Syllabus for “Writing for a Liberal Education”
English 102, Section 055, Spring 2013
Professor:
Class Meetings:
Office Hours:
Office:
Mailbox:
Email:
Website:
Joel Slotkin
TTh 2:00-3:15, LA 4204
TTh 3:30-4:30 & by appointment
LA 5356, (410) 704-2863
LA 4210 (the English department office)
jslotkin@towson.edu
[The best way to reach me.]
http://pages.towson.edu/jslotkin/
Course Overview and Objectives:
English 102 is intended to help prepare you for college-level academic writing. In
particular, we will focus on producing well-written essays that make an argument supported by
evidence. Regardless of your academic and career goals, the ability to express yourself clearly
and persuasively in writing is an essential skill for succeeding in college and beyond.
In order to write well, you need to practice reading texts carefully and thinking about
them analytically. To that end, you will read essays by your classmates as well as by professional
authors and think about how you might learn from their example. In addition, we will read
Shakespeare’s play Othello. This book will give us a common text to think, talk, and write about,
one that raises many interesting issues and can sustain a variety of interpretations. Literary
authors like Shakespeare pay close attention to language and how best to use it to convey their
ideas. Thus, they can be very helpful as you think about producing powerful writing of your
own.
Although I will be lecturing at times, I would like our time in the classroom to emphasize
discussion of the reading and working with your writing as much as possible. Because of the
workshop element, it is important that you bring the latest versions of your essays to class. Our
goal is to practice three key elements of essay writing, each of which builds on the previous one:
 Sentences that are clear and effective.
 Well-constructed paragraphs, containing topic sentences, evidence, and analysis.
 Essays that make an argument and support it with evidence.
Good writing isn’t something you can learn in a single semester; it requires continual practice. In
addition, there are some important skills that we will not attempt to cover, such as library
research, which should now be addressed in the Towson Seminar. But hopefully this class will
help you understand and practice some of the key elements of persuasive analytical writing.
Towson University has defined the following learning outcomes for this course:
 Write academic essays that effectively and appropriately respond to specific
rhetorical situations.
 Improve literacy skills, including the ability to read and analyze a variety of texts.
 Organize an essay around a sound central idea supported by relevant material.
 Organize supporting material with a discernible and logical plan.
 Present ideas in complex and effective sentences relatively free from mechanical
errors.
 Support and share ideas and opinions with confidence.
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Required Texts:
Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. Rules for Writers. 7th Edition.
Peterson, Linda et al. The Norton Reader. Shorter 13th Edition.
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Pelican Shakespeare.
[Please get the editions I have ordered so we can be on the same page]
Required Assignments:
 05%: Diagnostic Essay — “Beer Can”
o 00%: Essay (500 words). Not graded but required.
o 05%: Active verb exercise
 05%: “Four Categories” Exercise
 20%: Analytical Paper 1 — Essay on a Norton Reader Essay (1000 words)
o 05%: Draft
o 15%: Final Revision
 35%: Analytical Paper 2 — Othello Essay (2000 words)
o 00%: Topic/Question. Not graded but required.
o 05%: First Draft & Retrospective Outline
o 00%: Second Draft. Not graded but required.
o 10%: Peer Editing
o 20%: Final Revision
 35%: Class Participation (includes attendance, discussion, classroom activities,
presentations, plus any work not listed above)
You must complete all major assignments and maintain an adequate attendance record to pass
the course. Late work will be penalized.
Attendance — This class emphasizes workshop and discussion: the exchange of ideas and the
practicing of skills in the classroom. Your attendance is essential to the proper functioning of the
course and will significantly affect your grade. Unexcused absences will limit how high your
participation grade can be. Four unexcused absences would place your participation grade in the
C range at best; five would give you an F for participation. If you accumulate six or more
unexcused absences, you will fail the entire course. Lateness counts as at least 1/3 of an absence,
more if you are very late. Please warn me if you plan to miss class, come late, or leave early,
regardless of whether the absence is excused.
Reading — You must allow time to read carefully and think about what you’ve read. Take notes
while you read, and pay attention to how formal issues and figurative language affect the content,
as well as to cultural and historical issues raised by the text. Before each class, you should come
up with observations or questions about the reading. I may give quizzes, with or without
warning, to make sure everyone is keeping up with the reading.
