Great Basin College
Instructor: Dr. Linda Uhlenkott
Office: MMH 119
E-mail: lindau@gwmail.gbcnv.edu
Office Hours:
English 101.E01: Composition I
Spring 2008
Phone: 753-2346 (o)
Fax:753-2131
MW 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.; T 12:30 - 2:30 p.m.; TH 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Other hours by appointment.
Texts: Occasions for Writing. DiYanni, Robert and Hoy, Pat C. II. (Required: ISBN 1-4130-1206-X or 978-14130-1206-4)
SF Writer, 2nd or 3rd, or TheEveryday Writer (one of these handbooks is required; if you are buying a new handbook,
please buy The Everyday Writer ISBN 0-312-41323-8).
The American Heritage College Dictionary 4th ed. (recommended), but a dictionary of some kind is required.
Course Description:
English 101 is a university transfer course in critical reading, critical thinking, and expository/expressive
writing. It emphasizes the organization and revision of the formal college essay. Students will expand their
knowledge of audience awareness, purpose, thesis, and a variety of organizational patterns. Students will practice
reading skills by reading professional essays from the textbook; they will practice creating their own styles of writing
through the use of vocabulary and sentence variety. The goal of the course is to prepare students for the kinds of
thinking, reading, and writing that other college courses require. (Credits: 3)
Prerequisite: ENG 095 completed with a letter grade of A, B, or C; placement test; or equivalent ACT/SAT score.
Learner Outcomes
Measurements
Generate ideas for writing
Evidence in prewriting, rough drafts
Choose appropriate point of view and word choice
for audience
Written essays
Organize the essay into a specific rhetorical pattern
relevant to the purpose; this may include
description, comparison/contrast, definition and
other patterns
Written essays
Revise the essay with the addition of specific detail,
sentence variety, and necessary reorganization
Comparison of early drafts with portfolio
choices
Edit the essay for punctuation, spelling and usage,
demonstrating knowledge of conventions of
Standard Edited English
Edited essays in portfolio
Comprehend written texts
Analyze both visual images and written text
Paragraphs responding to questions at the end of
essays in book
Essays and paragraphs
Course Outline:
The outline of the course includes workshop dates and due dates for essays. The student will write five
drafts of essays; he or she will choose three of these drafts to revise and edit to include in a final portfolio. The
portfolio will also include a letter explaining the student’s choice of essays.
Revision Policy:
In English 101, students are expected to revise drafts for detail, development, organization, and sentence
structure. Peer response groups are one tool that students will use in revising their essays. Essays will be assessed but
not always graded, and the instructor will make revision suggestions. Students will be required to revise and edit
three of five essays before submitting them in a portfolio for a final grade. All major assignments must be
submitted in proper manuscript form: double-spaced and word-processed using 12 point font and standard script,
with one inch margins on standard- sized white paper. Essays should also include page numbers in a header on the
upper right hand corner of the page.
Student Evaluation:
Students can earn 1,130 points in this course. Following is a breakdown of points.
 Regular attendance at class: 26 days at 5 points each = 130 points.
o Points will be counted from Jan. 28 through May 5. This allows a grace period for late
enrollment. If a student comes into class late, it is his/her responsibility to let me know
that they are in the class. If a student is habitually late, a penalty will be assessed.
 Five workshop days at 50 points each = 250 points.
o In order to earn these points, students must bring in enough typed copies of completed
drafts of the assigned paper so that each member of their small group has a copy of the
paper. No makeup of missed workshop days is possible.
 Ten responses to essays at 25 points each = 250 points.
o In order to earn these points, students must write at least one paragraph in response to
each one of the ten essays that will be assigned reading from Occasions for Writing.
 A final portfolio at 500 points.
o In order to earn these points, students must choose three essays from the five that they
will write for the course. Each essay must be completely revised and edited to be included
in the portfolio. Students will also include a letter in the portfolio explaining their essay
choices.
Students may earn points only in the above four ways. No extra credit nor any other points are available.
The instructor uses a grade system which awards +’s and -’s and gives a W until the 13th week of class, after which
an F will be given. A student must formally withdraw before Friday of the 13th week to avoid earning an F for the
course. According to the policy established by Great Basin College, to receive an Incomplete, a student must have
completed at least 3/4 of the course with a grade of C or better, but be unable to complete the class for good cause.
