ENGLISH 1302 - COMPOSITION II - SYLLABUS - SUMMER 2015
Dr. Chris Grooms, H 210, H 205 suite, SCC. (972) 881-5952, Office Hours: M-R: 9 a.m. - 10 a.m., F. mornings, by appt.
E-mail: cgrooms@ collin.edu , Course Web Site: iws.collin.edu/grooms/cr2 sum.htm
TEXTBOOKS (REQUIRED)
Peterson, Linda, et al., The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Non-Fiction. Norton, 13/e.
Hacker, Diana, and Nancy Summers, eds. Rules for Writing, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 7/e.
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, MLA of America, 7/e.
Recommended: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary
GRADE PERCENTAGES / SCALE
Major Essays = 30%, Short Essays = 20%, Final Essay = 20%, Reading Quizzes = 10%,
Research Paper: 20% (Process: Note Cards [exercise], First Draft = 10%, Final Copy = 10%).
Grade Scale: A = 90+, B = 80-89, C = 70-79, D = 60-69, F = < 59.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Intensive study of and practice in the strategies and techniques for developing research-based expository and persuasive texts.
Emphasis on effective and ethical rhetorical inquiry, including primary and secondary research methods; critical reading of
verbal, visual, and multimedia texts; systematic evaluation, synthesis, and documentation of information sources; and critical
thinking about evidence and conclusions. Lab required. Prerequisite: English 1301.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES
 Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative research processes.
 Develop ideas and synthesize primary and secondary sources within focused academic arguments,
including one or more research-based essays.
 Analyze, interpret, and evaluate a variety of texts for the ethical and logical uses of evidence.
 Write in a style that clearly communicates meaning, builds credibility, and inspires belief or action.
 Apply the conventions of style manuals for specific academic disciplines (e.g., APA, CMS, MLA, etc.)
 Demonstrate personal responsibility through the ethical use of intellectual property.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA)
Collin County Community College provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals who are students with
disabilities as outlined in the 2014-2015 Student Handbook, section 5.2, “Accommodations at Collin County for Equal
Support Services (ACCESS).” Students should provide the class instructor with a copy of the letter of accommodation as
soon as they receive such written and signed confirmation from the ACCESS office. For specific information on policies
and processes for accommodation, contact ACCESS at 972-881-5898 (Voice/TTY) - ACCESS offices: Suite D140, SCC.
ATTENDANCE:
Because I take attendance at the beginning of each class, tardiness counts as an absence. Leaving class before dismissal also
counts as an absence. Chronic tardiness interferes with teaching and learning and as such may be subject to disciplinary
procedures. (2014-2015 Student Handbook, section 7-2.3, item C). You cannot pass this course with three absences, excused
or otherwise. You are responsible for your own attendance and work. Tuesday, June 23, is the last day to withdraw (“W”).
CELL PHONES AND LAPTOP COMPUTERS
Please turn off and store all cell phones and/or laptop computers with Web access while in the classroom (before or
during class). If you need to monitor any outside communication for emergency purposes during a specific class, please
set your phone on vibrate and inform the instructor before class begins. It is a violation of the ‘Student Code of Conduct’ to
engage “in the use of media and telecommunication devices during class” (2014-2015 Student Handbook, section 7-2.3,
item S; in addition, read “Academic Etiquette and the College Experience,” section 6.1).
REVISION:
With the revision guidelines, carefully review each writing assignment both before submitting and after receiving a
marked or graded essay to reveal strengths and eliminate weaknesses in your writing as the course progresses. If you
have questions about revision markings, please come by office during my office hours. If this is inconvenient, ask me for a
referral before going to the Writing Center with your marked essay in order for the consultants to better serve you.
