English IV Dual Credit: English I Composition 1301
Instructor: Patti Nommensen
Fall 2015
CRN: __________________ ID: ________________________( Remember/note your password)
HCC Library Barcode _________________________________ (required)
Course Description: “A course devoted to improving the student’s writing and critical thinking,
(HCC Catalog)
writing essays for a variety of purposes from personal to academic, including
introduction to argumentation, critical analysis, and the use of sources.”
Prerequisites:
Admission to Houston Community College, registration and payment for course
Course Goals:
English 1301 emphasizes all of the Core Competencies: reading, writing,
speaking, listening, critical thinking, and computer literacy.
Credit:
3 hours
Contact:
Telephone: 713-251-2591
Textbooks:
The Writers Presence – 8th Edition from HCC bookstore; due by Wed., 9/2
Prestwick Vocabulary Book ($13 exact change or check: Memorial High School)
Due by Tuesday, 9/1
Required:
HCC Library bar code to conduct college appropriate research (Resources, my webpage)
CONNECT Online Grammar program (See Expenses and Due Dates)
Assessments:
Descriptive/Personal Narrative Essay
Comparison/Contrast Analytical Essay
Midterm
Documented Exploratory/Persuasive Essay
Reading Responses with Rhetorical Précis
Final Exam In-class Essay
CONNECT (Online Grammar)
Participation*
Email: patricia.nommensen@springbranchisd.com
10%
10%
10%
20%
20%
10%
10%
10%
*Participation includes attendance, contribution to class conversations, attention to the contributions
of others both written and verbal, being prepared with materials and assignments.
`
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Minimum requirements for this course: 5,000 total written word count
Preparation for Class
1. You are required to check the class website (http:mhs.springbranchisd.com) for the
agenda, deadlines, due dates, and handouts. This is especially critical to keep up when absent.
2. District grading guidelines require that work assigned prior to an absence (assignments,
reading, test and quizzes) is due upon the student’s return to class.
3. You are expected to read assignments and be prepared to discuss them in class. This is not
optional (see participation grade, above). Reading and discussion are important
components of the course. Silence suggests you are not prepared.
4. On days for peer analysis and review of your drafts, type your rough draft. Use the library
if necessary (check testing schedule). Make certain that you double space the paper to allow
for comments. Handwritten drafts are unacceptable and will receive a zero.
Classroom Rules and Policies:
1. You must attend class on a regular basis. More than 6 unexcused absences constitutes
grounds for withdrawal from the course (also see participation grade, make up work below).
2. Always conduct yourself with maturity; acknowledge other speakers with dignity. This is
especially important because of the sensitive and mature nature of some of the topics discussed in class.
3. Cell Phones: As a general rule, all cell phones must be silenced (not vibrating) and in the class
phone hanging holder. If we need to use them as a classroom tool, I will authorize their use for that
announced period of time. If a student is discovered using his or her cell phone when not authorized,
the phone will be confiscated and delivered to their principal.
4. Privileged makeup times for the English Department are Tuesday afternoons and Friday
before school. I can often schedule makeups to fit both our busy schedules, but they must be
done within a week or sooner if the class is scheduled to go over the work.
5. Testing in the English Department is on odd days.
6. Turnitin.com: All typed essays and responses must be submitted to turnitin.com. Although
you do not have to attach the receipt, you must print it for yourself as proof of submission in the
event it does not appear on my screen.
7. Submitting work: DO NOT arrive in class with an assignment that has not been collated,
organized and stapled. If you use class time to assemble your paper, you will be penalized a one
day late grade. (You will never go to your college class and expect to borrow your professor’s
stapler or 3-hold punch before submitting an assignment, nor will you use valuable class time
assembling your assignments.)
8. Printing your work: Expect that your printer will fail, the computer will lose your
document, or that some other technological catastrophe will occur. These are not excuses for late
papers; plan ahead so that your paper will be ready to turn in at the beginning of the period.
Stock up on ink and paper. Do not email assignments to the teacher or have a friend slide
them under the door; instead, papers should be handed directly to the teacher or left in the
teacher’s mailbox in the main office. Do not plan on using the printer in my room to print work
that is due; that printer is dedicated to use by faculty. Remember that the library is sometimes
closed during testing periods. It is best to leave your home with your work ready to submit.
9. Late Work: Late homework is not accepted for a grade. Major essays and projects will be
accepted late for a 10 point penalty per calendar day with the following exception:
Dual Credit students who fail to attend their English 1301 class without a doctor’s note or
extracurricular excuse, but attend other classes that same day are not permitted to turn in late
work for credit for 1301. Therefore, assignments submitted any time after class when the
student has been absent during class, but present during the day in other classes without a
doctor’s note or extracurricular notice, will receive a zero for college work; points for MHS work
will be penalized 10% for the day of the missed class and another 10% for every day thereafter.
10. Reading assignments: The reading schedule is always given in advance and assigned reading must
be completed and reviewed prior to class. (See participation grade)
11. Multiple interpretations are encouraged in this literary classroom, but textual support of
one’s ideas is crucial.
12. Multiple viewpoints in this classroom are encouraged, but should be articulated and heard
in an environment of tolerance and respect for opposing opinions.
13. Marking a text systematically, using note tabs and note taking within the text (or on paper
when working with a classroom text), will help the student retrieve information quickly during
discussions and writing assignments. Listening and note taking are essential, and students are
expected to have a notebook devoted exclusively to English notes and handouts.
13. Students are responsible for obtaining any missed notes or assignments and scheduling their own
make-ups. Find extra handouts in the appropriate accordion folder and samples in the class notebook.
14. Plagiarism and Collusion: The Student Handbook lists cheating, plagiarism, and collusion as
scholastic dishonesty. It defines plagiarism as “the appropriation of another’s work and the
unacknowledged incorporation of that work in one’s own written work offered for credit.” It defines
collusion as “the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work for credit.”
It is assumed that, unless otherwise instructed, all work is meant to be done individually. Consequences
of plagiarism or collusion: a grade of “0” for the first instance of collusion and an “F” in the course for
a second instance and for cheating or plagiarism on any assignment.
15. No food or drink other than water is allowed in class.
16. Withdrawal from Class: You cannot drop yourself from this Dual Credit class. You must
notify me if you intend to withdraw from the course, and you must confer with the counselor so
that HCC can formally withdraw you from their roster.
17. College credit is given by semester. This semester you will enroll in this 1301 Class and pay
tuition for the course. Next semester you will enroll in 1302 and pay tuition for the course for
which you will earn 3 more credit hours. You are not enrolled in a year-long class at HCC, and
it is critical that you take care of registration and payment for 1302 in January, 2016.
Tutoring: HCC Writing Center, Room 703 (Mon-Thurs 8:30-8; Saturday 10-2). 713-718-5889
Bring assignment, draft, flash drive.
Online tutoring is available at www.hccs.askonline.net. (Your HCC ID # is your
username; your HCC student email PW is your AskOnline PW.) Submit with adequate
turnaround time.
Textbook Tips: The Writer’s Presence 8th Edition can be purchased new or used at the HCC Book
store. Call ahead (713-468-5300) to check availability and store hours.
Expeenses and Due Dates:
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CONNECT: $40. Pay by credit card upon enrollment in class (online) Monday, August 31.
Vocabulary $13 by Tuesday September 1
The Writer’s Presence 8th Edition due Wednesday, September 2