Eng 131
Introductory Composition
Fall 2006
Instructor:
Office:
Office hours:
Phone:
E-mail:
Website:
Section Info:
Mark Sidey
CM 143
T/R 9:45-10:15, 1:15-1:45, and by appointment
481-6762 (during office hours only)
sideym@ipfw.edu
http://users.ipfw.edu/sideym/
Section 30 TR 10:30-11:45 CM 232
Section 34 TR 12:00-1:15 SB 304
Syllabus
What is a syllabus and why do you receive one? The policies and procedures that
govern the course are explained in a syllabus. Thus a syllabus is a contract—by
staying in the class, you agree to abide by the rules in the syllabus. Rereading the
syllabus can help you feel less lost the first few weeks of class. As we progress through
the semester, knowing the policies and procedures can help you be aware of your
responsibilities.
A syllabus also lists what we will be doing each class session. The daily schedule
allows you to plan ahead thereby avoiding all-nighters. The syllabus is not engraved in
stone. Depending on how the semester progresses, I may make modifications.
Course Outcomes
Students who complete W131 should be able to demonstrate their competence in four
areas:
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Rhetorical Knowledge: Upon completion of the course, students should be able
to focus on a purpose; define a thesis; respond to the needs of different
audiences; adopt an appropriate stance toward audience and topic; and write in
several genres.
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing: Upon completion of the course
students should be able to use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, and
thinking; be able to paraphrase and summarize the work of others; and integrate
their own ideas with those of others.
Processes: Upon completion of the courses, students should use multiple drafts
to complete an effective text; develop flexible strategies for generating, revising,
and editing; engage in a recursive process of writing; demonstrate that they
understand the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes; learn to
critique their own and others’ work; and use various technologies to address a
range of audiences.
Knowledge of Conventions: Upon completion of the courses, students should
demonstrate that they can recognize and use common formats for different
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genres of texts; practice appropriate means of documenting their work; and
control syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Course Overview
In your years in school, education may have been something that was done to you. The
result of this top down education is often resistance on the part of students. Also, you
may have had teachers who employ reward and punishment motivation. For example,
points for attendance and meeting deadlines and extra work for missed classes. This
class will be somewhat different.
Going to college is a choice therefore I assume that you want to be here. I will not treat
you as someone who is resistant to education and who needs to be rewarded with
points for every activity. Your grade will be based entirely on your project grades. I will
work with you, throughout the semester, to help you achieve course goals and in
meeting assignment criteria. If you choose to not work incrementally throughout the
semester, I will not catch you up at the end of the semester and you will fail the class.
Projects
According to The IPFW Writing Handbook, students in W131 should produce “15-20
pages of ‘final’ polished writing.” Here is how we will get there:
Profile
Annotated Bibliography
Researched Paper
Research Report
Evaluation
2 pages
3 pages (or the equivalent of)
7 pages
2 pages
2 pages
A page is 300 words. The above page lengths are the minimum requirement for each
assignment—you can always write more.
Grade Computation
Profile
Annotated Bibliography
Researched Paper
Research Report
Evaluation
10%
20%
30%
20%
20%
Grading Scale
A
B
C
D
F
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
0-59
You must earn at least a D on all assignments to avoid an F for the class.
As you may know, the IPFW grading system does not include plus or minus grades.
For example, there is no A- or B+. If you are on the borderline of the next higher grade,
your participation will determine whether you receive the higher grade. Participation
includes attendance, meeting deadlines, and involvement in class discussions and
workshops.
Draft Submission
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Procrastination and writing go hand in hand—but in order to learn to write more
effectively, and to meet course goals, you need to work steadily throughout the
semester rather than writing in a few bursts here and there. There are draft due dates
on the syllabus with the expectation for each draft. Draft due dates serve several
purposes. First, reviewing your work in progress is how writing is taught—you submit a
draft and we discuss where you are and where you need to go. Second, intermediate
deadlines help overcome the tendency to procrastinate. Third, these deadlines break
larger projects up into smaller pieces thus making the projects seem more doable.
Fourth, reviewing drafts helps prevent and identify plagiarism.
