Eng 101.10 College Writing I
Instructor: Mr. Honaker
Email: jwhonake@uncg.edu (Response within 24 hours)
Classroom: Graham 310
Time: MWF 9:00-9:50
Office: MHRA 3210
Office Hours: MW 11-1 Mailbox: 3114
Course Description:
The main purpose of this course is to improve your academic reading and writing
abilities, and as we will discuss, academic reading and writing depends greatly on discourse.
The readings for this course are part of a discussion on their respective issue, and much like the
authors of these selections, you will read various texts on a subject, interpret these authors’
meanings, and synthesize ideas from multiple texts to form your own argument on the issue.
Argumentation will be a main focus; thus, we will discuss and utilize classical and contemporary
ideas on rhetoric including the appeals, the canons, and the rhetorical situation. The content for
many of the readings will focus on current events and popular culture, and while paying careful
attention to rhetorical moves, you will be asked to analyze current issues ranging from major
world events to “trash” T.V. One of the primary goals of education and the text we are reading,
They Say/I Say, is to encourage and educate so you “can participate in the debates and
conversations of your world in an active and empowered way” (Graff 13). Thus, you should
think of these assignments as a way to respond to salient events and debates in order to become
active and informed world citizens.
Student Learning Goals:
English 101 satisfies three of the six hours of the Reasoning and Discourse (GRD) requirement
at UNCG, which asserts that students “gain skills in intellectual discourse, including constructing
cogent arguments, locating, synthesizing and analyzing documents, and writing and speaking
clearly, coherently, and effectively” (http://uncg.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2013-2014/UndergraduateBulletin/University-Requirements/General-Education-Program/General-Education-Core-Requirements).
In addition, English 101 is designed to address Learning Goal #1 (LG1) in the UNCG General
Education Program. This is the ability to “think critically, communicate effectively, and develop
appropriate fundamental skills in quantitative and information literacies.”
(http://uncg.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2013-2014/Undergraduate-Bulletin/UniversityRequirements/General-Education-Program.)
The following are English 101 student learning outcomes, each of which correspond to both the
GRD goals and to LG1:
English 101 Student Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Analyze the content and structure of complex texts (written, oral, and/or visual in nature);
2. Compose cogent, evidence-based, argumentative texts;
3. Identify and employ the rhetorical triangle, the canons, and the appeals in both formal
and informal discourse;
4. Summarize, quote, paraphrase, and synthesize source material in support of an argument;
5. Employ drafting, peer review, and revision techniques in order to improve content, style,
and structure of their own writing;
6. Appraise their own composing abilities and composing processes through critical
reflection.
Required Texts:
Graff, Gerald. They Say I Say With Readings. 2nd Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.
978-0393912753
Ensor, Lavina, Chelsea Atkins Skelley, Kathleen T. Leuschen, Eds. Rhetorical Approaches to
College Writing. Plymouth, Michigan: Hayden-McNeil, 2014. Print. 9780738061337
See course schedule for Blackboard readings.
Academic Integrity: “Academic integrity is founded upon and encompasses the following five
values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. Violations include, for example,
cheating, plagiarism, misuse of academic resources, falsification, and facilitating academic
dishonesty. If knowledge is to be gained and properly evaluated, it must be pursued under
conditions free from dishonesty. Deceit and misrepresentations are incompatible with the
fundamental activity of this academic institution and shall not be tolerated” (from UNCG’s
Academic Integrity Policy). To ensure that you understand the university’s policy on academic
integrity, review the guidelines and list of violations at http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu. I
expect you to abide by the Academic Integrity Policy.”
Incidents of cheating and plagiarism are reported to the Dean of Students and sanctions are
aligned with the policies at http://sa.uncg.edu/dean/academic-integrity/violation/plagiarism/
Any violation of the academic integrity policy will result in an F for the assignment in addition
to any university punishment.
