SOUTHERN MAINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ENGLISH COMPOSITION 100
Spring 2014-15
INSTRUCTOR: STACEY CHASE
Classes: Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m. (section 13)
Location: TBA; South Portland campus
Credits: 3
Total Class Hours: approx. 45
Email: schase@smccME.edu
Phone: 207.846.0793
*You should always feel free to email or see me if you need to schedule extra help or
have any questions.
PREREQUISITES
Successful completion of both ENGL 050 and ENGL 075, or test placement equivalency.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
English Composition is the introduction to college writing across the curriculum. It will
introduce you to several standard rhetorical modes—or writing styles—which will be
assigned not only in this course but other courses in other disciplines. An emphasis will
be placed on writing as a process, from idea generation, through creating first drafts, to
revising, rewriting, and proofreading drafts and papers for accuracy, clarity, and
succinctness of written expression. This course will also explore distinctions between the
spoken and written word, as well as formal and informal uses of language. This course
will further provide you with an introduction to research and the task of producing a
portfolio that demonstrates you have mastered the course objectives.
TEACHING PROCEDURES
Presentation of content, in a lecture format, is based upon the application of various
rhetorical modes (or writing styles). The methodology centers around the Socratic
Method that seeks to elicit responses from students in a free-flowing discussion in order
to stimulate critical thinking. There are also several peer-editing Writing Workshops
meant to enhance a student’s revising and editing skills over the course of the term.
Finally, each student will have the opportunity read at least one of his or her papers to the
class during the semester. As students share their work with one another, they will
undoubtedly become better writers themselves and more generous toward those holding
different viewpoints.
ENGL 100, 2
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
Over the course of the semester, you will:
 learn and use specific strategies for effective writing in various rhetorical modes;
 hone analytical reading skills;
 apply critical thinking to both reading and writing assignments;
 develop competence in revising, editing, and proofreading copy for clarity,
mechanics, and grammar;
 find and assess the legitimacy of sources (electronic, print, and other);
 employ proper Modern Language Association (or MLA) style and documentation
practices in writing drafts/papers;
 demonstrate an awareness of plagiarism issues; and
 write with increasing confidence, seamlessness, and grace.
TEXTS AND MATERIALS
 Rosa, Alfred and Eschholz, Paul. Models for Writers. 11th ed. Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2012. Print. (Models)
 Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011.
Print and online. (WR—or—Hacker, Diana and Sommers, Nancy. A Pocket Style
Manual. 6th ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012.
 A notebook.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
 Five critical response papers to assigned readings, approx. 500 words each.
 Five essays in various (single) rhetorical modes, approx. 650 words each.
 Portfolio that consists of: a short introduction of approx. 250 words; three of the
essays—revised and/or expanded (with drafts included) —of approx. 650 to 800
words each; as well as an argumentative research paper on a topic of your choice
using multiple rhetorical modes, approx. 1,000 words.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Your attendance and active participation in this class are critical to your success.
Attendance will be taken. You are permitted two unexcused absences; after that, your
final grade will drop one full letter grade with each additional absence (e.g. a “B”
becomes a “D” if you rack up four unexcused absences). Likewise, habitual tardiness —
or early departure — will count as an absence.
If possible, you should pre-arrange any class absence. In the event of an unforeseen
illness, emergency, or other extraordinary circumstances, contact me as soon as possible
after missing a class; failure to do so will result in an unexcused absence. And remember:
If absent, you are nonetheless responsible for all material covered in class and any
assignments. Please obtain notes or missed work from a classmate.
ENGL 100, 3
*NOTE: In accordance with Southern Maine Community College policy, three or more
consecutive absences (with no communication from you) must be reported to Enrollment
Services and you will automatically receive a final grade of “AF,” signifying
Administrative Failure.
CLASS CANCELLATIONS
If class is cancelled, assignments that were due that day will be collected at the next
class; subsequent due dates on the syllabus will be adjusted, if necessary.
