Basic Composition

ENG 090  3 credits

Fall 2003

Instructor:  Rebecca Potter

Class Hours:  Monday/Thursday 10:30am – 11:50am

Location:  Bristol Hall Room 119

Start/End Dates:  8/25 – 12/11

Email:  rpotter@coloradomtn.edu

Phone:  870-4447

Required Text: Sentences, Paragraphs, and Beyond, Brandon and Brandon

Recommended Text:  Webster’s Dictionary

Course Description

English 090 emphasizes critical thinking as students explore writing for specific purposes and audiences.  Students will develop skills required for college-level writing while reviewing paragraph structure and focusing on essay development. 

Course Philosophy and Objectives:

Upon completion of the course, students should demonstrate skills in these areas:

• Basic grammar, usage, and spelling.
• Paragraph development leading to short essays with a clear thesis and support.
• Critical thinking skills including evaluation, analysis, synthesis, and application of these skills in writing assignments.

Requirements/Assignments

• You will write 7 major essays.  Two of these will be revisions of earlier papers. 

• Students must complete all seven assignments to receive credit for the class.  If one or more assignments are not turned in, the student will receive an ‘F’.

• Readings must be read prior to class.  This does not mean skim or simply glance through them.  You need to have some sense of what you have read and your thoughts on the material before you came to class in order to make class time most useful.

• Class participation is essential.  You will be asked to participate in in-class exercises, class discussions and workshops.  In order for students to participate effectively, they must come to class prepared.  ***If students do not arrive with ready drafts on workshop days, they will be marked absent for that class period.***

• Students must pass the in-class essay test at the end of the semester in order to pass the course.

Paper Format:  Manuscripts must be typed, double spaced with 12 pt. font and page #’s.  Margins should be one inch.  Title pages are not necessary;  titles can be centered above the first paragraph.  Please STAPLE, not paper clip your manuscripts.

Late Assignments:  Papers must be handed in on time:  late papers will be docked one letter grade per day late (unless you receive approval from me prior to the due date).

Attendance:  Students are allowed to miss two classes.  Any absences beyond that will lower your grade incrementally.  For example, three unexcused absences will drop your final grade of B to a B-.

Grading:  When calculating your final grade, I will use the following formula:  paper #1=practice (no grade) #2=5%, paper #3=5%, paper #4=5%, paper #5=5%, paper #6=5%, paper #7=5%, in class essay =50%, grammar exercises=10%, participation=10%

Plagiarism:  Plagiarizing consists of stealing and passing off the ideas or words of another without crediting the source.  We will discuss different types of plagiarism in-class and how to avoid it.  If there are any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism, PLEASE see me.

Refund Date:  September 12, 2003

Withdraw date:  November 14, 2003

Please Note:

• Any or all of this syllabus may be altered during the semester by the instructor as the learning environment requires.  Students will be notified of changes.
• Students wishing to withdraw from this course must INITIATE the course withdrawal/drop process.
• This class could be cancelled one week prior to the census date if an insufficient number of students are enrolled.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act:  Appropriate accommodations will be made for all students with documented disabilities.  If you have a disability requiring accommodations in this class, please notify the instructor as soon as possible.

Course Schedule

August 25                    Introduction to class.  Course requirements.  In-class writing exercise.  How to make outlines work for you.  Introduce exemplification essay.

                                    Assignment:  Outline for essay.  Readings.

August 28                    Discuss readings.  Review outlines.  What is a thesis?  In-class writing – introductions and body paragraphs.

                                    Assignment:  Introduction and two body paragraphs.

September 1                LABOR DAY NO CLASS

September 4                Diagnostic test.  In-class writing – rough draft of exemplification essay.

                                    Assignment:  Rough draft due.

September 8                Rough draft workshop:  becoming a critic. Review comma exercises.

                                    Assignment:  Final draft due.  Comma exercises.

September 11              Essay due.  Introduce compare and contrast essay.  More comma work.

                                    Assignment:  Outline due.  Comma exercises.  Readings.

September 15              Review Outlines.  Review grammar exercises. In-class writing – compare contrast essay.  The semi-colon.

Assignment:  Intro. And body paragraph for compare/contrast essay.  Semi-colon exercises.

September 18              More work on compare contrast essay. Review semi-colon exercises.

                                    Assignment: Rough draft compare contrast essay.  Semi-colon exercises.     

September 22              Rough draft workshop for compare contrast essay.  Review grammar exercises.  Sentence combination.

Assignment:  Final draft of compare contrast essay.  Sentence combination exercises.

September 23              Final draft compare contrast essay due. Review grammar exercises. More work on sentence combination.  Writing as revision:  coming up with a plan.

                                    Assignment:  Revision due.  Sentence combination exercises.

September 25              Revision due.  Introduce cause and effect essay.  Determining case and pronoun agreement.

                                    Assignment:  Readings.  Outline.  Case and pronoun agreement exercises.

September 29              Discuss readings. Review outlines. In-class writing – cause and effect essay.  Pronoun agreement continues.

                                    Assignment:  Readings.  Essay work.  Pronoun agreement exercises.

October 2                    More work on cause and effect essay.  Review readings.  Review grammar exercises.

                                    Assignment:  Rough draft for cause and effect essay.  Pronoun agreement exercises.

October 6                    Rough draft workshop for cause and effect essay.  Review exercises.

                                    Assignment:  Final draft of cause and effect essay.

October 9                    Cause and Effect essay due.  Using adjectives and adverbs.

                                    Assignment:  Adjectives and adverbs exercises.

October 13                  Review exercises.  Revision workshop.  Review grammar exercises.

                                    Assignment:  Revision due.  Adjective and adverb exercises.

October 16                  Revision due.  Introduce persuasive essay.  Review adjectives and adverbs.

Assignment:  Outline for persuasive essay.  Readings.  Adjective and adverbs  exercises.

October 20                  Review readings.  Review exercises.  Parallelism. In-class writing – persuasive essay.                 

Assignment:  Readings.  Essay work.  Exercises in parallelism. 

October 23                  Review readings.  More work on parallelism.  More work on persuasive essay. 

Assignment:  Rough draft of persuasive essay due.  Exercises on parallelism.

October 27                  Rough draft workshop.  Grammar review.

                                    Assignment:  Final draft of persuasive essay.

October 30                  Final draft persuasive essay due.  Grammar review.  Diagnostic test.

                                    Assignment:  Grammar exercises.

November 3                Review exercises.  Revision workshop:  plan and writing. 

                                    Assignment:  Revision due.

November 6                Revision due.  Introduce narrative. Metaphors/Similes.

                                    Assignment:  Writing exercise.  Readings.

November 10              Review readings.  In-class writing exercise.  More work on descriptive writing.

                                    Assignment:  Writing exercise.  Readings.

November 13              Review readings.  In-class exercise.

                                    Assignment:  Rough draft due.

November 17              Rough draft workshop.

                                    Assignment:  Second draft.

November 20              Style workshop. 

                                    Assignment:  Final draft due.

November 24              Final draft due. Revision plans.

                                    Assignment:  TBA

November 27              .NO CLASS  THANKSGIVING

December 1                 Revision workshop.

                                    Assignment:  Revision due.

December 4                 Revision due.  In-class practice essay test.

December 8                 In-class essay test.

December 11               Evaluations.