Sample                                                                                           Prof. Anca Rosu

English Composition                                                                 Office: Room 942

108 Section                                                                              Phone/Voice Mail: 3943

Credit Hours: 3                                                                         arosu@devry.edu

Syllabus

Objective of the Course

Terminal Course Objectives

Required Resources

Course Description

E-College

Requirements to Pass

Policies

Schedule

Objective of the Course:

The main goal of the course is to prepare you for other classes involving writing as well as real life situations where writing is required: jobs, organizations, public forums, etc.   Basically, you will learn to analyze and evaluate written materials, to generate new and original ideas, and to present ideas in an effective and persuasive manner.

There are many ways in which ideas can be presented: in narratives, essays, dramas, or poems.  The readings exemplify some of these forms, but your writing will be mainly in essay form.  Unlike a narrative, poem, or play, an essay presents ideas more directly and offers evidence in their support.  An essay is also similar to a sales pitch: it sells an idea.  This is a skill that any person planning to work in business should have.  To emphasize it, we are going to learn to present a paper with the aid of Power Point created slides.

Terminal Course Objectives:

The terminal course objectives represent the skills and knowledge you are supposed to acquire during the course.  The ways we achieve them may vary, but you will be able to perform all the tasks included here if you apply yourself and do all the required exercises. 

The Program Goals (Outcomes) of General Education:

Required Resources

Anca Rosu, New Affinities 3rd edition 2004

Ann Raimes, Keys for Writers  2004

A folder to keep your handouts in.  Keep the syllabus and the instructions as well as your notes from the class.

Course Description:

This course introduces students to the elements of composition through analysis of essays, articles and other written works.  Readings are used as models for writing practice and development.  Writing requirements stress process approaches and revision, and emphasize audience awareness.  Electronic communication tools are applied to support the composition process. / 3-2-3

Starting from the premise that in order to write one must read in an organized and focused manner, we are going to have a loose theme for the course.   This time the theme is identity.  Identity can be defined in many ways and forms itself in different contexts.  We shall explore identity on a personal level, the family, social, or ethnic context for identity, the relation between writing and identity, and any other ramifications of this complex concept.

E-College

We are going to work with e-College, which is a platform for the delivery of courses in electronic format.  In e-College, you will find a duplicate of the syllabus and other materials that can guide you through the course.  The navigation is pretty simple and there are instructions for it in the system.  In addition to keeping track of what is happening in class, we shall use e-College to participate in threaded discussions, participate in peer group reviews, submit papers on line, receive feedback on papers, and check the grades.  The feedback on papers is very important, and you need to check your feedback files regularly.  Please get very familiar with the system and visit the site regularly.

Requirements

In order to pass the class you need to demonstrate

In order to achieve this, you must be fully engaged in the process of writing.  Such a process is more complex than most people think and it includes:

In order to help you with this process, I organize class activities that parallel and promote this process.  It is important to understand that everything we do in class leads to the final production of the paper.  Do not think of such activities as random or purposeless.

In order to better understand the process of writing follow the Paradigm link and read about the Exploratory Essay.  This is the kind of essay we are learning how to write.

Policies

Attendance is essential to success in the class.  8 absences or 6 in a row expose you to the risk of failure.  If by week 11 you have not made up all the work missed, you are advised to drop the course to avoid failure or penalty.

Late Papers will not be accepted except under extreme circumstances.  The process of writing demands that you learn from your mistakes.  If you present a paper late, you do not get the feed back necessary in order to do better on the next.  The papers are to be posted on the web page.  While the computer allows you to load papers in the digital drop box at any time, it also marks the time when you have loaded the paper.  Any difference from the specified due date is traceable.  Late assignments will be downgraded on a depreciation scale of one point per day.   Since our scale is ten, in ten days you get a zero.  Revisions required by me are to be presented within a week from the day I require them. 

Class etiquette:  It is not fair to your classmates to come late and disrupt the class.  Make a point of being punctual.  If, because of really exceptional circumstances, you arrive late, take your seat and wait until the break or group work time to ask about what is going on.  If you have questions or issues of a personal nature to discuss, please come to my office and talk.  Do not raise questions or issues that do not regard the whole class during class time.  When in the lab, obey the lab rules and wait your turn if you need specific help with the computer. Always check your instructions first.

Group Work:  In order to increase the benefits of collaborative learning, you will be part of a group of 4-5 students and you will be assigned a role in that group each time we do group work.  Once you have assumed your role, you will have certain responsibilities and you will receive points for discharging your duties.

Grading: You will receive 2 points for your participation in the threaded discussion.  You must post twice: once answering my question and once responding to one of your classmate’s response.  You will receive one point for each if you have made a substantial contribution and proved you have read and reflected on the text.  You will receive grades for the work done in groups on the basis of your report.  You will also receive grades for each paper, and a separate grade for the presentation.  The presentation will be graded for the way you adapt your material to the purpose of presenting it to an audience.  Although it has the same content as paper 4, it counts as a separate assignment.  The missing assignments will be graded 0 and calculated as such.  It is therefore better to get a lower grade rather than not present the assignment at all. 

The grades will be weighted as follows:

Later assignments have more weight because they show what you have learned in the class as opposed to the early assignments, which show what you already know.

Schedule

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