Diane Harris
Imperial Valley College
Office #1716 (across from the tennis courts)
Office Hours: by appointment
website: www.imperial.edu Find: Diane Harris
Summer 2008 English 98
Office Phone: 355-6171
Home Phone: 351-9107
email: diane.harris@imperial.edu
Class Syllabus
Objective: To improve your reading, critical thinking, and writing skills. At the end of this
course, you should be able to write a short essay with a clear thesis statement, relevant and
direct topic sentences, an engaging introduction and conclusion, supporting details, logical
organization, effective transitions, vivid and precise word choice, sophisticated syntax, and
relatively few errors in sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, or spelling. This
is a class to review and improve these skills. We will be concentrating on grammar,
mechanics, paragraph construction and short essays.
Required Text: Along These Lines: Writing Paragraphs and Essays, by Biays/Wershoven 4th
Suggested
resource: Thesaurus
online resource: www.mywritinglab.com
Attendance: You will be dropped after 2 absences. If you are 15 minutes late, you will be
marked absent. If you come in late, do not interrupt the class proceedings. Come in, find your
seat, and get your class materials out quietly. The last day to drop with a W is July 15. If you
have 2 absences after July 15, you will receive an F for the semester grade.
Assignments:
Homework/Class work
10%
Quizzes/Journal/MyWritingLab
15%
Essays (4)
40%
Essay Revisions (You must turn in all previous drafts to receive credit)
10%
Final Essay Exam
25%
90-100 = A
80 – 89 = B
70 – 79 = C
60 – 69 = D
59 or below = F
Homework/Class work: Homework includes draft revisions, grammar exercises, readings,
paragraph writings, etc. Class-work will be individual or group activities. You will be required
to keep a writing journal. Forums on MyWritingLab will count as a journal entry.
Quizzes/Journal: You will have announced and unannounced quizzes each week. You will also
be required to complete quizzes, journal entries, and assignments on the MyWritingLab
website.
MyWritingLab: You will be required to log on to MyWritingLab to complete writing assignments,
diagnostic tests and review. Your exercises will be due each Thursday. Your student access
code to set up your account on MyWritingLab is provided with your textbook. If you buy a used
textbook, you will have to buy an access code for MyWritingLab separately.
Course ID: Harris544374W
Course Title: Basic English Composition
Section Title: Engl 98 30079
Diane Harris
Imperial Valley College
Office #1716 (across from the tennis courts)
Office Hours: by appointment
website: www.imperial.edu Find: Diane Harris
Summer 2008 English 98
Office Phone: 355-6171
Home Phone: 351-9107
email: diane.harris@imperial.edu
Class Syllabus
Objective: To improve your reading, critical thinking, and writing skills. At the end of this
course, you should be able to write a short essay with a clear thesis statement, relevant and
direct topic sentences, an engaging introduction and conclusion, supporting details, logical
organization, effective transitions, vivid and precise word choice, sophisticated syntax, and
relatively few errors in sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, or spelling. This
is a class to review and improve these skills. We will be concentrating on grammar,
mechanics, paragraph construction and short essays.
Required Text: Along These Lines: Writing Paragraphs and Essays, by Biays/Wershoven 4th
Suggested
resource: Thesaurus
online resource: www.mywritinglab.com
Attendance: You will be dropped after 2 absences. If you are 15 minutes late, you will be
marked absent. If you come in late, do not interrupt the class proceedings. Come in, find your
seat, and get your class materials out quietly. The last day to drop with a W is July 15. If
you have 2 absences after July 15, you will receive an F for the semester grade.
Assignments:
Homework/Class work
10%
Quizzes/Journal/MyWritingLab
15%
Essays (4)
40%
Essay Revisions (You must turn in all previous drafts to receive credit)
10%
Final Essay Exam
25%
90-100 = A
80 – 89 = B
70 – 79 = C
60 – 69 = D
59 or below = F
Homework/Class work: Homework includes draft revisions, grammar exercises, readings,
paragraph writings, etc. Class-work will be individual or group activities. Forums on
MyWritingLab will count as a journal entry.
Quizzes/Journal: You will have announced and unannounced quizzes each week. You will also
be required to complete quizzes, journal entries, and assignments on the MyWritingLab
website.
