Syllabus
Kati J. Tilley, Graduate Assistant
Department of English
Western Washington University
Humanities 314
#(360) 708-6454
k_hallenbeck@hotmail.com

English 101 - Fall 2001
Section #42011
Class Meets:
• Tuesday in MH 162 from 12:00 - 2:00
• Thursdays in HU 104 from 12:00 - 2:00
Instructor's Office Hours: T/R 2:00 - 3:00

Text & Materials:

  • Reading Culture, Diana George and John Trimbur
  • The Transition to College Writing, Keith Hjortshoj
  • A 2" soft 3-ring binder
  • 2 IBM-compatable diskettes
  • an active Western e-mail account / universal login

Objectives:

The aim of English 101 is to help you begin to develop and practice the analytical, critical, and reflective habits of mind that will assist you with your work in the university and in the world. Our goal is to examine ways of composing and interacting with texts that will enable us to become reflective, active, and effective participants in the intellectual life of our culture. Our job is to first "complicate" our thinking and then to help one another "clarify" it! As we read and write, we will ask one another questions or introduce different perspectives to invite us to see our subjects (and ourselves) in new or more complex ways. Once we have begun to deepen our understanding of our subjects, our perspectives on them, we will work to find ways we can communicate our ideas effectively. You will gain practice in:

  • Developing a thoughtful and informed perspective on the subject at hand.
  • Examining the reasons for your thinking, and showing how or why you came to hold such a perspective.
  • Situating your perspective clearly in the context of other perspectives on the same or similar subjects.
  • Communicating your perspective clearly and effectively through written texts to your designated audience.

In English 101, you will have opportunities to:

  • Read and respond to intellectually stimulating texts.
  • Develop your thinking through a sequenced process of writing.
  • Use your own and others' perspectives for examining ideas.
  • Voice your valuable perspective in both written and spoken discussions.
  • Give and receive constructive criticism throughout the writing process.
  • Deepen your understanding of effective composition and conventions.

Presence, Preparation, and Participation:

English 101 is not a lecture course; it is a writing and reading course that requires your consistent and active engagement in class discussion, activities, and workshops. Writers seldom work completely in isolation all the time. It is important, at different stages of the writing and revising process, to share information, discuss strategies, and receive feedback. Throughout the quarter, you will work closely and collaboratively with your classmates reading and responding to each other's work. Everyone will benefit if you arrive prepared to engage in this type of work.

I and your classmates expect you to attend regularly and prepare thoughtfully for each class session. Late arrivals distract the rest of us who had the courtesy to arrive on time. Complete the assignments prior to our meeting and come to class ready to work, share, and listen.

Attendance Policy:

Excessive absences (for any reason, including sickness) or tardiness jeopardizes your progress in English 101 and will seriously affect your course grade. For every absence after the second, I deduct one letter grade from your final course grade. So, if your final grade is a B and you've missed four classes you will receive a C+ in the class. If you miss 5 classes or more you will have missed one quarter of the course and should consider withdrawing or risk failing. You have until the seventh week of the quarter to withdraw without penalty. I also keep track of late arrivals and count tardiness towards each individual's absence quota. Note: A missed conference counts as one absence.

Conferences:

You and I will meet at least 2 times to discuss your reading and writing in process. Please arrive on time for your appointment and bring your materials, ideas, and questions. Of course, you are welcome to visit with me during regular office hours and by scheduling additional appointments as your needs require. Please visit my online conferences page to view a completed version of the sign-up sheet.

Assignments:

English 101 is designed to offer you the chance to engage in critical inquiry through reading, writing, and discussing issues about reading, writing, and language. You will complete both informal and formal writing projects and are responsible for completing assignments by the date stated on the schedule. This quarter, you will complete the following assignments:

• Four Out-of-Class Essays w/ Drafts
• Notebook
• Final Portfolio

Essays:

You will complete 4 writing projects over the course of the quarter that are about 5-6 pages long. You will have opportunities to revise your best work for your portfolio at the term's end. You will examine your own writing processes, learn some important strategies for critically reading and evaluating work in progress, widen your definition of texts, and experience first hand what scholars and professional writers mean by revision.

