SYLLABUS: WRITING FUNDAMENTALS UC 0143
SPRING 2013
NOTE: NO CELL PHONES OR OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES, INCLUDING LAPTOPS, WILL BE VISIBLE OR
AUDIBLE AT ANY TIME DURING CLASS. EACH VIOLATION MAY RESULT IN A DEDUCTION OF 5 POINTS FROM
YOUR FINAL GRADE.
NOTE: EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE FOR STUDENTS REGISTERED WITH THE DISABILITIES OFFICE, AS LONG
AS STUDENT PROVIDES COPY OF FRONT & BACK OF DISABILITY ID CARD TO ME.
Disruptive behavior will result in your being asked to leave class.
A. TEXT & MATERIALS:
(1) There will be no textbook assigned for this class. You will be required to study and learn materials from lecture notes
presented as Powerpoint presentations. It is the student’s responsibility to print lecture notes and bring them to class.
(2) Purchase online access to mywritinglab.com using a debit or credit card. There is a series of grammar and writing
exercises that every student must complete to pass the course. To register, type the following online Course ID:
Section 1 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday)—Course ID
Section 2 (Monday, Tues, Wed, Friday)—Course ID
B. INSTRUCTOR: Margaret McClain
Office:
mcclain01477
mcclain38777
318D Main Office phone: 972-2080; Direct Line & voice mail:
972-3250 – Email: (I prefer emails to phone calls.) mkeshaw@astate.edu
; fax: 870-972-3922
Office Hours:
OFFICE HOURS: MONDAY 11:00 AM-1:00 PM; TUESDAY 9:20 AM-11:00 AM;
WEDNESDAY 11:00 AM-12:00 NOON, 1:00 PM-2:00 PM; THURSDAY 1:20 PM-2:15 PM
(OTHERS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST)
C. ATTENDANCE: (10%) See the ASU freshman attendance policy stated in the online ASU Undergraduate Bulletin.
People who have zero absences will not have to take the final exam—**BUT ONLY IF THEY HAVE A GRADE OF “A” or “B”
BEFORE THE FINAL; HAVE TAKEN ALL TESTS AND QUIZZES ON SCHEDULED DATE, INCLUDING THE TABE PREAND POSTTESTS AND COMPASS POSTTEST; HAVE COMPLETED ALL HOMEWORK AND WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
ON DUE DATE; COMPLETED ALL ASSIGNMENTS IN mywritinglab.com BY THE DUE DATES, AND MISSED NO MORE
THAN 4 HOMEWORK/CLASSWORK ASSIGNMENTS.
NOTE: IF YOU ARE CONSISTENTLY MORE THAN 5 MINUTES LATE TO A CLASS, YOU MAY BE COUNTED
ABSENT.
D. DAILY WORK—HOMEWORK AND CLASS WORK: (20%) Late homework will not be accepted. If you know
you’re going to be absent, get the HW early. Call a classmate, have someone deliver your homework to the secretary in the
main office or under my door (Room 318D); or fax it (870-972-3922) if you have to go off campus. You can also email me any
assignments on the day they are due. NOTE: **4 HW/CLASSWORK GRADES WILL BE DROPPED AT THE END OF
TERM (ONLY IF YOU HAVE DONE ALL HOMEWORK AND CLASSWORK.)
E. MAJOR TESTS: (30%) If you know you are going to be absent, you may take a test early. If you miss a test, you
may make it up BEFORE THE NEXT CLASS PERIOD in my office. **NO TEST GRADES WILL BE DROPPED. **IF ANY
TEST IS MISSED, STUDENT WILL FAIL THE COURSE, REGARDLESS OF GRADE AVERAGE. **IF THE FINAL EXAM
IS MISSED AND YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM THE FINAL, THEN YOU WILL FAIL THE COURSE. **IF EITHER THE
TABE PRETEST OR POSTTEST IS MISSED, THE STUDENT WILL FAIL THE COURSE. IF COMPASS TEST IS MISSED,
STUDENT WILL FAIL THE COURSE.
50 points will be deducted off any test that is taken late, and all bonus points will be forfeited. Thereafter, 10% per day of your
test grade will be deducted.
E.1. TABE PRETEST AND POSTTEST: The improvement in your grade on the TABE Posttest will count as a
major test grade. Your grade on the TABE posttest test will be determined by improvement as follows—
improve +.1 to +1.0 GRADE LEVEL (75%)
No increase or decrease in grade level (70%)
improve +1.1 to +1.5 (80%)
Decrease in grade level (65%)
improve +1.6 to +2.0 (85%)
improve +2.1 to +3.0 (95%)
improve by more than 3 grade levels (100%)
F. PARAGRAPHS AND ESSAYS: (20%) All paragraphs and essays will be typed and emailed to me in class. If you
miss one, you must make an appointment and come to my office to make it up. I will look at your prewriting first. UNDER NO
CIRCUMSTANCES WILL I ACCEPT AN ESSAY OR PARAGRAPH WRITTEN OUTSIDE OF CLASS.
