Cisco College
English 1301 Syllabus
(Honors English 4)
Fall 2015
Contact Information:
Mandi Farmer
High School Room 23
Conference: 9:55-10:40
E-Mail: amanda.farmer@breckenridgeisd.org
Course Description: The Cisco College Catalog contains this description of English 1301:
Intensive study of and practice in writing processes, from invention and researching to drafting, revising, and
editing, both individually and collaboratively. Emphasis on effective rhetorical choices, including audience,
purpose, arrangement, and style. Focus on writing the academic essay as a vehicle for learning,
communicating, and critical analysis.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes.
2. Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution.
3. Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose.
4. Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts.
5. Use Edited American English in academic essays.
Course Structure and Credits: This course will meet in high school room 23 Monday through Friday.
**You will receive three hours of transferable college credit upon successful completion of the course.
Prerequisites:
A student must have a passing grade on the writing portion of the TSI.
Transferability:
This course is a requirement of the core curriculum for the Associate of Arts degree.
Required Texts:
Bullock, Richard and Maureen Daly Goggin. The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings. New York: W.W.
Norton, 2007.
Greenblatt, Stephen and M.H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 8th ed.: The Major Authors. New
York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006.
Learning Objectives and Methods of Assessment:
 45% -Writing- This category includes all MAJOR ESSAYS as well as rough drafts and revisions. ALL MAJOR
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE COMPLETED IN ORDER TO PASS THE COURSE.
 40% - Literature Responses kept in Composition Book
 15%- Grammar/Daily Work
Grading Policy:
You will receive a rubric detailing specific writing expectations. You should use this rubric as a guide. Make sure
that you always keep all steps of your writing process, as you will be graded as on your process as a writer and
your knowledge of the writing process, as well as your final product.
Feedback will always be provided during the writing process as well as before the submission date of the next
major assignment so that students can use feedback to grow and progress.
All grade disputes will require official documentation, so it will be imperative to maintain a classroom binder to
keep all graded work.
Make-Up Work
In the case of an absence for extracurricular activities, you are responsible for notifying me prior to the absence
and collect any information and materials regarding work you will miss. In-class essays and quizzes must be made
up in my classroom, not outside of class. You are responsible for setting up a time to complete any missed timed
writing assignments or quizzes outside of class. Any quizzes or timed-writings must be made up within one week’s
time to receive credit.
All major writing assignments are due by 4:00 on the due date. The grade of any essays turned in after 4:00 on the
due date of an assignment will be deducted one full letter grade every day until they are turned in. Late essays
must be turned in within one week’s time to receive credit.
**Since assignment sheets for all major essays will be given to students listing dates and requirements, students
will be expected to turn these assignments in on time, regardless of absences. If special circumstances arise, please
contact me ahead of time to arrange an extension. Extensions will only be granted before an assignment is due. Do
not assume you will be granted an extension unless you have spoken with me directly.
Absences:
Excessive absences will be reflected in individual grades received. More than three absences during the semester is
considered excessive and may affect a student’s final grade. Three tardies may constitute an absence. Please be
aware that classroom attendance is vital to success in completion of this course.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism, simply put, is taking someone else’s ideas and presenting them as your own. In the academic world, this
is theft and will result in a failing grade for the assignment and possible suspension from the course or expulsion
from the college. Avoiding plagiarism involves using quotation marks and proper documentation when writing
information word for word from a source as well as using proper documentation when paraphrasing. Copying and
pasting information from a source to your essay is NOT ALLOWED. Allowing a parent, another teacher, a classmate,
or anyone other than yourself to write any portion of your paper or rewrite that portion during revision is also
considered plagiarism. That does not mean that you cannot get help with editing and proofreading from those
around you. Remember, the idea is that you only get credit for work that YOU do.
Student Conduct and College Policies:
Students are expected to take responsibility in helping to maintain a classroom environment that is conducive to
learning. In order to assure that all students have the opportunity to gain from the time spent in class, students are
prohibited from making offensive remarks, reading material not related to class, working on work for courses
other than English, sleeping, or engaging in any other form of distraction. Inappropriate behavior in the classroom
shall result in disciplinary action in accordance with BHS Handbook policy.