MAJOR ESSAYS:
Essays are 600 words minimum. You must write all essays in-class and submit them to the instructor to receive a passing
grade in the course. If you must be absent during an in-class essay assignment, you may write the essay in the Testing Center
[SCC, J232] on or one day before the essay due date. Any late essay work written in the Testing Center will receive a late
penalty of one full letter grade (10 points) on any in-class essay for each class day that it is late, according to the recorded
date of completion in the Testing Center. Please note that the Testing Center does not allow textbooks for documentation and
reference. After two class days beyond the due date, I will not accept a late essay.
Format short essay and research paper drafts and final copy with MLA format guidelines for parenthetical documentation; no
Works Cited page is necessary for textbook citations. For submissions, you must be in attendance and turn in the essay or
writing exercise to the instructor at the end of the class period on the due date. I do not accept e-mail or office submissions.
Failure to submit all assigned essays constitutes a ground for failure in the course.
RESEARCH PAPER:
Twenty percent of your final grade will measure your understanding of the research process, 10% as the first draft
composition of an argument from primary and secondary sources, and 10% as an application of the MLA format. This
section of the course includes research exercises (subject index exercises) and MLA format workshops. The research
paper requires an individual office conference (H210, H205 suite) to review and grade your first draft.
Failure to both conference and grade the first draft and submit a final copy of the research paper for grading
constitutes a ground for failure in the course.
SHORT ESSAYS / LAB:
Twenty percent of your final grade will come from weekly short essay assignments in response to designated prompts from
the textbook. Such work broadens your response to argumentative writing and helps prepare you for major essays and the
research paper. Successful completion of seven short essays (including completing fully the subject index exercise and MLA
tutorial exercise) earns a grade of “100”; six, “90”; five, “80”; four “70”; three “60”; less than three short essay / lab
exercise credits earns a grade of "0".
For acceptance, each short essay must reflect and adhere to the short essay MLA format guidelines and be relatively free of
basic grammar errors (see the course revision guidelines) with a word count (400 words minimum) at the end of each
submission (excluding the heading and title) in response the course-designated questions after each reading from the
course calendar.
Because I accept short essay assignments at the end of class, you must attend class to submit and receive credit for all
short essays and research exercises (no class or office drop-offs or e-mail submissions).
READING QUIZZES:
I give reading quizzes at the beginning of class on calendar dates that require readings. You may not make up in-class
quizzes. Please complete the textbook readings for each calendar date before class. For more efficient and effective response
to the writing assignments, read the designated questions for each author before reading his or her work.
ENGLISH 1302 - COMPOSITION II - CALENDAR - SUMMER 2015
M ONTH / W EEK : (D ATE ) – A SSIGNED W RITINGS ( IN
BOLD ) AND
R EADING D UE F OR T HAT D AY ( PAGES )
JUNE:
Week One:
8 - Introduction to the course syllabus and calendar; MLA format guidelines; writing sample.
“Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric” (syllabus)
9 - “Introduction: Reading with a Writer’s Eye” (xxxi-xlix).
“Quintilian, Rhetorical Terms” (handout).
“Gerhard Richter: Thinking, Processing, Revising” (handout).
10 - “Introduction: Writing in College” (l-lxvi).
Short Essay due (400 words minimum): Based on the Gerhard Richter handout, compare the activity of
composition with Richter’s observations about creating art. Paraphrase, cite, and submit in MLA format.
For the handout (Thinking, Processing, Revising), cite by section and number, example: (Thinking 4).
11 - JOURNALS
Ralph Waldo Emerson, “from Journals” (90-2); Henry David Thoreau, “from Journal” (93-5) [Questions 1-4].
AN ALBUM OF STYLES
Benjamin Franklin, “from Poor Richard’s Almanack” (481-83) [Questions 1-2].
William Blake, “Proverbs of Hell” (483-84) [Questions 1-2].
Ambrose Bierce, “from The Devil’s Dictionary” (484-85) [Questions 1].
Short Essay due (400 words minimum): From the “Questions” section following each author,
choose one of the designated prompt [ in brackets, above, after each author ] and respond, revise,
and submit a short essay in MLA format.