MLA Citation and Style: All of your work must be formatted and cited according to MLA,
which you will find on the Purdue Owl website. The site also offers help with grammar and
style.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
Attendance Policy: Students in MWF classes are allowed a maximum of three absences without
a grade penalty. Students who miss six classes on a MWF schedule will fail the course.
Attendance at the final exam session is required.
Absences over the three allowed will drop your overall letter grade by a 1/3; thus, four absences
would cause a B to be lowered to a B-. More than 10 minutes late is considered an absence.
It is important to be on time for class; thus, three tardies will equate to an absence. We will start
promptly at 9:00, so 9:01 is considered late.
Course Grading:
I grade using the corresponding point value for the letter grade.
A 1000-930
C 769-730
A- 929-900
C- 729-700
Assignments
Portfolio
Three Essays
Response Papers
Participation and Reading
Quizs
B+ 899-870
D+ 699-670
B 869-830
D 669-630
B- 829-800
D- 629-600
C+ 799-770
F 599-0
Maximum Points
400
300 (100 each)
100 (20 each)
200
Final Portfolio (SLO 1-6): 400 maximum points of the final course grade
This portfolio will consist of 2-3 formal papers that you have completed in the course.
You will revise each of the assignments beyond the graded and peer-reviewed copy and include
all returned drafts of your essays including peer revision, so it is important to keep all drafts.
The purpose is primarily to see your revision process as your papers evolved. In addition to the
new revision and previous drafts, you must also complete a 6-8 page critical rationale essay. The
critical rationale essay:
•Assesses how individual pieces of writing as well as the collective contents of the
portfolio illustrate the student’s growth as a writer throughout English 101.
• Explains the stylistic and organizational choices made in the portfolio, i.e., the
thoughtful and deliberate arrangement of all portfolio components.
•Illustrates an awareness of rhetorical choices across contexts and an understanding of
course materials.
• Offers a deep and sustained critical reflection on the writing and revision process that
resulted in these polished essays and other writings.
The portfolio must include 15 pages of polished work in addition to the critical rationale essay.
Also, the portfolio must include a cover page, a table of contents, and a secured method of
binding. You should use comb binding, which can be done on campus of through Fedex. I will
not accept bulky binders. Unlike other assignments, the portfolio will be grade holistically,
which essentially means that you will receive a grade based on how well the entire portfolio,
including the critical rationale, works together. You will receive a detailed rubric later in the
semester.
Writing Assignments (SLO 1-5): 300 maximum points of the final course grade
You will complete three major writing assignments during the semester. Each assignment will
be worth 100 points each. Papers must adhere to MLA guidelines for citation and style, and you
must complete 20 pages of polished writing for the course. Writing assignments must be posted
to Blackboard prior to class, and your paper must be in .doc or .docx. We will conduct peerrevision on each essay, and I will grade one draft prior to the portfolio. You will revise these
essays again for your portfolio and get a chance to improve on the individual essay grades.
Essay I. (SLO 1,2,4,5) The first writing assignment will ask you to prepare a prospectus for
essay three. In this prospectus you will identify the issue that you plan to research and examine
for your third essay. You will need to present an overview of the issue, a tentative question that
you intend to answer, and a plan of research geared to answer this question. While you will still
continue to research this project, I recommend that you do some preliminary research before
writing the prospectus. The page length will be 4-6 pages.
Essay II. (SLO 1-5) The second paper will ask you to use the rhetorical information that
you’ve been learning to analyze a political speech. We will read King’s “Letter from
Birmingham Jail” and discuss his use of rhetoric to support his argument. For your paper, you
will select a speech and analyze the rhetoric. You may compare and contrast the rhetorical
appeals from your chosen speech with King’s letter to help provide a framework to your paper.
The page length will be 6-8 pages.
