ENC 1101 is a course in which students how texts work and how to employ similar conventions in their own academic and public writing. While each section of the course will approach such a study differently, all will provide opportunities for students to learn how to introduce a topic or an issue, articulate a thesis, support and develop a thesis and subordinate claims, work with secondary sources, and organize an argument.

Classroom explanations and discussions will guide you through the reading and writing assignments. You will also receive help in one-on-one conferences and peer editing sessions. Because this class fulfils the Gordon Rule, you will be asked to write a minimum of 6000 words over the course of the semester. You will also need to do the following:

1. Keep up with reading and writing assignments. The following books are available at UBS (University Textbook and Supply):

• Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 4^th ed.
• Hager, Lisa, ed. The Mercury Reader.

1. Do all assignments before a class session begins (by class, you should have read the text selections listed on the syllabus for that day).
2. Participate in class discussions and editing sessions. Bring texts to class and take notes.

Because class attendance is critical to your understanding of class material, you are only allowed two unexcused absences over the course of the semester. After two unexcused absences, your final grade average will be dropped five points for every day missed. An absence due to illness or family crisis may be excused if properly documented to my satisfaction. In addition, if you participate in a university sponsored event (music, theater, field trip, or athletics), you must provide me with documentation from an appropriate authority. Whether or not an absence is excused, you are responsible for contacting a classmate or me to find out what material you missed and any work that was assigned. If work is due in class on the day of the absences, the work is due in my mailbox by 4pm that day.

One or two tardies (arriving late in class or departing class early) will be excused if the reasons are acceptable and if there is valid documentation. Otherwise, tardiness is not acceptable because it is disruptive, and, beyond any excused tardies, class participation grade and overall grade will be affected (2 tardies = 1 absence).

In addition to attending class, you are also expected to contribute class discussions and participate in workshop sessions with your peers. Learning is not a solitary process, but one that necessarily involves others and I thus consider class participation a very important part of achieving this class’s goals.

Every week, you will complete in-class writing assignments that will deal with the material that has been assigned and discussed that week. In addition, you will have reading quizzes throughout the semester on material that is being discussed for that class meeting. If you are reading the texts as we progress though the semester, you should do fine.

All work is due at the beginning of class on the day it is due. All major essays should be typed on only one side of 8 ½" x 11" white paper, double-spaced with 1" margins on all sides, and be in Times New Roman font. On days when drafts are due (workshop days), you must bring two copies of your paper to class. These copies should be clean, typed papers (the same format as the final draft) and already well edited by you. I will not accept any papers that are not in this format.

Any in-class writing assignments should be on one side of loose-leaf college-rule notebook paper and in blue or black ink.

There will be a total of four major essays completed during this course (see daily schedule for peer review and final draft due dates).

Essay 1 will be a description and/or narration of your educational experiences.

Essay 2 will be a comparison of two views on the Environment.

Essay 3 will be a proposal incorporating the concepts of process analysis and cause and effect. Essay 4, the Final Paper, will be an independent persuasive project of your own choosing (more guidelines will be given later in the term).

You will be responsible for presenting to the class an assigned grammar topic. Read the assigned material and then create a handout that organizes and condenses the given topic. Make sixteen copies of your handout and distribute them to the class on the date of presentation. A good presentation should be both highly informative and interesting. A sign-up sheet will be passed around the class on 9/7.

All work must be completed for a grade since the work assigned fulfills the Gordon Rule, which stipulates that students are to write a minimum of 6000 words that receive feedback are graded, and give experience in various types of writing important in disciplines, workplace, and civic areas.

Unless the work assigned is specifically designed to be completed in groups, all work must be individual. Evidence of collusion (working with another student or tutor not connected with class) and plagiarism (use of another’s ideas, data, and/or statements without acknowledgement or with only minimal acknowledgement) will lead to the procedures set up by the university for academic dishonestly.

Because class participation relies heavily in individuals feeling comfortable expressing their opinions, you must always show respect for the diversity of opinions expressed in this class. You must also demonstrate respect for gender, racial, class, and ethnic differences among your colleagues and instructor.