Your writing projects will be shared regularly with me and your classmates, who will provide you with detailed, thoughtful, written and oral feedback. Sharing and responding brings your writing into a wider community of readers, allowing you to benefit from their insights, suggestions, questions, and experiences. We will talk more in class about how readers can provide helpful responses.

I expect that you will type, double-space, paginate, and staple all papers; use Times Roman 12 pt. or equivalent, and 1 inch margins. Sources, when used, must be documented according to MLA handbook format (resources: The Writing Center, or The Easy Writer). Submit both electronic and hard-copy drafts.

Notebook:

You will keep a notebook to record and organize your informal observations, responses to assigned readings and class discussions, in-class writes, notes, and assignments. The notebook will allow you to examine and reflect on your experiences and developments in the course. The notebook is an integral component of this class as it evolves into a writer's tool for developing ideas, topics of inquiry, questions, and materials to consider and use in your formal essays. Use the notebook to pose questions, workout the meaning of texts, observe and analyze the many "texts" around you, and to develop your thoughts. You will submit your notebook, with a cover memo, twice this quarter for feedback and evaluation.

You may want to decorate notebook covers to personalize your "space," so that it becomes a place you will want to visit regularly! Also, remember to type or handwrite entries on straightedge, loose-leaf paper, date and title each notebook entry, begin entries on new pages, and order sections chronologically. * Please take care if you do not type entries; I cannot read, respond to, or evaluate unintelligible handwriting.

Create dividers for the following sections in your notebook: Handouts, Style Presentations, In-Class Writing, Reading Responses, Reflective Commentaries, E-Dialogue Team Prompts, Peer Reviews, Essay Drafts, and Miscellaneous.

Final Portfolio:

Consider the final portfolio your final exam. Your Writing Portfolio will showcase the final draft of your Reflective Essay as well as one revised essay written during the course that you will, again, revise and polish for a final grade. As a whole, the work in your portfolio should demonstrate the range and quality of your critical thinking and writing in this course and should reflect the time, effort, and learning devoted to studying for a final exam.

Evaluation

We will spend a good deal of time discussing evaluation criteria for the work you do in this course. C- is the minimal grade you need to earn to receive general education credit for English 101. You will have many opportunities to make your work as strong and effective as possible before it receives a final grade. I use the following language designations to denote the quality of your work:

EXCEEDS (A range)
Exceeds requirements in thought & execution: A
Exceeds requirements in thought OR execution: A-

MEETS (B range)
Strongly meets requirements in thought & execution: B+
Meets requirements in thought & execution: B

MEETS/JUST MEETS (B-/C+ range)
Meets requirements in thought, but just meets in execution: B-
Meets requirements in execution but just meets in thought: C+

JUST MEETS (C range)
Just meets requirements in thought & execution: C

DOES NOT MEET (D/F range)
Does not meet requirements in thought OR execution: D
Does not meet requirements in thought & execution: F

Final Grades: Your grade in this course will be determined by your portfolio, your rhetorical presentation paper, and your notebook. Absences and late or missing work will affect your final grade as well. The Minimal requirements for each grade category are listed in the chart below.

Table 1. Minimal Requirements For Each Grade Category.

  Portfolio Rhetorical Presentation Notebook
"A" Range Grade: Exceeds Meets Meets
"B" Range Grade: Meets Just Meets Just Meets
"C" Range Grade: Just Meets Just Meets Just Meets

Late Work:

I do not accept late essays or drafts. Only drafts that you have submitted to me for credit and feedback are eligible for portfolios. Missing notebook sections or entries will result in a lower over-all grade for the notebook and will often seriously affect your ability to do well in the essays because you have missed the invention, writing, thinking, and revision assignments that lead to stronger formal essays.

