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NORTH SEATTLE COLLEGE
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Quarter:
Class:
Time:
Room:
Fall 2015
English 101.04A
11 – 11:50 Daily
CC3349
Instructor:
Office:
Office hours:
Phone:
e-mail:
www:
Molly Tenenbaum
IB2423C, Suite 9
M & W 1-2pm or by appointment
(206) 934-4553
molly.tenenbaum@seattlecolleges.edu
www.canvas.northseattle.edu
Admission to the Class: To enroll in this class, you must present
 a copy of the Compass placement test evaluation form which directs you to
English 101,
or
 a white recommendation form from your previous English class.
or
 An “eligibility” form, provided by and signed by an advisor, along with a copy
of qualifying test scores from another college or test service (TOEFL, IELTS,
SAT, ACT, Compass, or Accuplacer).
 An “eligibility” form, provided by and signed by an advisor or the English
Coordinator, along with a copy of qualifying course work on a transcript from
your previous college.
I must have your placement forms by Friday, October 9. Without proper placement, you
cannot remain in the class. Please see me if you have questions.
Basic Skills Needed: This class assumes basic skills such as the ability to write
complete, grammatical sentences, organized paragraphs, and the ability to
proofread. If I see that you need more practice with these skills, I will let you know,
and you will need to do more work on your own in order to keep up with the class.
Help is available from the Page One Writing Center, in the new HSSR building. You
need these skills to pass the class.
Disability Services: I want to support all students in this class. If you have a condition that will
affect your performance in this class please let me know. Students with disabilities are
encouraged to use Disability Services for support in implementing reasonable accommodations.
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You may make an appointment with Disability Services by calling 527-3697 or stopping by the
DS office on the 2nd floor of the College Center.
Diversity: One of NSCC’s key values, all of which you will find listed on North’s website under
“Mission and Accreditation,” is embracing diversity: “We create a richer environment by
embracing diverse cultures, ideas, perspectives, and people." I want to emphasize that in this
class we welcome, appreciate, encourage, and learn from everyone.
REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS
Books:
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50 Essays, 4th Edition, edited by Samuel Cohen
Writing with Style, 3rd Edition, by John R. Trimble
Recommended: The Everyday Writer, 4th Edition, by Angela
Lunsford or another basic English Handbook.
A dictionary to bring to class regularly
Internet & computer requirements:
On our course website:
 Find course announcements (if there is a snow day or a changed due date, for
example)
 Find links to resources
 Find course handouts and assignments (also provided on paper in class)
 Check your grades
 Turn in some assignments
Printer: Many assignments are submitted on paper. You must have easy access to a
working printer. If you are using an unfamiliar printer, make sure before the last minute
that your documents are compatible with that printer. Plan ahead for long lines you
may find at the printers in the computer labs just before class, and be aware of the
computer lab’s policies regarding the use of printers. “I had to wait to print my paper”
is not an acceptable excuse for being late to a writing group or for turning your paper
in.
You’ll need easy access to computer word-processing for the many and frequent
papers in this class.
You’ll need a good connection to the internet, so you can look things up, and, in
emergencies, e-mail your instructor and classmates.
Materials:
A notebook with pockets, in which to keep all course materials. You are
expected to have all course handouts in class with you daily.
Blank, lined paper, and pens with blue or black ink.
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COURSE GOALS
Course outcomes/Learning Objectives:
1. Read critically.
2. Write about and respond to texts.
3. Use the writing process—generating material, drafting, reviewing, revising, and
proofreading.
4. Use peer review.
5. Produce writing with a thesis or central purpose.
6. Produce specific details, facts, or examples to support the thesis.
7. Demonstrate critical thinking.
8. Produce coherent, logically organized prose, using transitions.
9. Choose an appropriate organizational pattern.
10. Make writing choices based on various audiences and purposes.
This course addresses the following NSCC Essential Learning Outcomes (ELO’s):
 Knowledge: Facts, theories, perspectives and methodologies within and across
disciplines.
 Critical thinking and problem solving.
 Communication and self-expression.
 Ethical awareness and personal integrity.
 Synthesis and applications of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and
problems.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
1. Four formal essays (100 points each): For each of these essays, you’ll bring either
one or two drafts to class for in-class activities and peer review. After the peer
review, you’ll revise the essay to turn in for a grade.
2. One take-home final (30 points): This final will contain some grammar questions and
short answer questions. Each question is an all-or-nothing grade: If you make even a
single small error in your answer, you earn 0 points for that question. Strive for
perfection! We will review in class the week before the final is due. The due date is
Friday, December 11.
3. 8-10 Seminar papers (10 points each): These are short assignments that respond to
the readings and prepare you for class discussion and practice. These will be
submitted on paper.
4. 2-4 Quizzes (5-20 points each): There will be several quizzes on grammar issues, on
Trimble’s Writing with Style, and on the readings from 50 Essays.
5. Informal writing activities (3-5 points each). These will include short in-class
writings, verbal exercises, and various brainstorming, prewriting, and editing
activities. You earn credit for these if you are present, prepared with all reading and
writing assigned, present, and actively participating in the activity.
