Dr. Lea Masiello ENGL 101 Fall 2009
Please refer to this syllabus daily as we proceed through the term.
You will find information about requirements and expectations, course design and
purpose, writing assessment and grading, and a daily schedule.
Required Texts: You must purchase all of these books during the first
week of classes. Your first reading assignments are for Friday, Sept. 4.
Lundsford, Andrea. Easy Writer, A Pocket Reference. Third Edition. Bedford St. Martin’s, 2007.
Cohen, Samuel. 50 Essays. A Portable Anthology. Second Edition. Bedford St. Martin’s, 2007.
Lieske, Mindee R., editor. The Crimson Quill. A Collection of IUP Student Writing
General Course objectives. I hope that through this course, you
will learn to think critically when you write, speak, and read, and how to solve
problems in reading, writing, and speaking assignments.
Specific Course Objectives: The work in this course should lead you to
develop your abilities to write a variety of forms of prose, including
narration, description, and analysis. You should also develop your awareness of
writing for a variety of audiences. I expect that you will develop your
abilities to draft, revise, and edit your work. You should also improve
your critical reading skills and develop your understanding of the conferencing
and revision processes, including giving and receiving responses to and from
peers. Finally, you should learn about the elements of writing, including these:
1.choosing topics effectively;
2. organizing your ideas clearly;
3. choosing and crafting an effective voice;
4. developing your ideas through effective paragraph arrangement and
development;
5. using supporting details, examples, explanations, and information;
6. shaping a thesis statement, introductions and conclusions; varying sentence
structure and word choice;
7. following standard conventions for spelling, punctuation, grammar, mechanics,
and usage.
8. integrating research into your own prose, using parenthetical citations
accurately, and creating an accurate Works Cited page.
Attendance: Required. You may miss three classes without penalty to your final grade. Absences beyond three may result in the loss of up to ten points per absence from your overall final grade. There will not be any make-up work or extra credit work.
Public Speaking/ Participation: Required. I expect you to be fully present during the entire class and participate in all class activities. Participation is assessed through your work in class, including contributions to small-group activities, whole-class discussions, and peer review sessions.
Assistance: I encourage you to take advantage of the support available through the IUP Writing Center, located in 218 Eicher Hall. You will find the tutors who work there friendly, helpful, and insightful.
Please do not allow anyone to write on your draft or make any kinds of changes to your work; this kind of "help" is a form of plagiarism. The tutors at the IUP Writing Center know how to lead you towards discovering the kinds of revisions that you want to make to improve your essay—they will not lead you into a plagiarized assignment. Similarly, avoid having your roommates or relatives give you assistance on your essays, including asking them to proofread or edit your work.
What is expected of you during a Writing Center visit?
Follow these guidelines for effective tutorial help.
1. Come prepared to work. Bring your questions, your books, your early draft and
other materials.
2. Identify problems you are having with your writing.
3. Allow enough time to have a productive conversation and spend time
writing.
4. PLAN AHEAD. Decide the days and times of your visits to the Writing
Center and write them in on your calendar.
ASSIGNMENTS
Summary of assignments and points:
General Guidelines for Your Work
I will not accept work to be graded if you did not participate in peer
review sessions, online conferences with me, individual "office" conferences, or
Writing Center tutorials. If you have more than 10 errors on your first page, I
will return the work to you so that you can attend more fully to proofreading
before I grade your work; until you return it to me, I’ll record a grade of R
(rewrite), without any points. Final drafts must be typed, double-spaced, with
one inch margins on all sides, with your name on the top right corner. Cover
pages are optional. Please use a regular 12 point font, Times New Roman.
Remember to put your name on your work and to staple pages together.
Assignments: Detailed Information
Each folder will include a reflective letter that you will write in class the day that you turn in the project.
1. Two Freewriting Folders. 110 points each, total 220
points. We will begin most classes by freewriting in response to essays and on
topics of your choice. You should save all freewriting work in folders on a
thumb drive, to your H drive, and in your email account or other digital account
(such as in Google documents, available free at docs.google.com, with a gmail
account). These two folders will consist of the freewriting you do in class as
well as the summaries and commentaries that you write outside of class. Each
folder will also include one revised piece --the first an essay, and the second,
a summary/commentary. You may substitute writing about a public speech event
(such as Six O'Clock Series, for example) for one reading per folder. You may
substitute writing about one Fine Arts event for one reading per folder, also.