Student Technology Use in Classroom
Use of communication devices, which include but are not limited to cell phones, palm devices, and laptops, is
prohibited unless specific instructor permission is granted. Breckenridge High School technology rules apply. Use
of any communication device or data storage device during a test, unless the instructor has granted permission,
may result in a charge of academic dishonesty.
Participation/Professionalism
Whatever field you choose to study in college, a major goal is to become a professional. This professionalism begins
in the classroom and will be judged by the quantity of your participation, your respect toward others in the class
including your instructor, the diligence with which you work during class and during peer reviews, your subjection
to school rules, and your attendance and punctuality to class.
Course Content
College-level courses may include controversial or sensitive material. Students are expected to have the readiness
for college-level rigor and content.
Academic Integrity
It is the intent of Cisco College to foster a spirit of complete honesty and a high standard of integrity. The attempt of
students to present as their own any work they have not honestly performed is regarded by faculty and
administration as a serious offence and renders the offenders liable to serious consequences and possibly
suspension.
Students with Special Needs
Students who qualify for specific accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should notify
their instructors the first week of class.
Course Calendar- Fall 2015
Week 1
-Literacy Essay—Literacy in the 21st century and its importance in our lives
-Begin reading Beowulf
Week 2
finish Beowulf
Historical Criticism
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Medieval Britain and the importance of heroics
HWA-Analyses
Gawain and the Green Knight
Feminist Criticism
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Geoffrey Chaucer- The Canterbury Tales General Prologue
Week 6
Geoffrey Chaucer- The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale
Weeks 7-9
Shakespeare- Hamlet
Week 10
Andrew Marvell
To His Coy Mistress
The Definition of Love
Robert Herrick
Delight in Disorder
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
Upon Julia’s Clothes
Week 11
Thomas Hobbes- Leviathan
Week 12
John Milton – Areopagitica
Week 13
John Dryden- Mac Flecknoe
Week 14
Jonathan Swift- A Modest Proposal
Week 15-Week 16
Rough Draft/Final Draft
Weekly Expectations/Assignments
Biographical/Marxist Criticisms
Psychoanalytic Criticism
Reader Response Criticism
Intro to CCL Databases
**Informal writing responses will be completed in your composition book each week.
**There will be weekly grammar/vocabulary assignments to complete in your composition book, as well.
Grading Standards for Composition Papers
An “A” Essay
 establishes a clear thesis
 offers strong and relevant supporting evidence, logically organized
 is clearly written with varied sentence structure, effective transitions, and vivid language
 contains no more than 3 (if any) small grammatical/syntax/spelling errors, none of which distract from the
writer’s meaning
 is free of serious errors *
 follows MLA style
A “B” Essay
 establishes a clear thesis, though it lacks the originality of the A essay
 offers relevant supporting evidence and is generally well-organized
 contains clear, though ordinary, language with mechanical transitions
 contains no more than 5 small grammatical/syntax/spelling errors, which may distract from the writer’s
meaning
 may contain no more than 3 serious errors *
 follows MLA style
A “C” Essay
 has difficulty establishing a thesis or contains an unoriginal or unclear thesis
 offers weak or overly-general supporting evidence that is loosely organized
 contains decipherable main points, weak transitions, and awkward or generic language
 contains frequent small grammatical/syntax/spelling errors which interfere with the writer’s meaning
 may contain 4 or more serious errors *
 contains errors in MLA style
A “D” Essay
 lacks a thesis
 contains insufficient, or perhaps lacks, supporting evidence and has serious organizational problems,
making it difficult to reconstruct the writer’s train of thought
 contains vague language that lacks transitions
 contains repeated small grammatical/syntax/spelling errors and serious errors * that distract from the
writer’s meaning
 contains serious errors in MLA style
An “F” Essay may contain any one of the following errors:
 is incomplete
 is plagiarized
 does not follow the assignment
 is riddled with serious errors
 does not follow MLA style
* A serious error is defined as a(n):
 Run-on (fused sentence or comma splice)
 Sentence fragment
 Agreement error (subject-verb or pronoun-antecedent)
 Shift (voice or tense)
 Spelling (misspelled word, wrong word, or homophone)