MyWritingLab: You will be required to log on to MyWritingLab to complete writing assignments,
diagnostic tests and review. Your exercises will be due each Thursday. Your student access
code to set up your account on MyWritingLab is provided with your textbook. If you buy a used
textbook, you will have to buy an access code for MyWritingLab separately.
Course ID: Harris760255W
Course Title: Basic English Composition
Section Title: Engl 98 30082
Diane Harris
Imperial Valley College
Office #1716 (across from the tennis courts)
Office Hours: by appointment
website: www.imperial.edu Find: Diane Harris
Summer 2008 English 98
Office Phone: 355-6171
Home Phone: 351-9107
email: diane.harris@imperial.edu
Class Syllabus
Objective: To improve your reading, critical thinking, and writing skills. At the end of this
course, you should be able to write a short essay with a clear thesis statement, relevant and
direct topic sentences, an engaging introduction and conclusion, supporting details, logical
organization, effective transitions, vivid and precise word choice, sophisticated syntax, and
relatively few errors in sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, or spelling. This
is a class to review and improve these skills. We will be concentrating on grammar,
mechanics, paragraph construction and short essays.
Required Text: Along These Lines: Writing Paragraphs and Essays, by Biays/Wershoven 4th
Suggested
resource: Thesaurus
online resource: www.mywritinglab.com
Attendance: You will be dropped after 2 absences. If you are 15 minutes late, you will be
marked absent. If you come in late, do not interrupt the class proceedings. Come in, find your
seat, and get your class materials out quietly. The last day to drop with a W is July 15. If
you have 2 absences after July 15, you will receive an F for the semester grade.
Assignments:
Homework/Class work
10%
Quizzes/Journal/MyWritingLab
15%
Essays (4)
40%
Essay Revisions (You must turn in all previous drafts to receive credit)
10%
Final Essay Exam
25%
90-100 = A
80 – 89 = B
70 – 79 = C
60 – 69 = D
59 or below = F
Homework/Class work: Homework includes draft revisions, grammar exercises, readings,
paragraph writings, etc. Class-work will be individual or group activities.
Quizzes/Journal: You will have announced and unannounced quizzes each week. You will also
be required to complete quizzes, journal entries, and assignments on the MyWritingLab
website. Forums on MyWritingLab will count as a journal entry.
MyWritingLab: You will be required to log on to MyWritingLab to complete writing assignments,
diagnostic tests and review. Your exercises will be due each Thursday. Your student access
code to set up your account on MyWritingLab is provided with your textbook. If you buy a used
textbook, you will have to buy an access code for MyWritingLab separately.
Course ID: Harris820585W
Course Title: Basic English Composition
Section Title: Engl 98 30088
There will be no late or make up essays, exams, homework, quizzes, etc. If I give you an
overnight assignment, it is due at the beginning of the class. After that, it is late. Do not
give it to me during the class period. If you know you will be absent on a day when
something is due, tell me BEFORE the day of the class and it may be possible to make other
arrangements. If you tell me AFTER the class, I cannot help you.
Participation: I will be watching you.    This includes completing assignments in class,
working on your own or together in groups, asking and answering questions. Chatting, going to
the bathroom, sleeping, doing other homework, etc. is not good participation, right!!   
But you already know this.
Paragraphs and Essays: You will be required to write essays in class and for homework.
Paragraphs will also be assigned to develop different rhetorical patterns. Some writing
assignments will be completed on MyWritingLab. Assignments will require an outline with the
initial draft.
Paragraph and Essay revisions: You will be required to write a 2nd and, for some assignments, a
3rd draft. All revisions must be typed and all previous drafts stapled to the current draft.
MyWritingLab assignments will also require revisions. Assignments will be due on Mondays.
Final Essay Exam: The 5th essay will count as your final. The topic will be assigned. You will
choose one topic out of a choice of two or three to write your final composition. I will be
looking for the successful use of organization, sentence construction, paragraph construction
and the proper use of rhetorical pattern. By this I mean contrastive, descriptive, definitive,
etc.
Tutors are available in the Reading/Writing lab. Wait until I have graded a paper, then
come and ask me what the tutors should help you with. Do not give them your paper to
revise the whole thing. (That is one of the benefits of MyWritingLab online assignments.