I will want to approve your choice of events ahead of time, so please discuss
your plans with me before writing a response. I will check your Folders twice
with one day's notice to make sure that you are keeping up with your writing and
assign points for these preliminary assessments. You can expect two preliminary
assessments per folder. Guidelines
for Revising the Summary/Commentary.
Directions for ALL Summaries and Commentaries: We will write some of the
summaries and commentaries in class, and you will write some outside of class.
These will all go into your Freewriting Folders (1 or 2) Follow this format when
writing a response to a reading selection. Each summary and commentary, whether
written in class or out of class, will be about two pages in length, typed,
double-spaced, but with no extra empty lines. Remember to use headings for the
components listed here:
I. Date of your writing.
Title of reading.
Author of reading.
II. A brief summary of the article. Identify the key ideas in the work.
III. Your commentary about the ideas in the reading. State your opinion about
the author’s key ideas and explain your ideas. Be specific about your
opinion—explain how and why you feel the way you do. You should bring in
personal observations, experiences, or ideas as relevant to your explanations.
IV. List two quotations from the work that you think are interesting,
significant, difficult to understand, or nicely expressed. Explain why you have
chosen these sentences. Write at least one paragraph in response to each
quotation. Identify the page number parenthetically for each quotation.
2. One Research Folder. This project will include some research so that we can explore in-text parenthetical citation form, form for a Works Cited page, and the careful use of quotations and paraphrases. You must turn in copies of your research materials with your final project. This project will include these components: one summary/commentary in response to one article (20 points), one summary/commentary in response to one related reading from 5E (20 points), an overview/analytical essay on your topic, and a Works Cited page (60 points for essay, including works cited page). All early draft materials and review worksheets should also be in this folder. 100 points
3. Assessment Folder (named in the syllabus as a portfolio). 40 points: You will assemble a portfolio of your work from the semester, choosing one selection from your writing all semester to showcase the development of your writing abilities. This portfolio will be used by the English Department in reviewing learning outcomes for all students taking ENGL 101. As part of this portfolio you will write a reflective letter in which you discuss your writing process and products and comment on the development of your knowledge and skills through this course.
4. Participation. Your participation grade reflects your class attendance, your attendance at individually scheduled conferences with me (at least 2 over the course of the semester), your involvement in class activities, contributions to learning, and overall effort in the course, including some in-class writing activities. You will lose around ten points per absence beyond three absences, depending upon semester conditions (include weather cancellations, flu epidemics). 40 points
Final Exam Period: Your Assessment Portfolio is due on the day and time of the final exam. You must turn it in by the end of the exam hour.
Grading Scale for Final Course Grade. As your instructor of record, I am the only person who can assign final grades to you.
Total points possible: 400
A: 360-400
B: 320-359
C: 279-319
D: 238-278
Below 238—F
Assessment. I will provide responses to your writing while you are
drafting and revising. I will also assess your final drafts very thoroughly,
using a clear rubric, so that you can continue to revise and improve your work.
I will base point distribution for each essay according to the material
discussed in class up to and including the due date of the essay.
I will assess all of your work through a consideration of these elements:
1. Focus: Clear, purposeful and focused presentation of main and
supporting ideas throughout the writing. Most writing will have an analytical
thesis that you support with your own opinion.
2. Voice and clarity: You have used an appropriate tone for the
purpose and audience of the work, and you have used language accurately,
effectively, clearly and correctly. Spelling, punctuation, grammar, usage, and
typeface conventions all count.
3. Organization: Your essay should be easy to follow and it should be
convincing because you use topic sentences and arrange your paragraphs in a
meaningful and logical sequence.
4. Development: You explain your ideas thoroughly, using appropriate
strategies of development, such as illustration, examples, narration,
argumentation, description and explanation.
5. Intellectual depth: your ideas are appropriate for college level
consideration, and you have presented them in interesting and thoughtful manner,
with originality and insight.
6. Research materials. This category is only relevant for the Research Folder. I will assess the credibility, currency, and relevancy of your sources, as well as your accuracy in using parenthetical citations and in compiling a Works Cited page.
Some Excellent Student Writing Follow this link for some examples of excellent student writing.
Classroom Civility: I will follow IUP guidelines about civility. I intend to treat everyone in the class with respect, dignity, tolerance, patience, good humor, and kindness. I expect that you will treat each other this way, too. There is no place in the college classroom for any kind of intolerance, rudeness, objectionable language, or disrespect of any kind. I will talk with you individually about any behavior which has a negative effect on the overall classroom environment. Because it is disrespectful to your instructor and your classmates to have cell phones in use during class for any reason, turn off all electronic devices BEFORE class begins.
