Cathy Decker’s English 550 Syllabus, Spring 2008 1
Who?
Catherine H. Decker, Ph.D.
(Please call me Cathy Sensei)
(909) 652-6950
cathy.decker@chaffey.edu
http://locutus.ucr.edu/~cathy
What?
July2008
J
English 550 (ENGL-550) Introduction to College Writing (3 units)
Class sessions: 46.5 hours
Supplemental instruction: 5 hours
Exam period: 2.5 hours
Designed to prepare the inexperienced writer for college-level academic writing by focusing on
the critical thinking, reading, writing, and study skills necessary to succeed at that level. Five
hours of supplemental instruction in a Success Center that supports this course is required.
Where? When?
Class Sessions
Section #50829 LA-1 2-3:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays
Section #50830 LA-1 3:30-5 a.m. Mondays and Wednesdays
Office Hours: LA-7C 5-7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesday, 3-4 p.m.Thursdays
Writing Center Tutoring, Chaffey College Library Writing Center, 1-3 p.m. Thursdays
Faculty Mailbox: LA-10 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Why? (please write in your reason—make it motivational!)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Some Common Sense and Other Info
1. Buy the textbook, read the assigned readings, and bring the book to every class session. Also
bring this syllabus, all the handouts I give you, a notebook or loose leaf, and pens or pencils.
A pocket dictionary or an iPod (if you are a tactile learner) might also be useful to bring to
class. If you use a laptop, you might want to bring that and use it to take notes.
OUR TEXTBOOK: John Sheridan Biays and Carol Weshoven’s Along These Lines, 4th ed.
Cathy Decker’s English 550 Syllabus, Spring 2008 2
2. Use a calendar (there is one in the student handbook) to make sure you do things on time.
3. Keep electronic and paper copies of all your papers, quizzes, homework, assignment sheets,
etc. until your final grade has been posted in January 2009. Use a folder and a flashdrive or
disk to keep your material in one place.
4. Calculate your grade, and come see me right away if you are unhappy with it. Get help from
me or someone else calculating your grade if you can’t do it yourself. Be aware this is a
pass/fail class, so you will either receive a CR (credit, pass) or NC (no credit, fail).
Grade Formula
7.5%
10%
52%
20.5%
10%
100%
75 points
100 points
520 points
205 points
100 points
1,000 points
Attendance and Participation
Supplemental Instruction
Writing Projects, Drafts, Peer Evaluations
Classwork, Homework, Quizzes, etc.
Final Exam
Course Grade
Grade Scale
F
DD
D+
C-
0-59%
60-63%
64-66%
67-69%
70-73%
0-599 points
600-639 points
640-669 points
670-699 points
700-739 points
NC, can’t advance to ENGL-450
NC, can’t advance to ENGL-450
NC, can’t advance to ENGL-450
NC, can’t advance to ENGL-450
NC, can’t advance to ENGL-450
C
C+
BB
B+
AA
A+
74-76%
77-79%
80-83%
84-86%
87-89%
90-93%
94-96%
97-100%
740-769 points
770-799 points
800-839 points
840-869 points
870-899 points
900-939 points
940-969 points
970-1,000 points
CR, advance to ENGL-450
CR, advance to ENGL-450
CR, advance to ENGL-450
CR, advance to ENGL-450
CR, advance to ENGL-450
CR, advance to ENGL-450
CR, advance to ENGL-450
CR, advance to ENGL-450
5. Don’t plagiarize or cheat. Plagiarism is submitting, copying, and/or reproducing the words or
ideas of another person as your own or without proper documentation. Using the exact words
of a source without quotation marks is plagiarism whether or not you cite the source.
Plagiarism can involve a few unique words or entire papers. Cheating or plagiarizing will
result in a grade of 0, and you might receive a grade of zero for the course. A Student
Academic Integrity Violation Form will be filled for each instance, which may result in the
college taking action against you, such as placing you on disciplinary probation or expelling
you from the college.
6. Get an email account with a user name with your real name in it or include your first and last
name in the subject heading of all email to your classmates or me. If you don’t do this, I will
likely delete your email without reading it since I don’t know the sender. If you don’t have
email or know how to get an email account see me as soon as possible.
Cathy Decker’s English 550 Syllabus, Spring 2008 3
7. The texts of your typed writing projects must be submitted to turnitin.com or the project will
receive a grade of 0. The paper must be into turnitin before I start grading the papers—often
at 5 p.m. the day the papers are due. The school pays for this service, which will identify
possible plagiarism in your writing. The turnitin.com report is NOT graded; it is for you to
identify plagiarism BEFORE you turn in your writing project. To create your turnitin.com
account, go to turnitin.com on the web, and click on “New Users” in the upper right corner.