You will complete exercises for review and receive evaluation immediately.)
Cheating and Plagiarism: Bad!! Bad!! Bad!! Do I really have to say it? Do not turn in duplicate
copies of your classmate’s homework or essays. Do not turn in information copied off of the
Internet. If you are cheating, you will receive a zero for the assignment.
Class Contacts: Name _______________________________________Phone ______________
Class Contacts: Name _______________________________________Phone ______________
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, comments, or complaints. Don’t get
overwhelmed, but just concentrate and keep me informed of your state of mind. Remember
that in a summer session, time flies. So get a good night’s sleep, eat your Wheaties, and get
ready to rock n’ roll.
Any student with a documented disability who may need educational accommodations should
notify me or the Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSP&S) office as soon as possible.
DSP&S
Health Sciences Building, Room 2117
(760) 355-6312
**English 98 Schedule
Week 1
Class Introduction, syllabus, etc.; Diagnostic samples; Purchase textbook, Set up
MyWritingLab account
Chapter 27--Punctuation: The Period and the Question Mark
Chapter 28--Punctuation: The Comma
Chapter 14--The Simple Sentence
Chapter 15--Beyond the Simple Sentence: Coordination
MyWritingLab: Diagnostic Tests: Sentence Grammar; Punctuation & Mechanics;
Usage and Style; Basic Grammar; Part 1: Getting Started
Week 2
Chapter 1 –Writing a Paragraph
Chapter 8 – Definition
Chapter 16—Avoiding Run-On Sentences and Comma Splices
Chapter 17--Beyond the Simple Sentence: Subordination
MyWritingLab: Part 2 The Paragraph; Part 3 Paragraph Development
Week 3
Chapter 11—Writing an Essay
Chapter 12—Different Essay Patterns—Definition and Description
Chapter 18--Avoiding Sentence Fragments
Chapter 35--Sentence Variety
In class Essay #1 Definition with outline (3 paragraphs)
Homework: Essay #2 typed with outline Ch 8 Description
MyWritingLab: Part 4 The Essay
Week 4
Revision Essay #2 (Turn in both 1st draft and the new draft)
In class Essay #3 with outline Ch 6-Comparison/Contrast
Chapter 12--Different Essay Patterns-Comparison/Contrast
Chapter 29—Punctuation: The Semicolon and the Colon
MyWritingLab: Part 5 Sentence Improvement
Week 5
Revision Essay #3
Chapter 12--Different Essay Patterns-Narration
Chapter 21--Correcting Problems with Modifiers
Essay #4 with outline Ch 4 Narration
MyWritingLab: Part 6 Sentence Basics
Revision Essay #4
Week 6
Chapter 13--Writing from Reading
Chapter 34--Word Choice
MyWritingLab: Diagnostic Post-Tests
Essay #5/Final Essay with outline (25% of your grade)
**Subject to Change
If necessary, changes can be made based on time constraints and if your writing shows other
areas that need to be addressed.
Happy Writing
Imperial Valley College suggested exit standards for English 98 Basic English Composition
Topic Sentence and Thesis Statement—Student shows an ability to generate a topic sentence
and write a thesis statement.
Organization—Student can write an essay demonstrating essay structure. Paragraphs are well
supported and contain no off-topic sentences.
Development—Student generates support using major and minor details.
Paragraph Skills—Student writes paragraphs that demonstrate adequate development, unity of
subject material, coherence, and use of appropriate transitions.
Rhetorical Modes—Student uses logical organization for various modes, such as narration,
description, definition, and comparison.
Research—Some outside information (possibly article/review)
Critical Thinking—Student demonstrates some examination of support from sources other than
student’s experience.
Sentence Structure—Student can edit for sentence structure problems. Student can apply
editing corrections to sentence structure problems.
Punctuation—Student shows no consistent errors with usage of the comma and period despite
occasional errors.
Spelling, Diction, and Audience—Student demonstrates a moderate command of proper spelling
and word usage.
Verb tense, Form, and Subject-Verb Agreement—Student shows command of simple subjectverb agreement, tense, and verb forms.
ESL interference—Student can write essays with only some ESL interference and show adequate
ability to edit for ESL errors.