ENC 1101: Writing and Rhetoric I
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WELCOME!
Welcome to ENC 1101 Writing and Rhetoric, a course designed to improve your writing skills
and to help you more skillfully apply effective rhetorical strategies in various communicative
contexts. The course introduces you to rhetorical concepts and practices that you can apply
throughout your college and professional writing career. Simply put, this course will help you to
succeed as you progress here at FIU. Regardless of your major or career path, writing will be a
part of your job. Studies have shown that the more effectively you can write, the more successful
you’ll be—academically and professionally. It’s possible right now that you are hesitant about
the time you have to spend in front of a keyboard or a notebook. That’s OK. This course will
provide you with a set of tools—including a flexible writing process— that will help you get
your thoughts on paper. And, because effective writing requires careful and critical thinking, we
will emphasize a revision process indicative of analytical and reflective thought.
Course Outcomes
By the end of the course, you will be able to produce documents that do the following:
 Generate relevant and timely writing topics that are appropriate for their chosen audience
and the assignment;
 Develop their ideas through an effective and recursive process of writing, revision, and
editing;
 Indicate their ability to write in various genres including peer review, prewriting,
narrative, thesis-driven essays, and researched writing;
 Respond to various rhetorical purposes and address the needs of various audiences;
 Display genre-appropriate format, structure and stylistic choices, understanding
differences in open and closed form prose;
 Develop an effective thesis and support it with reasons and evidence;
 Exhibit appropriate syntax, punctuation, and spelling;
 Produce documents that incorporate primary and secondary resources which are
documented using MLA or similar style manual;
 Develop a rhetorical vocabulary for talking about writing.
Web-Assisted Course
This is a web-assisted course. While you’ll rarely need a computer in class, the course materials
are located on Moodle. Follow these directions to log in:
 Go to http://ecampus.fiu.edu
 Click the Login button
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User ID and password
o User ID = Your My Accounts user ID
o Password = Your My Accounts password
For login help, call 305-348-2284.
If you need to look up your My Accounts user ID or reset your My Accounts password,
go to http://myaccounts.fiu.edu and follow the instructions.
Please log into the course Moodle website as soon as possible. If you’re having log in issues,
please see me or go to ULS in Green Library, you don’t want to fall behind this early in the
semester. If you do not have a computer there are computer labs on campus (one located below
us on the first floor of GC) and the library allows students to check out laptops (both Mac and
PC) for three hours at a time – be on time returning those though, the fine is $30.00 PER HOUR
for returning them late.
We will also use turnitin.com for peer-editing, grading, and plagiarism checking. Turnitin.com
will be directly linked to the course website via Moodle.
If at any point during the semester, you become confused about assignments, and how and when
they should be done, please contact me immediately.
Teaching Methods
Frequently assigned writing, critical reading, discussion, peer review and workshops, lecture.
Texts and Supporting Materials
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Lunsford, Andrea. The Everyday Writer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 4th edition, 2009.
Customized for Florida International University.
Companion Website:
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/everydaywriter4e/default.asp#t_11472
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Ramage, John, John Bean and June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. New
York: Pearson, 2010. Customized for Florida International University. Fourth Edition.
Companion Website: http://www.pearsoncustom.com/fl/fiu_english/
Plagiarism
FIU defines plagiarism as: “The deliberate use and appropriation of another’s work without any
indication of the source and the representation of such work as the student’s own.” While we’ll
have a class period where we discuss plagiarism, it’s your responsibility to make sure that
understand what it is and how to avoid plagiarizing other’s works. Please see FIU’s policies on
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plagiarism at: http://coeweb.fiu.edu/plagiarism/FIU_Procedures_in_Plagiarism.htm and take the
plagiarism quiz located at: http://coweb.fiu.edu/plagiarism/quiz_content.htm. Once you have
reached your score on the quiz, do a print screen (hit alt + the Prt Scn button for windows PC’s
or Apple Key + Shift + 3 on a Mac) and then print that image and bring it to class by the end of
the second week. Remember to put your name and your Panther ID on the paper!
Please review the Writing Program web page on plagiarism, and be aware of the disciplinary
sanctions resulting from academic misconduct. As your acknowledgment of understanding,
please tear out the Plagiarism agreement in the Everyday Writer, sign it, and return to me by the
end of the second week of classes.
Attendance
Because the work we do in class will be directly connected to work online (and vice versa),
attendance is crucial, and will be a significant part of your participation grade. You must attend
80% of face-to-face meetings in order to pass this class. Exceptions to this policy will be
discussed on a case by case basis, please see me to discuss.
