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North Seattle Community College
Humanities Division
Spring Quarter 2015
Course Syllabus: English 101.02
Instructor:
Instructor’s Office:
Email:
Course Webpage:
Office Hours:
Class Location:
Class Time:
Required texts:
Jamie Wilson
IB 2423C (Cubicle 3)
jamie.wilson@seattlecolleges.edu
facweb.northseattle.edu/jameswilson
By appointment
CC 3349
Daily 9:00am – 9:50am
Graff, They Say I Say (With Readings)
Course Goals and Objectives
This course will prepare you for writing assignments in other college courses and your future outside of higher education.
We will use the writing process to produce clear, coherent, purposeful writing that is the product of careful reading and
analysis. By the end of the quarter, successful English 101 students should be able to do the following:
 Read Critically
 Produce coherent prose (transitions)
 Write about and respond to texts
 Choose an appropriate organizational pattern
 Use the writing process
 Make writing choices based on various
 Use peer review
audiences and purposes
 Produce writing with a thesis or central purpose
 Write clear, grammatically and mechanically
 Demonstrate critical thinking
correct prose
 Produce specific details, facts, or
 Develop style and voice
examples to support their thesis
 Integrate sources and avoid plagiarism
Participation and Attendance:
Since participation and teamwork are the engine of learning in this course, and because we will be working in groups to
accomplish a number of shared goals this quarter, it is essential to come to class each day fully prepared and ready to
contribute. It goes without saying that your classroom conduct should always be constructive and guided by a sense of
respect for your fellow classmates. Participation involves carefully and thoughtfully reading assigned texts before class,
bringing all required materials to each class session, and contributing to class discussions, activities, group projects, and
work-shopping of papers. If you make a habit of coming to class late, or without your textbooks, or without having done
the reading and/or assignments, you not only hamstring your own learning, but you limit everybody else’s learning as
well. This is why to be considered present on any given day you must have all the required materials with you and be
prepared to share your thoughts and actively contribute during group activities and class discussions.
Active Reading:
In order to adequately prepare for each class session and put yourself in a position to succeed in this course, it is essential
to be an active, thoughtful, and engaged reader. Reading actively is the single most important thing you can do to
improve as a writer. Resist the urge to be passive and let your eyes roll thoughtlessly over the page. Rather, have your
pen out and actively question, analyze, and respond to the ideas you are encountering in the text. Underline key features
of the writing, identify claims and assumptions, formulate issue based questions, examine the author’s style and tone and
treatment of the audience, make connections to other authors, other classes, your own personal experiences. In short,
engage in a conversation with the text, deeply considering what it has to say and formulating your own unique set of
questions and responses.
The Writing Process
Contrary to popular belief, strong writing is rarely produced in last-minute, late-night fits of inspiration. To produce
successful essays in this class, you will need to use the writing process. This typically involves using three steps that
progress over the course of two or more weeks: planning, drafting, and revising. By dividing your writing process into
three manageable phases, and proceeding through each phase in a gradual and strategic manner, you give yourself the
time and space to produce your best work. You also give yourself the opportunity to shape original ideas and clarify them
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over time so that they have the power to move an audience. This makes writing a process of discovery, rather than a mad,
last-minute rush to fill pages.
Twenty-Percent Attendance Policy:
Regular attendance is required in this class. If you miss twenty percent or more of our class meetings (ten classes or
more) you will automatically lose all of your participation points for the course (ten percent of your grade).
Work Load
Expect to spend approximately fifteen hours per week on this class (as determined by the standard three hours per credit
per week formula). This breaks down to three hours a day, with one hour spent in class and two hours spent outside of
class completing assignments (assigned readings, group projects, homework, and major essays). Be realistic: to reach
your goals, academically and otherwise, you have to put in the consistent time and hard work that it takes to succeed.
Technology
As a general rule, all homework assignments and essays must be word processed and printed to receive credit, so regular
access to a computer is essential in this class. We will also be using Canvas for posting grades, making announcements,
and for online collaboration. Our college has a number of computers available for students use in the Library, the
Learning Center, and in the Computer Lab. The best way to contact me outside of class is via email at
Jamie.wilson@seattlecolleges.edu. I check my email during business hours (Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm), and
you can expect a reply within one business day.