Discussion — Please come to every class prepared to discuss the reading. Active, productive
participation in discussion is required and graded. Public speaking is an important skill, and
discussion often brings out ideas that you could not have formulated alone. If you have difficulty
participating, you should talk to me about it in office hours. Although participation is ultimately
your responsibility, I may call on people who do not talk much, and I will also try to create an
atmosphere where everyone can feel comfortable sharing their ideas.
Essays — There will be several writing assignments, which will also involve extensive prewriting and re-writing. Unless otherwise instructed, please submit papers to me both in hard copy
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and electronically, in MS Word or RTF format. Name the .doc or .rtf file with the course number,
your last name, first name, and which assignment this is, separated by spaces. For example: “102
Smith John Othello Paper.doc” or “102 Robinson Sarah Active Verb Exercise.doc”.
Peer Editing — You will be expected to read and respond to some of your classmates’ essays.
Exercises — In addition to the major assignments listed, I may assign various short exercises
(either in class or out of class) throughout the semester, as needed.
Office Hours — Visiting me in office hours is the best way to find out how to improve your
performance in class and on papers. Finally, if you are having any problems with the course,
remember that talking to me will always produce better results than not talking to me. I hope that
each of you will come by at least once!
Additional Writing Help — Besides talking to me, you can also get various kinds of writing
help from the Writing Center, directed by Wayne Robertson and located in the Liberal Arts
building, room 5330.
Schedule:
Please note: Assignments are listed on the day they are due, not the day you’re supposed to start
them. On days where it says “Workshop,” you need to print and bring the latest version of the
essay you are working on.
1 T 1/29: Course Introduction. Sentence structure, subjects, verbs.
Th 1/31: Hacker 8 (active verbs), 55, 57 (plagiarism). Diagnostic Essay Due (500 words).
2 T 2/05: Norton Reader: Jonathan Rauch, “In Defense of Prejudice” (350-358).
Last day to add or drop classes.
Th 2/07: Norton Reader: Anna Quindlen, “Between the Sexes” (125-127).
Active Verb Exercise Due.
3 T 2/12: Hacker 5 (writing about texts: reading, summary, and analysis). “Four Categories”
handout. Review active verb exercise.
Th 2/14: Norton Reader: Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” (150-158).
Four Categories Exercise Due.
4 T 2/19: Norton Reader: Michael Pollan, “An Animal’s Place” (361-377).
Hacker 1 (understanding the assignment, defining a topic, audience and format,
brainstorming, working thesis, outlining), 2a (thesis), 60b (sample essay format).
Th 2/21: Norton Reader: John McWhorter, “The Cosmopolitan Tongue” (246-252).
Discuss Analytical Paper 1 assignment.
5 T 2/26: Norton Reader: Caroline Bird, “College Is a Waste of Time and Money” (217-225).
Hacker 4 (paragraphs), 6 (arguments), 7 (evaluating arguments, fallacies). Workshop?
Th 2/28: Paper 1 Draft Due. Hacker 3 (revision).
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6 T 3/05: Paper Conferences (6 minutes each).
Th 3/07: Paper Conferences (6 minutes each).
7 T 3/12: Workshop. Hacker 14 (emphasis), 58a-b (quotations), 16 (wordiness).
Th 3/14: Paper 1 Due (1000 words). Introduction to Othello.
SPRING BREAK (Read all of Othello and watch the movie)
8 T 3/26: Othello (re-read Act 1-2)
Th 3/28: Othello (re-read Act 3) [Substitute teacher.]
9 T 4/02: Othello (re-read Act 4)
Th 4/04: Othello (re-read Act 5)
10 T 4/09: Finish Othello. Discuss Othello paper assignment. Discuss literary analysis. Go over
JPA.
Th 4/11: Othello Questions Due. Go over JPA.
Last day to withdraw from a course.
11 T 4/16: Workshop.
Th 4/18: Workshop. First Draft & Retrospective Outline Due.
12 T 4/23: Paper Conferences.
Th 4/25: Paper Conferences.
13 T 4/30: Second Draft Due. Workshop.
Th 5/02: Peer Editing Due. Workshop.
14 T 5/07: Othello Papers Due (2000 words).
Th 5/09: Paper Presentations (5 minutes each)
15 T 5/14: Paper Presentations (5 minutes each)
** M 5/20: EXAM PERIOD, 12:30-2:30. 5-minute paper conferences.
NOTE: Verify exam times at http://wwwnew.towson.edu/registrar/calendars/exams.asp
 HAVE A GOOD BREAK! 