STATEMENT ON PLAGIARISM. I will follow the IUP guidelines for responding to plagiarism. We will discuss these in class, and you are responsible for understanding IUP’s policies on plagiarism.
Important Due Dates
10/5 First Freewriting Folder . Expect two preliminary assessments
before this date.
Assessment Rubric.
11/4 Second Freewriting Folder . Expect two preliminary assessments before this
date. Guidelines for revising your
Summary/Commentary.
Assessment Rubric
12/2 Research Folder
Guidelines
Assessment Portfolio—Final Exam
9:05am M W F Wednesday, December 16 8:00am - 10:00am
10:10am M W F Friday, December 18 10:15am - 12:15pm
11:15am M W F Wednesday, December 16 10:15am - 12:15pm
Daily Schedule
Note: 1) Reading assignments and dates of writing assignments
may change as we proceed through the semester. It is your responsibility to keep
up with any changes that I announce in class, send through IUP email, or post on
the website version of the syllabus. I may make other reading assignments from
50 Essays , The Crimson Quill and easy Writer as we proceed
through the semester.
5E: 50 Essays. Bring 50 Essays and easy Writer to class every
day. Bring Crimson Quill to class only on days as assigned below.
Week One
August 31 General Course overview. In-class freewriting. Plan for Weds
writing. Begin first freewriting folder project.
Notes from today's class.
9/2 Getting to know you: write introductory statements, giving an extended description of an aspect of yourself. Put this writing in your First freewriting folder. Class plan for today.
9/4 Readings: from 5E: Angelou (16), Rose (350). In-class writing of first summary/commentary. Class activity. Assignments for Weds
Week Two
9/7 Labor Day holiday. No class
9/9 Assignments due today Readings from 5E: Anzaldua (43), Bryson (93). Write a summary/commentary at home for today in response to one of these readings. Continue working on freewriting folder 1. Class plan. Class notes: an introduction to the modes of discourse, voice, and argumentation. Assessment form for the preliminary review of work handed in today.
9/11 No class. English department retreat. Do fifteen minutes of freewriting on your own today. You can use any of the topics listed in the class plan link for 9/9 or you can create your own. Write a summary/commentary on your own in response to a news item of your choice from today's New York Times. Follow this link to The New York Times online. www.nytimes.com
Week Three
9/14 Class plan. For Weds: think about this--what is in your "writer's toolbox" at this point? This week, we'll talk about the tools you're developing. For today, think about "one thing," that is, make each paragraph about "one thing" in depth. When you get your work back from me, look at your paragraphs: identify one that really is about one thing in depth. Identify one that is about many things superficially. Readings from 5E: Carter (104), Hurston (206). Write a summary/commentary at home for today in response to one of these readings. Continue freewriting folder 1.
9/16 Go directly to the Writing Center in 218 Eicher Hall for class today. Readings from Quill: Albright, (4), Scully (6) Continue freewriting folder1 (#1 on Class plan). Class Plan.
9/18 Readings from 5E: Mairs (206), Sedaris (378). Write a summary/commentary at home for today in response to one of these readings. Class plan. Continue freewriting folder
Week Four. 9/21 Do these readings for today: from 50 Essays: YOUR CHOICE! Walker (441). For today, write a summary/commentary at home for today in response to one of these readings. Continue freewriting folder 1. Class plan Elements to think about when revising your freewriting into an essay.
9/23 No writing is due for today! We will discuss the first
essay. Bring in your choice of work from the semester so far for your revised
essay. You must bring in a printed copy. Readings from Quill: Arter (10), Hooi Ee (13). Continue
freewriting folder 1. Revision planning guide.
Writer's toolbox list.
Class plan.
Why we read...in college.
9/25 For today: work on revised essay.
Freewriting ideas.
Class plan.
Information about
turning in the First Freewriting Folder on Oct. 5th.
For Monday's class (Sept. 28)
Reminder: You may substitute writing about a public speech event (such as Six O'Clock Series, for example) for one reading per folder. You may substitute writing about one Fine Arts event for one reading per folder, also. I will want to approve your choice of events ahead of time, so please discuss your plans with me before writing a response. You may also write a response to one of the documentaries on The National Parks. These documentaries are beginning Sunday, Sept. 27, at 8pm, on PBS channels. For more information about these documents, follow this link:
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/ For more information about our National Parks, visit either of these websites: www.nps.gov www.npca.org or www.npca.org/bestidea
Follow the link below for some examples of really good magazine writing and some interesting articles about a variety of topics--The Smithsonian Magazine.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Looking-for-Leonardo.html#
Week Five 9/28 Work on revising one piece. Readings from 5E: Alexie (11), Angier (29). Write a summary/commentary at home for today in response to one of these readings.We will discuss how to incorporate logos, ethos, and pathos into your essay. Class plan. Class notes about logos, ethos, and pathos. Read in easy Writer pages 20-31 (the section about making appeals as you develop your argument).
