SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ENGLISH 1010 – Introduction to Writing
Course Syllabus for Fall Semester 2012
Instructor:
Office:
Office hours:
Jamie McBeth-Smith; Jamie.McBeth-Smith@slcc.edu
AD 151; Office Phone 957-4989 (but it’s better to email me)
M/R 11:00-12:30 in AD 218, the Writing Center, by appointment
T/W 12:00-1:00 AD 151
Textbook
They Say I Say with Readings. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company, 2012. (ISBN# 978-0-393-91275-3 pbk). Make sure to buy the copy with
readings and always bring the book to class.
To print our syllabus, course schedule, major writing assignment descriptions, grading policies
and to view additional source material for our course, please go to:
http://slcctsis1010.weebly.com.
Course Description
English 1010 emphasizes that academic writing, and most other public writing and discourse, is
about entering ongoing conversations about issues and understanding the rhetorical choices
(choices of effective expression) people use to communicate their ideas to an audience. To this
end, as writers, you must attend to what “they say” before answering with “I say.” It is only by
connecting your ideas to others’ ideas that you can write effectively to make an impact on an
issue.
Habits of mind this course develops:
To help you write with an impact, to connect what you want to say with what others have said,
the course breaks the writing process into a series of moves, or habits of mind, you will learn to
deploy for your own purposes. These include attending to the complexity of issues by
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learning the contexts within which writing/talking about issues takes place
summarizing others’ writing and synthesizing several threads of a larger conversation
about an issue
examining your own ideas in response by analyzing and evaluating the persuasiveness of
others’ writing
doing research to expand your knowledge and take a position on an issue
revising your ideas and responses through drafts and conversations with class members.
Through this process, you will strengthen your ability to make thought-provoking contributions to
written conversations both assigned and of your choice.
Course Goals
Following are the English Department’s outcomes for English 1010. By the end of the course,
you should be able to write using various
 Rhetorical Strategies, including understanding differences in purpose, audience and genre
 Critical Thinking Processes, including summary, analysis, synthesis
 Composing Processes, such as invention, drafting, revision, editing, peer feedback, and selfassessment
 Conventions of Writing, especially the conventions of citing multiple texts and
incorporating them into one’s own writing.
Course Policies and Procedures
 Group Work: You will form groups to review each other’s paper drafts and to
collaborate on writing some assignments.
 Absences and Late Work: The English Department believes that attendance and active
participation in class contribute to success. Being absent for more than 10 percent of
class sessions will result in a reduction of one full letter grade. To earn at least a C in this
course, you must complete all major assignments on time. I don’t accept late work.
However, if there are circumstances that keep you from turning in a major assignment on
time, please discuss it with me before the assignment is due in order to try to resolve your
problem.
 Plagiarism: You commit plagiarism when you submit another author’s work as your own.
Plagiarism also includes the failure to attribute unique phrases, passages, or ideas to their
original source. If you commit plagiarism you will receive an automatic “E” for that
assignment or an “E’ for the course, depending upon the severity of the infraction. If you
have questions about effectively using and citing sources, please let me know.
 General Education ePortfolio: Each student taking General Education courses at SLCC
will maintain a General Education electronic portfolio. Instructors in every Gen Ed
course will ask you to put at least one assignment from the course into your ePortfolio
and accompany it with reflective writing. In addition, your ePortfolio will allow you to
include your educational goals, describe your extracurricular activities, and post your
resume. When you finish your time at SLCC, your ePortfolio will then be a multimedia
showcase of your educational experience. For detailed information visit:
www.slcc.edu/gened/eportfolio.
In English 1010 it is a requirement to submit your final project and a reflection on it to
your Gen Ed ePortfolio.
After you have picked an ePortfolio platform, go to the corresponding help site to watch
the tutorials and look at the examples so you can get started on your own:
http://slcceportfolio.yoalsite.com
http://slcceportfolio.wordpress.com
http://slcceporfolio.weebly.com
If you would like to start your ePortfolio in a computer lab with a person there to help
you, sign up online for one of the free workshops at the Taylorsville-Redwood, South or
Jordan libraries: http://libwebslcc.edu/refilt/forms/eportfolio. You may also visit the
ePortfolio Lab in the basement of the Taylorsville-Redwood Library during business
hours, and staff will help you without an appointment. Finally questions regarding the
ePortfolio can be directed to eportfolio@slcc.edu.
