English 101 Section 1011– Composition I
Course Outline/Policies
Instructor: Laurel Topken
Class: VGH 304 Thursday 7-9:45
Number of Credits: 3
Transferability of Course within Nevada: This course is designed to apply toward a
WNC degree and/or transfer to other schools within the Nevada System of Higher
Education, depending on the degree chosen and other courses completed. It may transfer
to colleges and universities outside Nevada. For information about how this course can
transfer and apply to your program of study, please contact a counselor.
Linkage of Course to Educational Program Mission and Outcomes: This course is a
degree requirement for the Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees and
satisfies the 3-credit writing requirement for these degrees. It is designed to provide
instruction that contributes to a student’s personal, social and intellectual growth by
fostering the abilities to speak and write effectively; to think critically and solve
problems, … to locate and evaluate information resources; and to appreciate the arts and
the humanities. English 101 also contributes to WNC’s General Education Mission: The
purpose of the Associate of General Studies degree is to provide academic knowledge
and skills for personal growth, professional advancement, and/or successful transfer.
Instructor Contact Information:
email: lktopken@gmail.com
Laurel.Topken@wnc.edu
Office hours: Monday/Wednesday 11:30-12:30 at the Daily Grind
Tuesdays 12-1 in Pinion Hall
Thursday 6-7 in Pinion Hall
You can also leave a message at the office.
Course Description in WNC Catalog: Studies expository writing with special attention
to the modes, arrangement, and style. Students learn to write essays that are unified,
thorough, clear, and convincing. Students read essays to augment critical reading skills.
They learn the research, reasoning, and organizational skills necessary for effective
academic and research writing.
Course Objectives or Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, students will demonstrate that they
 Approach writing as a process
 Recognize and demonstrate the qualities of effective writing: purpose, point,
unity, coherence, specificity, conciseness, and correctness.
 Write to an audience
 Recognize and demonstrate persuasive argument
 Document research using MLA format.
Topken
2
Required Materials
Bullock, Richard, Maureen Daly Goggin, and Francine Weinberg. The Norton Field
Guide To Writing with Reading and Handbook. 3rd e. New York: W.W. Norton
and Co., 2013. Print.
Hacker, Diana, and Nancy Sommers. The Bedford Handbook. 8th e. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2010. Print.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997. Print.
Notebook for journal and homework
Grading Policy and Procedures:
Your grade will be calculated as an average of the grades earned on assignments. Fs will
be given when applicable. Your course grade will be calculated as follows:
Preparation and Participation
25
Peer Response
200
Writing Assignments
400
Research Paper
250
Final Exam/Magazine
100
Journal and Homework
25
Grade Scale:
A 100-94
A- 93-90
B+ 89-87
B 86-83



BC+
C
C-
82-80
79-77
76-73
72-70
D+
D
DF
69-67
66-63
62-60
59-0
If you withdraw yourself from the course, you will receive a W. Last day to
withdraw with a W is October 28.
If you drop out of sight and do not officially withdraw yourself, or if you
plagiarize, turn in unacceptable college-level work, or fail to turn in every written
assignment, you will receive an F.
Early Alert System – Please note that in an effort to help students successfully
complete their courses, the Counseling office on campus will ask faculty for
names of students they feel may be in need of additional assistance. A counselor
may contact you to offer some ideas.
Scholarly Honesty/ Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is taking someone else’s work and claiming it to be your own. This can be
intentional or accidental; that is by choice or by carelessness and misunderstanding.
Plagiarizing may result in a failing grade on the paper and/or failure of the course.
Attendance and Late Work:
Since this course requires everyone’s participation, you have 1 class you can miss
without potential consequences. Use it wisely; you never know if there will be a time
when you absolutely cannot make it to class. Absences over 1 will result in your being
unable to earn over an A in the class, 2 a B, 3 a C, and with 4 you will not be able to
pass the course. If you must miss class (death in the family, personal emergency, ECT),
Topken
3
you must contact me on the day of the missed class or immediately after to make
arrangements. If you must miss class for school activities (band, athletics, etc), you must
bring me, before the absences happen, a list, signed by the appropriate faculty or athletic
department member, of the dates the absence(s) will occur. You are responsible for all
assignments, whether you are in class or not. Part of your attendance is arriving to class
on-time, actively participating, and staying for the entire class period. Being late to class
or leaving early 3 times will count as an absence. Our workshop days are the most
important days; they cannot be made up and others are affected by your absence. If you
miss them it will affect your grade.