I realize that occasionally people get a little behind and may miss a deadline. If this
happens, I recommend that you catch up quickly. I will look at no more than one draft
per week per student. If you miss a deadline, I may be busy and not get to you work as
soon as you would like. Further, I will look at your work sequentially. For example, I will
not respond to the rough draft of the research paper until you have completed the
annotated bib.
I will not grade any papers for which I have not seen at least a preliminary draft, a
revised draft, and a polished draft. “Revised” means that the draft is substantially
different than the prior submission.
Progress Reports
For each draft you submit, you will write a progress report. Progress reports help you
learn to evaluate your writing, demonstrate your knowledge of writing fundamentals, tell
me where you think you are in the process, and serve as starting points for
conversations on your work.
In the progress report, tell me how far along the draft is. Make sure you cover these
areas:
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what the strengths of the draft are
what the weak areas of the draft are
what you plan to revise and why
what revisions you made and why
You can also ask specific questions about the draft.
Feedback
Drafts that do no meet the formatting criteria and that are submitted without a progress
report will not be reviewed. Revised drafts that are submitted without prior drafts and
progress reports will not be reviewed.
For the most part, feedback on your drafts will be in conferences and workshops. At the
conference, we will discuss your work and make a plan for revision. If you miss a
conference or draft submission deadline, it will be up to you to talk to me about when we
can meet to discus your work.
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Conference Expectations
You will need to take an active role in conferences by discussing where you are and
where you are trying to go in the draft. If you need further explanation of something
from class or are having trouble seeing how something from class relates to your draft,
we will certainly discuss these concerns. However, conferences are not a time to reteach material we have gone over in class. I expect that when you come to the
conference you will know what we have discussed in class. If not, conferences will be
unproductive and I will tell you to reschedule when you have gone over your notes more
thoroughly.
Formatting
All out of class work must be word-processed using 12 point Arial or Times New Roman
font and one-inch margins.
In the top left-hand portion of the first page, place a heading that consists of: your name,
ENG W131, the assignment, and the level of the draft (e.g. 1st draft, Revised draft, Final
draft), two blank lines and the title of your paper centered on the page. Thus the first
page of each draft will begin something like this:
Jane Doe
ENG W131
Annotated Bibliography, 1st Draft
An Annotated Bibliography of Sources on Euthanasia
On subsequent pages, insert a header with your last name and the page number.
All citations will be in MLA format unless you want to use the documentation style used
in your discipline.
Attendance
I will take attendance—so I learn names and because attendance is one indication of
your involvement in the class. Similarly, notifying me in person or via email that you will
be absent, while not required, indicates involvement in the class. While you are in
college, going to class and doing class assignments is one of your jobs. Would you
miss work or get behind without letting your supervisor know why and what you plan to
do about it?
If you miss class, it is your responsibility to ask another student what you missed.
Chronic lateness is disruptive and rude—show up on time. If you are late, it is your
responsibility to remind me AFTER CLASS to note that you were late not absent.
In all but the most unusual of circumstances, missing six or more classes will result in
an F for the course. The drop deadline is October 27. If a situation arises that prevents
W131 Syllabus
you from attending class after October 27th, you should contact your advisor to see
about petitioning for a late withdrawal.
Students who miss class for a university-sponsored event in which they are required to
participate (e.g. team sports) are not exempt from the attendance policy. I will take the
fact that you were required to be elsewhere into account when calculating your
participation. Please provide a written schedule signed by your coach or sponsor for
any classes you may miss because of university-sponsored events.
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Additional Course Policies
 All reading and writing assignments are to be completed before the class meets.
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There is no make up for missed in-class writings.
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Writing for this course is public writing. You will exchange drafts in small groups and
we will discuss drafts in class. (I will not use a student’s work as an example of what
not to do.) If you are uncomfortable having other students read a particular piece of
writing, let me know.

Plagiarism. The IPFW 2004-2006 Undergraduate Bulletin defines plagiarism as the
“adoption or reproduction of ideas or statements of another person as one’s own
without acknowledgement” (280). Any deliberate act of plagiarism will result in an
“F” for the assignment, possibly failing the class, and possible sanction from the
University. Deliberate plagiarism is knowingly passing someone else’s words and/or
ideas off as your own.