FORMAT FOR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS AND LATE PAPERS
Assignments must be typewritten and double-spaced with standard margins, using Times
New Roman, Book Antiqua, Courier New, Arial or equally legible, 12-point font. Print
on one-sided paper only and staple multiple pages. Along with your name and the title,
list the word count of your paper at the top of the first page, making sure it’s within the
limit set for the assignment; papers that grossly exceed or fall below the mark will have
points deducted. Underline the thesis. Emailed papers will not be accepted.
In general, no late assignments are accepted. If you have an emergency situation, please
contact me (by email or phone) within 24 hours of the missed class to determine whether
alternative arrangements can be made. Please note, however, that your final portfolio
must be turned in on time; no exceptions.
PLAGIARISM
Don’t even think about it! Believe it or not, instructors are aware of, and frequently
check, all the Internet paper mills that sell student papers. Any instances of intentional
plagiarism in whole or part — this includes turning in any other person’s work as your
own and recycling papers from other classes — discovered in your paper is grounds for
an automatic “F.” Repeated incidences of intentional plagiarism are punishable by failure
of the course, academic probation, and/or expulsion from the college.
CLASS CONDUCT
The rules of basic collegiate behavior apply and the following will not be tolerated during
class: ringing cell phones, texting, use of laptops or other electronic devices, chatting
when others are talking or presenting, repeated lateness or early departure, eating, and
sleeping. Smoking is strictly prohibited in all college classrooms.
ENGL 100, 4
GRADING AND NOTATION SYSTEM
Grades at Southern Maine Community College are assigned letters representing levels of
achievement. The basis for determining a grade is the relative extent to which you have
met the objectives of this course. Letter grades signify the following:
A = 93-100 points
A- = 90-92 points
B+ = 87-89 points
B = 83-86 points
B- = 80-82 points
C+ = 77-79 points
C = 73-76 points
C- = 70-72 points
D+ = 67-69 points
D = 63-66 points
F = Failure
SCORING RUBRIC
Your final grade will take into account several elements and will be weighted thus:
portfolio (40%); five personal essays (30%); five critical response papers (20%); and
participation in class discussion (10%).
COURSE EVALUATION
You need to evaluate this course in order to receive your final grade. On-line course
evaluations can only be done beginning two weeks prior to the last class; the opportunity
shuts down one day after the course ends (e.g. this course, ENGL 100, ends 5/9/15,
therefore the evaluation period runs from 4/29/15 to 5/10/15.)
TUTORING ASSISTANCE
The Academic Achievement Center, located on the second floor of the Campus Center,
offers professional tutoring by faculty and educational assistants in (among other topics)
writing and grammar. Its web page is http://lac.smccme.edu/ (reflecting its former name,
the Learning Assistance Center); the phone numbers are 207.741.5534, 207.741.5535, or
207.741.5536. I encourage you to take your drafts to the achievement center for
additional feedback; however, tutors are not to be considered personal proofreaders.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION NOTIFICATION
Southern Maine Community College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution
and employer. For more information, please call 207.741.5610.
ENGL 100, 5
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) NOTIFICATION
If you have a disability and wish to request accommodations in order to have reasonable
access to Southern Maine Community College’s programs and services, please contact
Sandra Lynham, Disabilities Services Coordinator, at 207.741.5923 or
slynham@smccME.edu. For counseling services, email counseling@smccME.edu.
*NOTE: This syllabus is subject to change at my discretion; any substantive alterations
will be discussed in class and will be binding.
**NOTE: The Drop/Add period is January 12-20, 2015.
***NOTE: The last day to withdraw from classes is April 13, 2015.
___________________
Key to Syllabus:
Due: Assignment due that day
Bulleted: Class work
Read [homework]: Homework assignments
Response papers: Green
Essays: Pink
Portfolio: Blue
___________________
Monday, January 12, 2015—Spring Classes Begin!!
