1302 Composition II
Section: 14
Instructor: Susan Drake
Office hours: Mon/Wed 10-11am
Class Times: Mon/Wed 8-9:30
Office: 310 Faculty Lounge Office
email: susan.drake@hccs.edu
Houston Community College System (HCC) is a comprehensive educational institution
that provides academic transfer, workforce, corporate training/continuing education,
developmental, and adult basic education programs. In all of these programs, HCC shall
maintain high standards and encourage innovative teaching methods that take full
advantage of technological advances. HCC encourages students to develop their skills,
both personal and academic; to take responsibility for their education; to become flexible
in order to meet the constantly shifting demands of a rapidly developing world; to
appreciate their culture and those of other societies; and to cultivate excellence.
Required Textbooks:
Read, Reason, Write, (RRW) 10th edition. Dorothy U. Seyler
The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, 8th edition. Jane E. Aaron
Course overview
Materials Needed:
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A two-pocket file folder for organizing your essays, rough drafts,
rewrites and short writing assignments.
A supply of ruled white paper for in-class writing
A composition notebook dedicated for your journal assignments
Flash drive for class presentations, etc.
Two blue examination booklets
HCC Library card
Teaching Methodology: This course is structured according to a writing workshop
format, which means we will spend much of our time drafting, editing and re-writing
essays. You will work in writing groups when working on rough drafts and rewrites. In
addition to our workshop classes, we will spend time discussing reading selections from
your textbook and, and we will spend a portion of our class time each week reviewing
grammar.
Writing Workshop: For each essay you write in this class, we will spend two days
working on the Rough Drafts. For these classes, you will work in your writing group and
you need to bring sufficient copies of your drafts so that each person in your group and I
have one. All drafts of essays must be typed.
Scholastic Dishonesty: According to the Student Handbook for the Houston Community
College System, scholastic dishonesty includes cheating on a test, plagiarism, and
collusion:
cheating on a test-- copying from someone else’s paper or using unauthorized
materials during a test.
plagiarism—using another person’s words, information, or ideas in your own
written work without appropriate acknowledgement (and quotation marks when
exact words are used).
collusion—“unauthorized collaboration” (35).
Please note the possible consequences of such dishonesty, as stated in the Student
Handbook: “Possible punishments for academic dishonesty may include a grade of 0 or
F for the particular assignment, failure in the course, and/or recommendation for
probation or dismissal from the college System” (35).
Repeating the Same Course. Beginning in the Fall of 2006, students who repeat a
course for a third or more times will face significant tuition/fee increases at HCC and
other Texas public colleges and universities. Please ask your instructor and/or counselor
about opportunities for tutoring/other assistance prior to considering course withdrawal or
if you are not receiving passing grades.
ADA Statement:
Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, medical, learning, psychiatric,
developmental, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations
must contact the Disability Support Services (DSS)/ADA Counselor at the beginning of
each semester. Faculty members are authorized to provide only the accommodations
requested by the DSS Office. Dr. Roman Alvarez is Northeast College’s DSS / ADA
Counselor. His telephone number is (713) 718-8420.
Class Practices and Procedures
1. Attendance: College policy stipulates that any student who misses more than 12.5 %
of instruction (6 class hours = 4 sessions) may be subject to administrative
withdrawal or an F in the class. Attendance and on time arrival to class are
absolutely essential to your success in this class. Students who arrive more than 10
minutes late will be counted tardy. Being late to class three times will count as one
absence. Students who arrive more than 20 minutes late will be counted absent. Note:
Attendance and class participation are graded in this class. A= 1 absence or less; B=
2 absences; C=3 absences; D=4 absences, F or W =5 absences.
2. Assignments: Failure to attend one class does not excuse a student from preparing
for the following class. Also, I may make changes to the assignments listed on the
Calendar, so you might want to call a member of your class if you miss class.
3. Late Work/ Make –up work: All out of class papers are due at the start of class on
the date designated. I reserve the right not to accept late work. You know now the due
date for every assignment in this class. ALL PAPERS MUST BE SUBMITTED
DIRECTLY TO THE INSTRUCTOR. DO NOT LEAVE PAPERS WITH
SECRETARIES, IN MAIL BOXES, AT THE FRONT DESK, ETC... If a paper is
not submitted on time, you must request an extension ahead of time, which may or
may not be granted due to my discretion. There will be no make up of reader response
activities. There will be no make-up of the Mid-term and/or Final Examinations
unless you make prior arrangements with me with a valid excuse for your absence.
4. On site Tutoring: Free tutoring is available at the Northline and Pinemont
Campuses. Tutors are available during day and night and on the weekends. Check
for full hours of operation.