Thesis statement workshop for Essay One.
Week 2:
15 - Essay One (in-class, 600 words+).
16 - CULTURAL ANALYSIS
Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” (226-35) [Questions 1-3].
Malcolm Gladwell, “Java Man” (248-53) [Questions 1-3].
Jessica Mitford, “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” (254-60) [Questions 1-2].
Jean-Paul Japester Ash, “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain – A Review.” (handout).
Short Essay due (400 words minimum): From the “Questions” section following each author,
choose one of the designated prompt [ in brackets, above, after each author ] and respond, revise,
and submit a short essay in MLA format.
17 - OP-EDS AND PUBLIC ARGUMENTS
Anna Quindlen, “Stuff Is Not Salvation” (321-22) [Questions 1-2].
Molly Ivins, “Get a Knife, Get a Dog, but Get Rid of Guns” (323-25) [Questions 1-3].
Jo-Ann Pilardi, “Immigration Problem is About Us, Not Them” (325-27) [Questions 1-3].
Brent Staples, “Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A’s” (329-31) [Question 2].
Short Essay due (400 words minimum): From the “Questions” section following each author,
choose one of the designated prompt [ in brackets, above, after each author ] and respond, revise,
and submit a short essay in MLA format.
18 - Thesis statement workshop for Essay Two.
Week 3:
22 - Essay Two (in-class, 600 words+).
23 - The Research Paper. “Acknowledging other works and ideas” (lxiii-lxiv).
Library orientation. Research paper topics, guidelines and web-based resources.
Last Day to Withdraw from Classes with a “W”.
24 - Subject index exercise.
25 - Subject index exercise due (averages as a short essay credit).
Sign up for Individual First Draft Conferences (June 29-39).
Week 4:
29 - The Research Paper: First Draft conferences – 1000+ words (continued).
Individual conferences are at instructor’s office, H210, H205 suite. In addition to your primary source (the literary
work from the textbook), you must cite at least five different secondary sources, including books, magazines,
journals, and scholarly databases (Print or Web). I will grade the first draft of the research paper as an essay,
following the course revision guidelines. Please include parenthetical references to both primary (the subject work
and author from the textbook) and secondary sources (works about the author or subject).
30 - The Research Paper: First Draft conferences – 1000+ words (continued).
JULY:
1 - MLA Tutorial: How to Use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
2 - MLA tutorial exercise due (averages as a short essay credit) – you must attend both tutorial days for credit.
July 3-5: Independence Day Holiday (all campuses closed).
Week 5:
6 - Research Paper: Final Copy Due.
7 - LITERATURE, THE ARTS, AND MEDIA
Allegra Goodman, “Pemberley Previsited” (978-83) [Questions 1-4].
Scott McCloud, “Understanding Comics” (1022-28) [Questions 1-2].
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
Henry David Thoreau, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” (1098-1106) [Questions 1-3].
Zen Parables, “Muddy Road,” “A Parable,” “Learning to be Silent” (1127-28) [Questions 1-2].
Short Essay due (400 words minimum): From the “Questions” section following each author,
choose one of the designated prompt [ in brackets, above, after each author ] and respond, revise,
and submit a short essay in MLA format.
8 - Thesis statement workshop. Final Essay preparation.
9 - Final Essay (in-class, 600+ words).
ACADEMIC ETHICS
The College District may initiate disciplinary proceedings against a student accused of scholastic dishonesty. Scholastic
dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts, or omissions related to applications for enrollment or the
award of a degree, and/or the submission as one’s own work material that is not one’s own. Scholastic dishonesty may
involve, but is not limited to, one or more of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion, use of annotated texts or
teacher’s editions, and/or falsifying academic records. Please note the following definitions:
Plagiarism is the use of an author’s words or ideas as if they were one’s own without giving credit to the source,
including, but not limited to, failure to acknowledge a direct quotation. Other than sources documented and cited
according to MLA standards, all work submitted for a grade must be your own original work and never before submitted
for a grade in any previous or current course. You may not revise a previous response paper and submit it as a major
essay. Submitting previous or current work in another course or work by other writers (including Web-based texts)
as one's own original work in this course (without MLA documentation), i.e. plagiarism, constitutes a ground for failure in
this course (see 2014-2015 Student Handbook, section 7-2.2, “Scholastic Dishonesty: Plagiarism, Cheating, Collusion;”
Rules for Writers, Section 55; and MLA Handbook, Chapter 2).