You will need to enter the information below to create your account. Be sure to remember or
write down the email and password you will use to login to turnitin.com. Your turnitin.com
account is not going to give a hacker access to anything important, so you might want to use
a very simple, easy password. I will demonstrate this to you in class.
 Turnitin.com Class ID#: 2365303
 Turnitin.com enrollment password: Decker
8. You must turn in paper copies of your papers to me in addition to your submissions to
turnitin.com. I will not grade anything emailed to me. If you don’t give me a paper copy in
class on the due date, I will deduct 5 points for lateness. You have two class sessions to give
me the late paper; after that you will get a 0 for the paper. If you have the paper in my
mailbox in LA-10, time stamped by the staff, by the day before the due date, you will get 5
bonus points added to your paper grade.
9. Get help if you need it. There are lots of people that can help you on campus. All phone
numbers below are the 909 area code. Call me rather than email me to get a faster response.
 Cathy, LA-7C 652-6950
 Writing tutors, Writing Success Center, Library 652-6820
 Reading tutors, Reading Success Center, BEB 652-6932
 Reference librarians, Library, 652-6800
 Tutors for other classes
o Math tutor, Math Success Center, PS-12 652-6452
o Language tutors, Language Success Center, BEB 101 652-6907
o Other tutors, Ranch Success Center, BEB 101 652-6932
 Tutors at other campuses of all sorts
o Chino Success Center, Chino, MIB-145 652-8150
o Chino Reading/Writing Center, Chino, MIB-240 652-8160
o Fontana Success Center, CCFC-107 652-7408
 Child care, Child Development Center 941-2687
 Academic counselors, Counseling Center, SSA 652-6200
 Support staff for students with disabilities, Disability Programs and Services (DPS),
CCW-21A 653-6379 TDD: 466-2829
 Support staff for international students, International Student Office, WH-181 941-2352
 Nurses and counselors for grief, stress, divorce, etc., Health Services, CCW, 652-6331
 Transfer and career counselors, Transfer Center, SSA-120 652-6233
 Police, Campus Police, CCE 477-8800 or 333 from any campus phone
10. Be nice. Get the student handbook and read the sections related to student behavior and
follow the codes (pages 30, 55-66, 74-81). Turn off your cellphone in class. Talk to other
students and learn their names. If you feel comfortable doing so, exchange email or phone
numbers. Write the names of the classmates (at least those sitting near you!) in the box
provided on the syllabus.
Cathy Decker’s English 550 Syllabus, Spring 2008 4
My Classmates
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
11. Read assignments carefully, noting due dates, penalties, and bonuses, as well as how many
points or what percent of the final grade it is worth. Please note it will take me about two
weeks to grade your writing assignments. If your paper is late, it will take longer.
12. Use the blackboard website for our class at <http://blackboard.chaffey.edu/ > when it
becomes available. Click on course access and then login as directed. You may be asked to
post some of your homework on this site, your drafts, or take a quiz on this site. You will
also be able to check your grade and get copies of assignments on this site.
13. It is your responsibility to add or drop the course by the appropriate date. Be aware if you
miss two weeks of class you may be dropped. To avoid this, contact me any time you miss
two classes in a row to explain the problem. However, I may not drop you even if you miss
several weeks of class, which could result in you getting a grade of F or FW. Check you
course status on Chaffey View on the Chaffey website (www.chaffey.edu). Students that
miss a quarter of the class sessions will get a zero for participation.
14. The final examination may not be taken at any other time unless you obtain written
permission from the Dean of Language Arts (LA-12).
15. Quizzes or tests may not be taken late. See me as soon as possible after you miss a quiz or
test, and if you have a good reason, I will allow you to take an oral make-up quiz in my
office or provide you with a make-up test. If you don’t contact me within two days of the
quiz or test, I will probably not allow you to make it up. Keep documentation to prove
illness, jury duty, car accident, etc.
16. Be aware mature or disturbing readings, videos, discussions, or writing assignments
(involving sex, violence, or profanity) may be part of this course.
17. Come to class on time and sign in each day. Some of the attendance/participation grade is
based on the sign-in sheets.
Tentative Schedule
Week 1
Class #1: Syllabus and Introduction
Class #2: Important Demonstrations
Week 2
Holiday: 9/1
Class #3: 9/3 Have read “Students in Shock” pp. 620-3 and answer questions 1-8, p. 623
Week 3
Class #4: 9/8 Have read “Writing Good Topic Sentences” pp. 13-4 and done exercises 7-12
Class #5: 9/10 Have read 19-31 and done exercises 13, 14, 17
Cathy Decker’s English 550 Syllabus, Spring 2008 5
Week 4
Class #6: 9/15 Draft of Paragraph 1 must be posted on blackboard by 1:30 p.m., Have read
“What is an Essay?” p. 240-2
Online: 9/16 Peer evaluations of Paragraph 1 must be posted on blackboard by 11:59 p.m.
