Welcome to ENGL 1301:
Essentials of College
Rhetoric
Mr. Labriola
Jack.Labriola@ttu.edu
Office - 417
About Me
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From Commack, New York (On Long Island)
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Got my Bachelor’s at State University of New York at
Cortland
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Double Majored in English and Professional Writing
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Getting my Master’s in Technical Communication at TTU
Contacting Me
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Office Hours (Room 417)
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Wednesdays from 11:00am-1:00pm
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Thursdays from 9:00am-11:00am
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Office meetings by appointment are also an option, email
me or speak to me after class to schedule one
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Email: jack.Labriola@ttu.edu
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Monday-Thursday I will respond within 24 hours.
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Weekends, I will try to get back to you within 48 hours.
Class Blog/Website
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1301-fa14.jacklabriola.com
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FAQ’s, Office hours, announcements, website links
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You will be asked to create an account, post online for homework
Take roll
Required Materials
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Texas Tech’s English 1301/1302 Textbook (Custom Edition 2014-2015)
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The St. Martin’s Handbook (TTU E-Custom Edition) e-handbook – need
the online copy, NOT the hard copy
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Electronic storage media to hold copies of all work completed and
submitted for the course
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Flash drive, Google Docs, Dropbox, etc.
Access to a computer with Internet capabilities
Due Dates and Late Penalties
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All assignments (EXCEPT HOMEWORK) must be turned in online by
11:59.59pm (CST) on the date stipulated by the online syllabus. After
you turn in an assignment, confirm that is has been received by
checking your list of submitted assignments. Be sure you keep an
electronic copy of your work.
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If you have trouble submitting your work online for any reason, email
your instructor and include a copy of your completed assignment,
along with an explanation of the technical problem prior to the
deadline of the assignment.
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1-3 days late = 5 points off per day late
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4 or more days late = 10 points off per day late
Attendance
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We only have class once a week.
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It is expected that you will arrive on time and attend all scheduled
classes.
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If you must miss class because of an official university activity, you
must notify your instructor at least one week in advance, provide
proper documentation in the form of a letter from the sponsoring
department or unit, and arrange to turn in work either before your
departure or immediately upon your return.
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After your second absence, 5% of your final grade may be deducted
for each additional absence.
Course Policies
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Class syllabus is in your First-Year Writing Textbook (starts on page xv)
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Electronics:
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No cellphones, laptops, tablets, etc in the classroom unless I ask prior to class that
you can/need to bring them in.
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We only meet once a week, and our time is extremely valuable, so please pay
attention during class.
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If you are caught texting during class, you get one warning. If I have to ask you to
stop a second time, you will lose your participation points for the day
Course Overview
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By the end of the course, students will be able to:
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Identify, discuss, and analyze various rhetorical strategies and elements of
the writing process
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Analyze text and visuals, and compose summaries and paraphrases of
those works
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Synthesize ideas presented in a variety of works and present those ideas
in a coherent essay
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Demonstrate a competency with conventions of Standard English
RaiderWriter
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http://raiderwriter.engl.ttu.edu/
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This is where you will turn in all of your BA, Essay, and other
assignments
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Assignment descriptions and due dates are also available on
RaiderWriter
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Get to know this site, it is extremely important
Assignments
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Brief Assignments
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Essay Drafts
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Smaller assignments done almost every week. These assignments will help focus
and develop particular skills that will help you write your major essay assignments.
You will submit two major essay drafts this semester (One for your midterm, and a
revised essay for your Final).
Peer Critiques
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You will read a fellow student’s draft and respond to a series of questions about
that draft. Like a peer review.
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Writing Reviews
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Grammar Activities
What is Rhetoric?
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Take out a piece of paper and a pen and answer the following
questions:
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What do you think Rhetoric is?
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How do you think you’re going to use it in your college career?
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How about your Professional Career?
Classroom Contract
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What do you expect from me?
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What do you expect to learn?
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What do you expect of your peers and classmates?
Brief Assignment #1
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Objective: To enable you to discuss your prior academic writing experiences
and gain practice in some of the reading and writing skills covered in the
course.
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Purpose: BA1 has two parts. Part one is designed to give you an opportunity
to tell your instructor about your prior writing experiences and discuss what
you see as your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Part two gives you an
opportunity to “get your feet wet” as you practice the type of critical reading
and writing expected in college.
BA #1 (continued)
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Description: To complete Part one, answer each of the following questions in
paragraph form, being as specific as possible as you discuss each topic:
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What is your experience with academic writing? What types of writing have
you done in the last few years—you might discuss high school, college-level,
or workplace writing, for example.
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What do you think your strengths are as a writer? Your weaknesses? (Note that
your e-handbook provides descriptions of many writing strengths and
problems—refer to it if you need to in discussing your particular abilities).
What are your goals for this class?
BA #1 (continued)
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Part two consists of three different letters written by a college
student. Depending on the first letter of your last name, read one of the
three .pdf files linked to this assignment.
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If your last name begins with A – I, read “Letter One”
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If your last name begins with J – O, read “Letter Two”
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If your last name begins with P – Z, read “Letter Three”
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After reading the letter, write a paragraph in which you explain the purpose
and audience for the letter. Be sure to identify some of the choices the writer
made and explain how her choices allowed her to effectively communicate
her message to her intended audience.
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Your response to this assignment should be 400-600 words in length.
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This will be submitted to RAIDERWRITER 8/29
Homework
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Go to the class website: 1301-fa14.jacklabriola.com
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Go to the “sign-up” tab on the navigation bar.
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Create a profile and add a picture of you (this will help me put names to
faces)
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Go to the post titled “Class Contract” – This will be the one that we
discussed in class and click on the link for your class.
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Click “leave a comment” and comment saying “I agree to this contract.”
Next, go to the top of your screen where you will see a “+ New” and
create a new post.
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Make the title your name, and write a quick blurb that says where you are from, your
major (or undeclared) and give me a quick one or two sentence bio about you. (ex:
interests, extra-curricular activities, etc). This will help everybody in the class to get to
know each other.