5. HCCS On-Line Tutoring: There is also an on-line tutoring service available at
www.askonline.net Students can now access tutoring help 24/7 for writing assigned
in any class, not just in English classes. Drafts seen by tutors are clearly marked; if
submitted with papers, these prove that tutors have looked at the paper, Looking at
these tutor reviewed drafts also allows teachers to see exactly what kind of help
students are getting. CHAT and DISCUSS transcripts can be printed as proof of
use.
HCCS On-line Tutoring has three components, all of which are available to every
HCC student. ASK has two sub-components: paper submission and live tutors.
1.
Students e-mail any paper, not just those assigned for English classes, and
HCC tutors will pinpoint problem areas in organization, following directions,
formatting, citing sources, and grammar; offer suggestions for correcting those
problems; suggest links to other on-line resources; and guide students through the
revision process. Papers will not be corrected or edited. They will be annotated
because teachers need to evaluate student work, not tutor work. We hope to have a
24-hour turn-around on all papers submitted.
2.
From 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm every day, a real, live HCC English faculty person
will be live on-line to answer questions. Papers will not be read, but questions about
understanding assignments, formatting papers, and other related questions will be
answered. This component allows students to make sure that they are starting their
work well.
CHAT is an exciting feature. Real, live teachers will host 2-hour scheduled, focused
chats on a regular basis. Some of the topics already on tap include understanding
research methods, documenting sources, finding and fixing one’s own grammar
problems, critical reading, and the difference between an analysis and a book report.
A bi-weekly schedule will be posted on the splash page (what you see when you
open Askonline / HCCS) and on HCC News.
DISCUSS is the third component, and it has great potential for all students, especially
non-native speakers of English. Students e-mail a question, a tutor answers it, and
students check back to see the answers. All questions are threaded, so students can
see what others have asked and increase their knowledge. We anticipate that this
feature will be used for vocabulary questions, cultural context questions, questions
about idiomatic expressions used in readings and class discussions, identification of
people and places mentioned in classes and myriad other areas.
6. Withdrawal: The final date for student withdrawals is Friday, November 1, 2013. If
you drop the course, you must complete the necessary forms with the Registration
personnel prior to this date. If you do not complete the withdrawal form and do not
complete the required work in this class, you will receive an “F” for the course.
HCCS instructors are no longer allowed to give students a grade of “W” at the end of
the semester. The only way your grade will appear as a “W” on your course record is
if the withdrawal form is submitted prior to the deadline, November 1, 2013.
7. Tardiness: Please arrive on time. I will call roll every day at the beginning of class.
If you are more than 10 minutes late, you will be counted tardy. Thee tardies counts
as one absence. If you are more than 20 minutes late, you will be counted absent.
8. Participation: Your level of participation in class discussions and evidence of your
preparation for these discussions are very important to your final grade and to
enhancing your ability to analyze literary works.
Course Learning Outcomes:
2013-2014 Learning Outcomes for ENGL 1302
• Analyze a text by implementing rhetorical and/or literary strategies.
• Recognize the elements of appropriate literary genres.
• Focus a topic and formulate a critical/analytical thesis, focus, main point, or claim appropriate for an
academic audience that analyzes literature—nonfiction and/or fiction.
• Use a variety of organizational strategies within a single paper to support a thesis, focus, main point,
or claim.
• Interpret texts in a variety of cultural and historical contexts.
• Demonstrate an ability to use effective research techniques to find appropriate oral and/or written
media such as books, articles, interviews, visuals, and government documents.
• Demonstrate an ability to evaluate sources.
• Avoid plagiarism when incorporating quotations, paraphrases, and ideas.
• Follow standard guidelines in documenting resources.
• Synthesize and evaluate various interpretations of texts to complete an extended research project.
• Compose relatively error-free papers.
Grade Determination:
Your grade will be
determined by the
following
Essay 1
Details
Values Argument paper
Percent of
Final
Average
10
Essay 2
Causal Argument paper
20
Debate
Debate
10
Midterm
In class essay
10
Essay 3
Proposal Argument paper
20
Presentation
Proposal Argument powerpoint presentation
15
Final Exam
In class essay
10
Attendance and Participation
Come to class. Be polite. Do good work.
5
Total:
100%
Letter Grade Assignment:
A
Final Average in
Percent
90-100
B
80-89
C
70-79
D
60-69
F
59 and below
Letter Grade
Tentative Instructional Outline:
Week
Activities
Number and
Assignment
Week 1
Objectives and Details
Aug 26
Course description; Introduction to argument
Aug 28
The defining features of an argument; Class exercise: Mosh pits will be the
subject for a simulation game in which class members present the points of
view of the persons involved. Ch1 RRW
Week 2
Sept 2
Sept 4
Labor Day - Holiday
Lecture- Genres of Argument; reading as a believer, as a doubter, exploring
how rhetorical context and genre shape an argument; use disagreement
productively to prompt further investigation. Parts of argument: Toulmin
Method. Chapter 9
Class led discussion We will look at several current events and break into
groups to identify parts of argument. Groups will present their work to the
class.
