English Composition 102

English 102-012 Room: GTM 319 Time: 12:00-1:50 TR

Web site: http://www2.latech.edu/~bmagee http://garts.latech.edu/bmagee E-mail: bmagee@LaTech.Edu

Office: GTM 222 Phone: 257-5494 Hours: 11:00-2:00 MW 2:00-04:00 TR or by appointment

   

Catalogue Description. Freshman Composition II. 0-3-3. Preq., English 100 or 101. Continues the work of Composition I; includes the preparation of a research paper from library sources.

Nature and Purpose

• English 102 should be regarded principally as a writing course. As such, the course is intended as a complement to English 101. Writing skills used in the first course should be augmented and further refined in the second.
• The research paper should be a major part of the course and should demonstrate a diversity of writing skills.
• The short stories, poetry, and drama taught in English 102 should be used to generate topics and to serve as material for student essays and research.

Five essays, including a research paper and a final, will be assigned during the quarter. You should turn in your paper in class on time. A paper not submitted in class on the due date is late. Submit your essays on time. YOU MUST SUBMIT ALL SIX ESSAYS TO PASS THE COURSE. YOU MUST PASS THE FINAL TO PASS THE COURSE. COMPLETE ANY MAKE-UP WORK BEFORE FINALS WEEK.

• Class attendance is regarded as an obligation as well as a privilege, and all students are expected to attend regularly and punctually all classes in which they are enrolled.
• I shall keep a permanent attendance record for this class. This record is subject to inspection by appropriate college or university officials.
• Regular attendance will help you understand your assignments and complete them on schedule. I encourage you to attend unless you absolutely cannot avoid being absent.
• Attendance will be worth 10% of your grade.

1. OUT-OF-CLASS papers MUST BE TYPED. Illegible handwritten papers will be returned ungraded; legible papers will be graded, but with a penalty assessed. I encourage you to learn to use a computerized word-processing program. It can save time, aid proofreading, and improve the appearance of an essay.
2. In-class papers MUST be written in ink.
3. Use one side of the paper only.
4. Use standard 8 1/2" by 11" white paper. Loose leaf or typewriter paper please--no frazzled edges ripped from notebooks.
5. All essays, whether hand-written or typed, must by DOUBLE SPACED.
6. Use margins of at least an inch on each side of the paper. Leave a 1.5" margin on the right-hand side.
7. Papers should be folded vertically with the following information on the outside cover: name, section, theme assignment, instructor's name, and date.
8. KEEP A PAPER COPY OF THE FINAL DRAFT IN YOUR OWN FILES. It is the cheapest insurance you can buy.
9. Turn in one 12 inch folder with your name, course, and section number on the tab.

Research Paper Schedule

• Library orientation.
• Select a research topic by this date. (Literary work from the text or one of the collateral novels.)
• Submit a bibliography of 10 works (books & journal articles).
• Submit notes taken from 3 sources.
• Submit thesis (problem or purpose for research) and outline.
• Intense research: note checks in class.
• Submit outline and introduction
• Submit a rough draft of the research paper.
• Submit the final draft of the research paper.

Conferences are encouraged during the quarter. They will be used to discuss your specific writing strengths and/or weaknesses. Try to make your appointment when you have a rough draft so we can work on it together.

You must sign the plagiarism statement for English 099/100/101/102 (located at the beginning of the Freshman Composition Course Packet) and turn it in by the second day of class.  Your work (journals, homework, in-class work, and papers) will not be accepted or graded until I receive the signed plagiarism statement.