Essay III. (SLO 1-5) The third paper will ask you to put together all the rhetorical techniques
that you’ve learned to write an argumentative paper on a particular political or social issue. You
can think of this as a call to action paper in which you are trying to persuade your audience to
“take action” on the issue. You will need outside sources in order to present yourself as an
expert on the issue and also to enter the conversation. It would behoove you to pick an issue that
is currently being debated. A proposed piece of legislation that is getting attention in the media
would serve as a great issue. The page length will be 8-10 pages.
Reading Responses: 100 points of the final course grade
You will complete five, 1-2 page responses to the assigned reading as noted on the course
schedule. This response is not a simple summary, but rather an attempt to respond to the
argument in the text. Successful responses will select an issue within the reading and develop
and argument that can be defended in a short response. These responses are intended to engage
your critical thinking on the reading, offer practice in formulating arguments, and facilitate class
discussion. I will grade these as either a check plus, check, or check minus. A grade of check
plus or check will receive the full 20 points for the response. Two check minuses will result in a
zero for one response; three check minuses will result in two zeros and so on. You must bring
a hard copy to class. You will revise your first response. The revised response must be at least
two pages.
Class Participation and Reading Quizzes: 200 points of the final course grade
You will be asked to consider thoughtfully the readings before class and be prepared to answer
questions and discuss the material with your classmates. While effective class participation
requires more than bringing the day’s reading, it is essential that you bring your textbook or print
out the readings from Blackboard. Peer review will be a significant factor of group work; thus, it
is important to bring full drafts for your peers to review and to offer an in-depth critique of your
peers’ work. I will often grade worksheets that accompany peer-review and group-work
assignments, but the overall grade will also be composed of my observation of your participation
in class.
Brief quizzes will be given through out the course and may or may not be announced. The
quizzes are designed to encourage active reading and do not require mastery of the text. The
format of the quizzes will range from true/false questions to short answer. Quizzes will be given
at the beginning of class and last 5-10 minutes. These will be folded into your participation
grade, but not in a direct point allocation. If you are consistently getting the majority of the
questions correct (7-10), then you are doing well in this aspect of class participation.
Late work: I do not accept late work; I will accept work early.
Electronics: All electronic devices including phones, MP3 players, laptops, and tablets must
remain off during class time unless required due to a special need. Students with a special need
should make arrangements with me.
Office of Accessibility Resources & Services: Students with documentation of special needs
should arrange to see me about accommodations as soon as possible. If you believe you could
benefit from such accommodations, you must first register with the Office of Accessibility
Resources & Services on campus before such accommodations can be made. The office is
located on the second floor of the Elliott University Center (EUC) in Suite 215, and the office is
open 8am to 5pm, Monday - Friday. Telephone: 334-5440; e-mail: ods@uncg.edu.
Course Schedule:
Readings:
Rhetorical Approaches to College Writing: RA
They Say I Say: TS
Blackboard: Bb
Date
Day
Topic
Aug . 19
M
Introduction to Course
Aug .21
W
Entering the Conversation
TS: Introduction p. 115
Aug. 23
F
Active Reading
RA: “Reading
Critically” p.49-56
(Last day to add/drop)
Aug. 26
Aug. 28
M
W
Media and the Cognitive
Affects
Thesis Statements, Topic
Sentences, and Controlling
Ideas
Reading Due
Assignment
Due
TS: “Are Colleges
Worth the Price of
Admission?” p. 179-89
TS;:“Watching T.V.
Makes You Smarter” p.
277-294
RA: “How the Thesis
Guides Effective
Writing” p. 61-65
RA: “Asking Questions
Essay #1
Assignment
Response #1
Due
to Find a Starting
Point” p. 57-60
Aug. 30
F
Research and Academic
Integrity
RA: “Finding a
Conversation to Find
Research” p. 95-100
RA: “Understanding
the Rhetorical
Dimensions of
Academic Citations” p.
