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El Paso Community College
Syllabus – Spring, 2010: CRN 20949
Instructor’s Course Requirements
Part I
I.
Course Number and Instructor Information:
ENGL 1301.10, EXPOSITORY ENGLISH COMPOSITION
MEETING TIMES AND ROOM: 9:00-9:50, Monday, Wednesday, & Friday in MV5A (Portable) on
the Valle Verde Campus
INSTRUCTOR:
Adam Webb
CONTACT INFORMATION: EMAIL – adamwebb11@gmail.com (the best way to reach me)
OFFCIE HOURS AND ROOM: 8:00-8:50 am Mon.-Wed.-Fri. & 12:00-2:00 pm Weds.& Fri. in
Building B, room B242, by appointment, or through email
My PBWorks wiki site: http://compositionawebb.pbworks.com/
II. Texts & Materials:
Bullock, Richard & Maureen Daly Goggin. The Norton Field Guide to Writing with
Readings, 9th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007.
Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference, 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.
Flash/Traveldrive (optional, to save your work on)
Research and Writing Websites:
The OWL at Purdue: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
III. Course Requirements:
A. Introduction
Writing is a both an individual and collaborative process. When we write, we usually do it for
someone to read what we have written. However, each person’s writing process is different. Each
writer’s approach and needs are different. This course will focus on the importance of your ideas
and ways to communicate these ideas and thoughts effectively to a larger audience. The level of
writing and the amount of work expected will be appropriate to college level work in any discipline,
since your ideas and the analysis required to explain and support them will be required in any field
of study.
B. Plagiarism & Cheating
Students will be reported to the Academic Dean and Vice President for Student Services. A grade of
zero will be given for the assignment. Consequences may also include suspension and a written
report on your academic record. Cheating consists of submitting someone else’s work under your
name (plagiarism), obtaining information from someone other than the instructor during an exam,
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making copies of disks, etc. Please adhere to the student code of conduct for the college in matters
of academic honesty.
C. Course Grade
The course grade will be determined by the instructor’s evaluation and judgment of several
elements: 1) writing projects, including essays, will be weighted and accounted for 70% of the
course grade; 2) Assignments, including readings, discussions, and quizzes (these include exercises
on the Writing Center’s website located here:
http://dnn.epcc.edu/Student/Tutorial/Writingcenter/quizzes.html , and class participation will count
for 20% of the course grade. The last 10% of the grade will come from a final in-class reflective
essay. The grading scale on the official course description will be used for this class.
Writing projects (five essays) = 70%
Readings & quizzes (all of the quizzes located on the Writing Center’s website) = 20%
Final in-class reflective essay = 10%
TOTAL = 100%
These quizzes are very important. We will be discussing them in class when the need arises.
D. Purpose of Writing Assignments = 70% of course grade
The writing assignments will be connected. You are encouraged to research and write about aspects
surrounding your interests as well as your future career and/or profession. We will be discussing
and developing ideas during class. However, it is also very important for you to work on your
research and writing outside of class as well. Try and use your time wisely. Instead of hard copies, I
am also encouraging students to turn their work in online, using PBWorks. PBWorks is a free
online program where you can your own personal space for putting pictures, uploading MS Word
documents, and adding hyperlinks. We will discuss more about PBWorks in class. PBWorks =
https://plans.pbworks.com/signup/basic20 (PBWorks is free). As part of the writing assignments
listed below, there will be readings covering them. The way it will work is like this: I will assign
the readings on Friday and you will have the weekend to read them. On Monday the following
week at the beginning of class, we will spend the FIRST FIVE MINUTES WRITING A
SHORT RESPONSE ABOUT THE READINGS!
E. Assignment Descriptions
1. Career Essay or Resume = 10% and is due on February 12, 2010
For the career essay, you will write an essay answering in detail these following questions:
 What is your major? Why did you choose it?
 What future professions are you interested in? Why are you interested in this profession?
 Do you know anyone in this profession? How do you know them?
 How do you plan to go about entering this profession? Basically, what is your plan?
 Do you have a back-up plan or profession? What is it?
The career essay should be no less than 2 pages
For the resume, I will provide sample resumes. I will also have an individual from Career
Services visit the class and discuss why resumes are important. Their website is located
here: http://dnn.epcc.edu/Default.aspx?alias=dnn.epcc.edu/careerservices. Sample resumes:
http://compositionawebb.pbworks.com/Resume-examples.