Any complaints about separate assignments should be addressed to me and not to the English Department. If you have any complaints on the final grade, you may see me at the beginning of the next term. If you find that you still have complaints after our meeting, you may express your complaints on a form in the English Department Office (4012 Turlington). The from and accompanying course material will be given to the Director of Writing Program Administration for further action. A review committee may decide to raise, lower, or keep the originally assigned grade. This decision is final. The material submitted will remain on file in the English Department Office.

These assignments are due in class on the dates indicated. There will be NO LATE assignments accepted. Also, there will be additional assignments and materials not indicated on this sheet (I will announce them in class), and this schedule as well as individual assignments are subject to change. All readings are in the Mercury Reader.

R, Aug 23 – Course introduction and syllabus review

T, Aug 28 – Syllabus quiz

R, Aug 31 – "Narration," "Description," and Russell Baker’s "Growing Up"

T, Sept 5 – Introduction to "Education and Learning, "William Zinsser’s "College Pressures,"

and Fredrick Douglass’ "Learning to Read and Write"

R, Sept 7 – Assign Essay 1 and sign up for grammar panels, "Example," "Definition," and

Paul Robert’s "How to Say Nothing in 500 Words"

T, Sept 12 – Casey Miller and Kate Swift’s "Who’s in Charge of the English Language?",

R, Sept 14 – Draft of Essay 1 due, peer review

T, Sept 19 – Richard Wright’s "The Library Card," John Taylor’s "Are You Politically

Incorrect?", and Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication on the Rights of Woman (excerpt)

R, Sept 21 – Essay 1 due, grammar panels

T, Sept 26 – grammar panels

R, Sept 28 – grammar panels

T, Oct 3 – "Comparison and Contrast," "Classification and Division," Introduction to

"Nature and the Environment," and David Ludlum’s "The Climythology of America"

R, Oct 5 – Elizabeth Bishop’s "The Fish" and Ernest Hemingway’s "Big Two-Hearted River"

T, Oct 10 – Mark Twain’s "Reading the River," Langston Hughes’s "The Negro Speaks of the

River," and Barry Lopez’s "Landscape and Narrative"

R, Oct 12 – Draft of Essay 2 due, peer review

T, Oct 17 – Essay 2 due, "Process Analysis," "Cause and Effect," Introduction to "Science and

Technology," and Langdon Winner’s "Mythinformation"

R, Oct 19 – M Kadi’s "Welcome to Cyberia" and Philip Elmer-De Witt’s "Welcome to

Cyberspace"

T, Oct 24 – John Perry Barlow "Is There a There in Cyberspace?", Ester Dyson’s "Cyberspace:

If You Don’t Love It Leave, Leave It," and Amy Bruckman’s "Finding One’s own Space

R, Oct 26 – library day

T, Oct 31 – Draft of Essay 3 due, peer review

R, Nov 2 – conferences

T, Nov 7 – Essay 3 due, "Persuasion," introduction to "Popular Culture," Katha Pollit’s "The

Smurfette Principle," and Russell Baker’s "Little Red Riding Hood Revisited"

R, Nov 9 – James Baldwin’s "The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American" and Ishmael

Reed’s "America: The Multicultural Society"

T, Nov 14 – Aaron Copland’s "How We Listen to Music," Ralph Ellison’s "Living With Music,"

and Katina R. Stapleton’s "From the Margins to the Mainstream: The Political Power of

R, Nov 16 – Gerald Early’s "Performance and Reality: Race, Sports, and the Modern World,"

Joyce Carol Oates "On Boxing," and Molly Ivins "The Romance of Football"

T, Nov 21 – Frank McConnell’s "Seinfeld," Harry Water’s "Life According to TV," and Stephen

King’s "Why We Crave Horror Movies"

R, Nov 23 – NO SCHOOL

T, Nov 28 – Draft of Essay 4 due, peer review

R, Nov 30 – conferences

T, Dec 5 – Essay 4 due, Last day of class