113-120
Sept. 2
M
No Class
Sept. 4
W
Evaluating Sources
Bb: Everything’s an
Argument--sources
Sept. 6
F
Revision
Bb: “A First Look at
Gobbledy Gook”
RA: “Revision is
Writing” p. 77-80
Sept. 9
M
Entering the Conversation
TS: Chapter 1 p. 19-29
Sept. 11
W
Introduction to Rhetoric
RA: Introduction and
“Rhetorical
Approaches to College
Writing” p.1-12
Sept. 13
F
Library Instruction
CITI lab in the Jackson
library
Revised
Response Due
Sept. 16
M
Rhetorical Appeals
RA: “Writing with
Rhetorical Appeals” p.
17-24
RA: “Reading for the
Rhetorical Appeals” p.
25-33
Sept. 18
W
Summarizing
TS: Chapter 2 p. 30-41
Sept. 20
F
Peer Review Essay #1
Sept. 23
M
Analyzing Rhetoric
Bb: “Letter from
Birmingham Jail”
Sept. 25
W
Rhetorical Criticism
Bb: Mott, “The
Rhetoric of Martin
Luther King, Jr.”
Sept. 27
F
Quoting, Summarizing, and
Paraphrasing
Bring two
copies of Essay
#1 for peer
review
M
Conferences
Oct. 2
W
Conferences
Oct. 4
F
Conferences
Oct. 7
M
Connecting the Parts
Response #2
Due
Essay #1 Due
TS: Chapter 3 p. 42-51
RA: “The Art of
Summarizing,
Paraphrasing, and
Quoting” p. 106-112
Sept. 30
Essay #2
Assignment
TS: Chapter 8 p. 10520
Post to
Blackboard
before class
Oct. 9
Oct. 11
W
F
The Rhetorical Situation
The Scholarly Conversation
Bb: “The Rhetorical
Situation”
Response #3
Due
Bb: Vatz
(Last day to drop without
academic penalty)
Oct. 14
M
No Class; Fall Break
Oct. 16
W
Modern Satire and
Reporting the News
Oct. 18
F
Peer Review Essay #2
Oct. 21
M
Social Decline?
TS: “The Good, the
Bad, and the Daily
Show” p. 363-379
Bring two
copies of essay
#2
Bb: “The Lost Art of
Argument”
Response #4
Due
RA: “Situating
Evidence through
Contextualization” p.
100-105
Oct. 23
W
Ways to Respond
Oct. 25
F
Essay #2 reflection and
Essay #3 workshop
TS: Chapter 4 p. 55-67
Essay #2 Due
Essay #3
Assignment
Oct. 28
M
Answering Objections
TS: Chapter 6 p. 78-91
Oct. 30
W
Argumentation
Bb: “Everything Is an
Argument”
Nov. 1
F
Rogerian Argument
Bb: “Rogerian
Argument”
Nov. 4
M
Finding Common Ground
and Tone
Bb: “Abortion and the
Sexual Agenda”
Response #5
Due
RA: “Understanding
Tone and Voice” p. 8186
Nov. 6
W
Distinguishing Your
Argument
TS: Chapter 5 p. 68-77
Nov. 8
F
Peer Review
Nov. 11
M
Exigency
TS: Chapter 7 p. 92102
Nov. 13
W
Portfolio Review and
Metacommentary
RA: “The Portfolio
Process” p. 47-52
Bring two
copies of essay
#3.
TS: Chapter 10 p. 12938
Nov. 15
F
Reflection Essay Review
Nov. 18
M
Conferences
Nov. 20
W
Conferences
Nov. 22
F
Conferences
Nov. 25
M
Portfolio Review and
Rationale Essay Peer
Review
Nov. 27
W
No Class Thanksgiving
Bb: Example Essays
Essay #3 Due
Bring two
copies of your
rationale
essay.
Nov. 29
F
No Class Thanksgiving
Dec. 2
M
Portfolio Workshop
Dec. 4
W
Exam 12:00
Portfolio Due