ENGL&102.06: Composition II
Agency and Identity in the Digital Age
Instructor: Jim Jewell
Email: Jim.Jewell@seattlecolleges.edu (best)
Phone: 206-934-4569 x3 (terrible)
Class blog: people.northseattle.edu/blogs/jjewell
Classroom: CC 3445
Office Hrs: by appointment
Office: IB 2423 Cubicle #4
Welcome to ENGL&102! This class will be demanding, with an intense focus on critical reading, academic
writing and active discussion, but can also be very rewarding. I very much believe in a cooperative
approach to teaching, and am eager to get to know each of you and welcome input on achieving our shared
goals. We will pursue a balance of process and product this quarter, focused on developing an active,
reflective writing process and an understanding of what successful academic writing must accomplish.
Our readings will focus on digital technology. We will tackle a variety of essays and short stories, a novel,
and a non-fiction treatise, all of which deal with the ways that digital technology affects our lives, and which
ask questions about our relationships with these increasingly powerful and prolific tools. In particular, we
will engage the question of agency - the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power – and
whether, to what degree, and to what end we have ceded that power to technology.
My personal goal for this quarter is to help each of you develop a writing process that will be effective for you
as you continue your academic career. The focus of ENGL102 is writing in response to texts, progressing
through the steps of summarizing a text, analyzing a text, synthesizing ideas from multiple texts, and
finally conducting independent research and evaluation of texts. Throughout, we will focus on the concept
of purpose, both as what drives our own writing and as evidenced in the texts we read, and making
conscious, informed choices at each step in the writing process.
Required Readings
Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commandments for a Digital Age by Douglas Rushkoff
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
A Sequence in Academic Writing, 5th Ed. By Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen
Additional essays and short fiction provided by instructor
You also need a writing handbook. You should have a handbook from your ENGL 101 course that helps you
with grammar, punctuation, mechanics, style and MLA citation. If you do not already possess a handbook, I
recommend: Easy Writer. 4th edition, edited by Lumsford, Andrea A.
Required Materials
3-Ring Binder (at least 1” -- try to find one with pockets)
Loose Leaf Paper
Writing implements for writing in class
Two-pocket folder for submitting papers
Assignments/Grading
Major Essays/Projects (65%)
There will be four major projects assigned for this class. The first will be a 2-3 page Summary (10%) of an
academic text. The second essay will be a 3-5 page Analysis (15%) essay that addresses either the entire
Rushkoff text or focuses on a specific chapter. The third essay will be a 4-6 page Synthesis (20%) essay that
combines ideas from either the Rushkoff or Shteyngart text and at least one other class reading. The final
project will be an Annotated Bibliography (20%) based on independent research that takes up some issue
discussed in class; this project demands that you go beyond the sources we read in class and conduct focused
research on your chosen topic.
Homework, Summary/Response, and In-Class Writing (15%)
You will regularly be assigned 1-2 page summary and response essays on required class readings. The
purpose of these assignments is both to develop and refine summary and analysis skills that will help you in
your longer essays, and to facilitate class discussion. I will also assign short in-class writing assignments from
time to time throughout the quarter.
Reflective Commentary and Future Assignment Simulation (5% each)
As one of the primary goals for this class is to encourage each student to develop a writing process, we will
conclude the quarter by looking back at our development as writers. Your reflective commentary will
discuss the ways you have changed or improved as a writer, and is intended to illustrate the awareness and
control of your process that you bring to bear on writing projects. Reflective commentaries can be difficult to
write, but provide a good measure for how well students are likely to be able to apply course concepts in the
future. The Future Assignment Simulation will serve as your final exam, and will ask you to look at writing
assignments from various other fields, construct an understanding of the purpose the assignment asks you to
take up, and formulate a plan for completing the assignment.
Class Participation (10%)
You are expected to attend class every day and actively participate in class discussions and peer review
sessions. This grade will be based on self-evaluation, my observations about your participation, and
attendance. Attendance is mandatory; five or more absences will result in the loss of half of your
participation grade (I will occasionally make exceptions but ONLY if you talk to me BEFORE an absence).