Following is the breakdown of points and letter grade equivalents.
A
1130 - 1073
A1072 - 1017
B+
1016 - 972
B
971 - 938
B937 - 904
C+
903 - 858
C
857 - 824
C823 - 791
D+
790 - 745
D
744 - 711
D710 - 678
F
677 and below
Great Basin College Official Statements:
I. Disability Access:
“Great Basin College supports providing equal access for students with disabilities. An advisor is available to discuss
appropriate accommodations with students. Please contact the ADA Officer (Julie Byrnes) in Elko at (775) 753-2271
at your earliest convenience to request timely and appropriate accommodations.”
II. Academic Integrity Policy:
Academic dishonesty is defined as an act of deception in which a student claims credit for the work or effort of
another person or uses unauthorized materials or fabricated information in any academic work. Academic dishonesty
is a violation of the GBC Student Code of Conduct and will not be tolerated in this class. Any evidence of academic
dishonesty/plagiarism in this course will result in a failing grade on the assignment and/or a failing grade for the
course. Appropriate institutional consequences such as academic probation or suspension will also be employed if
necessary. This is a very critical offense. If you are ever uncertain about your use of another person’s work
(ideas, language, data, etc.), you must come to see me about it.
Acts of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited, to the following:
CHEATING – unauthorized copying or collaborating on a test or assignment or the use or attempted use of
unauthorized materials.
TAMPERING – altering or interfering with evaluation instruments and/or documents.
FABRICATION – falsifying experimental data or results, inventing research or laboratory data on results for work
not done, or falsely claiming sources not used.
PLAGIARISM – representing someone else’s words, ideas, artistry, or data as one’s own, including copying another
person’s work (including published and unpublished material, and material from the Internet) without appropriate
referencing, presenting someone else’s opinions and theories as one’s own, or working jointly on a project, then
submitting it as one’s own. (I have a computer program that will search your words on the Internet, so do not make
the choice to plagiarize).
Grade Appeal:
If you have any concerns or academic problems, please discuss such matters with your instructor first--and
as soon as you can. See Page 51 of the General Catalogue 2007-2008 on the procedure which deals with such issues.
Course Schedule: Readings and questions must be completed by the day on which they are listed.
Jan. 21 Martin Luther King day
Jan. 23 Introduction to course; syllabus.
Jan. 28 Read p. 536, “Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?” Ursula K. LeGuin; do question #3 from Thinking and
Writing, p. 541.
Jan. 30 Diagnostic test must be completed.
Feb. 4
Feb. 6
Workshop #1 – please bring typed copies of a completed draft.
Read p. 611, “Letter From the Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King; do question #1 from Reading and
Thinking, p. 621.
Feb. 11
Feb. 13
Feb. 18 No class; Presidents’ Day
Feb. 20 Workshop #2 – bring typed copies of completed draft.
Feb. 25 Read p. 419, “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William J. Cronon; do question #2, Reading and Thinking, p.
435.
Feb. 27
Mar. 3 Read p. 703, “About Men,” Gretel Ehrlich. Look at “Cowboy” on p. 121; do #4, Reading and Thinking, p.
705.
Mar. 5
Mar. 10 Workshop #3 – bring typed copies of completed draft.
Mar. 12 Read p. 569, “On Self-Respect,” Joan Didion; do question #1, Reading and Thinking.
Mar. 17
Mar. 19
March 24 – March 28 Spring Break
Mar. 31 Workshop #4 – bring typed copies of completed draft.
Apr. 2 Read p. 476, “Into the Electronic Millenium,” Sven Birkerts; do #4, Reading and Thinking.
Apr. 7
Apr. 9
Read p. 360, “Claiming an Education,” Adrienne Rich; look at images on pages 364-5-6; do #1, Writing
Thoughtfully ... p. 367.
Apr. 14
Apr. 16 Read p. 106, “Steps Toward a Small Theory of the Visible,” John Berger; do #1, Reading and Thinking, p.
111.
Apr. 21 Workshop #5 – bring typed copies of completed draft. Begin editing.
Apr. 23
Apr. 28 Read p. 672, “Against Work,” Christopher Clausen; do #4, Reading and Thinking, p. 676.
Apr. 30
May 5
May 7
Images, p. 205 -212; do either #1 or #2 on p. 210
Instruction ends. Portfolios due in class.