1301 Syllabus (Fall 2008)
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Composition I: Civilization 101 PREREQUISITES / COURSE CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES /
SCHOLARLY STANDARDS
REQUIRED TEXTS / REQUIREMENTS / GRADING SCHEDULE / WITHDRAWL POLICY STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES / COURSE COMMUNICATION / COURSE SCHEDULE Prerequisites • Must be placed into college-level reading and college-level writing by appropriate testing results • Completion of appropriate Developmental English courses Course Content and Objectives  “I don’t see why I have to take all these classes. I mean, when in the real world will I need chemistry, calculus, or the English language?” – Buffy the Vampire Slayer English 1301 is a course devoted to improving student writing and critical reading. The course emphasizes the writing process from initial idea to final revision and includes instruction on writing various forms of academic essays. Students will be introduced to argumentation, critical analysis, and the use of sources. Secondarily, students will be trained in writing across many disciplinary subjects necessary for collegiate success and success in vocational fields. As a tertiary concern, this course seeks to evaluate the role of higher education in helping students develop ethical, moral, and rational faculties necessary for their informed participation as citizens and members of the human race. Scholarly Standards Scholarly standards are those established in the course but universally followed in college-level scholarship. One purpose of course lectures, presentations, and discussions is to demonstrate college-level academics. These standards are better learned in class than from any manual. The college writing standard ought to be well known and specifically employs The New McGraw-Hill Handbook, for correct English expository style. The English department further authorizes students to use the MLA parenthetical citation method for scholarly form. Any work that falls beneath the college, departmental, and course standards is unacceptable. The college has a code that regulates academic ethics. While the code is self-evident, there is one ethical question that needs be addressed here. Plagiarism is epidemic in higher education. It is a serious academic offense to plagiarize, i.e., to commit academic theft by presenting the ideas or words of another as though they were one’s own, and therefore pains must be taken to indicate borrowed ideas by endnotes, and borrowed phraseology by endnotes and quotation marks. Again, it is the student’s responsibility to know what constitutes plagiarism. If the code and the guidance here are insufficient, The New McGraw-Hill Handbook (p. 341) has an excellent description with helpful examples. If questions about plagiarism remain, it would be best to consult the instructor before submitting any assignment for evaluation. Any work deemed plagiarized will result in a zero on the assignment and the assignment may not be redone or made up in any way. The instructor stresses her belief that plagiarism not only violates the rules of the university and injures the integrity of higher education at large but is also immoral. Required Texts • Peterson, Brereton, and Hartman. The Norton Reader. Twelfth edn. (New York and London: W.W. Norton and Co., 2008). • Maimon, Peritz, and Yancey. The New McGraw-Hill Handbook. (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007). Recommended Texts • Strunk and White. The Elements of Style. Fourth edn. (New York: Longman, 2000). • Adler and Van Doren. How to Read a Book. (New York: Touchstone, 1972). Requirements Formal Essays. Students will be asked to write three 3–5 page essays. More details on these assignments will come later. Timed Essays Examinations. Students will take three timed essay examinations based on assigned readings. Final Examination. Students will take a cumulative final examination. No student may pass the course without completing this exam. The exam will be dopne completely online. Assignments. Frequently, the instructor will provide students with a question about the readings or course tasks, which students must answer in the form of a one 80-120 word-written paragraph. Students will complete ten of the 15 responses (or the lowest five grades will be dropped). No assignments may be handed in late. Quizzes. Weekly quizzes are administered to ensure that students keep up with assigned readings and with the professorial presentations. Students will complete eight of the ten quizzes (or the lowest two grades will be dropped). Participation, Attendance, and Lateness. (1) Student contributions to class discussions are vital to the learning environment. Frequent participation will be taken into account in the final grading. (2) Attendance is mandatory. More than four absences will result in the instructor withdrawing the student from the class. No exceptions can or will be made to this rule. Do not request an exception. (3) A lateness of even 5 or 10 minutes eats up significant, important time that needs to be spent on the business of learning. Traffic is a perennial problem in Houston and indeed in all major U.S. cities. One or two latenesses are permissible (and probably inevitable). More than two signal potential problems. Every third lateness counts as an absence. Grading Schedule Listed below is the weight that will be given to the particular assignments detailed in the section above and the instructor’s conception of the meaning of lettered grades. In fairness, the instructor has provided the range of scholarly opportunities so as to prevent penalizing any student for some extraneous personality trait like shyness, or illness or fatigue on some particular occasion. The instructor’s practice of grading is at a high academic standard and scrupulously fair.
Withdrawl Policy As of Fall 2007, the Texas legislature has instituted a new policy governing all community colleges in Texas. The new regulations require that all student-initiated or administrative “withdrawls” must be recorded on or before the official college “Withdrawl Date.” After that date, students dropping out of the course or not fulfilling course requirements may only be given an “F.” Individual professors have no discretion in this matter any more. Additionally, freshman entering college Fall 2007 onward are only allowed to have six “Withdrawls” total over the course of their academic careers. This rule does not apply to students enrolled previous to Fall 2007. Thus, if students are thinking about withdrawing from a course, it is important to discuss the implications of this choice with an academic advisor, as they now carry serious academic consequences. Students with Disabilities The Americans with Disabilities Act requires all places of business and employment, all government agencies, and all educational institutions to make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. Students with disabilities—whether those disabilities be physical handicaps or learning disabilities—are encouraged to discuss immediately any and all difficulties or potential difficulties in the course with this instructor (who is herself disabled) and with all their instructors more generally. To facilitate any necessary accommodations, students must contact their appropriate Distance Education counselors. Course Communication Professor Schweitzer will be available for general consultation in FAC 206 during the following open office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays from11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Also, appointments for extraordinary office hours can be made if these times conflict with the student’s schedule. Although I plan to be in FAC 206 during those hours, I may run around campus or up to the main English Department office. So, it might be beneficial to notify me if you intend to drop by during my office hours. If I am not in my office, try the main English Department office. If a student should encounter problems with the course, he or she ought immediately to inform the instructor before or after class, during office hours, by note, phone (713-869-1519, between 9 am and 10 pm), or e-mail (via Blackboard or corie.schweitzer@hccs.edu). The instructor encourages students to communicate with her about this course and any other important matters. Also, any student who encounters difficulties in the class, in his or her studies in general, or with the larger academic institution, should immediately inform me so that we may try together to overcome them. The instructor’s objective in teaching is to educate students at a high academic standard, that is, to equip students intellectually and empower them to think critically and to read and write correctly and well both in English courses and in college more generally. What students learn in this course ought to be relevant to other courses and to their lives. The instructor’s objective is, in sum, Socratic. Consequently, the instructor implores students to engage in dialogue with her inside and outside of class. Teaching is not the instructor’s occupation but her vocation. Course Schedule
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