English 101
Fall 2007
Galloway 1
ENG 101: Effective Writing 1
Sections 2 and 14
Bowman 314/315 (Tuesdays) and 310 (Thursdays)
Dr. Stan Galloway, Fall 2007
Office Bowman 304, 828-5339
Hours: MW: 10-11, 1-3, TR: 11-12:30, and by appt.
Course web page: http://www.bridgewater.edu/~sgallowa/eng101.htm
E-mail: sgallowa@bridgewater.edu
Texts:
Chevalier, Tracy. Girl with a Pearl Earring. New York: Plume-Penguin, 2001.
Hickam, Homer H., Jr. October Sky. New York: Dell, 1998.
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. 1949. New York: Plume, 2003.
Reserve Materials:
Jacob, John. Introduction. The Complete Paintings of Vermeer. Classics of the
World’s Great Art. New York: Abrams, 1970. 5-7.
Introduction:
This syllabus lets you know what to expect. It is important for you to read it,
understand it, keep it, and use it to prepare for each class meeting. You should
keep your syllabus with all your materials and work for this class, and if you lose
it, you should immediately get a new copy. This information is also available on
the course web page.
Course Description:
Effective Writing is the required interdisciplinary writing course in the core
curriculum. You will read and write texts in three academic areas: the sciences,
the social sciences, and the humanities. Much of your writing will be readingbased, and most of it will require research. Our goal is the production of a strong
portfolio of writing from each of you, including research-based writing that
represents each of the three disciplinary areas, and class activities have been
designed to help each of you reach that goal. Your grade for the course will be
based on your portfolio and an assessment of your preparation for and
participation in classroom work. Individual conferences will be required when I
return your portfolio at midterm and the term end. Of course, you are welcome to
meet with me at any time during my office hours or to set up an appointment for
help with your writing or discussion of your progress in the class.
Attendance Policy:
You are expected to attend class. Students involved in sanctioned school
functions will make arrangements prior to the class period missed, allowing
enough lead time to complete any alternate assignments that may need to be
done. (These assignments do not "make up" for the class missed; they only show
you have kept up with the material.) Though no absence is beneficial to you, you
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Fall 2007
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will be allowed 4 absences (two weeks) regardless of reason before you receive
an automatic F for the course. This is an absolute departmental standard, so you
should make no absence that can be avoided. If you believe your involvement in
other campus activities will rob you of more than 4 days, consult with me
immediately.
Course Requirements:
1. Classroom Participation: This class requires a lot of interaction and
participation. Some of this participation will take the form of writing in class,
individually or collaboratively. What happens in class is a large part of the
learning experience of the course, and it cannot be "made up" through reading or
copying someone's notes. Please make every effort to be on time and prepared
for every class.
2. Participation in Computer Environments: You will be expected to participate
in activities conducted in computer environments. If you have any difficulties with
computer access for this course, you should contact an IT staff person and also
let me know.
3. Writing: Expect to do a lot of writing, both informal and formal. Your informal
writing, as well as all of your formal writing, will be included in your portfolio.
a. Your formal writing for your final portfolio will include three readingbased essays, representing each of the three disciplinary areas of the
humanities, the sciences, and the social sciences. Your final portfolio must show
evidence of revision through multiple drafts. Your portfolio will also include an
introductory cover essay.
b. Your informal writing will consist of reading responses and both inclass and out-of-class activities associated with the readings (like lists,
summaries, critiques, responses to teacher or textbook questions, definitions,
etc.) and writing assignments (like peer responses/critiques, progress reports on
research, reflective analysis of your writing habits, and exercises in improving
style and revising).
4. Reading: You will be expected to read textbook and reserve assignments.
Please plan your time wisely to do thoughtful reading, so that you can write clear,
appropriate, and thoughtful responses.
5. Essays: The focus of the portfolio is on three major essays. One essay will
represent the hard sciences, one the social sciences, one the humanities. Ideas
for these essays will be sparked, modified and revised by the reading
assignments during the course. The humanities essay will require a debatable
thesis.
6. Quizzes: Objective quizzes will be given over the three novels to be read in the
course. These quizzes will be included in the portfolio as evidence of class
participation and preparedness.
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Fall 2007
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Plagiarism:
Ethical use of information from sources, including clear indication when material
from any source is quoted or paraphrased, is a matter of academic honesty. We
will discuss proper methods of citation and borrowing in class, for which you will
be accountable. Ask questions about using sources in class; also Writing Center
tutors can help you determine proper use of sources. Plagiarism is an Honor
Code violation, and students who plagiarize may expect to be reported to the
Honor Council, where penalties of failure for the course or suspension from the
college are possible.
Grading Policies:
Your grade will be based on your portfolio of work and, more minimally, your
class participation. Your portfolio will contain both formal and informal writing,
and your informal writing both in and out of class will be considered evidence of
participation. Some of your writing will be due at times other than midterm and
final exam time. You also must include a cover essay that introduces and
explains the contents of your final portfolio.
In general, the standards for acceptable work will include clear focus and
organization, appropriate development of general statements with relevant
evidence that is adequately documented, adherence to the conventions of
standard written English (that is, conformity to rules of grammar, usage, spelling,
and punctuation), and understanding of rhetorical requirements for each piece of
writing. A portfolio must contain multiple drafts of all of the required essays to
receive a D or higher. A missing essay entirely (not even one draft) will bring
failure for the course. Excellent work, in addition, will show thoroughness of
research, originality, and sophistication of thinking.