Grading and Late Policy
Specific evaluation criteria will be handed out with each assignment. Late essays will drop 5% for every class
day they are late, up to a maximum of a 10% reduction. Essays more than one week (five class meetings) late
will NOT be accepted. Late homework will not be accepted; if you know you will not be in class, you must
make some other arrangement with me to get homework submitted on time. In-class writing cannot be rescheduled without prior arrangement.
Grade Ranges
Above 94%
90-93%
87-89%
84-86%
80-83%
A
AB+
B
B-
4.0 - 3.9
3.8 - 3.5
3.4 - 3.2
3.1 - 2.9
2.8 - 2.5
77-79%
74-76%
70-73%
67-69%
65-66%
64% or less
C+
C
CD+
D
F
2.4 - 2.2
2.1 - 1.9
1.8 - 1.5
1.4 - 1.2
1.1 – 1.0
0.0
ENGL&102 Exit Standards and Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of ENGL&102, students will be able to:
1. Read a variety of college level texts critically, including at least one full-length written text.
2. Compose coherent analyses of full-length texts.
3. Plan, organize, and write a longer thesis-driven essay about a complex idea (>5 pages).
4. Recognize and choose rhetorical strategies for academic audiences and purposes.
5. Synthesize sources and information.
6. Accurately and ethically summarize, paraphrase, and quote an author‘s ideas for the purposes of analysis.
7. Smoothly integrate source material in support of an essay‘s thesis.
8. Apply MLA-style standards and documentation to academic essays.
9. Engage in self-editing practices in order to write clear, grammatically and mechanically correct prose.
10. Use library resources for locating print and online sources not openly available on the free Internet.
11. Evaluate sources critically for authority, bias, currency, and relevance to the rhetorical situation.
12. Understand plagiarism and how to avoid it.
Class Policies
Attendance
Class begins promptly at noon, and I will often make important announcements at the beginning of class. If
you have not arrived in class by 5 minutes after the hour, you will be marked late; every two late arrivals will
count as an absence. If you have not arrived in class by 15 minutes after the hour, you will be marked absent
regardless of whether you attend or not. If you arrive at a peer review session without a printed copy of your
current draft, you will be asked to leave and you will be marked absent. These absences will count against
your participation grade.
Statement on Participation
Your active participation in class is expected. You should be ready to ask and to answer questions about the
readings, and to make thoughtful contributions to group discussions in class. Occasionally, I may ask you
write a brief response to a question ahead of time, write a question or set of questions in anticipation of class
ahead of time, or write a brief response to a question in class. These written products will be collected and
included in the assessment of your in-class writing grade. Excellent and poor levels of participation will
impact your participation grades alike. If you have any questions or concerns about your level of class
participation as the quarter proceeds, please see me. At around week 5 of the quarter, I will inform you if
your participation could be improved.
Essay Expectations, Grades, and Revision
Work that is due should be brought to class in paper form. Only in a documented emergency will I accept
homework or essay drafts via email. It is a good survival policy for you to locate several possible printer
locations on campus where you could print out your work if your home printer is not working. A printer not
working is not a valid excuse for missing the due date of a piece of written work and does not allow you to
turn that work in late.
Drafts and revisions are required for the three major papers. The major writing assignments will go
through a typed draft version and a final, corrected version before a grade is assigned. In terms of the grading
system, having separate drafts, supporting materials, and final versions constitute separate grades. Typically,
the draft/supporting material portion of the major paper grade is a completion grade, but if those materials
are haphazard or incomplete, you will not receive full points. Failure to bring drafts or supporting materials
to class on the peer review days will result in a zero for that portion of the grade. Drafts and supporting
materials will also be turned in with final version in a two-pocket folder.