6. Small and large group activities (3-10 points each). These will include collaborative
discussions of the readings, exercises using the Writing with Style book, group
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brainstorming sessions, and peer-review workshop discussions of essay drafts. You
earn credit for these if you are present, prepared with all reading and writing
assigned, present, and actively participating in the activity.
Format for the Four Essays:
 All essays must use Modern Language Association formatting. Links and details will be
provided on our course website, but here are some of the highlights of this format:
 Double-space
 Center the title above the text, and capitalize all words except prepositions (such as of,
between, through), articles (such as a, the, and an), and conjunctions (such as but, and,
or; however, capitalize them if they begin the title or the subtitle)
 Title: Do not underline or italicize your title or put it in a bold font. Use what is called
“Title Case”: Capitalize the first word and all major words.
 To start a new paragraph, indent 5 spaces (or one tap of the “Tab” key)
 Except for the title, which is centered, align your text with the left margin. Do not justify
the margins. (Justified margins make the text in to a straight light on both the right and
left sides. Do not do this. The right margin should be ragged.)
GRADING, ATTENDANCE, AND OTHER COURSE POLICIES
Assignments are given point values, and these are added up and averaged, as follows:
Assignment
Points each Points per quarter
Essays
100
400
Final
30
50
Peer review workshops
10
40
Quizzes
5-20
10-80
Seminar papers
10
80-90
In-class writing, activities and discussions
3-5
50-100
Total
610-680
Whatever your percentage of the total points possible, that’s your course grade. Below
is a conversion chart to show how percentages convert to grades on the 4-point system.
These conversions are standard across the Seattle Colleges System.
Student
Percentage of
Letter Grade
Numerical Grade
Performance
Points Earned
Equivalent
Excellent
97%-100 %
A+
3.9
94%-96%
A
3.9
90%-93%
A3.8-3.5
High
87%-89%
B+
3.4-3.2
84%-86%
B
3.1-2.9
80%-83%
B2.8-2.5
Average
77%-79%
C+
2.4-2.2
74%-76%
C
2.1-1.9
70%-73%
C1.8-1.5
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Minimum
67%-69%
65%-66%
64% and below
D+
D
F
1.4-1.2
1.1-1.0
0.0
Checking your grades: During the quarter, you can check your grades on our course
website. At the end of the quarter (four business days after the last day), you can look
up your final course grade at: https://northseattle.edu/online-services/grades.
After English 101, to succeed in English 102: The NSCC English Department
recommends that you pass English 101 with a 2.0 or higher. Those with lower grades
tend to do very poorly in English 102.
Attendance:
 If you miss class, your grade can begin to fall dramatically, as you miss the activities for
that day, and these cannot be made up. Additionally, you miss information and practice
needed for writing your essays, and so your essay grades may be affected.
 If you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out what you have missed.
 If you are absent when papers are returned, please make sure you pick them up from
me, or you’ll miss out on what I hope is valuable feedback.
 If you need to leave class early for any reason, please clear it with me first.
 Stay in the room during the entire class period. Take care of all bathroom and telephone
needs before class. Leaving the room during class activities may cost you points, as
you’ll miss out on the points for that activity.
Never ask me, “Did I miss anything?” If you miss class of course you miss something!
Tardiness: Being late also affects your grade by causing you to miss some or all of various class
activities, and these are worth points. If you arrive in class while we are in the middle of doing
something, then you have missed out on the points for that activity. If you are late for a quiz,
you will have less time for the quiz. If you are late on writing group day, you must wait until
other latecomers arrive to be in a group, and thus it is possible you will miss out on that writing
group entirely—an entire 10 points. Print out assignments and have any necessary copies made
copies made ahead of time. It affects the entire class when you are late.
For Running Start Students: You are responsible for resolving any schedule conflicts
between your work here and your work at your high school. No matter how important
your high school activity, I never excuse you from any of your work or attendance here.
Please make sure all your instructors know this.
LATE AND MISSING WORK
Formal Essays. Essays are due at the beginning of class on the due date. Essays turned in even
a minute late are considered late. Late essays earn half credit. Never miss class in order to
finish an essay, since an essay turned in after class time is considered late. Essays more than a
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week late are not accepted.
Late seminar papers are not accepted. Seminar papers will be turned in on paper, and must
be present, on your desk, at the beginning of class on the due date. Seminar papers not
printed out and in the room at the beginning of class are not accepted.
You may miss up to 6 points of class activities without it affecting your grade, but you must
first clear it with me and make sure I know to count that day’s activity as “excused.” This
does not include quizzes or writing group meetings, but it does mean that you can usually
afford to stay home and take care of yourself when you are sick.
Other than the above 6 points, missed class activities and missed discussions cannot be made
up.
Emergencies:
 I will determine what constitutes an emergency, but emergencies, by my definition, do
not mean computer problems, printer lines, jobs, traffic, confusion about the
assignment, writer’s block, etc. Please plan ahead to allow for these.
 Please get in touch with me right away if something comes up, and we will figure out
how to keep you caught up.
 If you have been attending regularly and keeping up with assignments, I will be more
likely to be sympathetic and will work with you to resolve the situation.
