ENC 1102 Argument and Persuasion
ENC 1102-10 #28315 M/W/F 12:20-1:10 EN 239
ENC 1102-12 #28317 M/W/F 1:25-2:15 EN 239
ENC 1102-17 #28322 T/R 2:35-3:50 EN 234
Instructor: Dr. Nesbitt
Office: EN 111
e-mail: nesbitw@tcc.fl.edu
Office Phone: 201-6437
Office hrs. 2:30-3:30 M
2:30-3:30 W
2:30-3:30 F
(These are the only times that I will be available)
*Remember that you must attend the class for which you are registered. If, for example, you register for my 12:20-1:10 class, you cannot come to my 1:25-2:15 class to make up an absence.
Required Texts:
Elements of Argument. Seventh Edition
The New Century Handbook.
Course Goals
This course aims to further your college writing skills through practice of argument and persuasion. We will explore the way writing increases our knowledge and the ways in which argumentation stimulates and sharpens critical thought. Completion of ENC 1102 will develop and nurture your writing skills and provide you with a firm foundation in techniques of argument and persuasion for your future academic, professional, and social needs.
Plagiarism: You represent someone else's ideas as your own either by directly copying or paraphrasing without appropriate citation, and you get a 0 for that paper. Then I report you to the appropriate authorities. If you're in doubt, talk to me.
Attendance: I call roll at the start of class. If you are late, you need to let me know after class. If you are in a class that meets twice a week, you get four absences. If you are in a class that meets three times a week, you get six absences. Either way, you get two weeks of class time. I will not withdraw you; it is your responsibility to withdraw yourself. Whatever the excuse is, it counts as an absence. In-class writing still has to be done in class and you cannot make it up during my office hours or in another class.
Late Paper: Every day school is in session (minus Saturday) that I don't get your paper is minus ten points. E-mailed papers are not acceptable. I must have everything to consider the paper as on time. If you give me the paper on the due date and the Xeroxed copies the next day, the whole thing is still late.
Assignments and Grading
5% Debate
5% Presentation
5% Exercise
20% Essay 1 (It may take you some time to figure our how to go about writing these papers. If you make less than a 70 on this essay, you may revise it for a maximum grade of a 70. The revision I will not take late. See the syllabus for the due date Also, the revision will not cover any points you lose due to lateness. If I get this paper two days late, the maximum grade you can get on the revision is a 50.).
20% Essay 2
25% Essay 3
10% Glossary Test
10% Final in-class Essay. Bring a Blue Book, those cheap pamphlet-like books with the blank paper inside that the bookstores sells, on these days.
Grading Rubric
5% Debate. For the debates that have a number beside them, you will bring in a possible argument for debate. You must type this up and I will not accept it late. This argument will not come from the book, will be different from your other entries, and will not be one of your paper topics. On the debate days I will pick one of these arguments and we will debate it in class. If the debate finishes up, I will pull another argument. On the debate days that are also days when an essay is due, you don't need to supply a typed debate argument; we'll draw from previous entries. A sample argument might be something like "Instead of the electric chair, we should have death by public stoning. Anyone can buy a stone for a dollar and hurl it at the convict. The money could then be used to help victims. Also, public stoning would serve as a deterrent for criminals." If you simply type "the death penalty," such a topic is too broad and unoriginal for consideration or credit.
5% Exercise. We will do all of the work for this in class. Turn in whatever in-class work I ask for at the end of class and you will get full credit for the exercise. 23, 109, 153, 192, 234, 319.
10% Final In-class Essay—We'll do all of the writing for this in class. You may bring your textbooks for this class and a dictionary. I will give instructions for this that you will need to be in class to get.
5% Presentation. Pick a partner. You and that person will get the discussion on the text started and sustain interaction between the class and the text for at least ten minutes (though you are free to go longer). Here are some strategies I have seen. Give a lecture. Ask the class questions. Put on a skit based on the text. Develop a board game. Try putting people into teams and running something like Jeopardy. Games are very popular. Also, people are unpredictable. The person you are teaming up with may vanish or fail to show up on the day your presentation is due. Plan for such possibilities.
20% Essay 1 You will write a focused argumentative/persuasive essay and attempt to argue a particular position or persuade the reader to believe/think/do something. The aforementioned example concerning the death penalty holds true here. You will write this in third-person, which means no "I" or personal experience. You will include short, concise quotes with page numbers from at least two readings from our syllabus as well as short, concise quotes with page numbers from at least one secondary, outside source. Any information that is not common knowledge must be cited according to MLA guidelines. Sources will come from the TCC library and/or databases and not from Yahoo, Google, or other such sites. The secondary source will not come from our textbook, any other textbooks, or from any of the authors in our textbook. Do not use general encyclopedias. Include copies of all secondary materials with the cited passages highlighted or underlined. Underline or italicize the thesis of your paper. Include a works cited page as well.
20% Essay 2 (same as essay 1).
25% Essay 3 (same as essay 2).
Final Drafts: All must be between three and five pages long, not including the works cited page. I will take off at least ten points from a paper that is short. I need the stapled final draft, and Xeroxed copies of all secondary materials that you use. If it's an essay or article, give me a copy of the whole thing. If it's a book, Xerox the relevant pages or sections. In both cases, I must have all quoted or paraphrase passages highlighted. If you don't give me the Xeroxed and highlighted copies, I cannot accept the essay for any credit. Place all of this in a folder or flat envelope of some kind. If you don't, I can't accept it. No binders. All papers with be typed, double-spaced, in Times New Roman, 12 pt, with one-inch margins. Please include any sort of rough work, notes, and so forth for the paper.
Readings:
The day they are listed is the day we will discuss them. You will have them read ahead of time.
Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should in the first week of class register with the appropriate department and provide documentation to me.
When we have extra time: Always bring The Elements of Argument. If we have extra time, I may give notes, let your work on something for this class, or get ahead on the readings. You will not sleep, chatter, or work on something not for this class.
Extra credit: Find a news article the relates to one of the readings on our syllabus. Make a copy of it or give me the original along with a typed half-page explaining the connection and I will give you three points on your final grade. A news article from the Internet is fine, assuming it comes from a recognized news source. See the syllabus for the due date. I won't take it late.