Workshop
All three major essays in this class will be workshopped. This will involve submitting a rough draft for the members of
your workshop group to read and respond to. During workshop, you will critique two essays per class period, discussing
each essay’s strengths and finding opportunities for improvement. For each essay you workshop, you will type up a
separate sheet of comments in advance of the workshop, and these comments will be constructive, detailed, and specific in
their suggestions for improvement. Your rough draft and workshop comments must be submitted with the final draft of
each of your three major essays in order for each essay to receive full credit.
Grading
Approximately 75% of your grade will come from three major essays that you will write in this course. Approximately
10% of your grade will be based on attendance and participation, and 15% of your grade will be based on homework
assignments, which will include group projects, rough drafts and workshop responses, reading quizzes, summaries and
outlines, and other writing and reading related activities. Ultimately, your grade will reflect the extent to which you can
produce effective college level writing that meets the course objectives and the degree to which you can consistently
contribute to the collective aims of the class.
Here are the essays that you will be writing this quarter. I will give you more detailed assignment prompts to work from
as the quarter progresses.
Essay #1: Rhetorical Analysis (3-5 pages, due Monday, April 27th)
Essay #2: Argument (4-6 pages, due Monday, May 18th)
Essay #3: Synthesis (5-7 pages, Due Tuesday, June 16th)
Essay #4: Evaluation (In-Class Essay, Finals Week)
Grade Breakdown for the Course:
Essays 1-3:
600 points (200 points each)
Essay 4:
150 points
Participation: 100 points
Homework:
150 points
Total:
1000 points
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Grade Distribution:
Above 94% A 4.0 - 3.9
90-93% A- 3.8 - 3.5
87-89% B+ 3.4 - 3.2
84-86% B
3.1 - 2.9
80-83% B- 2.8 - 2.5
77-79% C+ 2.4 - 2.2
74-76% C
2.1 - 1.9
70-73% C- 1.8 - 1.5
67-69% D+
1.4 - 1.2
64-66% D
1.1 - 0.9
62-63% D- 0.8 – 0.7
Late Work Policy:
Late work will not be accepted in this class. Assignments are due at the start of class on the appointed due date. In cases
of emergency you may email a major essay to me on the day it is due, but I must receive it prior to the start of class for it
to be eligible to receive credit. Unless otherwise noted, all assignments must be word-processed, and you must have them
with you when class begins in order to receive credit.
Re-Write Policy:
You will have the opportunity to re-write one essay in this course (Essay #1 or Essay #2). Your re-write grade will
completely replace the grade you originally received for the essay. Re-writes must include the original graded copy of the
essay, as well as a minimum one-page reflection on your experience with the revision process.
Disabilities
Every student should have a fair shot at achieving his or her educational goals. If you have a documented disability that
affects you as a student in this class, please let me know. Also, the Disabilities Services Center is on campus to help you
(934-3697, CC 2346A). Please contact them, as they are there to do anything they can to accommodate your needs.
Final Remarks
I am confident that at the end of the day you have all the resources you need to excel in this course. It is up to you,
however, to put in the hard work and consistent practice that it takes to read, think, and write on the college level. If at
any time you are struggling, I am here to help. You can arrange a meeting with me and I will give you feedback on your
readings and assignments. Also, you can visit the Page One Writing and Language Center, a free tutoring service on the
first floor of the new HSSR building, for extra help. Between our class sessions, my by-appointment office hours, the
Page One tutoring service, and your textbook, every opportunity is afforded to you to improve your writing and meet the
learning objectives in this class. I look forward to seeing your improvement happen on the page. Remember, writers and
thinkers are not born, they are made.
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North Seattle Community College English Department Policy on Plagiarism
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 acknowledgment, 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 acknowledgement
--paraphrasing so closely or so extensively from a source that sentences and ideas really belong to the original writer
--submitting as your own whole 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:
1) requiring that a piece of writing be revised to eliminate the plagiarism
2) denying credit for a piece of writing in which plagiarism has been found
3) recording a “0” grade in the student’s class record for this project, thereby lowering the student’s final grade
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Seattle Community College District VI complies with all Washington state anti-discrimination laws (chapter 49.60 RCW),
and the following federal law relating to equal opportunity: Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title IX of
the Educational Amendments of 1972; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1992.
Updated: April 5, 2004