaker sections of EngC 1011 & 1012. If any student has ESL concerns, they can easily enroll for one of the non-native-speaker sections of freshman composition. They should contact Sheryl Holt, Coordinator for Non-Native Speakers, 624-4524, holtx001@tc.umn.edu, 337 Nolte Center.

Some students speak fluent English and are U.S. citizens but have lived in the U.S. for less than 10 years and so for writing purposes have the same problems with grammar as non-native speakers of English. They may also wish to consider a non-native speaker course instead of this one. Such ESL courses focus more heavily on giving individual assistance with basic written English grammar. ESL is something of a misnomer in such situations since English is in these cases the student's first and not their second language. The difficulty with written grammar can arise because written English may be significantly different from the grammar of languages spoken elsewhere. If you have any questions or concerns about whether or not you should be in an ESL section, please let me know during the first week.

Computer Assistance Information: Initiating your E-mail and Internet access:

(Source: U of MN - ADCS website)

"Internet Access: The University creates Internet accounts for all incoming students. Your account will not be usable until you "initiate" it by defining a password. All new students can initiate their accounts once they declare their intent to come to the University. Activate your free email account at http://ww.umn.edu/initiate or call 612-626-4276 (this number is extremely busy during the first week of the semester).

Resnet: If you live in a residence hall, you are eligible for high speed ethernet service. You can sign up for this service at: ResNet (www.resnet.umn.edu)

Web based e-mail: You can check your email from any computer that has an Internet connection and a web browser. To check your mail via the web you can go to www.mail.umn.edu.

Computer Helplines: To get assistance with computer and Internet questions, you can either call or walk in to one of the three Helpline locations listed below. You can initiate your internet account, obtain your own copy of the Internet Software, have a forgotten e-mail password reset, and get help with technical questions about hardware and software. Phone-in help: 612-626-4276 M-Th 8 am - 11 pm F 8 am - 5 pm Sat 12 pm - 5 pm Sun 5 pm - 11 pm Walk-in help: East Bank 152 Shepherd Labs M-F 8 am - 5 pm West Bank 50 HHH Center M-F 1 pm - 5 pm St. Paul 50 Coffey Hall M-F 8 am - 5 pm

Communications Kiosks: Want to quickly check e-mail or your grades, reserve space in a computer lab, or browse the Web wherever you are on campus? There are over 60 communications Kiosks located throughout all three campuses.

Student Computer Facilities: There are several Sudent Computer Facilities where you can use computers for class assignments, access the library online catalog or the Student Access System, read or send email, or print documents for class. There are fees for printing. East Bank Eddy Hall Annex 54 (612) - 625-0314 Eliott Hall 121 (612) - 624-0866 Folwell hall 14 (612) - 625-4896 Lind Hall 26 (612) - 626-0856 Physics 130 (612) - 625-6820 Union Street 201 (612) - 626-1899 St. Paul Classroom Office Blding 135 (612) - 624-9226 Classroom Office Blding 17 (612) - 626-1252 Magrath Library B50 (612) - 624-3269 McNeal Hall 305 (612) - 624-5367 West Bank Blegen Hall 455 (612) - 626-7778 HHH Center 50 (612) - 624-6526

Lab Reservation System: There's no need to stand in line at Student Computer Facilities waiting your turn! The Lab Reservation System (LRS) allows students to make reservations in participating computer labs up to seven days in advance. Lab Reservation System
 
 

A copy of this syllabus is available at

http://www.oocities.org/kevinlcallahan/syllabus.html
 

The Section 17 website is at

http://www.oocities.org/kevinlcallahan/composition.html
 
 
 

Class schedule*

*Note: The class schedule may be revised and amended during the semester due to circumstances,

e.g. where more time appears to be needed to complete a particular assignment, etc.
 
 

Week 1. Sept. 4, 6

Assigned: The Autobiographical Sketch assignment.

Assigned: The Email Listserv assignment.

Assigned: The Thursday Worksheet is assigned every Tuesday.

Read Chapter 14: "Editing and Proofreading" and Chapter 43: "Spelling" in the Longman Textbook.
 
 

Week 2. Sept. 11, 13

Assigned: The Film, Music, or Restaurant Review assignment

First Draft Due: of The Autobiographical Sketch (3 copies and an original). These copies will be used in the Editing Practice/ Peer Review session on Tuesday. Bring one rewritten copy incorporating your peer's recommendations to class on Thursday for the Pre-Grading Workshop.