Week 3
Sept. 9
Sept 11
Lecture and group work: The structure of a Classical Argument- exordium,
narratio, propositio, partitio, confirmatio, confutatio, and peroratio. Chapter 3
exercises Op-ed piece from NYT and CNN- class will discuss two op-ed
pieces and working in small groups identify claim, reasons, values, counterargument, rebuttal, call for action, last impression and larger issue that topic is
being related to.
NOTE: Official Date of Record
Class led discussion: The Frame of an argument: claims supported by reasons
(premises); because clauses; enthymeme;
Class exercise: working in small groups, identify the claim, stated reason, and
unstated assumption that completes each of the following enthymemic
arguments (sentences provided in class). Groups will present work to the class
for discussion.
Week 4
Sept 16
Sept 18
Group work and class led discussion- Logical structure of arguments and
The Toulmin System: original enthymeme, claim, stated reason, grounds,
warrant, backing, conditions of rebuttal, rebuttal of warrant and backing,
qualifier. Class exercise- working in small groups, imagine that you have to
write arguments developing the ten ethymemes given in class on the board.
Use the Toulmin schema to help you determine what you need to consider
when developing each enthymeme. Groups will present work to the class for
discussion.
Prep work for essay 1
Week 5
Sept 23
Sept 25
Writing workshop: Trouble shooting for essay one. We will break into small
groups to discuss how our essay is coming along and work on the rough draft.
BRING THE LITTLE BROWN HANDBOOK TO CLASS TODAY
Group Work: Peer Review for Essay One (15% of paper grade)
Complete rough draft due; must be typed. Incomplete work will be ineligible
for the peer review. Please arrive to class on time (with your work already
printed and ready to review) to ensure your participation in peer review.
BRING THE LITTLE BROWN HANDBOOK TO CLASS TODAY
Week 6
Oct 1
Final draft of Essay 1 due. Order of materials: final draft on top, rough draft
underneath (signed and dated by a tutor at HCC), peer review last. NOTE: We
do not have a stapler in the classroom, so please staple your work before you
come to class.
Group Work, Causal Argument. Ch 10 Essay two handout. Pick debate teams
and talk about topics
Oct 3
HOMEWORK- Decide on three possible topics for project and prepare 5
minute presentation to the class explaining your ideas. Ideas should be typed
and brought to class on Wednesday.
Class led discussion: Discuss topics, students will give short presentation on
top three topics for essay 2. (This will count as prep work for essay 2; 10% of
paper grade)
Week 7
Oct 7
Oct 9
Library Orientation- Introduction to library and help with Causal Argument
paper topics. MEET IN THE LIBRARY
Group Work: Work on Essay 2
Week 8
Oct 14
Oct 16
Writing Workshop: Peer Review for Essay 2 (15% of paper grade)
BRING THE LITTLE BROWN HANDBOOK TO CLASS TODAY
Midterm- Blue Examination Booklet required; Essay 2 is due at the beginning
of class.
Week 9
Oct 21
Debates (Note cards and outlines are due at the end of debate for each speaker)
Oct 23
Debates
Week 10
Oct 27
Debates
Oct 29
Debates (Note: The last day to drop is Friday, Nov. 1st)
Week 11
Nov 4
Nov 6
Week 12
Introduction to Proposal Arguments Ch 11;
Group work and class led discussion Exercise: Working in pairs, identify
and list several major problems facing students in your college. Decide among
yourselves which are the most important and rank them; take your group’s
number 1 problem and explore answers to the questions supplied in class by
your instructor. Present findings to class.
Chapter 11 continued
Homework: Decide on three possible topics for Proposal argument and present
to the class on Monday. Ideas should be typed and brought to class.
Nov 11
Nov 13
Class led discussion: Topics are due for proposal argument. Short presentation
to class on topic proposal (5% of paper)
Writing Workshop
Week 13
Nov 18
Peer Review for Proposal Argument, Essay 3 (15% of paper grade)
Nov 20
BRING THE LITTLE BROWN HANDBOOK TO CLASS TODAY
Essay 3 is due
Proposal Argument Class Presentations
Week 14
Nov 25
Presentations
Nov. 27
Presentations
Week 15
Dec. 2
Presentations
Dec. 4
Review for Final Exam
Week 16
Dec 11
Wednesday- Final Exam- Blue examination booklet is required