Course Objectives and Syllabus Guidelines for English 102 Louisiana Tech University Department of English   2011-2012   Prerequisites: English 101 or the equivalent Required Texts: 1) The Freshman Composition Course Packet, 2011-2012 ed. English Dept. LA Tech U 2) The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Booth and Mays, 10th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010.                                                             Course Content and Assignments: 1. Three (3) literature-based essays of a reflective or analytical nature with an average of 500-750 words (around 2 ½ -3 pages in 12-pt. Times New Roman font with 1" margins on all sides) each, and one (1) analytical literature-based research essay of around 2200 words (approx. 8-9 pages including the Works Cited page) with at least five reputable secondary sources.  Instructors may assign only three essays total if instructors provide prior written comments/feedback related to ideas, content, and structure on an earlier draft of one of the other out-of-class essays. Thus it is acceptable that the research essay be an extended version (though not merely a revision) of one of the other three essays. The literary research topics should come from the required course text. No more than half of the sources used for the essay should be Internet sources, and the Internet sources used must be of credible academic value. Scholarly journals and reputable print sources available online through the library do not count as Internet sources. Unacceptable sources for English 102 research essays include Wikipedia, Encyclopedias (online or print), summary texts and websites such as Sparknotes, Cliffsnotes, and Notes4free. Through class instruction, discussions, and essay evaluations students should be made aware that such sources are unacceptable. Sample model essays are available in the current Freshman Composition Course Packet. Based on feedback from the administration, the 8-9 page analytical research essay is an essential part of the 102 course. The research essay must be literature-based and demonstrate competence in research and MLA documentation skills.  2. Students are required to submit their essays to Turnitin.com, the online plagiarism/teaching service to which Louisiana Tech subscribes, and teachers should monitor student essays closely for plagiarism. All courses across the University are now included in this service, and your name will be entered so that you can have your students submit their essays to the service. Instructors who have not used the service previously can seek assistance if needed with the Composition Coordinator. 3. Instructors may encourage revision through the use of peer revision, revision workshops, assignment of graded first drafts and revised drafts.  4. A balance of in-class and out-of-class writing should be used with at least one but no more than two essays being written as in-class graded essay assignments. 5. Following NCTE guidelines, 70 % of the total class grade should be dedicated to writing. Essential word, sentence, and research and documentation skills can be taught and assessed through class exercises, quizzes, tests, editing workshops, or other methods; however, 70% of the total class grade needs to be dedicated to the application of these skills in actual writing assignments.  6. English 102 is a course with writing about literature as its main theme, and all readings in the class should be used to stimulate discussion, interest, and writing assignments. Literature readings should include a variety of works from different genres (short story, novel, poetry, drama) anthologized in the course text, The Norton Introduction to Literature (or—in the case of dual enrollment classes—in a comparable college-level text). Some in-class and/or out-of-class assignments should include practice in using MLA documentation to prepare students for the research essay. 7. By the end of 102, students should have experience in reading literature critically, writing reflective and analytical papers with literature as the main theme, and writing an essay of at least eight pages of researched source-based description or argumentation using current MLA documentation format including a valid and correctly-formatted Works Cited page. Essay Standards: 1. Instructors should use the Grading Standards published in the current Freshman Composition Course Packet as a guide to evaluating college-level student essays. 2. Sample 102 student essays also appear in the FCCP. These essays should be used as a guideline for course standards and writing expectations.  3. Essays handed back to students should contain teacher marks and/or comments related to the assigned grade, and/or an essay evaluation rubric. Teachers are urged to include a summary comment on essays. Syllabus Expectations: 1. Sample 102 syllabi are provided on the "Best Practices" website. All 102 syllabi should include a section that states at least three (3) course objectives from the Curricula Effectiveness Survey. Some examples are: • Understand literary terms and concepts, and diverse theoretical approaches • Read with comprehension and analyze (in discussion and writing) a literary text • Evaluate and communicate in class discussion (and in your writing) the effectiveness of                 various arguments • Research a literary topic and synthesize the information you’ve gathered into a coherent                 whole • Write a sustained argument on a literary topic • Understand and apply proper MLA documentation format in the use of integrated                 primary and secondary sources 2. Instructors are required by the Administration to place their classes on Moodle, and to use Turnitin.com.  Syllabi should contain information regarding both Moodle and Turnitn.com. Instructors are urged to post to Moodle assignment sheets and handouts that document and explain essay expectations to their students. This gives students an introduction to web-supported education and saves paper. 3. Following university policy, the instructor’s method of evaluation or grading system needs to be readily accessible in the course description/syllabus. A full description of points adding up to the total grade points possible or a percentage breakdown of evaluation categories needs to be included in the course description/syllabus (for example: 70% essays, 20% tests and quizzes, 10% homework).  4. A final paper or exam cannot be used as an exit exam—following university policy, if the final is listed as being worth 20% of the total class grade, it must be calculated as such. 5. The Faculty Handbook has its own requirements for classroom procedure that faculty are obliged to fulfill. Permanent attendance records are one such requirement.  6. A current, signed plagiarism contract from the 2011-2012 Freshman Composition Course Packet is a requirement for each student in each 102 English class each quarter. Dual Enrollment students sign and return the Fall 2011 Statement for the fall semester, and the Spring 2012 Statement for the spring semester. Plagiarism Statements should be returned to the LA Tech English office no later than the end of the second week of classes. Course syllabi should contain a statement regarding the unacceptability of plagiarism, and plagiarism should be discouraged in every way possible. 7. Evaluated essays must be returned to students throughout the quarter, so that students can gauge their progress in the course. The research essay must also be returned, but may be returned and taken up as late as the last day of class. Towards the end of a given quarter, teachers may be asked to provide representative samples of their grading/marked student essays to the department head; if so they should require students to either leave their graded essays with the Instructor until three weeks into the next quarter, or to make a photocopy of their major essays for the instructor. 8. A current course syllabus demonstrating course content and essay assignment pacing in accord with the academic calendar must be handed in to the department head no later than the first official day of class. Dual Enrollment teachers must hand in their syllabi (along with Plagiarism Statements) to the Composition Coordinator by the second week of classes. 9. Dual Enrollment instructors should hand in original or copies of English 102 student essays with teacher comments/marking and essay grades to the Composition Coordinator within one week after grades have been reported to the LA Tech Enrollment Management.  **Celia Lewis, the composition coordinator, is available for assistance should instructors have questions.