English 1010: Introduction to Writing
Center for Independent Learning
Instructor: Brittany Stephenson
Office Hours (AD 149): M 2:30-4:00, W 12:00-1:00, F 10:00-12:30
Office Phone: 801-957-4751
Email: brittany.stephenson@slcc.edu
Text
The Academic Writer: A Brief Guide (2nd edition) by Lisa Ede
Additional required readings and multimedia presentations on the course website
Course Description
This course examines concepts of rhetoric, research, and argumentation placing a strong
emphasis on the writing process, including invention, drafting, peer review, and revision.
Course Outcomes
The English Department lists the following as its desired outcomes for student writers, who at
the completion of English 1010 will be able to demonstrate through writing:
#1 Rhetorical Strategies, including adapting to differences in purpose, audience and genre
#2 Critical Thinking Processes, including summary, analysis, synthesis, and argumentation
#3 Composing Processes such as invention, drafting, revision, editing, peer feedback, and selfassessment
#4 Conventions of Writing, especially the conventions of citing multiple texts and
incorporating them into one’s own writing
Course Methods
Growth as a writer occurs over time through active participation in meaningful, iterative
literacy experiences. In this course students will actively engage as readers and writers
examining the contexts, processes, and rhetorical strategies of their own and others’ writing.
This class will take a rhetorical approach to writing. Students will examine the ways in which
writing functions as an interaction among reader, writer, and text, situating their own and
others’ writing within academic and civic conversations. Students will develop rhetorical
sensitivity as they learn to analyze various writing situations and to make effective rhetorical
choices to convey their ideas to specific audiences.
This class will take a process oriented approach to writing. Students will practice and reflect on
multiple writing strategies of invention, drafting, responding, and revising. Students will share
their writing with various readers throughout the writing process as a means of receiving
individual formative feedback to foster their growth as writers and as a means of learning to
situate their writing in contexts with readers.
Students will work at their own pace through three units: “A Rhetorical Approach to Writing”,
“Critical Reading”, and “Issue Exploration”. The first unit, “A Rhetorical Approach to Writing”
MUST be completed before beginning work on the second unit “Critical Reading”. Likewise,
the second unit MUST be completed before beginning work on the third unit “Issue
Exploration”.
Each unit requires students to complete numerous readings, screen casts, and notebook
assignments. The notebook assignments for each unit offer engagement with the course
concepts as well as provide scaffolding in students’ work on the major writing assignments.
Students are encouraged to interact with each other and with the instructor throughout their
work on the notebook assignments; students are required to participate in two writing
conferences for each of their four major writing assignments: one with a tutor in the student
writing center (online or on campus) and one with their instructor (online or on campus).
Students will revise their writing assignments and submit them to their Gen. Ed e-portfolio,
along with a self-assessment, at the end of the semester. Work submitted to the e-portfolio
should represent students’ attainment of both the course goals and their own individual writing
goals as established throughout the semester in their writer’s notebook.
ePortfolio
Each student who is enrolled in General Education courses at SLCC is required to maintain an
electronic portfolio (ePortfolio). You will create one ePortfolio and add items to it from each
GenEd course you take here at SLCC. Every ePortfolio submission should also be accompanied
by a brief piece of reflective writing.
Your ePortfolio also provides a place where you can include commentary on your educational
goals, describe your extracurricular activities, and post your resume. When you leave SLCC,
your ePortfolio will then help to showcase the diversity of your educational experiences at the
college.
For detailed information about the ePortfolio, including a Student ePortfolio Handbook, video
tutorials for each ePortfolio platform, classes, locations and times of free workshops and other
in-person help, you can visit the help site at:
http://www.slcc.edu/gened/eportfolio/Students.asp.
To represent your work in English 1010 this semester, you will post your final course portfolio in
your Gen. Ed. e-Portfolio
Plagiarism and Academic Honesty
Students commit plagiarism when they submit another author’s work as their own (this
includes, but is not limited to, taking credit for a classmate’s work in group situations and
copying or purchasing printed and online texts). It also includes the failure to attribute unique
phrases, passages, or ideas to their original source. Any form of plagiarism is a violation of the
student code of conduct and academic honesty policies at SLCC. Students who commit
plagiarism will receive either an automatic E for that assignment or an E for the course,
depending upon the severity of the plagiarism.
