ENGL 100 - Freshman Composition
Spring 2010 - MW 5:30 - 6:45pm
Evenden 305

1. INSTRUCTOR:

Steve Dixon
Office: Bush Hall 238
Office Hours: Tu 10:00 am - 12:00 Noon, or by appointment
Phone: x4642
Email: dixonsg@delhi.edu
Class web page: http://www.delhi.edu/library/instruction_dixonengl100s10.php

2. COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:

This course is designed to prepare you for the types of writing you will be required to do over the course of your academic career and into your professional life. Specifically, it is designed to help you develop skills in critical reading and writing; and to improve your ability to articulate your own positions and ideas and think analytically.

3. ASSIGNMENTS and GRADING:

Your final grade will be based upon the percentage listed next to each assignment or item. (Detailed information will be given in class for each major assignment.)

-Major Essay "The Giver" (10%)
-Grammar Presentation (10%)
-Research Essay (20%)
-Autobiographical Essay (20%)
-Other assigned writings or assignments (includes in-class writing assignments and short essays) (30%)
-Class Participation (includes attendance, attitude, and participation in class discussions and activities) (10%)

4. REQUIRED TEXTS:

Hall, Donald; Emblen, D. L. A Writer's Reader. (9th ed.) New York: Longman, 2001.
Langan, John; Goldstein, Janet M. English Brushup. (5th ed.) Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 2009.
Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

5. OTHER CLASS POLICIES:

ATTENDANCE: Students are expected to be on time and prepared for each class.

Tardiness (coming to class after the assigned start time) will be considered disruptive behavior. Two tardies will be considered the same as one absence. Make up assignments will only be given with a documented excuse, (e.g. signed note from doctor). It is the student's responsibility to contact the instructor in a timely manner as to the nature of the absence. If a student is absent it is the student's responsibility to find out what went on in class. Assignments are due regardless of lack of attendance.

CHEATING: Rewording someone else's information and presenting it as your own, using ideas of others without proper documentation, copying another person's work without proper documentation, or failure to use quotation marks when copying text is considered plagiarism. Students found plagiarizing work will receive an "F" for this course.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS: Homework or essay assignments turned in after the due date (at the beginning of class) will be marked off 1 letter grade. No assignments may be turned in more than 1 week late. No work for the course will be accepted after Monday, May 17.

OUTSIDE HELP: Please make every effort to see the instructor for additional help if, at any time, you feel you need some further clarification or review of the subject matter.

 

COURSE SCHEDULE:

-January 25 (M)
-Introduction, In-class writing

-January 27 (W)
-Reading: "A Hanging" by George Orwell. (Pgs. 479-483 in A Writer's Reader)
-In-class exercise/writing

-February 1 (M)
-Short Essay Due
-Introduction to Writing - Style, Form
-Reading: "Introduction" (Pgs. 1-16 in English Brushup)
-Discussion of Grammar Assignment/Presentation
-In-class writing

-February 3 (W)
-Introduction to Writing - Style, Form (cont.)
-Reading: "Just Walk On By" by Brent Staples (Pgs. 535-538 in A Writer's Reader)
-In-class exercise/writing

-February 8 (M)
-Reading: "I Stand Here Ironing" by Tillie Olsen. (Pgs. 470-477 in A Writer's Reader)
-In-class exercise/writing

-February 10 (W)
-Readings: "My Father's Life" by Raymond Carver. (Pgs. 97-104 in A Writer's Reader)
                  The Giver Chapters 1-5
-Discussion of the Major Essay Assignment for "The Giver"
-In-class exercise/writing

-February 15 (M)
-Short essay due: "Parents / Values"
-Reading: The Giver Chapters 6-11
-In-Class exercise/writing
-Grammar Presentation:
     Subjects and Verbs

-February 17 (W)
-Reading: The Giver Chapters 12-17
-In-Class exercise/writing
-Grammar Presentation:
     Adjectives and Adverbs

-February 22 (M)
-Short essay due: Issues in "The Giver"
-Reading: The Giver Chapters 18-23
-In-Class exercise/writing
-Grammar Presentation:
     Verb Tense

-February 24 (W)
-Major Essay Assignment Due: "The Giver"
-In-class quiz/writing
-Grammar Presentation:
     Subject-Verb Agreement

-March 1 (M) - Winter Break - No Class

-March 3 (W) - Winter Break - No Class

-March 8 (M)
-Reading: "Helping and Hating the Homeless" by Peter Marin (Pgs. 404-418 in A Writer's Reader)
-In-class reading/writing
-Grammar Presentations:
     Sentence Types
     Run-on Sentences
-Discussion of the "Research Essay" Major Essay Assignment

-March 10 (W)
-In-class reading/writing
-Grammar Presentation:
     Sentence Fragments

-March 15 (M)
-Short Essay Due: "Different views on Social Issues"
-Reading: "The Town Dump" by Wallace Stegner (Pgs. 552-557 in A Writer's Reader)
-Proposed Research Essay topics due
-In-class writing/quiz
-Grammar Presentation:
     Pronouns
-Discussion of the "Autobiographical Essay" Major Essay Assignment

-March 17 (W)
-Short Essay Due: "Another Man's Junk"
-Reading: "Salvation" by Langston Hughes (Pgs. 321-323 in A Writer's Reader)
-In-class quiz/writing
-Grammar Presentations:
     Commas, Colons, and Semi-Colons
     Apostrophes/Quotation Marks

-March 22 (M)
-Short essay due: "Religious Upbringing"
-Reading - "The Importance of Touch" by Diane Ackerman (Pgs. 10-17 in A Writer's Reader)
-In-class quiz/writing
-Grammar Presentation:
     Homonyms

-March 24 (W) - Meet in Bush 226
-Library Research
-In-class quiz/writing
-Grammar Presentations:
     Capitalization
     Numbers and Abbreviations

-March 29 (M) - Meet in Bush 226
-Library Research
-Short essay due: "The Senses"
-In-class quiz/writing
-Grammar Presentation:
     Word Choice

-March 31 (W)
-Reading - "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau (Pgs. 595-613 in A Writer's Reader)
-In-class quiz/writing
-Grammar Presentations:
     Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers
     Parallelism

-April 5 (M)
-Reading - "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau (Pgs. 595-613 in A Writer's Reader)
-Research Essay outline with Thesis Statement due
-In-class exercise
-Grammar Presentations:
     Its/It's and Whose/Who's
     There/Their/They're
     Than/Then and Your/You're

-April 7 (W)
-Short essay due: "What would you do if you were drafted?"
-In-class exercise/writing

-April 12 (M) - Spring Break - No Class

-April 14 (W) - Spring Break - No Class

-April 19 (M)
-Draft copy of Research Essay Due
-Reading - "A Native Hill" by Wendell Berry (Pgs. 42-51 in A Writer's Reader)
-In-class exercise/writing

-April 21 (W)
-Short essay due: "My Hometown"
-Discussion of Research Essay draft copies
-In-class exercise/writing

-April 26 (M)
-Research Essay Due
-In-class exercise/writing

-April 28 (W)

-May 3 (M)
-Draft Copy of Autobiographical Essay due
-Reading - "The Library Card" by Richard Wright (Pgs. 679-687 in A Writer's Reader)
-In-class reading/exercise

-May 5 (W)
-Discussion of Draft Copies of Autobiographical Essays
-In-class reading/exercise

-May 10 (M)
-Short essay due: "Overcoming Barriers"
-In-class reading/exercise

-May 12 (W)
-Class evaluation
-In-class reading/exercise

-May 17 (Monday, 5:30 pm)
-Autobiographical Essay Due