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English Composition 102
Spring 1995 |
Required Text:
Schilb, John., Elizabeth Flynn and John Clifford.
Constellations. 2nd. ed. New York: HCP, 1995. |
| In addition, all students must have a standard spiral ringed
notebook with at least 100 lined, blank pages by the second day of
class.
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| Course Description
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As the UNCW English Department states, "The goal of English 102 is
to facilitate the transition from writing and reading based on
personal experience to writing and reading for academic purposes.
Involved in that transition is the gradual acquisition of the
conventions of academic writing. These include an inquiring,
balanced, informed voice and a tolerant intellectual stance."
More specifically, this course is designed to reinforce the process
of critical thinking, reading, and writing which was begun, on the
university level, in English 101. We will be examining a number of
different issues this semester and students will be asked to
respond to these issues in a critical, often analytical manner and
support their responses from documented texts. Proficiency in
summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting from texts to support a
particular position is prerequisite for this course, however, we
will continue to use these skills as it relates to our present
goals. This course emphasizes independent research to support a
myriad of positions of the student's own choosing on a number of
selected social, academic, and cultural issues and an aspect of
this course is devoted towards research techniques and skills. As
is the case with all writing and critical modes of thought, it is
somewhat unrealistic to expect to "get" everything this course
offers in a single semester. However, what you can learn here are
the foundations upon which to build a credible and academically
acceptable style of writing you will use, daily, in your academic and post collegiate careers regardless of the field or occupation.
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| Course Requirements |
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1) Students will be assigned 4 formal papers, 2 of which focus
strongly on the analysis of a given text, and 2 of which focus on
the incorporation of independent research to support an analysis of
a particular issue. Students will be informed well in advance of
the due dates of these papers and time will be allowed for peer editing
and review of drafts. Students are welcome to schedule appointments
with me to discuss specific aspects of their papers at any time
during the writing or creating stage.
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2) In addition to the aforementioned formal papers, students will
be responsible for keeping a journal in which they will respond to
specific assignments relevant to the reading and writing process.
These assignments will be given daily and it is up to the student
to keep their journal current and bring it to class with them every
meeting. Your journals will be collected 2 to 4 times during the
semester; however, the dates of their collection will not be
announced.
Each entry in your journal should be clearly dated and
numbered at the top of each page (ie. JE 23 3/26). This journal
should be used exclusively for ENG 102. Do not take notes for this
class or any other in this journal! Use a separate notebook for
class notes. It has been my experience that if students stay up to
date on their journals and provide consistently thoughtful
responses, they score very high on this component of their final
grade. Correspondingly, missing entries and less than attentive
responses hurt. Badly. The criteria for journal grades are listed below.
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3) Completion of daily reading and writing assignments and
exhibiting proper preparation and participation in class
discussions comprises a vital unit of your final grade. To be
brief, always come to class, always do the required readings, and
always come with your writing assignments.
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| Attendance and Grading |
Don't skip class. Period. There are no excused absences. For each
absence over 4, your final grade will drop a letter. Every three
times you are late, it will be recorded as an absence. If you miss
this class 7 or more times for any reason you will fail. In
instances of extended hospitalization or close familial crisis, it
may be possible to withdraw from this class without an "F". See me
if this occurs.
Though this may be viewed as strict and it may
be possible (though in my experience extremely unlikely) that you
could, by grades alone, pass this course after missing 7 classes,
bear in mind that discussion, peer input and peer editing comprise
the majority of what we will be doing this semester. If you don't
come to class, not only are you not participating in the ongoing
discussion and critical process, you are denying your classmates
valuable input and insight. Simply put, come to class, if not for
yourself, for your peers.
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| Final Grade Average (10 point scale) |
| Attendance/Participation, Daily Assignments, Journals |
20% |
| Paper 1 |
15% |
| Paper 2 |
20% |
| Paper 3 |
20% |
| Paper 4 |
25% |
| Criteria for Journal Grades |
| An "A" journal will include: |
 all journal entries, appropriately dated, numbered, and
arranged in chronological order |
| entries which exhibit significant critical and personal
interaction with the material being discussed. These
entries will usually be a page in length |
| where revisions are assigned, the entry will reflect a careful
reevaluation of the original draft with significant
additions and attention to editing |
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| A "B" journal may include: |
| all or almost all entries, appropriately dated, numbered and
arranged in chronological order |
| entries which exhibit a high degree of critical and personal
insight into the material being discussed. These entries
may/may not be a page in length |
| Where revisions are assigned, the entry will reflect a reevaluation of the original draft with limited additions and limited attention to editing |
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| A "C" journal may include: |
| almost all entries, dated, numbered, and in chronological
order |
| entries which exhibit some limited interaction with the
material being discussed, usually less than a page in
length |
| Where revisions are assigned, the entry will reflect some reevaluation of the original text and some attention to editing and additions |
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| A "D" journal may include: |
| a high number of missing entries |
| significant absence of interaction with discussed material |
| Where revisions are assigned, the entry will reflect little
reevaluation of the original draft and little attention
to editing and additions |
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| A "F" journal is no journal at all or one which is not turned in
when requested. |
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| The average of your journal grades (anywhere from 2 to 4) will make up
your final journal grade. If you have questions about the content
of your journal from an evaluative standpoint, please see me at any
time during the semester for direction and a preliminary status
estimate. Combined with attendance/participation and daily
assignments, your final journal grade comprises 20% of your overall
final grade. |
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Edward Chaffin