Reading and Participation
I assume that college students will complete the assigned readings, so I won’t lecture on the
book. Coming to class having read the material, will allow you to participate in class discussions
and group work. The readings are directly connected to the prewriting and drafting process of
the writing projects, so your writing will be strengthened by critically thinking about the rhetoric
discussed in the text. If something you read is unclear, ask and we will discuss it in class. It is
likely that you’re not the only one who has the same question. In addition, you’ll earn points for
participation based on your contribution to discussion.
Reaching Me
The best way to reach me is via email, using either my fiu.edu email or via MoodleMail. Please
allow up to 24 hours for a response. On days when assignments are due, I’ve set a time where I
stop checking email on the unit plan for the essay. If you send a message after that point, I can’t
guarantee that I’ll respond the same day. You don’t live attached to you computer and neither do
I.
Homework
Writing is a process, and I will guide you through the writing of each essay by working with you
every step of the way. If you do all the homework, there’s a high likelihood that you’ll do well
in the class. If you don’t do the homework, you won’t do well, and you may fail the course. The
forum posts and the mini-assignments discussed under ‘Portfolios’ constitute the homework for
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this course. In general, homework will be due the afternoon BEFORE the class period (if class is
Friday, your post will be due Thursday). This will allow me to give everyone comments on what
they’ve posted. I’ll alert everyone as to when homework is due before we dismiss each class
period. Due dates are also listed on assignment sheets. I will drop one homework/class work
grade at the end of term when I average your grades.
Writing Assignments
There are four major assignments for this course. For each assignment there will be a detailed
instruction sheet posted to the course Moodle site. This sheet will lay out the assignments
leading up to the final submission. For each assignment, we’ll spend several weeks in and out of
class working towards the final paper.
Three of the assignments are essay projects. The fourth is a section on Timed Writing which will
help you in mastering how to write clearly while under pressure.
Portfolios
For each of the three major essay assignments during the semester, you will write multiple drafts,
all of which should be turned in as a portfolio at the beginning of class on the due date. This
sounds scarier than it really is, you’ll do forum posts on moodle which will help form ideas for
the papers. You’ll also numerous mini-assignments for homework which will directly tie into the
final product which will be submitted via the course Moodle website. You’ll receive feedback
from me on all of this as we go along, you’re not submitting a binder of work at the end to only
find out that you’ve done something wrong and will not receive a passing grade.
Revision
You will be able to revise one graded writing project. If the revision shows significant
improvement, you’ll receive a higher grade which will replace the original grade. We’ll discuss
revision throughout the semester.
Late Writing Project Submissions
All assignments are on the assigned due date. Please see the Moodle calendar for final due dates.
I’ll also make sure to mention upcoming due dates during class. The letter grade will be reduced
½ grade (5%) for every day the writing project is late, and the reduced grade will carry over to
revisions. For example, if you turn in an A paper a day late, it will be reduced to a B+, and
cannot be revised to an A. If you turn in the paper on the due date, but after class has ended, it
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will be considered a day late. If you’re going to have an issue getting the paper in on time, talk
to me BEFORE the due date. Being proactive with this will allow me to help you.
If you do not hand in all three major writing projects, you will fail the course.
Format
Unless specified otherwise, all formal writing assignments must be typed, double spaced, Times
New Roman 12. Use MLA format for all four major writing projects. Please see your Everyday
Writer for instructions on formatting. Blog or Forum posts do not need to be formally formatted.
Grading
You must receive a “C” grade or higher to pass ENC 1101. Grading weights are shown below.
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Writing Project 1—Literacy Narrative
Writing Project 2—Writing to Inform
Writing Project 3—Writing to Persuade
Timed Writing Project
Participation/Homework Assignments
15%
20%
25%
10%
30%
Grievances and Your Rights
If at any point in the semester you have any questions or concerns about your grade or your
standing in the class, please come see me. Addressing your questions and concerns is part of my
job. You may also contact Dr. Kimberly Harrison (harrisok@fiu.edu), Director of FIU's Writing
and Rhetoric Program, Associate Director Robert Saba (robert.saba@fiu.edu) at MMC,
Associate Director Michael Creeden (creedenm@fiu.edu) at MMC, or Associate Director Cindy
Chinelly (chinelly@fiu.edu) at BBC.
As students you’re not helpless, you’ve got rights – make sure you know them. Go to this
website: http://www2.fiu.edu/~sccr/. Also make sure you have a copy of the FIU student
handbook, get one from the Office of Campus Life in GC.
Disability Resource Center (DRC)
The following information is taken from the DRC website, located at: http://drc.fiu.edu/
In the postsecondary educational environment a student with a disability is required to selfidentify and complete a thorough intake process. The university is then legally obligated to
provide services and academic accommodations to qualified students. The DRC strongly
encourages students to make the determination of accommodation requests at the beginning of
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each semester. Once registered, I’ll receive notification from DRC that the process has been
completed and I’ll be able to help you succeed in this class.
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