My essay grades are final. I am happy to review my comments and the essay rubric with you, but I will not
make changes to essay grades once the essays have been returned to you. However, once per quarter you
may revise a completed essay to attempt to earn a higher grade. In order to be allowed to revise an
essay, you must meet with me to review the comments and rubric; in extreme cases, if we are unable to find a
time that works for both of us to meet, I will allow you to meet with a Loft tutor to earn the right to revise for
a higher grade, but you must clear this with me ahead of time.
The Loft Writing Center Plus
The Loft is the campus language lab/writing center, located on the top floor of the library. One of the primary
attributes of The Loft is the free tutoring! The tutoring sessions last 30 minutes, are held on a first-come first
served basis, and can help you with reading, writing, grammar, listening and speaking. Although you will not
be required to use the services of the Loft in order to be successful in this class, many students have found
their services helpful. For more information, call (206) 934-0078 or visit
http://www.northseattle.edu/services/loft/.
Instructor Conferences
You are encouraged to visit your instructor during office hours to discuss any aspect of the course. I will be
happy to receive feedback about the course or simply get to know you a bit better, help you wrestle with
difficult texts or concepts, review and comment on rough drafts, or address any concerns you may have.
Classroom Etiquette
I’m happy to allow beverages in class, but in consideration of all of us, I do ask that you refrain from eating
food during class. I also ask that you be sure to take your cans and/or bottles with you at the end of class and
not leave them on your desk or the floor.
Students who wish to use laptops during class should consult with me first and commit themselves to using
their computers only for work directly associated with this course during class time.
Lateness is actively discouraged: chronic lateness is disruptive, rude, and damaging to your academic success;
therefore I will personally counsel students I observe to be habitually late to find another section of this
course that better fits their schedules.
Finally, I insist that you silence your cell phones while you are in the classroom and that you do not send or
receive text messages during class.
Academic Honesty
It goes without saying that the grade you earn is supposed to reflect your learning. Out of fear or ignorance,
students sometimes submit other people’s work as their own. To take the words or ideas of someone else and
present them as your own is plagiarism and is unacceptable in academic life. The nature and causes of
plagiarism may cover a range from the accidental to the dishonest. Examples of plagiarism encountered in
academic writing may include the following:
- incorporating into your own writing, without proper and complete acknowledgement, words and
sentences from a print, electronic, or oral source
- inserting longer passages (such as four or five consecutive sentences or whole paragraphs) of
somebody else’s writing into your own without complete acknowledgement
- paraphrasing so closely or so extensively from a source that sentences or ideas really belong to the
original writer
- submitting as your own entire essays written by another person or taken from a printed source or
off the internet
- receiving so much help from another person that the work could not honestly be called your own.
Students, by their attendance here, agree to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct, which states, in part, that
“academic dishonesty, to include cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the
college” may bring disciplinary action. The policy of the NSCC English faculty is to exercise its professional
judgment as to the nature and cause of each case of suspected or proven plagiarism and to respond in a
manner suited to the case. Responses may include the following:
- requiring that a piece of writing be revised to eliminate the plagiarism
- denying credit for a piece of writing in which the plagiarism has been found
- recording a ‘0’ grade in the student’s class record for the project, thereby
- lowering the student’s final grade.
Because the papers we write in this class require multiple drafts, plagiarized papers typically do not go
unnoticed. When I have encountered plagiarized papers in the past, my policy has been to record 0 points on
that assignment and to file a formal report with the college requesting disciplinary action. ‘Warnings’ are
typically not given, even for first or unintentional offenses.
Disclosures
Reasonable accommodations are available for students with documented disabilities. Students should contact
Disability Services (located in Student Success Services in the College Center building) to discuss their
accommodation needs as soon as possible. Students who are registered with Disability Services and receive
accommodations should notify me as soon as possible to avoid any delays in implementing those
accommodations. Student who are not already registered but may be eligible due to a documented disability
should visit Disability Services (located in Student Success Services in the College Center building) to discuss
accommodations.