ENGL 1010 English Comp. I
Fall 2015 Syllabus
Dr. Angela Fowler
This is a syllabus supplement for this course. The rest of the course
guidelines and regulations are located in the 2014-2015 AUM Composition
Guidebook (a required text for this and all AUM Composition courses).
Required Texts & Materials
 AUM Composition Guidebook, 2015-2016. Fountainhead Press.
 McGraw-Hill’s Connect (textbook ebook)
 An AUM email account that you check on a daily basis
 A Facebook account (that you don’t mind sharing with the class)
 A flash drive to store your work
 A Weebly account for your class website
Academic Dishonesty Policy
Simply – don’t cheat. All work submitted must be your own (not
recycled). In cases where plagiarism/academic dishonesty is clearly
established, the penalty could be grade of “F” in the class, regardless
of the value of the assignment. Plagiarism is also reported to the
AUM Committee on Discipline, which may choose to impose
additional sanctions. For more, see the Student Academic Honesty
Code.
Special Needs Statement
AUM attempts to make reasonable accommodations to meet the
special needs of its students with disabilities. Students requiring
special services should notify their instructor as soon as possible.
Assistance is available from the Center for Disability Services, which
is located at Taylor 147. cds@aum.edu (334)244-3631
Attendance Policy
Daily attendance is mandatory. You are allowed two unexcused
absences in this class. After two absences, you will receive a grade of
“FA” for the course. You cannot make up missed work (without prior
arrangements) and it’s your responsibility to know what was
discussed in class.
Classroom: 110 Clement Hall Computer Lab
Section SA1
Section SA2
Section SA3
CRN 2235
CRN 2236
CRN 2237
MW 9:20-10:40
MW 10:50-12:05
MW 2:10-3:25
Contact Information:
aaf00004@tigermail.auburn.edu
drfowlercomp.weebly.com
Office Hours:
Mondays and Wednesdays
1:00-2:00, 3:30-4:30 at Liberal
Arts 144.
I can Skype on other days.
Grade Breakdown:
Unit 1: 10%
Blogs: 10%
Rough Draft: 15%
Peer Review: 15%
Facebook: 10%
Final copy: 50%
Unit 2: 15%
Blogs: 10%
Rough Draft: 15%
Peer Review: 15%
Facebook: 10%
Final copy: 50%
Unit 3: 20%
Blogs: 10%
Rough Draft: 15%
Peer Review: 15%
Facebook: 10%
Final copy: 50%
Unit 4: 25%
Blogs: 10%
Rough Draft: 15%
Peer Review: 15%
Facebook: 10%
Final copy: 50%
Composition 3.0: 20%
Final Exam: 10%
Course Description
Assignment descriptions
Please see the Learning Outcomes and Course Focus as described in
chapter 4, p. 24-27 of the English Composition Guide. This course
meets one of the five writing-intensive course requirements in partial
fulfillment of the Writing Across the Curriculum Program at AUM.
A score of 18 or higher on the English portion of the ACT, a score of
450 or higher on the critical reading portion of the SAT, or a score of
35 or higher on the EPT, the successful passing of ENGL0100 or
permission of the Director of English Composition.
Paper 1: Fan literacy narrative
For this course, we will be looking at representations within popular
culture. Pop culture seems unimportant to us. Why should we care
what celebrities are wearing, or who got voted off the island? What
does it matter that Hollywood is producing another comic book
movie? Why should we even think about advertisements?
However, something we think is really unimportant is actually all
around us all the time. We literally can’t go a day, or even an hour,
without seeing an advertisement. News broadcasts are being funded
by corporations and we never think about any conflicts of interest.
America is exporting Hollywood films, shaping the cultural
perception of its people around the globe.
Pop culture, whether we’re aware of it or not, can shape how we look
at the world. That’s why representation matters. Think about, for
instance, how people are stereotyped in movies. The black person
always dies first in a horror movie. The blonde white girl is a bimbo.
Men don’t cry, but if they do it’s a single tear. Fat people are gross
and funny, always. East Asians are mathy nerds or good at karate.
While one film using one stereotype might seem harmless, the
constant use of these stereotypes can affect how people see others.
For this class, we will learn to 1) analyze pop culture texts (film, TV,
songs, comics, ads, news media, etc.) to see these stereotypes, 2)
critique the use of these stereotypes, and 3) explore solutions. Along
with discussing pop culture texts that get it wrong, we will look at
how new media on the internet has already started working to go
against harmful representations and get it right. By the final exam,
you will create your own text that tries to solve a problem with
representation.
Paper 2: Review of a short pop
culture text
Paper 3: Ad analysis
Paper 4: Problem of representation
in pop culture
Final exam: Create a text that
attempts to solve the problem
from Paper 4
Facebook posts: 2 posts and 2
comments per week
Blogs: Low-stakes writing to be
done in class.
Composition 3.0: Grammar
instruction to be done on Connect
throughout the year.