2. First Interview Reflective Essay = 10% and is due on March 5, 2010
Building on the first assignment, you are required to locate someone within your major/field of
study/future profession and interview them. The individual can be a teacher or professor within
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that field, a friend or relative within that profession, or possibly another student who is majoring
in your field. You are required to ask them a series of 5-10 questions, either face-to-face,
through the email, or over the phone. During the course of this assignment, we will be
discussing how to develop appropriate interview questions, write a formal email, and what
reflective writing is. Once you are done with the interview, you are required to write a 1-2 page
reflection over it, highlighting the best parts, such as what you observed during the interview,
what questions were asked, and what were the interviewee’s responses. Sample interview
reflection essays located here: http://compositionawebb.pbworks.com/show-examples
3. Second Interview Reflective Essay = 10% and is due on April 2, 2010
Building on the second assignment, you are required to locate someone within your major/field
of study/future profession and interview them. The individual can be a teacher or professor
within that field, a friend or relative within that profession, or possibly another student who is
majoring in your field. You are required to ask them a series of 5-10 questions, either face-toface, through the email, or over the phone. During the course of this assignment, we will be
discussing how to develop appropriate interview questions, write a formal email, and what
reflective writing is. . Once you are done with the interview, you are required to write a 1-2 page
reflection over it, highlighting the best parts, such as what you observed during the interview,
what questions were asked, and what were the interviewee’s responses. Sample interview
reflection essays located here: http://compositionawebb.pbworks.com/show-examples
4. Comparison/Contrast Essay = 20% and is due on April 16, 2010
In this essay, you are required to reflect over the information and the responses from your two
interviews. By “reflecting” over the information and responses from the two interviews, I mean:
 Taking an overall perspective of what you have learned from them
 Analyzing the information and responses further
 How were the interviewees’ responses similar or different
 Reflecting on how you now perceive your major/profession/future career
The comparison/contrast essay should be no less than 4 pages. Sample comparison/contrast
essay located here: http://compositionawebb.pbworks.com/show-examples
5. Formal Poster board and/or Multimedia Presentation = 20% and is due May 3 or 5, 2010
For the final piece of writing this semester, you are required to create a formal poster board
and/or a multimedia presentation. The formal presentation will be over what you have
researched over your major and/or career/future profession. Some of the requirements for the
formal poster board and multimedia presentations are listed below:
 No handwritten words, all lettering and words must be typed
 Tri-fold poster board (i.e. http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/166224/Office-DepotVanishing-Grid-Tri-Fold/)
 Not too flashy (i.e. no really bright colors, glitter, ruffles, or anything that will make it
look tacky)
 Should effectively organized and make sense
 Not too many or unnecessary images and/or pictures
 The focus of the presentation is on the CONTENT (what you presenting on), not on
pretty the presentation looks
Before gluing or taping anything permanently to your poster board, please make sure that you have
checked the spelling and that it is where you want it to be. Also, please make sure that you dress
semi-formal on the day of your presentation. Sample poster board presentations:
http://compositionawebb.pbworks.com/Please-sample-poster-board-presentations.
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F. Essay Formats and Standards
All essays should be typed! Please follow these standard requirements:
1. Follow APA guidelines located at this website:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
2. Use 1 inch margins all around
3. Double spaced
4. Use 12 point font in Times New Roman
5. Please print out in black ink
IV. Instructor’s Policies:
A. Attendance—Drops
A critical element of learning in this course is the interaction between the students and the
instructor. Being absent means that neither I nor your classmates can help you with understanding
an assignment or any other questions you have about writing. If you feel that you cannot attend
because of outside reasons such as schedule conflicts, it is up to you to withdraw from the course.
The instructor assumes no responsibility for student withdrawal from the course.
B. Quizzes = 20% of course grade
You will need to visit the Writing Center here on campus (located in room A-1421 of the Valle
Verde Campus). Here is there website:
http://dnn.epcc.edu/Student/Tutorial/Writingcenter/writingcent.html. While you are required to do
all of the quizzes located on the Writing Center’s website, you DO NOT have to do all of them in
the Writing Center. You can also access them on your own computer off campus. However, you are
required to visit the Writing Center, either with help on your writing or to take the quizzes at least 6
times during the course of the semester. In order to prove that you did visit the Writing Center 6
times during the course of the semester, you will turn in 6 signed pink slips from the Writing
Center. During the course of the semester, we will be discussing any questions you have about the
quizzes.
C. Final In-Class Reflective Essay = 10% of course grade
The final in-class reflective essay will be given during the finals week. This essay will be written
during class time. All students will be required to answer this prompt: “Please write a reflection on
what you feel you gained this semester in this class. Please be as detailed and descriptive as
possible.” If you have a laptop, you may type it out and then email it to me. Or you may write it out
(“barbaric” style … but please remember to bring a pen or pencil and a piece of paper to class).
D. Electronic Devices
Please do not use your cell phones during class time. If you need to take a call or make a call, please
step outside of the classroom to do so. No texting in class. No phone or iPod music in class. If you
have a laptop, please bring it to class!