Cheating is the willful giving or receiving of information in an unauthorized manner during an examination, illicitly
obtaining examination questions in advance, copying computer or Internet files, using someone else’s work for assignments
as if it were one’s own, or any other dishonest means of attempting to fulfill the requirements of a course.
Collusion is intentionally aiding or attempting to aid another in an act of scholastic dishonesty, including but not
limited to, providing a paper or project to another student; providing an inappropriate level of assistance;
communicating answers to a classmate during an examination; removing tests or answer sheets from a test site, and
allowing a classmate to copy answers.
COURSE WEB SITE (SYLLABUS AND CALENDAR): h t t p : / / i w s . c o l l i n . e d u / g r o o m s / c r 2 s u m . h t m
L EFT M ENU : Syllabus (course policies), Revision Guidelines, Web Sites, and MLA Handbook tutorial.
RIGHT MENU: Calendar due dates (by week) for all reading and writing assignments, Essay Prompts,
Research Paper Guidelines, Instructor E-mail contact. Instructor Homepage.
The Writing Center, SCC, D-203 - (972) 881-5843
Hours: M-R: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., F-S: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Walk-ins – M-F: as consultants are available.
The Writing Center will:
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Assist students in understanding the assignment & professor’s expectations.
Help students in brainstorming, planning, and/or organizing ideas for a writing assignment.
Teach students how to construct a thesis statement, topic sentence, and/or determine the focus of the paper.
Assist students in developing supporting ideas and connecting those ideas to the main idea or thesis statement.
Teach students proper citation methods, whether MLA, APA, or Chicago formatting is required.
Encourage students’ ownership of the paper, the ideas contained in the paper, and development of the student’s ability
to revise independently.
The Writing Center will not write the paper for the student, proofread and/or edit the paper, judge the paper
according to grade, or guarantee a quick “fix” for student’s writing problem.
HOW TO READ THE NORTON READER: AN ANTHOLOGY OF NONFICTION, 13/E
Mark, note, or remember what you find interesting, mysterious, or difficult as you read the assigned essays. Rather than
do research, construct a personal index of ideas and develop your own interpretation of the text’s meaning, based on what
you find agreeable and/or challenging and difficult. Apply that knowledge to your essays and class discussions.
In addition to the editors’ suggestions and guidelines, please consider these additional instructions and aids for
more effective use of your academic time and energy:
 Read the designated "Questions” [ in brackets ] from the course calendar that follow each author’s work before reading;
this habit will allow you to search for key ideas and support for your weekly short essay assignments.
 Read the biographical sketches and backgrounds to each author in the back of the textbook (“Authors,” 1137-1169)
before reading the primary work as they provide an intellectual blueprint and contribute to your personal
understanding of specific ideas and arguments. Giving thought to these initial biographies may ease the initial anxiety
and ego-shock that inevitably arises when exploring new authors and texts.
 As the vocabulary of each author is both specific and purposeful, consult a dictionary as you discover new words and
special vocabularies, such as the recommended Merriam-Webster Dictionary in the textbook list, or even
d i c t i o n a r y . c o m . For a true mastery and deeper understanding of the English language, the Oxford Dictionary of the
English Language (OED) is available through your CougarWeb account access to Collin College library databases.