9/30 Readings from 5E: Baldwin (60), Barry (82). Write a summary/commentary at home for today in response to one of these readings. Work on revising one piece. How does a thesis work? Let's look at some sample essays. Look at the student essay on page 28-30 in easy Writer. Notice how the writer moves into her main idea within the first three paragraphs. Her thesis is the last sentence of the third paragraph. Log on to www.bedfordstmartins.com/easywriter Go to the Student Writing, and click on Argument Writing, then Emily Leske's Final Argument Essay (under MLA style argument writing, "Red, White, and Everywhere.")
Photos of Sherman Alexie: (as satire, some of them). How do these photos fit/not fit with the ethos he created in the essay, "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me"?
Stylistic Considerations Follow this link for some ideas about how to vary your sentence style to achieve greater coherence, clarity, voice, and "punch."
http://www.flixster.com/actor/sherman-alexie-photos
10/2 Readings from 5E: Cooper (120), Hughes (203). Write a summary/commentary at home for today in response to one of these readings. Work on revising one piece. We'll do a peer exchange today so make sure that you have a full revised draft today (printed or electronic) for a classmate to read. Some delicious writing to study for examples of sentence variation. Look at sample essays. www.bedfordstmartins.com/easywriter Peer exchange and discussion.
Week Six. 10/5. First Freewriting Folder due today at the beginning of class. Write the reflective letter in class.
You must have your work completely printed out before class begins. Staple all pages together. Check out the assessment rubric so that you hand in all your work. Use the rubric to help you review your essay and make final revisions. Please remember to include with your revised essay as many of your early and middle drafts (and at least the original writing) of the essay. Assemble your work in order of the assessment rubric: 1)freewriting, from earliest to latest; 2) summaries and commentaries, from earliest to latest; 3)revised essay, with the final version on top, and all early drafts underneath.
10/7. Go directly to the Center for Well Being for class today. Readings from 5E: Kingston (238), Mukherjee (298), Rodriguez (326), Staples (404). Write a summary/commentary at home for today in response to one of these readings and TURN IT IN TODAY. From today on, all summaries/commentaries will be due in class on the day that the reading/writing is assigned.
10/9 No class. Breathe!!! Freewrite on your own on a topic of your choice. Suggestion (you may choose to do this activity in groups of 2 or 3, dividing up the categories you are observing) : sharpen your observational and analytical skills by positioning yourself somewhere on campus where a lot of people congregate. Determine categories (focusing your observations) to observe--for example clothing, piercings, things people carry, the way people greet each other, styles of conversation, use of cell phones. Make columns or separate pages to record your observations by category. Take notes (collect logos) on the people you see passing by. Analyze your "data": what common features do you note in your categories? Can you make any generalizations about these particular kinds of behavior at IUP? What differences seem particularly "marked" or striking to you? What do these differences indicate to you about the nature of our student population?
Week Seven. 10/12 Readings from 5E: Thoreau (424), Tan (417), Vowell (433). Write a summary/commentary at home for today in response to one of these readings and TURN IT IN TODAY. Freewriting Folder 2. NO MORE SUMMARIES/COMMENTARIES!
DO NOT DO ANY SUMMARIES/COMMENTARIES IN RESPONSE TO ESSAYS FROM THE CRIMSON QUILL
10/14 Readings from Quill: Erwin (15), Mesko (18). Freewriting Folder 2. Class activity.
10/16 Class plan. Readings from Quill: Adams (22), Litzenberger (24), Love (26). (Extended) Freewriting Folder 2. Punctuation as Rhetorical Discuss revision of one summary/commentary of your choice for the Second Folder. Student collaborative writing about Thoreau and Vowell.
Week Eight 10/19 Catch up day on all Quill readings! Readings from Quill: Brown (30), Gangwer (33). We'll work in small groups again to do more collaborative writing in response to essays from the Quill. Be prepared to identify your favorite piece so far and explain what you like about it; also, consider what you would tell the writer to work on for a revision. Class plan. Guidelines for revising your summary/commentary.