Reading and writing assignments are to be completed at the beginning of the class they
were scheduled for. If you absolutely cannot make it to class send your work with a
friend. All late papers will be docked a letter grade for every week it is late, and will not
be accepted beyond two weeks.
I will not be giving any extra credit points during the semester except for 5 points per
paper for going to the Academic Skills Center (ASC). If you are absent multiple times
and would like to make up for one class time, you must write a two page paper about
going somewhere in Fallon. This could be to the park, an event, or even a business. Only
one absence may be made up. Your presence and participation is important to this class.
Preparation and Participation:
To receive full credit for this portion of your grade, you must come prepared and willing
to participate. That means that you have completed any reading or writing required and
are ready to discuss or do activities with your classmates. You will join in on the
discussions and activities, contributing to the lesson with your perspective and thoughts.
Quizzes may be given on reading assignments due to lack of participation. You must
also have your writing assignments ready to turn in at the beginning of class.
Writing Assignments:
In this class, you will be writing one research paper 6-8 pages, four 3-5 page essays, two
1 page reading responses, and a magazine with revised papers. You will read essays and
stories to help you with your assignments and workshop the rough drafts of the essays
and the research paper.
All written assignments must be completed to pass the course. Any two papers may
be revised for a better grade. The revised papers need to be resubmitted within one week
after the original has been returned, and must be accompanied with the original. In all
cases of revision, the final assigned grade will be an average of the original and rewritten
scores. A revision does not automatically guarantee an improved grade. There must be
substantial improvement in the revision (not simply correcting errors) to warrant a higher
grade.
Topken
4
Document Style:
In this class, we will use the MLA Format to cite other’s writing. The papers will be in
Times New Roman 12 point font double spaced with 1 inch margins on white paper with
black ink. The page number must be in the upper right corner, and the entire assignment
must be stapled before class. No title pages are necessary; simply list your name, date,
my name and assignment double spaced in the upper left hand corner. Your title should
be centered two spaces below your information, and the body of the paper double spaced
below the title. All papers must be at least to the bottom of the minimum page
requirement, and will include a rough draft.
Students with Disabilities:
*If you have a disability for which you will need to request accommodations, please
contact Susan Trist, Coordinator for Disability Support Services at 775-445-3268 or
susan.trist@wnc.edu as soon as possible to arrange for appropriate accommodations.
If an issue occurs, that will affect your education, please contact a counselor immediately.
They are there to help you get the most out of your time in college. Please note that in an
effort to help students successfully complete their courses, the Counseling office on
campus will ask faculty for names of students they feel may be in need of additional
assistance. A counselor may contact you to offer some ideas.
Code of Conduct:
We are a class full of adults and I expect considerate behavior. This is a class, as well as
Western Nevada College, where ideas are shared, debated, and sometimes argued over. I
encourage this, as it is one of the great reasons to come to college. But be aware that
others may not share the same values as you and you should judge your comments and
actions accordingly and speak respectfully. If you become disruptive, I will ask you to
leave or have you taken out of the class.
Some of the papers you will read in class may be sensitive; they need to be handled with
care. Do not discuss them with people not taking the class. On the other hand, keep in
mind that when you share your writing it then becomes public. You may want to
carefully consider what you write about. Do you want others to know about this topic?
Will you be able to take constructive criticism on the writing?
Finally, please turn off your electronic devices (i.e. cell phones, PDAs, MP3s, ect.) and
put away your ear buds and headphones at the beginning of class. If there are multiple
offences you may lose participation credit for the day. Lap tops may be allowed on
workshop days with prior approval. Also, there will be no texting in class. Any cell
phone use in class will result in having to write a cell phone poem and reading it in
class that day. If you fail to do this, you will lose your participation points for the
day.
Additional Resources:
Your class mates and I are your prime resources. Workshopping, office time, and before
and after class you can talk to me or your classmates about the assignments. Also, in the
event that you do miss a class, make sure to contact a classmate or me for the next class’s
Topken
5
assignment. It is your responsibility to find out what you missed (handouts, changes, due
dates, etc.) Missing a class is no excuse for coming to the next class unprepared.
Conferences – It is suggested to attend a conference with me before the last drop date.
Class time has not been set aside for these conferences. Also you must attend a
conference with me between the time I return your graded Informative paper and you turn
in your Position paper.