PARAGRAPHS AND ESSAYS TURNED IN WITHOUT THE PREWRITING WILL HAVE 50% OF THE GRADE
DEDUCTED.
*ONE ESSAY/PARAGRAPH GRADE WILL BE DROPPED (ONLY IF YOU HAVE DONE ALL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS.)
IF ANY ESSAY OR PARAGRAPH IS NOT WRITTEN, STUDENT WILL AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE A GRADE OF “F”
FOR THE COURSE.
G. MyWritingLab.com: (20%) Students are expected to spend several hours working on each set of exercises in
mywritinglab.com. Exercises must be completed by the due date, or a grade of zero (0%) will be assigned.
H. ASU GRADING SYSTEM FOR NON-CREDIT COURSES: A=90-100%; B=80-89%; C=70-79%; F= Below 70%
I. GRADE BREAKDOWN:
NOTES
1. MAJOR TESTS (4) (Includes TABE Posttest; last test is
final exam.) (NO TEST GRADE DROPPED)
2. DAILY WORK (HW & Classwork—4 GRADES DROPPED)
3. PARAGRAPH & ESSAY WRITING (4) (NONE DROPPED)
4. mywritinglab.com
5. ATTENDANCE ( 0-1 abs = 10 pts; 2 abs= 7.5 pts;
3 abs = 5 pts; 4 abs 2.5 pts; 5+ abs = 0 pts)
= 30%
=
=
=
=
20%
20%
20%
10%
SKILLS COVERED
WEEK 1 JANUARY 14
Introduction to course and syllabus; register for MyWritingLab.com; send
instructor an email from ASU account for first homework grade
TABE Pretest
WEEK 2 JANUARY 21
Monday, January 21—Martin Luther King Holiday—no classes
**WRITING ASSIGNMENT #1—Diagnostic Paragraph
SENTENCE SKILLS: Sentence Fragments
(W2.2)
WEEK 3 JANUARY 28
SENTENCE SKILLS: Comma Splices and Runons
THE CRAFT OF WRITING: The Topic Sentence
(W2.3)
(W5.5)
WEEK 4 FEBRUARY 4
THE CRAFT OF WRITING: Recognizing a Paragraph
(W5.4)
PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT: Describing (and Prewriting) (W6.1)
WEEK 5 FEBRUARY 11
SENTENCE SKILLS: Subject-Verb Agreement
(W2.4)
SENTENCE SKILLS: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
(W2.8)
**WRITING ASSIGNMENT #2--PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT:
Writing a Descriptive Paragraph in Class (W6.1)
WEEK 6 FEBRUARY 18
SENTENCE SKILLS: Diction: Standard and Non-standard English;
Words Not to Use in Formal Writing
TEST #1: SENTENCE SKILLS: Sentence Fragments; Comma
Splices and Runons; PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT: Topic
Sentences; Describing—similes, metaphors, personification; visual,
auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory imagery
WEEK 7
FEBRUARY 25
PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT: Illustrating (Examples) (and
Prewriting) (W6.3)
SENTENCE SKILLS: Tense; Consistent Verb Tense and Active Voice
(W2.5)
WEEK 8
MARCH 4
SENTENCE SKILLS: Tense; Consistent Verb Tense and Active Voice,
CONTINUED (W2.5)
**WRITING ASSIGNMENT #3--PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT-Prewriting for and Writing an Illustration (Example) Paragraph in
Class (W6.3)
WEEK 9
MARCH 11
SENTENCE SKILLS: Pronoun Reference and Point of View (W2.7)
TEST #2: GRAMMAR: Subject-Verb Agreement;
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement; Consistent Verb Tense and Active
Voice; Diction; Pronoun Reference and Point of View;
PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT: Illustrating
WEEK 10
MARCH 18
SPRING BREAK—1 WEEK HOLIDAY
WEEK 11
MARCH 25
SENTENCE SKILLS: Capitalization (General) (W3.7)
SENTENCE SKILLS: Capitalization and Punctuation in Titles (W3.7)
THE CRAFT OF WRITING: Recognizing the Essay
(W7.1)
THE CRAFT OF WRITING: Thesis Statement
(W7.2)
WEEK 12
APRIL 1
PUNCTUATION, MECHANICS AND SPELLING: Commas (W3.1); Final
Punctuation (W3.2)
ESSAY DEVELOPMENT: Compare and Contrast (W7.5)
WEEK 13
APRIL 8
PUNCTUATION, MECHANICS AND SPELLING: Quotation Marks
(W3.3); Apostrophes (W3.5)
**WRITING ASSIGNMENT #4 -- ESSAY DEVELOPMENT: Prewriting
for and Writing a Comparison-Contrast Essay in Class (W7.5)
WEEK 14
APRIL 15
PUNCTUATION, MECHANICS AND SPELLING: Semicolons, Colons,
Dashes, Parentheses, and Other Punctuation Marks (W3.4)
SENTENCE SKILLS: Parallelism (W2.10)
WEEK 15
APRIL 22
Finish up MyWritingLab and other skills
TEST #3: TABE Posttest (grade based on improvement)
WEEK 16
APRIL 29
Monday—last day of class; receive grades and exemptions; receive
study guides for final exam; receive TABE and COMPASS scores
TEST #4: FINAL EXAM—SENTENCE SKILLS: Capitalization; Final
Punctuation; Commas; Apostrophes; Quotation Marks; Semicolons,
Colons, Dashes, Parentheses, and Other Punctuation; Parallelism;
ESSAY DEVELOPMENT: Comparison-Contrast
MyWritingLab.com Assignments and Due Dates
1. I may not lecture over the online assignments. Therefore, it is up to you to view the
instructional videos or check the goals of each lesson before attempting the exercises.