 In the case of an extended emergency, get in touch with me to find out how you might
stay caught up. Be aware, though, that in this case it may be better to drop the class and
take it again when you are able to attend.
Do not e-mail assignments to me. If we have arranged it ahead of time, I may allow you to email me an assignment in case of an emergency, but do not e-mail me assignments unless we
have arranged it.
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PARTICIPATION AND CLASSROOM COMMUNITY
Be here on time, and be prepared for class, ready to share your insights. Your book and any
assigned homework must be on your desk in front of you, ready to work with at the
beginning of class.
Everyone is expected to participate orally in class.
Turn off all cell phones and remove them from your and everyone else’s sight.
Stay in the room for the entire class period. Do not go in and out.
Ask questions! Share your confusions generously!
Raise your hand to speak. Eventually we may migrate away from hand-raising, but let’s
begin with this method of class discussion.
Make sure everyone can hear you when you speak. Face your classmates when you speak
to them. This may mean turning around and speaking toward the back of the room rather
than toward me at the front.
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8. If you don’t hear what someone says, please say so.
9. Avoid distracting behavior. Do not have private conversations in class, do not make clicking
or zipping noises, and do not pack up your materials before class is officially over.
10. Food and drink in the classroom are OK if the wrappers don’t crinkle, the food doesn’t
crunch, the tops don’t pop, and your manners are considerate of others. You are always
welcome to bring treats for everyone.
NSCC ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
PLAGIARISM POLICY
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;
 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 or seminar papers written by another
person or taken partially or in whole from a printed source, including from the
internet;
 receiving so much help from another person that the work cannot honestly be
called your own.
 submitting assignments produced for one class in another (or previous) class
without permission of both instructors (auto-plagiarism).
By your attendance here, you’ve agreed to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct which
states, in part, that “academic dishonesty, to include cheating, plagiarism, and providing 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. Our 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 plagiarism has been found;
 recording a “0” grade in the student’s class record for this project or paper,
thereby lowering the student’s final grade;
 forwarding the student’s name to the Vice President for Student Services for
possible further action.
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REVISION POLICIES
You may revise one essay—Essay #1, #2, or possibly #3—and re-submit it for, we hope,
a higher grade. A revision is usually a complete re-vamping of the essay, not merely a
correcting of errors.
This revision is optional.
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Essays receiving more than 85 points may not be revised. Only essays of 85 points (3.0)
or fewer may be revised.
Before you begin revising your essay, you must discuss it with me to make a revision
plan. I will not accept revisions of essays that we have not gone over together to make a
plan for revision.
This optional revision is due Monday, December 7 at the beginning of class.
Revisions must be accompanied by the original essay with my comments on it and by
the original grade sheet with my writing on it. Without these, your revision will not be
accepted.
CONSULTING ME ABOUT YOUR ESSAYS
I hope you will bring your assignments to my office hours to discuss them with me. I can help
you best if you bring early drafts long before the assignment is due. I cannot help you very
much if you bring an essay right before it’s due, since there’s not much time then to make
changes, or if you bring the same essay several times with only minimal changes between
drafts—I want you to be making these small decisions yourself.
SAVE ALL YOUR COURSE WORK
Save all notes, all assignment sheets, and all your assignments for this class. You may need
them to help you with the assignments. In the event of a grade dispute, it’s helpful if you’ve
saved them until after the grades are in at the end of the quarter.
GRAMMAR COUNTS
In English 101, we write an English sometimes called “Classic Style” or “General English”;
this style uses conventions accepted in academic and professional communities. In these
communities, surface errors distract from the content of your thoughtful and brilliant
writing and make you appear ill-mannered and careless. In fact, according to Steven
Pinker, linguist and author of The Sense of Style, certain errors “have become tantamount
to the confession “I am illiterate,’ and no writer should be caught making them” (284). Our
class grammar lessons and quizzes are meant to help you with some important grammar
and style issues. Beyond these important cases, we don’t do much grammar work in
English 101; however, your writing must still use conventional English grammar. Therefore,
please take advantage of the many available resources:
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The Page One Writing Center is in the new HSSR building. There you can work one-onone with a writing tutor, and make use of a variety of other learning tools. See Page One
website: https://northseattle.edu/tutoring/page-one-writing-center
The Quick Access Handbook or another current English Handbook can be helpful. If
you don’t understand an explanation, please ask.
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/679/01/
And don’t forget your instructor and classmates of course.
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COURSE SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENT DETAILS
The course schedule provided gives you a general picture of the main due dates and
reading assignments. The daily details will be filled in as we go. The frequent brief in-class
writing experiments are not included in the schedule, as they arise unpredictably in the
course of discussions. For each assignment, I will provide a detailed sheet with the topics,
due dates, formatting requirements, etc.
WELCOME
Aside from all that, welcome to English 101. This course will keep all us of very busy. It will
require a great deal of work outside class as well as in class, and can also give you many
rewards. I hope this quarter will bring you not only the fun of playing with language, but
also the satisfaction of working hard for the tangible result of saying meaningful things
clearly and beautifully. I hope that this class will help to make you confident in your
writing, so that you can leave here knowing how to approach whatever new assignments
the world provides.
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