ARISTOTLE (C. 335-322 B.C.E.) - EXCERPT FROM RHETORICA
 First, the art of Rhetoric has its value because truth and justice are by nature more powerful than their opposites; so
that, when decisions are not made as they should be, the speakers with right on their side have only themselves to
thank for the outcome. Their neglect of this art needs correction -- a proper knowledge and exercise of Rhetoric would
prevent the triumph of fraud and injustice.
 Secondly, Rhetoric is valuable as a means of instruction. True instruction involves both the method of proofs and
arguments and the help of common knowledge and accepted opinions.
 Thirdly, in Rhetoric, we should be able to argue on either side of a question; not with the idea of putting both sides into
practice--we must not advocate evil--but in order that no aspect of the matter may escape us, and that if our opponent
makes unfair use of the arguments, we may be able in turn to refuse them. It is characteristic of Rhetoric alone that it
may indifferently prove opposite statements. Still, the facts are not indifferent, for, speaking broadly, what is true and
preferable is by nature always easier to prove, and is convincing.
 Lastly, reason is more distinctive of man than are his fists. If it is urged that an abuse of rhetorical skills can work great
mischief, the same charge can be brought against all good things, and especially against the most useful things such as
strength, health, wealth, and military skill. Rightly employed, they work the greatest wonders; wrongly employed,
they work the utmost harm.
Source: Aristotle. The Rhetoric of Aristotle. Trans. Lane Cooper. New York: Appleton-Century-Croft, 1932: 6-7. Print.
MLA GUIDE - THE NORTON READER: AN ANTHOLOGY OF NONFICTION
ACADEMIC ETHICS & PLAGIARISM
Other than sources documented and cited according to MLA standards, all work submitted for a grade must be your own
original work and never before submitted for a grade in any previous or current course. You may neither revise a
previous short essay and submit it as a major essay nor submit previous or current work in another course. Submitting
work by other writers without MLA documentation (including Web-based texts, such as journal articles from JSTOR) as
original work in this course, i.e. plagiarism, constitutes a ground for failure in this course (see also Rules for Writers,
section 57, “Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism;” MLA Handbook, “Chapter 2, Plagiarism and Academic Integrity;”
2014-2015 Student Handbook, Section 7-2.2, “Scholastic Dishonesty”).
MLA FORMATS FOR TEXTBOOK CITATIONS
 Focus on the primary texts as sources for support examples throughout your short essays and major essays.
 Unless directed do so by the prompt, do not summarize or cite introductory materials for authors, works, or periods as
part of your essay submission.
 As the course revision guidelines state, paraphrase and cite parenthetically examples and evidence according to the
MLA Handbook and the formats corresponding to handouts and authors from the Norton Reader (see below).
For context, always identify the work if citing two or more works by the same author, or if you differentiate works
from two or more authors. Place parenthetical references at the ends of sentences, followed by periods.
 Avoid quotes (paraphrase and cite), and check for plagiarism - write in your own voice, and write your own analyses.
AUTHOR:
FORMAT
(PARENTHETICAL EXAMPLE)
Course Handouts:
Ash, Jean-Paul Japester:
Quintilian:
Richter, Gerhard:
page
(3)
term
(narratio)
section and number (Thinking 4)
Textbook:
Bierce, Ambrose:
Blake, William:
Carr, Nicholas:
Donne, John:
Emerson, Ralph Waldo:
Franklin, Benjamin:
Franklin, H. Bruce:
Gladwell, Malcolm:
Goodman, Allegra:
Hemingway, Ernest:
Ivins, Molly:
Manguel, Alberto:
McCloud, Scott:
Mitford, Jessica:
Quindlen, Anna:
Sontag, Susan:
Staples, Brent:
Thoreau, Henry David,
from Journal:
“Where I Lived,...”:
Zen Parables:
page
line
page
page
date
date
page
page
page
page
page
page
page
page
page
page
page
(485)
(line 26)
(228)
(479)
(1831)
(1747)
(765)
(349)
(979)
(487)
(324)
(741)
(1024)
(258)
(321)
(1030)
(330)
date
page
page
(1841)
(1107)
(1127)
ENGLISH 1302 - COMPOSITION II - REVISION GUIDELINES
Revision checklist items below cross-reference to Rules for Writers (7/e) with marking abbreviations bracketed
in [ bold italics ], followed by relevant chapter(s) and section(s) bracketed in [ bold ].