2. In each of the three areas below, do the number of required exercises.
3. However, if you have a failing average (below 70%), you should go ahead and do more
exercises to raise your grade.
4. Check your Gradebook from time to time to see your averages for the online work.
(NOTE: MyWritingLab gives averages only for the exercises you actually did. My
gradebook may have a different average if the work is not complete.)
5. Access “Homework” in MyWritingLab.
6. For each skill, finish the following by the due date:
a. Read the Overview—no grade
b. Watch the Animation—no grade
NOTE: I can tell exactly how many minutes or hours you spend on each exercise.
c.
d.
e.
f.
If you do not spend an adequate amount of time on the Overview and the
Animation, I will deduct 50 points off your final score for each failure to do these
tasks.
Do Recall 1.
Do Recall 2.
Do Apply.
Do Posttest.
W2 SENTENCE SKILLS
1. W2.2 Sentence Fragments
2. W2.3 Run Ons and Comma Splices
3. W2.4 Subject-Verb Agreement
4. W2.8 Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
5. W2.10 Parallelism
6. W2.5 Consistent Verb Tense & Active Voice
7. W2.7 Pronoun Reference
W3 PUNCTUATION, MECHANICS AND SPELLING
8. W3.7 Capitalization
9. Punctuation: W3.1 commas; W3.2 final punctuation;
W3.3 quotation marks; W3.5 apostrophes;
W3.4 other punctuation (e.g., semicolons, colons, dashes,
parentheses, etc.)
DUE DATES
February 3
February 10
February 17
February 17
April 21
March 10
March 10
April 1
April 21 for all exercises
W5 CRAFT OF WRITING
10. W5.4 Recognizing a Paragraph
11. W5.5 The Topic Sentence
February 8
February 8
W6 PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT
12. W6.1 Describing
13. W6.3 Illustrating
February 10
March 3
W7 ESSAY DEVELOPMENT
14. W7.1 Recognizing the Essay
15. W7.2 Thesis Statement
16. W7.5 Compare and Contrast
April 1
April 1
April 7
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LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR FUNDAMENTALS OF WRITING—UC 0143
I. REVIEW OF GRAMMAR
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO: Recognize major and minor grammar and mechanical
errors in their own writing; edit writing assignments for errors; use technology to proofread for
errors (spelling and grammar checkers, online dictionaries, ESL websites for standard
American English usage); use traditional methods of editing written work (paper dictionaries,
Thesaurus); answer grammar exercises on the topics listed below in MyWritingLab.com with
a score of 70% or higher.
A. MAJOR
a. Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices
b. Sentence Fragments
c. Agreement Errors: Subject-Verb and Pronoun-Antecedent
d. Verb Errors: Tense; Consistent Verb Tense and Active Voice
e. Pronoun Errors: Pronoun Reference and Point of View,
B. MINOR
a. Mechanics: capitalization and punctuation
Standard and non-standard English
b. Parallelism
II.
REVIEW OF RHETORICAL PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO: Answer exercises based on rhetorical patterns in
MyWritingLab.com and score 70% or higher; demonstrate a working knowledge of the
rhetorical patterns by writing five-paragraph essays using the following methods of
development.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
III.
Definition
Description
Process
Narration
Division/Classification
Comparison/Contrast
Cause-Effect
Argument
PARAGRAPH AND ESSAY WRITING
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO: Write a predetermined number of paragraphs and
essays using four or more of the rhetorical patterns.