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Student Code of Conduct: At SLCC, you are expected to abide by the student code,
which states in part:
I will practice personal and academic integrity. I will respect the dignity of all
persons. I will respect the rights and property of others. I will discourage
bigotry, striving to learn from difference in people, ideas and opinions. I will
demonstrate concern for others, their feelings and their need for conditions that
support their work and development. Allegiance to these ideals obligates each
student to refrain from and discourage behaviors that threaten the freedom and
the respect all community members deserve.
–The Carolinian Creed
The full code can be found at: http://www.slcc.edu/policies/docs/Student_Code_of_Conduct.pdf
Graded Work
All daily assignments major papers must be word-processed and follow the conventions of MLA
style: 12pt font (Times New Roman or Garamond), 1-inch margins, double-spaced, no title page.
In the top left corner put your name, my name, Jamie McBeth-Smith, the class and section #, and
the date. Then double-space and center the title of the assignment.
30 %
15 %
15 %
20 %
20 %
Participation/Daily Assignments from our textbook include exercises at the end of
chapters and/or “Joining the Conversation” questions at the end of assigned readings.
Daily assignments may also include quizzes, exercises that apply concepts from our
textbook to other sources, and in-class or other writing, such as summary and reflection,
to be announced. Most important, daily assignments include copies of paper drafts for
your group to review and your developed comments on classmates’ drafts. These
assignments earn credit if they are done on time and completely.
Response Paper
Rhetorical Analysis
Final Project, part 1: Annotated Bibliography
Final Project, part 2: Position Synthesis
Assignment Guidelines and Grading Policies
For descriptions of your major writing assignments, the Response Paper, the Rhetorical Analysis,
the Annotated Bibliography, the Position Synthesis and for criteria on how your major
assignments are evaluated, please refer to the Writing Assignment documents and the Grading
Contract posted on the website http://slcctsis1010.weebly.com.
NOTE: An incomplete can only be given in extreme circumstances and only if you have
satisfactorily completed 80% of the class work.
Course Support
 Email: I will use your SLCC BruinMail account to communicate with the class. I would
recommend you forward your SLCC email to an email you check daily by doing the
following: login to your BruinMail SLCC account, click on mail, then on options, finally
on “auto-forward,” and then enter your personal email address. Call the computer help
desk, 957-5555, if you have problems with your account or with forwarding your email.
 MLA Citations: For the latest correct citation information, and grammar review, use the
website www.owl.english.purdue.edu. Also use easybib.com to help you format an MLA
Works Cited page.
Academic Support
 Student Writing Center: SLCC has a Writing Center at each campus (AD 218 at
Redwood, N316 at South City Campus, and HTC 102 at Jordan Campus). SLCC’s
Student Writing Center offers an advising program in which you have the opportunity to
discuss your work with a peer tutor or faculty writing advisor. Advisors are able to help
you with any writing assignment for any class you take. To make an appointment at
Redwood, sign up in AD 218 or call 957-4893. You may also send a draft to an advisor
through e-mail by going to http://www.slccswc.org/onlinetut.php. Be sure to include
questions and concerns you may have and a copy of the writing assignment, and leave
plenty of time for turnaround.
 Accommodation for Disabilities – ADA Statement
Students with medical, psychological, learning or other disabilities desiring
accommodations or services under ADA must contact the Disability Resource Center
(DRC). The DRC determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of these
accommodations and services for the college. Please contact the DRC at the Student
Center, Suite 244, Taylorsville Campus, 4600 So. Redwood Rd, 84123 by phone 9574659; TTY 957-4646; Fax: 957-4947 or by email: Linda.Bennet@slcc.edu.
Emergency Notification System
SLCC has an emergency alert system that allows the College to send alerts to you via e-mail, text
messaging, and phone (cell, mobile device, PDA, pager, etc.). These messages are for you during
an emergency, not for notification of family in case you are injured during an emergency. Please
sign up for this service by going to your MyPage account, clicking on “Student,” and then
scrolling down to “Emergency Alert System” and providing the requested information. Please
submit this information annually every fall semester.