10/21 Be sure to have the s/c electronically in class today so that you can work on it. Work on Revised summary/commentary for Freewriting Folder 2. Planning worksheet. No freewriting today. Class plan. Group paragraphs about your favorite Quill essays.
10/23 No class. Go to the Writing Center; email me your draft of your revised s/c. No freewriting assignment for today.
Week Nine 10/26 Work on Revised summary/commentary for
Freewriting Folder 2 . Completed draft due in class today for peer discussion.
Class plan.
Revision Guide/Peer
exchange worksheet.
10/28 . Readings from 5E: Ascher (56), Bordo (85). Keep in mind that you will be
choosing two readings from 10/28 to 11/18 for s/c for your Research Folder. Work
on Revised summary/commentary for Freewriting Folder 2.
Class plan
Small-group activity
on difficult readings.
10/30 Readings from 5E Jefferson (211), Malcolm X ( 281). Work on Revised summary/commentary for Freewriting Folder 2. Groups' findings on reading strategies. Checklist for revised essay. Checklist for entire Folder. Class Plan Discussion: Intellectual Honesty
Week Ten 11/2 Readings from 5E : Stanton (400), White (450), Momaday (291), Sanders (369). Freewriting: Contemporary Issues that interest you. In-class revision activities. Be sure to include today's FW and this revision activity in your folder on Weds.
11/4 .Second Freewriting Folder due at the beginning of class. Write reflective letter in class.
11/6 No class. Do these readings: Readings from 5E: Douglass (144), Ericsson (174). Begin Research Folder. Friday freewriting. Remember to save your freewriting in a new folder, labeled Portfolio Three.
Week Eleven 11/9 Freewriting activity. Readings from 5E: Buckley (97), Didion (131). Discuss Assessment portfolio. Begin class activity on writing introductory paragraphs with analytical thesis statements. For Weds: bring a printed copy of your freewriting from Friday Nov 6 on freedom. Read the class activity link above in preparation for Weds class. Find a good concluding paragraph in essays from The Quill or from 50 Essays. You do NOT need to do any writing assignments for Weds or for Friday. All freewriting work this week is designed to help you determine a good topic for your third portfolio (the requirements for which I am going to abbreviate).
11/11 Readings from 5E: Dillard (139), Ehrenreich (151). Work on Research Folder.
11/13 Intentional Rereading activity for today: Reread the essay, "The Ways we Lie" (174) so that you will be prepared to discuss these questions in class: How do you define honesty? When does one's conscience kick in? Gender and Lying: who feels more guilty, men or women, and why? "When someone lies, someone loses" (175)--do you agree or disagree and why? Small-group activity. Collaborative paragraphs on lying.
Readings from 5E: Eighner (161), Hearne (192). Work on Research Folder
New Growth Arts Review Writing Contest Announcement
Week Twelve 11/16. Freewrite on your chosen topic for the research portfolio. Work on Research Folder. Readings from 5E:King (220), Orwell (302). The Crimson Quill announcements. Assignments: one essay from 50 Essays per person: list possible research topics that could relate to that essay.
11/18 Work on Research Folder. Readings from 5E: Singer (384), Winn (457). Conduct research; start summary and commentary on one article you find related to the topic you have chosen for your research portfolio. Guidelines for the Third Portfolio. Today's writing prompts. More practice with sentence variation by studying commas...
11/ 20 Class plan.
Thanksgiving Break 11/23-27. Write one summary/commentary over break for today in response to one of the assigned readings from 10/28 to 11/18. This is due in class on Monday, 11/30.
Week Thirteen 11/30 Turn in one summary/commentary today in response to one of the assigned readings from 10/28 to
12/2 Work on research essay
12/4 Turn in one summary and commentary of an article from the IUP Library databases.
Week Fourteen 12/7. Draft of essay due in class today for peer review.
12/9 Revise Essay. Send an electronic copy to me for review no later than Weds midnight. I will only respond to those drafts I can read Thursday morning.
12/11 Work on Assessment Portfolio.
Week Fifteen
12/14 Final Draft Research Folder due: turn in a portfolio with these components: Freewriting from this portfolio's dates; one summary/commentary from your research; one summary/commentary from 50 Essays collection; one revised essay. Work on Assessment Portfolio.
Final exam period: The assessment portfolio is due no later than the ending time of your class’s scheduled exam period. I will be in the classroom for the full exam period; you may come and work on it during this timeframe.
9:05am M W F Wednesday, December 16 8:00am - 10:00am
10:10am M W F Friday, December 18 10:15am - 12:15pm
11:15am M W F Wednesday, December 16 10:15am - 12:15pm