English 100 Outline

                        
              COURSE OUTLINE FOR ENGLISH 100--EXPOSITORY WRITING
                        LEEWARD COMMUNITY COLLEGE

INSTRUCTOR: Dayle K. Turner (click to find out about Dayle)

OFFICE LOCATION: LA 206

OFFICE PHONE: 455-0258

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Practice in writing clear, effective university-level prose. Attention to all stages of the writing process--generating ideas, drafting, revising, and editing. Prerequisites: Placement test score of 77 or higher on Form E of the Nelson-Denny Reading Test or grade C or higher in English 22 or approval from the Language Arts Division.

CREDIT HOURS: 03

REQUIRED TEXT FOR THE COURSE:

Kennedy, X.J., Dorothy M. Kennedy and Sylvia A. Hollady.
The Bedford Guide for College Writers (Fourth Edition).
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.

RECOMMENDED: A college dictionary and a thesaurus.

I. What is English 100 about?

This course is designed to help you develop your writing so that you'll be able to tackle writing tasks in college, on the job, and in other facets of your life. You'll be assigned a number of projects to help you strengthen your ability to write in different contexts and for different audiences. You'll also learn to do research using both the library and the Internet and to give credit to the writers of the sources you use so that you avoid plagiarism.

II. What specifically is this class going to be like?

Our classmeetings will take several forms. Some sessions will be lectures and class discussions while others will be conducted as workshops where you will be sharing your ideas and writing with each other. At other times you will be working in groups or individually on timed writing sessions or on other writing exercises, quizzes and miscellaneous tasks. Many activities will be computer-based. What's more, I will designate one or two class meetings to meet you for individual conferences. The bottom line is this: you'll be quite busy in this class, but I hope to create a fun and enlightening learning environment.

III. If you successfully complete this course, what should you be able to do? (Course Objectives)

A. Use strategies to help you generate ideas to write about.
B. Spot and correct errors in your writing.
C. Use thesis and topic sentences.
D. Arrange ideas in your writing in a logical manner.
E. Recognize who you are writing to and write effectively to that reader or readers.
F. Use transitions effectively.
G. Use strategies when writing under a time constraint.
H. Find, use and document print materials as sources.
I. Produce papers in current Modern Language Association format.
J. Communicate effectively with the instructor and peers using email.
K. Use a computer to complete and submit several class assignments.

IV. WHAT ARE THE ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE CLASS?

A. OUT OF CLASS ESSAYS (850 points)

You have five of these which are worth a total of 1/2 of your final grade. Except for essay 5, each may be rewritten once if submitted on time. The essays and possible points for them are as follows:

Essay 1: (150 pts)
Essay 2: (150 pts)
Essay 3: (150 pts)
Essay 4: (150 pts)
Essay 5: Research Writing (250 pts)

Essays not submitted by announced due dates will have 10% of the possible points deducted and will be accepted no later than the beginning of the class meeting after it was due. Late essays may not be rewritten.

B. SHARING DAYS (100 points)

Students will receive points for attending and participating in sharing activities related to the out-of-class essays. Students will receive 10 points for being present with an adequately written draft on designated days. For each sharing day missed via absence or lack of a draft, students will have 5% deducted from their final essay score, and the opportunity to rewrite will be forfeited. In addition, students who do not bring a draft to class for sharing days will be asked to leave and marked absent.

C. JOURNAL WRITING (75 points)

Fifteen (15) entries to be done in class or via email. Journal entries may be responses to questions the instructor raises in class, or they may be warmup exercises for another assignment. Entries are not corrected for grammar, usage, spelling or content. Each entry, usually half a handwritten page, can earn five (5) points for a possible total of 75 points. These cannot be made up.

D. QUIZZES (250 POINTS)

Five (5) quizzes, each worth a possible 50 points, will be administered. Quizzes are designed to help improve your editing skills. Points are awarded based on the following scale:

100-90% = A = 50 pts
89-80% = B = 40 pts
79-70% = C = 30 pts
69-60% = D = 10 pts
59- 0% = F = 0 pts

Each quiz may be retaken once. If absent on the day of a quiz, a student will be given Form B and no retake can be taken.

E. EXERCISES (125 points)

Five (5) exercises, each worth a possible 25 points, will be assigned and may include topics such as the course outline, subject/verb identification, sentence combining, works cited, punctuation, avoiding plagiarism, paraphrasing, avoiding wordiness, and word choice. Late work will lose ten percent of the possible points and must be submitted no later than the beginning of the class session after it was due.

F. TIMED IN-CLASS ESSAYS (100 pts)

Four of these will be administered and are meant to give students practice in writing under a time constraint. Each is worth 50 points and will graded on an all or nothing basis. Students may earn credit for a maximum of two of these. No retakes given.

G. LIBRARY UNITS (60 pts)

This is individualized unit available in the LCC library. One retake will be allowed. You will receive points based on the following scale:

100-90% = A = 20 pts
89-80% = B = 16 pts
79-70% = C = 14 pts
69-60% = D = 10 pts
59- 0% = F = 0 pts

H. Summary/Reaction (100 pts)

Five of these 20-point assignments will be given. For this, students will summarize a journal or newspaper article and offer a reaction to it.

V. HOW WILL YOU BE GRADED?

To form the course grade, all the points earned will be added up and converted to a percentage of possible points.

A = 90-100%
B = 80-89%
C = 70-79%
D = 60-69%
N = less than 60% but with a sustained effort.
F = less than 60%

VI. WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU KNOW?

A. Roll will be taken and students who amass five absences can earn no higher than a "C" for the course, regardless of total points earned. Students with seven absences can earn no higher than a "D", and students with nine absences will be assigned an "F" grade. B. Be on time for class! Students who arrive after the scheduled starting time will be "locked out" and marked absent.

C. Be honest! Cheating and plagiarism may result in a penalty as severe as expulsion from the University. See the LCC student conduct code for specifics.

D. Out-of-class essays and other specified assignments submitted to the instructor must be typed or word-processed according to standard MLA manuscript form: double-spaced, one inch margins, proper headings, and so forth.

E. I will help you. Whenever you have a question, ask it; whenever you need assistance, seek me out.

F. Your essays are considered "public property." In other words, your essays will be shared in a small group setting with classmates and selected essays will be made available for public perusal and classroom discussion at various times during the semester.

G. Late policy: A late assignment is one that is not submitted by THE START OF CLASS. To be considered for points, late assignments must be submitted no later than the start of the next class meeting after it is due. Assignments turned in after that will receive no credit.

H. You need no computer background for this course, although some experience will be helpful.

I. A few extra credit assignments may be offered during the semester.

Return to Eng 100 Page | Return to Dayle's Home Page | Email Dayle