Writing Center:
The Writing Center offers one-to-one help with your writing by trained student
tutors. You may request help with any writing problem: getting started on a
paper, running out of things to say, checking your thesis or organization,
documenting research, doing proofreading for specific problems with grammar
and punctuation, or revising from professors' comments. The Writing Center is
also an open computer lab. Check the Writing Center Web site for helpful online
resources for writers: http://www.bridgewater.edu/WritingCenter. Some writers
will be required to meet weekly with a Writing Center tutor. If so assigned, a
student who fails to do so will receive an F for the course.
ENG 101 Assignment Calendar
Sep 4
In Class (314/315): introduction
6
Writing: prepare notes or outline for the in-class writing
assessment and placement essay, using the prompt at
English 101
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13
18
20
25
27
Oct
2
4
9
11
16
Fall 2007
Galloway 4
http://www.bridgewater.edu/WritingCenter/Resources/F07_inclass1.htm; In Class (310): write in-class assessment essay.
Reading: October Sky 1-70 and “”The Academic Disciplines, the
Subjects We study” available at
http://www.bridgewater.edu/~atrupe/ENG101/Text/disc1.htm;
Writing: write a paragraph (not a list) identifying issues of the
humanities, the social sciences, and the hard sciences raised in
October Sky; In Class (314/315): bring a hard copy of your
paragraph to build a discussion of academic divisions and
blendings, discuss also an overview of the three essays.
Reading: October Sky 71-142; Writing: write a short one-page
essay (about 200 words) defining what "good writing" means to
you. In Class (310): bring a hard copy of your exercise and
discuss “good writing” and the first essay.
Reading: October Sky 143-205; Writing: begin draft 1 of your
science essay; In Class (314/315) & Library: Introduction to library
resources.
Reading: October Sky 206-283; Writing: complete draft 1 of your
science essay (available on your x-drive for later use); In Class
(310): explore search engines and discuss citing web sources.
Reading: October Sky 284-357; Writing: draft 2 of science essay;
In Class (314/315): peer review of draft 2.
Reading: October Sky 358-428; Writing: write draft 3 of your
science essay; In Class (310): quiz on October Sky, continue work
on draft 3 of your science essay.
Reading: 1984 Foreword, Appendix; 1-38, “Avoiding Plagiarism”
available at http://www.bridgewater.edu/~atrupe/plagiarism.htm
and “Paraphrasing Tips” available at
http://www.bridgewater.edu/WritingCenter/Workshops/paraphrastip
s.htm, see also the first two paragraphs and the last paragraph of
“Goodwin Withdraws from Pulitzer Judging” at
http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/03/05/goodwin.pulitzer/i
ndex.html; Writing: prepare draft 4 of science essay; In Class
(314/315): do exercises on paraphrasing and quotations.
Writing: mid-term portfolio due by 3:15 p.m., including all drafts of
the science essay, and all informal writing; no cover essay needed
at this time; In Class (310): turn in portfolios, sign up for conference
times.
fall break, no class
Reading: 1984 38-83, Writing: prepare written ideas for the first
draft of your social science essay. No Class: attend your
appointment with Dr. Galloway (Bowman 304) at the scheduled
time.
Reading: 1984 84-129; Writing: draft 1 of the social science
essay; No Class: attend your appointment with Dr. Galloway
(Bowman 304) at the scheduled time.
English 101
Dec
Galloway 5
Reading: 1984 129-163, Lutz’s “Life Under the Chief Doublespeak
Officer” at http://www.dt.org/html/Doublespeak.html; Writing: draft
2 of social science essay; In Class (310): discuss reading.
23
Reading: 1984 163-223, Orwell’s “Politics and the English
Language” at http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/patee.html;
Writing: write a 50-word abstract of your second essay and draft 3;
In Class (314/315): discuss the relationship of language and
thought, define an abstract and peer review of draft 2.
25
Reading: 1984 224-269, Writing: draft 5 of social science essay;
In Class (310): open work day (Dr. Galloway out of town)
30
Reading: 1984 269-308; Writing: draft 4 of social science essay;
In Class (314/315): quiz on 1984, discuss 1984 and the
humanities.
1
Reading: Introduction to Vermeer (Jacob 5-7) on reserve in the
space library and Girl with a Pearl Earring 1-43; Writing: revise essays as
needed; In Class (310): use search engines to compile group
bibliographies.
6
Reading: Girl with a Pearl Earring 43-86; Writing: choose another
painting by Vermeer and write inferences that can be drawn from
the work in a paragraph containing a debatable thesis; In Class
(314/315): discuss Vermeer’s art and your paragraph.
8
Reading: Girl with a Pearl Earring 87-129; Writing: draft 1 of
humanities essay; In Class (310): open work day.
13
Reading: Girl with a Pearl Earring 130-169; Writing: draft 2 of
humanities essay; In Class (314/315): review documentation.
15
Reading: Girl with a Pearl Earring 171-233; Writing: draft 3 of
humanities essay; In Class (310): quiz on Girl with a Pearl Earring,
discuss reading, discuss cover essay.
20
Writing: cover essay, final portfolio due including all drafts of the
three essays, arranged with the most recent of each group first,
informal writing bundled separately within the portfolio, and the
cover essay on the top. In Class (314/315): turn in portfolio, sign up
for conference time.
22
Thanksgiving break, no class
27
In Class (314/315): documentation quiz
29
Reading: in-class essay subject material; In Class (310): second
in-class essay.
4-12 No Class: attend your appointment with Dr. Galloway (Bowman
304) at the scheduled time.
18
Nov
Fall 2007