WEEK 1
Monday, January 12
 Introduce the course and review the syllabus
Read [homework]: “Polaroids” by Anne Lamott, pp. 323-26 (Models)
Read [homework]: C1 Planning through C2 Drafting, pp. 3-20 (WR)
Wednesday, January 14
 Discuss the process of writing and conduct pre-self-assessments (Handout)
 Present overview of different rhetorical modes and prompts for response papers
 Introduce storytelling conventions and narrative plot structure
 Introduce narrative essay
Read [homework]: Theses, pp. 81-83 (Models)
Read [homework]: “Narration” (Introduction), pp. 372-75 (Models)
Read [homework]: “The Most Important Day” by Helen Keller, pp. 84-87 (Models)
Read [homework]: “Be Specific” by Natalie Goldberg, pp. 90-92 (Models)
ENGL 100, 6
WEEK 2
Monday, January 19: Martin Luther King Day, NO CLASS!!
[*Last Day to Drop/Add: Tuesday, January 20 @ 5 p.m.]
Wednesday, January 21
 Discuss Worksheet on Theses (Handout)
 Discuss narrative essay, as well as descriptive writing
Read [homework]: “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, pp. 395-98 (Models)
Read [homework]: “Death of a Racehorse” by W.C. Heinz (Handout)
WEEK 3
Monday, January 26
 Discuss narrative essay
 Idea generation, i.e. how to select an essay topic
 Diagram narrative plot structure
Read [homework]” “Description” (Introduction), pp. 400-01 (Models)
Read [homework]: “The Corner Store” by Eudora Welty, pp. 402-05 (Models)
Read [homework]: “The Cliff Walk” by Don J. Snyder (Handout)
Wednesday, January 28
Due: Response paper No. 1 on Snyder’s work
 Discuss narrative essay, as well as descriptive writing
Read [homework]: “The Lives of the Dead,” story in The Things They Carried by Tim
O’Brien (Handout)
Read [homework]: Iraqi war poems from Here, Bullet by Brian Turner (Handout)
WEEK 4
Monday, February 2
 Discuss narrative/descriptive writing found in kinds of writing like fiction and
poetry
 Worksheet for Narrative/Descriptive writing (Handout)
 Select topics for your narratives!
ENGL 100, 7
Wednesday, February 4
Due: 1st DRAFT of NARRATIVE ESSAY [not graded]
 In-class writing workshop using Workshop Worksheet: Narrative (Handout)
 Distribute “self checklist” (Handout)
 Discuss organization: sequencing, transitions, paragraphing
 If necessary: review of common grammar, sentence structure, and paragraph
composition errors
 Discuss the importance of revising drafts
Read [homework]: C3 Revising, pp. 20-31 (WR)
Read [homework]: S1 Parallelism through S5 Mixed Constructions, pp.111-28 (WR)
WEEK 5
Monday, February 9
Due: 2nd DRAFT of NARRATIVE ESSAY [not graded]
 In-class writing workshop dedicated to revision
 Teaching with Hacker Workshop on Revising Paragraphs (Handout)
 Introduce process analysis essay
Read [homework]: “Process Analysis” (Introduction), pp. 423-26 (Models)
Read [homework]: “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris, pp. 294-99 (Models)
Read [homework]: “Why Leaves Turn Color in the Fall” by Diane Ackerman, pp. 438-42
(Models)
Read [homework]: “How to Make Chocolate Sauce” by Nicholson Baker, pp. 433-35
(Models)
[*Early Alert Reporting Due Tuesday, February 10 @ 5 p.m]
Wednesday, February 11
Due: NARRATIVE ESSAY [graded]
 Discuss process analysis essay
 Worksheet on Process Essay (Handout)
Read [homework]: “As Freezing Persons Recollect the Snow” by Peter Stark (Handout)
Read [homework]: C4 Writing Paragraphs, pp. 32-45 (WR)
ENGL 100, 8
WEEK 6
Monday, February 16: Presidents' Day, NO CLASS!!
