ENG 132.81
Spring 2014
Meets: Monday evenings from 6:00-9:38 p.m. from 06/02/2014 to 08/18/2014
Location: Hillsdale Center – Room # 15
Instructor: Mrs. Tennille A. Fenstermaker
Phone:
JC – Hillsdale Center – leave a message 517-437-3343;
Home 517-254-4620 (please don't call before 9AM or after 8 PM)
Email: thefenstermakers@hotmail.com or fenstertennilla@jccmi.edu
----------Course Texts:
Richard Bullock and Maureen Daly Goggin's The Norton Field Guide to Writing
Richard Bullock and Francine Weinberg's The Little Seagull Handbook
Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein's They Say I Say
(ALL available at the JC Bookstore)
(NOTE: *Have They Say I Say completely read by middle of July)
-----------Other Items You Will Need:


Zip drive or Flash drive
2 two-pocket folders, one for your writings and one for your portfolio
(NOTE: Keep EVERYTHING until the end semester)

one notebook used solely for journaling
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JCC CATALOG DESCRIPTION OF COURSE:
“This course is a continuation of the writing instruction and practice begun in English 131 with an emphasis on critical
thinking, information- gathering and those forms of writing useful to academic and professional life. Research writing
is emphasized. An end of the semester portfolio of informative and research writing is required.”
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This class is a writing workshop requiring you to practice strategies associated with
college English courses. You will write in ways that are personally meaningful, but you will also practice making
your writing meaningful to readers. In college, you will be expected to write in order to demonstrate the
substance of your ideas. In order to have ideas, writers must have experiences, perceptions, and questions.
Working with other writers will help you develop your writing. The small community of writers that we, as a
class, create will help you and support you in your efforts to become a better writer. You must willingly help
and support others in return.
Language forms who you are and how you view the world. By writing and sharing your writing, you may discover
things about yourself. This process can be intimidating and sometimes frightening, but it will also be rewarding
and exciting.
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES: You will participate in all facets of the writing process. You will practice
varied forms of writing appropriate for your intended audience, gain confidence in your ability to write, write
in situations that require you to use your own experiences to provide perspective and support, and compose in
situations that require research, organization and development.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES: Your primary task is to improve your writing skills. This means that you must
practice, experiment, discover and create your various voices, learn to understand how you write (the process),
determine your strengths and weaknesses as a writer and learn how to overcome the problem areas.
To prepare for class, you are expected to: read the text and other assigned readings; hand in daily work and
drafts on time; share your writing with others; respond to your classmates’ writing; actively participate in
group and class discussions, and writing workshops; meet with the professor for individual conferences; and
most importantly, write and revise both in and out of class.
ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY: Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else's work as your own, either
intentionally or unintentionally. This includes not properly citing the work and ideas of others. In this course,
plagiarism will result in a zero on the assignment for the first occurrence, and, possibly, a failing grade in the
course for additional occurrences.
ADOs:
The board of Trustees has determined that all JC graduates should develop or enhance certain essential skills
while enrolled in the college. Several of these Associate Degree Outcomes (ADOs) are addressed in this class,
including:
1.
Write clearly, concisely, and intelligibly (i.e. use the writing process, determine purpose and audience,
organize and develop, find meaning and understanding, use sources/documentation, and practice
correct grammar).
9. Work in small groups (i.e. participate, make collective decisions, support team members, manage conflict,
and evaluate).
---------------
MY RESPONSIBILTIES: As your professor, I will do everything I can to assist you in improving your writing.
I’ll read and respond to your writings and ideas. I will introduce concepts that may help you become a better
writer, lead class discussions, form peer groups, share readings and writings with you, meet with and help you
individually, and encourage you.
----------------GRADING: Your final grade will be totaled as follows:
40% Daily writings, class assignments, journal entries and essays
Your in-class work and activities have specific purposes. They are practice pieces and ways to generate ideas.
Your daily work helps me better understand your thoughts and reactions to the text, the class and your peers.
Each essay you turn in should be accompanied by each step of the writing process: prewriting, rough draft,
revisions, and obviously, the final draft. YOU WILL RECEIVE two grades for each paper: a writing process
grade and a final grade based on the structure of the paper and also grammar.
40% Portfolio
Your portfolio is a compilation of your best work, your polished pieces of writing. Your portfolio ultimately
contains your best essays from the semester. It demonstrates your strengths and abilities as a writer. Ideally,
each carefully edited piece you include will show purpose and an understanding of audience. It will include a
variety of forms, such as a personal narrative, an observation profile, a research paper, etc. Guidelines for
each essay will be given. By the time your portfolio is due, you will have revised your pieces numerous times and
should feel confident that you are submitting your most outstanding work. Writing students benefit from
portfolios because the ongoing collection of their work makes evident both the amount of work they have
invested and the amount of progress they have made.
The portfolio consists of 12-15 typed, double-spaced, 12 pt. standard font pages, and it will serve as 40% of
your grade. (Note: Individual essays must be 3 FULL pages or longer to be considered in the page count. As
your instructor, I will grade your portfolio.)
20% Attendance and Participation
Participation in class discussions, writing workshops, peer/group editing and teacher conferences are vital for
the success of this class. If you are continually absent, this course is invaluable. As your instructor, I need
your help, your experience, and your voice to make this class work.
I understand that emergencies and occasional conflicts arise. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to
find out what you missed and how you can make up the work. First, check with another student to see what you
missed then approach me. Also, contact me by phone if you anticipate missing a class so I can plan accordingly.
Multiple absences will lower your grade.
In order to fully participate in class, you must come prepared. That means both reading and writing the
assigned tasks. Many of the planned writing activities will not work if students come to class unprepared.
I strongly believe that students learn from each other, that I learn from students, and that your contributions
to class are essential. The success and liveliness of this class depends on your willingness to speak up, share
thoughts, ideas and stories and to help others. Therefore, part of your grade is based on attendance and
participation.
-------------------Grading Scale:
4.0 = 100% - 95% = A 3.5 = 94% - 85% = B+
3.0 = 84% - 80% = B 2.5 = 79% - 75% = C+
2.0 = 74% - 70% = C 1.5 = 69% - 65% = D+
1.0 = 64% - 60% = D .5 = 59% - 55% = D0= 54% - 0%= Fail
------------A Final Note:
I truly hope you learn more about writing and, more importantly, learn more about yourself through
this course. I want you to feel as though you have something to offer...because you genuinely do have
something to offer. And I want you to share that through your writing.
My ultimate goal, as a professor, is to assist you in becoming a better writer and also to instill a love
of writing in you. Please don’t hesitate to call if you have questions or concerns. Good luck!
Tentative Schedule
Date DUE:
June 9th: Intro Letter
June 16th: Narrative Rough Draft – due ½ way into class
June 23rd: Profile Observations
June 30th: Narrative FINAL draft; profile rough draft – ½ way done
July 7th: Profile Rough draft
July 14th: Profile FINAL draft
July 21st: Persuasive basic outline due; Persuasive rough draft – ½ way done; They Say, I Say book
completely read
July 28th: MEET AT THE HILLSDALE COMMUNITY LIBRARY at 11 East Bacon St.; Persuasive
FINAL draft (with parentheticals/works cited); Research BASIC outline
August 4th: Research rough draft (with parentheticals/works cited); Research FINAL draft
(parentheticals/works cited) due at end of class and on Google drive
August 11th: Portfolios due – NO LATE portfolios accepted.