The Email Listserv Assignment is due on Tuesday.

The Tuesday Quiz will be on last week's reading i.e., Chapter 14: "Editing and Proofreading" and Chapter 43: "Spelling." The Tuesday Quiz occurs every Tuesday starting this week.
 
 
 
 

Week 3. Sept. 18, 20

Assigned: The Letter to the Editor assignment.

First Draft of The Film, Music, or Restaurant Review is due.

Final Draft of The Autobiographical Sketch is due for grading by the instructor.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 54 pp. 790-813 "Writing Argumentative Papers"
 
 

Week 4. Sept. 25, 27

Assigned: The Resume and Cover Letter assignment.

First Draft Due: The Letter to the Editor assignment.

Final Draft Due: The Film, Music, or Restaurant Review

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 54 pp. 813-835 (Finish the chapter on Writing Argumentative Papers)
 
 

Week 5. Oct.2, 4

Assigned: The Siegel and Harner Articles Summary.

First Draft Due: The Resume and Cover Letter assignment.

Final Draft Due: The Letter to the Editor assignment.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 57: "Business Writing" and Ch. 31 "Avoiding Sexist and Discriminatory Language"
 
 

Week 6. Oct. 9, 11

Assigned: The "Hallucinations" Article Summary.

First Draft Due: The Siegel and Harner Articles Summary.

Final Draft Due: The Resume and Cover Letter assignment.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ronald Siegel's "Sheila and the Swastikas" and Michael Harner's "The Role of Hallucinogenic Plants in Medieval Witchcraft"
 
 

Week 7. Oct. 16, 18

Assigned: The Personal Editing List assignment and The Library Research Tutorial

First Draft Due: The "Hallucinations" Article Summary.

Final Draft Due: The Siegel and Harner Articles Summary.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ronald Siegel's "Hallucinations" and Ch. 41: "Numbers"
 
 

Week 8. Oct. 23, 25

Assigned: The Prospectus and Annotated Bibliography assignment.

First Draft Due: The Personal Editing List assignment and The Library Research Tutorial

Final Draft Due: The "Hallucinations" Article Summary.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 33: "Commas"
 
 

Week 9. Oct. 30, Nov. 1

Assigned: The Title Page, Abstract, References, and Appendix assignment.

First Draft Due: The Prospectus and Annotated Bibliography assignment.

Final Draft Due: The Personal Editing List assignment and The Library Research Tutorial

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 33: "Semicolons and Colons" and Ch. 34: "Apostrophes"
 
 

Week 10. Nov. 6, 8

Assigned: First 3 pages of the Body of the Text of the Major Research Paper

First Draft Due: The Title Page, Abstract, References, and Appendix assignment.

Final Draft Due: The Prospectus and Annotated Bibliography assignment.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 50: "Documenting APA Style"
 
 

Week 11 Nov. 13, 15

Assigned: Second 3 pages of the Body of the Text of the Major Research Paper

First Draft Due: First 3 pages of the Body of the Text of the Major Research Paper

Final Draft Due: The Title Page, Abstract, References, and Appendix assignment.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 35 "Quotation Marks" and Ch. 36 "Periods, etc."
 
 

Week 13 Nov. 20, NO CLASS ON NOV. 22 (Thanksgiving Holiday)

There is only one class meeting this week.

First Draft Due: Second 3 pages of the Body of the Text of the Major Research Paper

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 35: "Special Punctuation Marks" and Ch. 20: "Sentence Fragments"
 
 

Week 14 Nov. 27, 29

Assigned: The Short Story assignment.

Final Draft Due: The finished Major Research Paper including the second 3 pages of the Body of the Text of the Major Research Paper.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 21: "Comma Splices and Fused Sentences" and Ch. 22 "Pronoun Reference"
 
 
 
 

Week 15 Dec. 4, 6

First Draft Due: The Short Story assignment.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 25: "Mixed and Incomplete Sentences" and Ch. 26 "Parallelism"
 
 

Week 16 Dec. 11, 13

Final Draft Due: The Short Story assignment.

The Tuesday Quiz: Ch. 18: "Agreement" and Ch. 24: "Shifts

Last Class: Summary and Class Evaluations
 
 

Finals Week: There is no Final Exam in this course.