If you know you will be absent, submit your work prior to the due date/time. Always discuss your circumstances with me as early as possible in order to avoid confusion or unnecessary penalties. Check with me about any information, assignments, or announcements you may have missed because of an absence.

The Writing Center:

The Writing Center is a free resource for all students at Western Washington University and will provide you with guidance at any stage of a writing project. In addition to books and handouts on writing-related topics, the Center provides individualized guidance from undergraduate and graduate writing assistants. Selected because of their strong writing skills, these assistants also take a seminar in strategies for guiding others and are prepared to provide assistance in reading, revising, and editing. Writers can bring a draft or just an assignment in and explore a topic with the writing assistants; however, the more writers know what questions they have the more helpful assistants can be. Conferences may be either face-to-face in the Center (Wilson Library 442, left of the fourth-floor reading room) or online. Either drop by, sign up for an appointment, call 650-3219, or visit their website: http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~writepro

Plagiarism:

When you knowingly submit someone else's ideas or words as your own, plagiarism is an act of intentional deception that not only is dishonest, it robs you of the most important product of education--actual learning. You need familiarize yourself with the university's academic dishonesty policy See the Western Washington University Bulletin: General Catalog, which states: "'students' shall not claim as their own achievements, work or thoughts of others, nor shall they be a party to such 'claims.'" If you are found guilty of academic dishonesty either by plagiarizing someone's work or allowing your own work to be misused by another, you will automatically fail English 101 and have to take the course again. A letter will be kept in your permanent file in the registrar's office.

Sometimes students plagiarize out of ignorance of the conventions, carelessness, or laziness. We will make every effort to ensure that you are aware of conventions for proper attribution of your sources. But be advised, that in the "real" world, ignorance is no excuse. If it is discovered that you have misappropriated someone else's ideas without crediting them, you may receive a failing grade for that assignment or we may ask you to repeat the course.

You should know it is possible to plagiarize yourself! If you submit work already completed for one course as original work for another course, you are plagiarizing. However, in English 101, if you wish to substantially revise or re-think a piece of writing you have already done, you may do so, as long as you discuss with me beforehand your ideas for re-working the piece.

E-mail and Discussion:

Western Washington University's Bulletin: Appendix A, states, "In carrying out its mission, the University benefits from the ideas, contributions, and energies of all its members. Therefore, each member--whether staff, student, administrator, or faculty--has a responsibility and obligation to respect the rights of others to express conflicting opinions. Adherence to standards of civility allows for reasoned discourse" (346).

Because English 101 focuses on the important and frequent exchange of ideas, perspectives, and experience in the form of class discussions, shared written responses, and workshops, it is important that we make every effort to establish a respectful and thoughtful learning community. I trust that you will help to create a space where all of us are invited to share and receive ideas, some of which we may agree, disagree, or even find offense with, but which are absolutely necessary and vital to the intellectual inquiry we pursue in this course and the university.

Please familiarize yourself with Western Washington University's Policy regarding Ethical Computing. You may obtain a hard copy of the pamphlet from Academic Technology & User Services. I and the class expect that our electronic discussions will be marked by the same respectful, thoughtful, and vigorous intellectual exchanges that characterize our in-class discussions. Immediately notify me of any problematic or questionable electronic messages you receive so that I may quickly investigate and act.

Because our e-mail communication this quarter is taking place in a learning context, i.e. related to classwork and assignments, I ask that we follow some guidelines for the duration of the quarter. I require that we all clearly and accurately identify ourselves in all e-mails. No nicknames permitted. Please do not use our class e-mail list to solicit products or services or to forward jokes, narratives, articles, announcements, or petitions that have not been requested by me or your classmates. To preserve our privacy, always ask permission to include my or your classmate's e-mail address as part of a forwarded message to others in your address book.

To view a printable version of this syllabus, please click here.


© Kati Tilley 2001