Class #7: 9/17 Writing Center Learning Styles Workshop or Diagnostic DLA “Stamp” due,
Paragraph 1 due, Have read Chapter 11, “Writing an Essay” from 240 up to the start of “Writing
the Introduction” on 254 and finished exercises 1-5 that we worked on in Monday’s class
Week 5
Class #8: 9/22 Have read more of Chapter 11, from 254 up to “Transitions Within Paragraphs”
on 261and completed exercises 6-10; do exercise 8 (the introduction) on a piece of loose leaf or
type it to be collected
Class #9: 9/24 Have read more of Chapter 11, from 261 up to “Lines of Detail . . .” on 271 and
completed exercises 11-14
Week 6
Class #10: 9/29 Introduction to Essay Structure DLA “Stamp” due, Draft of Essay 1 must be
posted on blackboard; watch start of 300
Online: 9/30 Peer evaluations of Essay 1 must be posted on blackboard by 11:59 p.m.
Class #11: 10/1 Essay 1 due; watch rest of 300
Week 7
Class #12: 10/6 Have read Chapter 14 “The Simple Sentence” from 353 up to “Word Order” on
359 and completed exercises 1-5
Class #13: 10/8 Have read more of Chapter 14 pp. 359-65 and completed exercises 8-10
Week 8
Class #14: 10/13 Run-ons DLA “Stamp” due (take a paper or draft of yours when you go to
do this), have finished the rest of the Chapter 14 exercises 11-13 we started in class last
Wednesday (pp. 365-9), have Chapter 15, “Beyond the Simple Sentence: Coordination” from
370 up to 377 and completed exercises 1-3
Class #15: 10/15 Have read Chapter 6 “Comparison and Contrast” from 129 up to “Adding
Details . . .” on 139 and completed exercises 1-5
Week 9
Class #16: 10/20 Have read pages Chapter 6 from 139 up to “Polishing” on 149 and completed
exercises 7-11
Class #17: 10/22 Draft of Comparison/Contrast Paper due on blackboard by 1:30 p.m., watch
episode 1 of Naruto
Week 10
Class #18: 10/27 Avoiding Plagiarism DLA “Stamp” due, peer evaluations due on blackboard
by 1:30 p.m., watch part 1 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Class #19: 10/29 Comparison/Contrast Paper due, watch part 2 of Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone
Cathy Decker’s English 550 Syllabus, Spring 2008 6
Week 11
Class #20: 11/3 Meet at Library for Research Workshop Have read “The Research Process” pp.
662-73
Class #21: 11/5 Term Paper Workshop, have read pp. 674-81, Plagiarismtest.org MLA test
“certificate” due
Week 12
Class #22: 11/10 MLA Works Cited DLA “Stamp” due, Have read Chapter 13 “Writing from
Reading” from 327 up to “Writing a Summary . . .” on 336
Class #23: 11/12 Review and read from 336 up to “Writing for an Essay Test” on 344, bring
copies/print outs of four sources (or laptop) and copy of works cited page to turn in to class
Week 13
Class #24: 11/17 Summary of article originally published in a magazine or journal with an
author on your term paper topic due with print out or photocopy of the article, have summary
submitted to turnitin.com as well; research workshop
Class #25: 11/19 Have read and taken blackboard quiz on “What Is Cause and Effect?” pp. 1968 and “Writing the Cause or Effect Essay in Steps” pp. 315-9
Week 14
Class #26: 11/24 Any Writing Center Workshop “Stamp” Due, Have read “What is Argument”
pp. 219-26 and done exercises 1-4, Outline with complete thesis must be posted on blackboard
by 1:30 p.m.
Class #27: 11/26 Have read pp. 227-34 and completed exercises 5-10 and 12, do exercises 9 and
12 on loose leaf to be collected
Week 15
Class #28: 12/1; review and read Chapter 15 pp. 370-82 and have completed exercises 1-7, Draft
of term paper due online by 1:30 p.m.
Class #29: 12/3 Have read pp. 382-92 and completed exercises 8-9 and the Chapter Test of
Chapter 15 as well as exercises 1-4 of Chapter 16
Online: 12/5: peer evaluations of draft due by 11:59 p.m.
Week 16
Class #30: 12/8 Review pp. 390-2 and finish exercises 5-7 and the Chapter Test; Read pp. 397-9
and complete exercises 1-4
Online: 12/9 Term paper must be posted on Turnitin.com
Class #31: 12/10 Final Exam Prep, Term paper due
Week 17: Finals
Classes do not meet during finals week, and faculty have different office hours. Please note the
finals occur at odd times. You must be careful to plan around and for this final exam.
The 2-3:30 class final is Monday 12/15, 1:30-4
The 3:30-5 class final is Wednesday 12/17, 5:30-8
Finals Week Office Hours: Monday 12/15, 12-1:30, and Tuesday 12/16, 1:15-2:45