E. Late Work
No late work will be accepted. A zero will be assigned all missing assignments, including writing
assignments and quizzes. Definitely NO chewing gum in class!
F. Students with Disabilities
The Center for Students with Disabilities on Valle Verde’s campus is located in room C-112. Please
visit their website located on the home page of EPCC’s website:
http://dnn.epcc.edu/default.aspx?alias=dnn.epcc.edu/csd.
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V. Calendar-English 1301:
English 1301 Calendar
Week One (Jan. 19-22):
HANDOUT AND REVIEW SYLLLABUS
HANDOUT ON PBWORKS
Discuss Writing Assignment #1 (the career essay and/or resume)
Reference Reading for next week: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, pp. 182-189 (for the resume)
Reference Reading for next week: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, pp. 351-353 (for conducting
primary research)
Week Two (Jan. 25-29):
DISCUSSION over Writing Center visits (grammar quizzes)
DISCUSSION over readings (resume and primary research)
ACTIVITY on how to find credible sources
DISCUSSION & ACTIVITY On note-taking
Reference Reading for next week: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, pp.170-173 (for reflective
writing)
Reference Reading for next week: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, pp. 313-316 (for reading
strategies)
Week Three (Feb. 1-5):
DISCUSSION over Interview reflective essay
ACTIVITY: develop 3-5 questions and choose classmate to interview
START thinking about possible interviewees & developing interview questions to ask
CAREER SERVICES visit to discuss services offered and workshops
Reference reading for next week: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, pp. 351-353 (for
interviewing) & OWL'S Interviewing Advice
Reference Reading for next week: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, pp. 331-332 & 340-341 (for
developing a plan & for finding sources)
SIGN-UP for Student-Teacher conferences next week (8th & 10th)
Week Four (Feb. 8-12):
Student-Teacher conferences over career essay and/or resumes (these conferences will be held on Monday the 8th
and on Wednesday the 10th … regular class will resume on Friday the 12th) Time and location to be announced
Career essay and/or resume is due on Feb. 12
DISCUSSION over the first interview assignment (choosing individuals to interview, developing questions,
contacting possible interviewees, writing formal email, etc.)
Reference Reading for next week: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, on Reflective Writing
Reference Reading for next week: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, pp.478-479 (for writing a
formal email)
Week Five (Feb. 15-19):
WRITING CENTER visit this week (they may and come to class or we may visit them)
WORKSHOP session on writing out the interview reflections
SIGN-UP for Teacher-Student conferences next week (22nd & 24th)
Week Six (Feb. 22-26):
Student-Teacher conferences over career essay and/or resumes (these conferences will be held on Monday the 22nd
and on Wednesday the 24th … regular class will resume on Friday the 26th) Time and location to be announced
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DISCUSSION over grammar exercises/quizzes at the Writing Center
Week Seven (Mar. 1-5):
First Interview Reflective Essay is due on Mar. 5
DISCUSSION over interview reflections (challenges & discoveries)
START discussing/locating next possible interviewee, developing a new set of questions (or using the same ones?)
INTRODUCTION to APA (why we are using it, how we will be using it)
Week Eight (Mar. 8-12):
DISCUSSION over MLA & APA format (the importance of citing your sources) – All week! I will be discussing
examples and explaining these formats, plus we will be doing mini-activities
Week Nine (Mar. 15-19):
SPRING BREAK! BE SAFE! STAY SMART! 
Week Ten (Mar. 22-26):
GETTING BACK INTO THE GROVE!
DISCUSSION over second interview reflection
DISCUSSION over the comparison/contrast essay over the two interviews (show examples)
DISCUSSION over the grammar exercises/quizzes
Reference Reading for next week: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings, pp.266-273 (for comparison
& contrast writing)
Week Eleven (Mar. 29-Apr. 2):
Second Interview Reflective Essay is due on Apr. 2
WORKSHOP over comparison/contrast essay over the two interview reflections
INTRODUCTION to the formal poster board presentation assignment
Week Twelve (Apr. 5-9):
DISCUSSION over comparison/contrast essay (challenges & discoveries)
START creating the poster board presentations
Week Thirteen (Apr. 12-16):
Comparison/Contrast Essay is due on Apr. 16
DISCUSSION over poster board presentations (do’s & don’ts), show past examples
NOTE: APRIL 15 IS THE LAST DAY TO DROP WITH AN AUTOMATIC “W!”
Week Fourteen (Apr. 19-23):
WORK on poster board presentations
Week Fifteen (Apr. 26-30):
WORK on poster board presentations
Week Sixteen (May 3-7):
Poster Board and Multimedia Presentations from May 3-5
Week Seventeen (May 9-15):
Finals week (final in class essay on May 10)
howdy 