Composition II Instructor:
Summer 2008 email: hardin@columbiastate.edu
Office: 219 Clement Phone: 540-2776 (Office) 388-7278 (Home)
web page: http://www.jhardin.columbiastate.edu
email: hardin@columbiastate.edu
Required Texts:
Current Issues and Enduring
Questions.
The Content of Our Character: A
New Vision of Race in
The Gutenberg Elegies, Sven Birkerts.
Course
Description:
This course focuses on writing and evaluating argumentative
essays. Students will read and discuss
rhetorical techniques used in persuasive writing and will apply argumentative
techniques in a research paper.
Student
Responsibilities:
1. Attendance is required. If it becomes necessary for you to be absent from class for an extended period of time, you should withdraw and take the course over another semester. Do not simply stop attending, as your grade must be an “F” which will affect your grade point average, should you ever resume your studies.
2. Make-up work (essays only) must be turned in no later
than two class periods (the next class period in summer) after the date
due. Papers are due at the beginning of class on the due date. ALL LATE PAPERS WILL BE PENALIZED ONE GRADE
LETTER. There will be no make-up for in-class writings or quizzes.
3. Contact the instructor if there is a grade error or if help is needed. See phone numbers above.
4. The student must keep up with all reading assignments and take adequate notes on lectures and/or class discussions.
5. Outside reading assignments are to be completed as assigned by the instructor.
6. Students must complete the theme folder (a collection of the semester’s graded work) and turn it in at the end of the semester.
7. Each student is responsible for providing notice of any disability requiring special accommodation. Such notice may be provided to the instructor or to the College’s Director of Counseling. Students requesting such accommodation are encouraged to provide notice at the beginning of the semester.
Student
Conduct
1. Academic Integrity: Refer to the Student Handbook and to the College Catalog.
2. Students should behave appropriately in the classroom. Students should refrain from talk unrelated to class discussions.
3. Students are expected to be on time for class.
4. Turn cell-phones and pagers off!
Course Objectives:
After completing the course, students should
become acquainted with the criteria necessary to determine cogency of an argument;
become familiar with rudimentary processes of analysis and evaluation;
understand and employ rhetorical techniques as well as the role of purpose and audience in
persuasive writing;
effectively write cogent and valid arguments;
and apply techniques of research
General
Guidelines:
1. Any late paper or other
assignment will be penalized 10%. When
other obligations (doctor’s appointments, court dates, car repairs, etc.)
arise, students should be prepared to turn work in on time, or early, in order
to avoid being penalized. Assignments
can be emailed if clearly identified as student work and if pasted into the
body of an email. No attachments
please.
2. All written work will
be graded according to a “Criteria for Grading” attached to this syllabus.
3. Students are expected
to arrive on time and stay for the entire class.
4. Excessive absences will
adversely affect a student’s grade.
Students who have missed more than 300 minutes of class will be required
to have a conference with the instructor.
5. If for some reason a
student stops attending class, he or she should withdraw or drop the course;
otherwise, a final grade of “F” will result.
6. There are no rewrites
permitted for written work (quizzes or in-class writing assignments) missed
because of absences or tardiness.
7. Essays that are more
than a week late (one class period in summer) will not be accepted.
8. Food, drink, or the use
of tobacco are prohibited in the classroom as are disruptive conversations,
rude behavior or remarks, and foul language.
Disability Services: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, students are encouraged to register with the office of Counseling/Disability Services for possible assistance with accommodations. It is the student's responsibility to voluntarily and confidentially provide appropriate documentation regarding the nature and extent of a disability. Students requesting special accommodation are strongly encouraged to contact the office of Counseling/Disability Services at the beginning of the semester.
The Academic Success Center offers tutoring free of charge
for all students enrolled at
Required Assignments:
Four essays @ 100 points = 400 points
Research paper @ 200 = 200
“
Reading quizzes and assignments = 200
“
Final Exam = 200
“
---------------
1000
points
Grading Scale: 90--100% A
80--89% B
70--79% C
60--69% D
0--59% F
Standards for
Evaluating Written Work
Grades for essays
written in English composition courses range from A to F. Essays are evaluated according to the
criteria given below:
The grade of A means that the essay demonstrates superior writing skills at the college freshman level. The A essay demonstrates finesse in style and originality of thought, with ideas that are clear, logical, thought-provoking, and insightful. In addition, the A essay demonstrates all the positive qualities listed below:
1. Successful achievement of a clear purpose
2. Fully developed ideas through the use of specific details
3. Carefully organized ideas, sentences, and paragraphs
4. Effective use of language, including correct grammar and mechanics
5. Correct use of MLA documentation when required
A is the grade awarded to clearly superior writing in freshman composition.
The grade of B
means that the essay demonstrates strong
writing skills at the college freshman level.
The B essay is logically organized, and its ideas are fully
developed. It contains few or no serious
grammatical errors, but the B essay does not sustain the skillful style and
original thought that characterizes the A essay. B is the grade awarded to above-average
writing in freshman composition.
The grade of C means that the essay demonstrates competent writing skills at the college freshman level. The C essay is fairly well organized and manages to covey its purpose to the reader. The essay lacks persistent serious grammatical errors. However, it does not exhibit the strength of thought and expression that would entitle it to an above-average grade. C is the average grade awarded in freshman composition.
The grade of D means that the essay demonstrates less than competent writing skills at the college level. Most D papers fail to convey the purpose of the paper and contain persistent serious grammatical and usage errors such as sentence fragments, comma splices or fused sentences, faulty subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement, faulty tense forms of verbs, and misspellings of commonly used words. With careful proofreading and better development of ideas, many D papers might merit the grade of C.
The grade of F means that the essay demonstrates unsatisfactory writing skills at the college freshman level. The essay shows a lack of purpose and fails to organize ideas and develop them acceptably. Most F papers contain persistent serious grammatical errors. In addition, a paper merits an F if it fails entirely to address the assigned topic or fails to conform to the specified length or format of the assignment.
General Grading Criteria
I. Structure (28
points)
Thesis (clear, thought-provoking, challenging, insightful) 12 points
Transitions 8
points
Unity/focus 8
points
II. Mechanics and Style: (Maximum
deduction of 40 points)
4 points for major errors
comma splice
fragment
run-on
subject/verb agreement
garbled syntax/incoherent sentence
2 points for minor errors
spelling
pronoun/antecedent agreement
omission of word
confusing one word for another
lack of apostrophe or misplaced apostrophe
person/number shift
wordiness
dangling modifier
misplaced modifier
faulty parallel structure
misused quotation marks
verb tense shift
comma needed for introductory material, etc.
coordination
subordination
poor word choice
awkwardness
III. Content and Development (maximum deduction of 32)
Use of adequate supporting details; use of specific and concrete details; originality of thought; awareness of audience, of opposing viewpoints; logical; following of instructions; adequate treatment of an issue