Academic Skills Center (ASC) – Visits to the tutors in the ASC are not required, but
they can give you five extra credit points on every final draft. This only counts if you
attended the scheduled class workshop, you spend at least ½ hour with a tutor working on
your draft, and the tutor signs your sheet. If you miss a workshop, you can only make it
up by going to the ASC. For these visits, you will need to make an appointment. The
ASC is located in Room 307 in Getto Hall, Fallon Campus. Go through the library to the
back and through the double glass doors on the left. The ASC phone number is 423-7565
ext. 2278.
Grammar and Punctuation practice – We will be working on some of these issues in class
but I recommend doing additional practice or work on specific problems through
www.dianahacker.com/bedhandbook; www.bedfordstmartins.com/exercisecentral or
additional exercises out of the handbook.
English 101 Composition and Rhetoric Thursday 7-9:45
Spring 2014 Tentative Syllabus
Week 1
1/23 Introductions, Syllabus, Classroom Bingo,
1st day paper, writing anxiety quiz,
Discuss Writing Process
“Shitty First Drafts”
Assign Descriptive Narrative
Read a sample
Discuss Purpose and Audience
Brainstorm
Week 2
1/30 MLA Format
Discuss Senses
Look for figurative language
Observation Exercise
Discuss Abstract and Concrete words
Abstract Exercise
Adjective and Adverb Exercise
Review:
Bedford xxi “How to Use this
Book”
Norton 3-8
Norton 259-265, 484-532
Norton 387-395, 367-375
Topken
Week 3
2/6
Discuss Beginnings and Endings
Library Introduction
Peer Response Discussion
Peer Response
Week 4
2/13 Descriptive Narrative Due
Writing in Academic Contexts
Assign Research Project and Discuss
Guiding Readers
Brainstorming
IRIS
Note Taking
Week 5
2/20 IRIS Due, Topic Due
Choosing and Narrowing Topic
Research Specialist to talk to class
Familiarize with library and start researching
Beginning Draft/Voice
Thesis
Week 6
2/27 Peer Response
Art Box Revision
Discuss common errors
Introductions and Conclusions Exercise
Citations
Week 7
3/6
Informative Due/ Reader’s Response 2 due
Assign Choice Paper and Discuss
Genre and Stance
Read Samples
Week 8
3/13 Peer Response
Mystery Box Revision
Evaluate argument
Discuss claims and opposing claim
Week 9
3/20 Spring Break
Norton 275-381, 299-311
Bedford 216-224
Norton 19-23, 312-317
Norton 421-431
Look over Bedford 437-487
Norton 432-456, 87-118
Norton 714-718, 457-461
Look over Bedford 491-620
Norton 462-479, 480-482
Bedford 142-146
Norton 9-15, 910-913
Norton 205-213, 382-386
Bedford 203-215, 379-383
6
Topken
Week 10
3/27 Choice Paper Due
Norton 119-149, 266-268
Research Specialist to talk to class on evaluating sources
Discuss Position Paper
Debate
Discuss positions
Week 11
4/3
Peer Response
Citations
Purpose and Audience
Week 12
4/10 Position Paper Due/ Readers Response 2 Due
Assign and Discuss Literary Analysis
Writing multiple introductions or conclusions
Discuss Novel
Discuss Writing a Literary Analysis
Week 13
4/17 Peer Response
Card Revision
Movie
Week 14
4/24 Literary Analysis Due
Discuss Argument Paper
Discuss Arguments
What do you do with your paper now?
Bedford 392-400
Bedford 589-620
Norton 269-274, 282-286
Norton 323-341, 746-753
Week 15
5/1
Peer Response
Organization Exercise
Week 16
5/8
Argument Due
Work on Magazines
Week 17
5/15 Magazines Due
Magazine Presentations
Norton 235-248, 255-258
7
Topken
Informative,
Position,
Argument
Papers
Memorable
Ideas
points
Moving
Compelling
points
Powerful
Strength
points
Provocative
Challenging
points
Works
Cited
points
In-text
Citations
points
Opposition
Acknowledged
points
8
Advanced
Proficient
Developing
Emerging
The writing is
compelling and the
topic causes
thinking even days
later.
The writing
connects with the
reader in a way that
generates a strong
impact, feeling or
response.
The writing lingers in
thoughts for awhile.
The writing is
remembered with
prompting.
The writing is
forgotten when the
reading is
completed.
The writing stirs the
reader to think about
something in a way
that they hadn't
thought about before
and stretches them to
be more than they
were.
The writing brings
out an emotional
response, but it
doesn't last beyond
the initial feeling.
The writing lacks
connection to the
reader.
The writing is
readable, focused,
flows, concrete,
suited to audience,
compelling, and
passionate.