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General Course Policies and Expectations
(a.k.a. the fine print)
Joel Slotkin — All Courses (last updated 8/2012)
Communications: Email is the best way to reach me. Check your Towson email regularly; I will
use that for any important messages and announcements. (For security and confidentiality
reasons, OTS recommends that professors only respond to student emails that are sent from
Towson accounts.) Cell phones and other electronic devices should be silenced in class. Do not
distract yourself or others; use politeness and common sense.
Some things you will need: A stapler, access to a decent English dictionary, reliable access to a
computer, printer, and the internet, a towson.edu email account, and some safe method of
backing up your data. Back up your files frequently while you are working, and keep copies of
assignments after you turn them in. Failure to back up your work will not excuse a late paper.
Students with special needs: Students needing accommodation due to a disability should see me
during office hours as soon as possible, so that I have time to make the appropriate arrangements.
Please bring with you a statement from Disability Support Services authorizing your
accommodation.
Excused Absences: University policy allows excused absences for the following reasons:
 illness or injury when the student is unable to attend class;
 religious observance where the nature of the observance prevents the student from
attending class;
 participation in University activities at the request of University authorities (e.g.,
Intercollegiate Athletics, Forensics Team, Dance Company, etc.);
 compelling verifiable circumstances beyond the control of the student.
Students requesting an excused absence must provide documentation to the instructor two weeks
prior to the scheduled absence when known in advance, and as soon as possible when not known
in advance. There is a limit to the number of absences I can excuse. Note: Students with
significant, contagious illnesses are encouraged—and may in some cases be required—to take
excused absences while they are contagious, even if they are physically able to attend class.
Partial Absences: Even if you will be missing a significant part of class, you should still try to
attend as much of that class as possible, in order to maximize your learning (and participation
grade). For example, you should not skip the second half of a class because you are running late
and have already missed the first half. If you know that you will need to arrive late or leave early,
you should notify me in advance, if possible. Try to sit near the door and enter and leave quietly.
Campus-Wide Emergencies: Some University-wide emergencies may involve significant
changes in course requirements, including the timing and location of classes. For general
emergency information, consult http://www.towson.edu or call (410) 704-2000. Sign up for text
message alerts at http://www.towson.edu/adminfinance/facilities/police/campusemergency/.
Check your Towson email and my web page for course-specific information.
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Rescheduling Exams: Exams and major group presentations can only be rescheduled or made up
under extraordinary circumstances and with the appropriate documentation (e.g. a physician’s
letter).
Plagiarism: Students caught plagiarizing or cheating will receive a grade of F in the course. The
incident will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct. Please read Towson’s Student
Academic Integrity Policy, available in the Undergraduate Catalog (appendix F) or online at:
http://www.towson.edu/provost/resources/studentacademic.asp.
Retaking the Course: By University policy, students may retake this course only once without
the express permission of the Academic Standards Committee.
Grading Policy: Exams will be graded on a 100 point scale. Letter-grades on essays and other
major assignments will be converted to a percentage in order to calculate the final grade. This
final percentage grade will be converted to a letter grade for posting to your transcript. The final
course grade contributes to your GPA as shown (these numbers are taken from the Registrar’s
website). Note that C- and D- are not available as final grades, and FX is only available as a final
grade (it is used for students who stop attending class without dropping). I have also included
characterizations of what an essay at each grade level should look like.
% to
ABC
93-100
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
<60
n/a
Letter
Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
FX
ABC
to %
95
92
88
85
82
78
75
72
68
65
62
55
n/a
GPA
Essay Characteristics
4.00
3.67
3.33
3.00
2.67
2.33
2.00
n/a
1.33
1.00
n/a
0.00
0.00
Demonstrates originality, depth of thought, and superior
clarity of structure and expression.
Demonstrates a thorough understanding of the text and a
productive analytical response to it, as well as clarity of
structure and expression.
Displays a competent understanding of the subject and a
basically coherent presentation.
Displays only a partial grasp of the topic and/or
significant problems with style/organization.
Content and/or form do not fulfill some of the
fundamental requirements of the assignment.
Course Evaluations: Course evaluations are your opportunity to provide feedback on how this
class went, what worked, and what could be improved. They are very important to me and to the
University. You will receive an email at your towson.edu address allowing you to access the
online evaluation forms. There is a specific window of time during which you can submit
evaluations, typically a two week period ending on the last day of classes. Students who
complete the online evaluations will be able to see their final grades as soon as they become
available. Otherwise, the grades will be held until 10 days after the end of the exam period.