1302 Composition II
Section: 30919
Instructor: Susan Drake
Office Hours: Mon/Wed 10-11am
Class Times: Mon/Wed 8-9:30
Office: 310 Faculty Lounge
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: These books are not optional. You must purchase them to stay
enrolled in the class.
Read, Reason, Write, (RRW) 10th edition. Dorothy U. Seyler
The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, 8th edition. Jane E. Aaron
Course overview
Materials Needed:



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
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. If you come to class without your
book or required material for that day, you will be counted absent. 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, 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 April 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, April 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:
2012-2013 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
Classical Argument
Percent of
Final
Average
10
Essay 2 + Debate
Debate and Argument paper
20
Midterm
In class exam
10
Essay 3 + Presentation
Presentation and Proposal Argument
20
Essay 4
Documented Research paper
20
Final Exam
In class exam
10
Attendance and Participation
Come to class. Be polite. Do good work.
10
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
Jan 14
Course description; Introduction to argument: Socrates & the Sophists
Jan 16
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
Jan 21
MLK, Jr. Day - Holiday
Jan 23
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
Class exercises from chapter 1 and 2.
Week 3
Jan 28
Jan 30
Lecture The structure of a Classical Argument- exordium, narratio,
propositio, partitio, confirmatio, confutatio, and peroratio. Chapter 3 exercises
Op-ed piece from NYT, Sex Ed in Washington- class reads op-ed and working
in groups identifies claim, reasons, values, counter-argument, rebuttal, call for
action, last impression and larger issue that topic is being related to.
Continue Chapter 3 Essay 1 assigned; Class exercise- Making an inventory of
issues that interest you. Prep work for essay 1
Week 4
Feb 4
Feb 6
Lecture-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).
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.
Week 5
Feb 11
Feb 13
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.
Lecture- 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.
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. Debate Assignment and Essay two handout. Pick teams;
Introduction to Evaluative Arguments debate and paper prep work Ch 6 RRW
Week 6
Feb 18
Presidents Day—Holiday
Feb 20
Work in teams, debate prep work
Week 7
Feb 25
Debates
Feb 27
Debates
Week 8
March 4
March 6
Finish Debates
Reminder: Essay 2 is due (no peer review for this essay, but you are required
to work with a tutor)
Midterm- Blue Examination Booklet required
Week 9
March 1117
March 18
SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS THIS WEEK
March 20
Lecture on Proposal Argument
Introduction to Proposal Arguments Ch 11
Class 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.
Week 10
March 25
Continue working on Proposal Arguments
March 27
Presentations for Proposal Argument (Note: The last day to drop is April 1)
Week 11
April 1
Presentations for Proposal Arguments- LAST DAY TO DROP
April 3
Finish Presentations for Proposal Arguments; Reminder: Essay 3 is due (no
peer review for this essay, but you are required to work with a tutor)
Week 12
April 8
April 10
Lecture on Research Paper; Chapter 12 Locating, Evaluating and Preparing to
use sources; Handout for Research Essay
Chapter 13 Writing the Researched Essay
Week 13
April 15
Continue Chapter 13; Project proposal is due
April 17
Chapter 14 Formal Documentation/ Library Research
Week 14
April 22
Library Research/ Work on Essay 4
April 24
Updated Annotated Bibliography is due
Week 15
April 29
Work on Essay 4
May 1
Peer Review for Essay 4
Week 16
Final Exam- Blue examination booklet is required