Wednesday, February 18
Due: Response paper No. 2 on Stark’s work
 Seminar: Volunteers read narrative essays to one another
 Discuss process analysis essay
 Poem Peter Stark alludes to in “Freezing Persons” (Handout)
Read [homework]: “How We Write” by David Crystal (Handout)
Read [homework]: Organization, pp. 119-23 (Models)
WEEK 7
Monday, February 23
Due: PROCESS ANALYSIS ESSAY
 Examine distinctions between the spoken and written word
 Examine formal and informal uses of language (including humor)
 Focus on patterns of organization and coherent paragraphs
 Funny Headlines (Handout)
Read [homework]: MLA-2 Citing Sources; Avoiding Plagiarism through MLA-4a
Documenting Sources, pp. 376-98 (WR)
Read [homework]: “Online Monitoring,” pp. 436-40 (sample MLA paper, note citations)
(WR)
Wednesday, February 25
 Seminar: Volunteers read process analysis essays to one another
 Teach what plagiarism is and how to avoid it
 Teaching with Hacker Plagiarism Exercise (Handout)
WEEK 8
Monday, March 2
 Teach Modern Language Association (or MLA) style and documentation
practices for citing sources
Read [homework]: “If I Were a Carpenter: The Tools of the Writer” by Roy Peter Clark
(Handout)
Read [homework]: “Writing about Place: The Boundaries of a Story” by Jeff Klinkenberg
(Handout)
Read [homework]: “The Clock is Ticking: Techniques for Story-telling on Deadline” by
Christopher Scanlan (Handout)
ENGL 100, 9
Wednesday, March 4
 Special focus on reportage: Interviewing live sources; effective use of quotes;
attention to details
 Introduce cause-and-effect essay
Read [homework]: “Cause and Effect” (Introduction), pp. 517-20 (Models)
Read [homework]: “The Bystander Effect” by Dorothy Barkin (Handout)
Read [homework]: R2 Evaluating Sources, pp. 346-57 (WR)
SPRING BREAK!!
Monday, March 9: Spring Break, NO CLASS!!
Wednesday, March 11: Spring Break, NO CLASS!!
WEEK 9
Monday, March 16
 Discuss cause-and-effect essay
 Discuss assessing legitimate sources
 How to gather information from numerous sources
 How to interpret information (and not draw faulty conclusions)
Read [homework]: “Why We Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King, pp. 524-27
(Models)
Read [homework]: “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public” by Myriam Marquez,
pp. 531-33 (Models)
Read [homework]: “Stuck on the Couch” by Sanjay Gupta, pp. 535-37 (Models)
Wednesday, March 18
Due: 1st DRAFT of CAUSE-AND EFFECT ESSAY [not graded]
 Discuss cause-and-effect essay
 In-class peer writing workshop dedicated to C/E revision (Handout)
WEEK 10
Monday, March 23
Due: CAUSE-AND-EFFECT ESSAY [graded]
 Open tutorial for any writing, revision, or grammar issues that have arisen at this,
the (approximate) halfway point
 Review point-of-view, voice/tone, pacing, figurative language (including 12-word
glossary of common terms), and other writing “tools”
 Literary techniques that strengthen writing
 Introduce compare/contrast essay
Read [homework]: “Comparison and Contrast” (Introduction), pp. 483-87 (Models)
Read [homework]: “Two Ways of Seeing a River” by Mark Twain, pp. 488-90 (Models)
ENGL 100, 10
[*Academic Alert Reporting Due: Tuesday, March 24 @ 5 p.m.]