SLCC’s Academic Honesty policy states:
“Honesty is an expectation at SLCC. This means that each member of the College
community will adhere to principles and rules of the College and pursue academic work
in a straightforward and truthful manner, free from deception or fraud. Any attempt to
deviate from these principles is academic dishonesty and will be dealt with according to
rules of due process as outlined.
Students are also held to the College policy on acceptable use of college computing
resources; which, prohibits the distribution of passwords or confidential information;
sending, receiving or storing fraudulent, harassing or obscene messages; and the
encroachment of computer resources or any attempt to break, or override the security
of the College computers.”1
Student Code of Conduct
All participants in this class should adhere to the SLCC Student Code of Conduct. In part, this
document states:
“As members of the academic community, students enjoy the privileges and share the
obligations of the larger community of which the College is apart. With membership in
this community comes an obligation, which is consistent with goals of personal and
academic excellence. This obligation is an acceptance of a code of civilized behavior. . . .
The College is committed to equitable, civil, and concerned treatment of all individuals
regardless of age, gender, race, color, national origin, disabling conditions, religion,
sexual orientation or veteran status.
It is imperative that students learn to recognize, understand and celebrate human
differences. . . . Any expression of hatred or prejudice is inconsistent with the purposes
of higher education in a free society.”2
1
2
Page 51, 2011-2012 SLCC General College Catalog.
From the “Preface” to the SLCC Student Code of Conduct, http://www.slcc.edu/policies/docs/Student_Code_of_Conduct.pdf
Adherence to the SLCC Student Code of Conduct does NOT mean that students must change
their personal philosophies to agree with everything that is said (online) in class, nor does it
mean that students must refrain from discussing and/or writing about difficult issues. Rather,
adherence to this code means that students will #1, acknowledge the right everyone has to
their own views and #2, that they will give others the same courtesy and respect they wish to
have for themselves and their views.
Accommodation for Disabilities
If you need accommodation, please talk with me and/or someone at the Disability Resource
Center (DRC) at the beginning of the semester or as soon as you are aware that accommodation
is necessary. The DRC is located on the Taylorsville/Redwood Campus in CC 230; you can call
them at 801-957-4659 (voice) or 801-957-4646 (TTY).
Student Writing Center
SLCC's Student Writing Center is multi-functional. In addition to computers for class use, the
Writing Center also offers an advising program where you have the opportunity to discuss your
work with a peer tutor or faculty writing advisor. The intent of the Writing Center advisor is to
help you think about your writing process by sharing their impressions of your materials,
offering revision strategies, discussing different ways to approach an assignment, as well as to
provide another reader and voice for you. The Writing Center is not simply a place to go to get a
paper "fixed" or "corrected." Be prepared with questions for your advisor. Ask yourself what
you want to work on, whether it's understanding an assignment, having an advisor give you
his/her impressions of a passage you've written, or to talk about "what you want to say."
Advisors are available to help you with any writing assignment for any class you take. You can
sign up for an appointment in the Writing Center in AD 218 at the Redwood Campus, the
Learning Center at the South City Campus or Jordan Campus. You can also call 957-4893 to sign
up for an appointment at Redwood.
The Writing Center also offers real time online Writing Advising. Go to
www.slcc.edu/swc/liveonline.asp to find the schedule for writing tutors and to make an
appointment.
As part of the requirements of this course, you will meet with an SLCC Writing Center tutor to
discuss the first drafts of each of your 3 major papers.
Grading
Writer’s Notebook = 40%
Literacy Narrative = 15%
Rhetorical Analysis Essay= 15%
A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 88-89
C+ 78-79
C 73-77
C- 70-72
D- 60-62
Issue Exploration Essay = 15%
Final Portfolio = 15%
B 83-87
B- 80-82
D+ 68-69
D 63-67
The literacy narrative, rhetorical analysis essay, and issue exploration essay assignments consist
of completing a first draft, meeting with an SLCC Writing Center tutor to discuss the first draft,
and participating in an instructor consultation on the first draft. Thus, you are required to meet
with a tutor 3 times and to meet with the instructor 3 times. You are also encouraged to meet
with the instructor and to collaborate with other students at additional points during the
semester beyond your required consultations for each of the first drafts.