All formatting and documentation guidelines follow the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7/e.)
CLARITY & CONCISENESS: PASSIVE VOICE, AUXILIARY VERBS, USAGE
____
[ PV ] Revise passive voice for active voice. Identify the sentence subject and put it in front of the verb. [ 8 ]
Example (passive): The real Olympus is described by Thoreau as the natural world outside his home.
Revision (active): Thoreau describes the true Olympus as the natural world outside his home (1098).
____
[ aux ]: Omit auxiliary or helping verbs (unless an ongoing action); revise with the concise, active verb. [ 8b ]
Example: “Quindlen is arguing that…” (wordy: “is arguing”) versus “Quindlen argues that…” (concise: argues).
____
[ U-V ]: Revise nonspecific verbs: use / utilize / employ, seem, show, display, exhibit, portray [ 16 ]
____
[ U-N ]: Avoid oblique, vague, or redundant nouns as sentence subjects: thing(s), reader(s), audience, today
Keep the focus on the author, argument, and/or thesis, unless a prompt asks a specific question about “audience.”
____
[ U-P ]: Avoid these pronouns and pronoun adjectives as subjects: I, me (my), you (one, your), we (us, our)
Maintain a formal rather than personal voice with the focus on the author, argument, and/or thesis subject. [ 13a ]
____
[ phrasing / logic ]: informal or vague phrasing; reasoning. [ 7 ]
ORGANIZATION & CONTENT
____
[ analysis / develop ]: Follow support examples with a well-developed discussion, analysis, point, or claim. [ 4b ]
____
[ ex ]: Introduce, paraphrase, and parenthetically document relevant examples - see MLA and PS below. [ 6e ]
____
[ combine ]: Subordinate, coordinate, and combine simple and compound sentences into complex sentences that
reveal your critical thinking and analysis. Do not begin sentences with conjunctions or conjunctive adverbs. [ 30 ]
____
[ MLA ]: With The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction as your primary source for support examples,
paraphrase and parenthetically document textbook references throughout the submission according to the
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers and the course ‘MLA Guide’ (syllabus and handout).
Avoid quotes (paraphrase and cite textbook references), and avoid plagiarism – write your own analyses. [ 56-60 ]
____
[ P / ¶ ]: Revise for appropriate paragraph lengths and transitions, especially introductory paragraphs and
concluding paragraphs. Paragraphs of 2 to 3 sentences on average lack a specific focus or adequately support an
idea. Remember to look for a thesis/topic sentence, a support example (paraphrased and cited – see ‘MLA’ above),
followed by some additional analysis [ see ‘analysis / develop’ above ] as well as transitional sentences. [ 4 ]
____
[ PS ]: Do not write long plot summaries. Support your analysis with brief documented paraphrases. [ 5d ]
____
[ thesis ]: Define the thesis clearly, according to the short essay or essay prompts. [ 6c ]
BASIC GRAMMAR & PUNCTUATION
____
[ AGR ]: Agreement between subject-verb / pronoun-antecedent. [ 21 ]
____
Punctuation: [ c or no c ]: commas , [ sc or no sc ]: semi-colons, [ a or no a ]: apostrophes, [ p ]: periods,
[ h ]: hyphens, [ qm ]: quotation marks, [ col ]: colons, [cap or no cap] capitalize. [ 32-39 ]
____
Sentences: [ FRAG ]: Fragments, [ RO ]: Run-on sentences, [ CS ]: Comma splices. [ 19, 20 ]
____
[ SENSE ]: Basic grammar and sentence structure – subject-predicate, etc. [ 46-49 ]
____
[ sp ]: Spelling [ 43 ]