Wednesday, March 25
Due: Response paper No. 3 on Twain’s work
 Seminar: Volunteers read cause-and-effect essays to one another
 Discuss compare/contrast essay
Read [homework]: A3 Evaluating Arguments, pp. 92-100 (WR)
Read [homework]: A4 Writing in the Disciplines, pp. 100-08 (WR)
Read [homework]: “Two Ways to Belong to America” by Bharati Mukherjee, pp. 493-97
(Models)
Read [homework]: “That Lean and Hungry Look” by Suzanne Britt, pp. 499-502
(Models)
WEEK 11
Monday, March 30
Due: COMPARE-AND-CONTRAST ESSAY
 Analyze differences/similarities between cause-and-effect and compare/contrast
modes
 Discuss compare-and-contrast essay
 How to form a cogent argument
 Introduce definition essay
Read [homework]: “Definition” (Introduction), pp. 444-47 (Models)
Read [homework]: “What Is Crime” by Lawrence M. Friedman, pp. 447-49 (Models)
Read [homework]: “The Company Man” by Ellen Goodman, pp. 451-53 (Models)
Read [homework]: “What Happiness Is” by Eduardo Porter, pp. 456-59 (Models)
Wednesday, April 1
 Seminar: Volunteers read compare-and-contrast essays to one another
 Discuss definition essay
 Defining abstract terms, such as love, faith, or patriotism
Read [homework]: “Forgiveness,” chapter in Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (Handout)
ENGL 100, 11
WEEK 12
Monday, April 6
Due: Response paper No. 4 on Lewis’ work
 Discuss definition essay
 Introduce argumentative/persuasive essay
Read [homework]: “Argument” (Introduction), pp. 539-46 (Models)
Read [homework]: “The Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson, pp. 547-51
(Models)
Read [homework]: “I Have a Dream” (speech) by Martin Luther King Jr., pp. 553-57
(Models)
Wednesday, April 8
Due: DEFINITION ESSAY
 Discuss argumentative/persuasive essay
Read [homework]: “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person” by June Tangney, pp. 569-72
(Models)
Read [homework]: “Shame Is Worth a Try” by Dan M. Kahan, pp. 574-76 (Models)
WEEK 13
Monday, April 13
 Seminar: Volunteers read definition essays to one another
 Discuss argumentative/persuasive essay
 Template and strategies for a argumentative/persuasive essay
 Discuss three main forms of rhetoric: ethos, logos, pathos
[*Last Day to Withdraw from Classes: Monday, April 13 @ 5 p.m.]
Wednesday, April 15
 Provide guidelines on introduction and requirements for your portfolios
 In-class writing workshops with peer editing; individual conferences on portfolios
Read [homework]: “The Truth About Torture” by Charles Krauthammer, pp. 616-26
(Models)
Read [homework]: “The Abolition of Torture” by Andrew Sullivan, pp. 629-40 (Models)
WEEK 14
Monday, April 20: Patriots' Day, NO CLASS!!
Wednesday, April 22
Due: Response paper No. 5 on Krauthammer’s or Sullivan’s work
 Discuss argumentative/persuasive essay
 Synthesizing: Use of multiple rhetorical modes
ENGL 100, 12
WEEK 15
Monday, April 27
 TBD: Possibly read and analyze aloud “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
(handout)
Wednesday, April 29
Due: PORTFOLIO DUE, includes ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER
 Seminar: Volunteers read argumentative essays to one another
 Introduce literary analysis essay
 Now, “forget” the rhetorical modes: Good writing is good writing—no matter
what it’s called
 Fluidity of terms, e.g. Schlosser’s cause-and-effect essay is also investigative
journalism; O’Brien’s story is part of a “non-fiction novel”
Read [homework]: “No Place for You, My Love,” story in The Collected Stories of
Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty (Handout)
WEEK 16
Monday, May 4
“Writing and Analyzing a Story” by Eudora Welty (Handout)
 Discuss literary analysis essay
Wednesday, May 6
 Wrap-up to the course and conduct post-self-assessments. Party! Refreshments!
Saturday, May 9, 2015—Spring Classes End!!