The writing may
have some
grammatical issues,
develops with some
stumbling blocks,
shows and tells.
The writing has
basic issues, lost
track of audience,
tells more than
shows, and loses
reader's attention.
The writing was
written with the
intention to make a
difference, whether
it is in thought or
action.
The writing brings a
spark of awareness
in the reader's mind.
The writing agrees
with the reader's
opinions.
The writing is not
something the
writer is interested
in and does not put
forth any effort to
keep the reader
engaged.
The writing doesn't
inspire reaction.
All sources are cited
in proper format
with the correct
version for the
source.
The citations are
properly handled,
there are no
dropped quotes,
and the summaries
and paraphrases are
introduced and
cited.
The opposition Is
recognized and is
logical for the
argument.
Some sources have
issues or they are
not in alphabetical
order.
There are some
missing sources or
many problems in
the citations.
No correct citations
or no citations.
There are some
errors with the
citations and the
summaries or
paraphrases are not
introduced.
Dropped quotes are
the norm.
No correct citations
or no citations.
Opposition is
included but is not a
particularly strong
one.
The opposition lacks
a logical connection
or makes a better
argument.
No opposition is
acknowledged.
Totals and
Comments
Topken
Literary
Analysis
9
Advanced
Proficient
Developing
Emerging
The writing is
compelling and the
topic causes thinking
even days later.
The writing lingers in
thoughts for awhile.
The writing is
remembered with
prompting.
The writing is forgotten
when the reading is
completed.
The writing connects
with the reader in a
way that generates a
strong impact, feeling
or response.
The writing stirs the reader
to think about something
in a way that they hadn't
thought about before and
stretches them to be more
than they were.
The writing brings out
an emotional response,
but it doesn't last
beyond the initial
feeling.
The writing lacks
connection to the
reader.
Powerful
Strength
20 points
The writing is readable,
focused, flows,
concrete, suited to
audience, compelling,
and passionate.
The writing may have
some grammatical
issues, develops with
some stumbling blocks,
shows and tells.
The writing has basic
issues, lost track of
audience, tells more
than shows, and loses
reader's attention.
The writing is not
something the writer is
interested in and does
not put forth any effort
to keep the reader
engaged.
Provocative
Challenging
20 points
The writing was written
with the intention to
make a difference,
whether it is in thought
or action.
The writing brings a
spark of awareness in
the reader's mind.
The writing agrees with
the reader's opinions.
The writing doesn't
inspire reaction.
Works Cited
10 points
All sources are cited in
proper format with the
correct version for the
source.
Some sources have
issues or they are not in
alphabetical order.
There are some missing
sources or many
problems in the
citations.
No correct citations or
no citations.
In-text
Citations
10 points
The citations are
properly handled, there
are no dropped quotes,
and the summaries and
paraphrases are
introduced and cited.
There are some errors
with the citations and
the summaries or
paraphrases are not
introduced.
Dropped quotes are the
norm.
No correct citations or
no citations.
Memorable
Ideas 20
points
Moving
Compelling
20 points
Topken 10
Accuracy (1-20 points)
Powerful (1-20 points)
Memorable (1-20 points)
Moving (1-20 points)
Provocative/Challenging
(1-20 points)




Writing should be accurate. Remember to use proper
punctuation, spelling, grammar, citations, and formatting. No text
messaging symbols or short cuts. (Don't just rely on the computer
spell checker, proof-read your assignment before you turn it in.) If
you get a low score in this area, it is because there are many
errors.
The writing should be powerful. The writing is readable, focused,
flows, suited to audience, and passionate. If you get a low score in
this area, then you need to look at the flow, organization,
audience, and purpose.
This writing should be memorable. The writing is compelling and
the topic causes thinking even days later. It should have emphasis
on purpose and voice. If you get a low score in this area, you
should reevaluate the purpose you chose the topic and how
passionate you are about the topic.
The writing should be moving. The writing connects with the
reader in a way that generates a strong impact, feeling or
response. It stirs the reader to think about something in a way
that they hadn't thought about before. We are looking for
originality and critical thinking. If this score is low, you may need
to try looking at the topic from a different angle.
The writing should be provocative or challenging. The writing is
written with the intention to make a difference, whether it is in
thought or action. It is intended to make the reader to question
or take action. If the score is low, look at the introduction and
conclusion. How do you get your reader involved in the piece?
Excellent (90-100%)
Good (80-89%)
Acceptable (70-79%)
Needs Significant Improvement (below 60%)
Comments: