***IMPORTANT DATES***

Here are some upcoming due dates that are worth your attention:

• Thursday, April 19th - Extra Credit Assignment due (only if you attended the Good Thunder Reading last night)
• Thursday, April 26th - Rough Draft of your Final Paper is due (upload as a Discussion Post)
• Thursday, May 3rd - Final Paper is due (upload to dropbox by 8pm)

Assignment sheets for these papers are available under the Content section of D2L.  If you have any questions, please contact me as soon as possible.

Homework for April 12th

Your homework for next week is to compose an Annotated Works Cited page.  I have uploaded the assignment sheet to D2L, detailing its guidelines and requirements.  The five sources you evaluate do not have to end up being used in your final paper; however, it would be to your benefit to find ones that you hope to use.  Doing so will cut down on your workload on your final paper.  If you have any questions regarding this assignment, please contact me as soon as possible.  This assignment is worth 50 points, so make sure to follow all of the guidelines and turn it in on time.

We looked at the Library Services site in class last night.  Here is the path to the Composition website that we went through, in case you can't remember how to get there.  Start at the MSU homepage and click the Library Services link at the top right part of the screen.  On the Library Services page, you'll see a menu along the left-hand side of the screen.  Click on the link that reads Class & Subject Guides.  Select the link for English Composition 101.  On the next page, click the second link, titled ".ENG 101-Composition (Trends Research Paper)."  There you will find all of the resources we looked at in class.

Blog Posts, Homework, and Reading Assignments

On your blogs, I would like you to work on narrowing down one of your broad topics into a tentative thesis statement. Based on the example I provided in class, I want you to ask several questions regarding your topic, posting the answers in a blog post. Some examples include:

• Who's involved with my topic?
• What's involved with my topic?
• What do I already know about my topic?
• What do I want to know about my topic? (may require exploratory research)
• Are there any other broad topics linked to mine?

Once you've narrowed your topic into a tentative thesis statement, email what you have come up with in preparation for our Thesis Statement Workshop next Thursday.  Remember to reference the Thesis Statement PowerPoint, posted  to D2L for guidelines.

In addition to emailing me your tentative thesis statement, you will need to read the essay, "Offensive Play," by Malcolm Gladwell (posted on D2L) and be prepared to discuss it in class next week.  I have also posted to D2L an essay titled, "Writing an Academic Argument."  Please read this piece as well.  If you have any questions about this essay and the assignment in general, feel free to ask them in class so that everyone can benefit from the answer.

Homework for March 29th

I have not received all of the dropbox submissions for the Personal Narrative Final drafts.  If you have yet to turn in your final draft or submit a copy to the dropbox, please do so as soon as possible to ensure you don't lose additional points.  Also, make sure to post a reflection (What grade do you feel you deserve on this paper, and why?) to your blog, if you have not done so already.

Your homework for next week (due Thursday, March 29th) is to write a response to the Good Thunder Reading we attended.  There's is an assignment sheet posted to the Content section of D2L; please reference it for specific response questions.  If you were unable to attend, please email me and I will send you links to the writers' works.  You will need to respond to the same questions on the assignment sheet, focusing on at least one poem found at the links provided.

Also, please read pages 84-95 in your Rules for Writers handbook.  You will need to generate a list of possible research topics on your blogs for next week.  We'll be working on ways to narrow down those topics into focused theses for your final paper.  If you have any questions regarding these assignments, please feel free to email me.

Homework for March 22nd

The final draft of your Personal Narrative is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, March 22nd--a printed copy and a dropbox copy.  The assignment sheet, with the guidelines and a grading rubric, is available under the Content section of D2L.

I will be providing you all with audio feedback for the rough drafts you submitted for class on the 15th.  If you have any questions about my suggestions, or if the audio link does not work, please email me as soon as possible.

There is no other assignment due on the 22nd.  We will be meeting in AH 331 and beginning our research/argumentation unit; then, we will attend the Good Thunder Reading.

In-class Writing and Personal Narrative Drafts

The prompt for Thursday's class (3/1/2012) pertained to the reading assignments: write about a situation that you lived through in school.  You can choose to focus on people (teachers, classmates, bullies, school administrators, etc.) as David Sedaris did in his essay, or you can write about an event (graduation, prom, a sporting event, a play, etc.) or series of events as Maya Angelou did in her essay.  Make sure to write about something that contains conflict and that changed you in a way that causes you to reflect on the time.

In class, we briefly looked over an article about metaphor, and I said that I'd post the link here in case any of you would like to reference it.  Here's the link. 

The homework for March 15th (our next class meeting) is to turn in a completed draft of your personal narrative.  This means that your essay needs to have a beginning, a middle, and an end for your to get credit for it.  I have uploaded to D2L an assignment sheet for the personal narrative essay that details guidelines, due dates, and a rubric.  Please reference it prior to emailing me questions.

While the completed draft of your personal narrative is due on March 15th, you can submit it early in order to receive my feedback more quickly.  In lieu of one-on-one conferences, I will be emailing you voice recorded feedback, so that you can listen to it and consider it at your convenience.  I'm shooting for a forty-eight hour timetable for getting my feedback to you; so the sooner you submit your essay, the more time you'll have to take it into consideration.  Rough drafts are to be turned in to the discussion board (Personal Narrative Drafts). 

There's also a short reading assignment due on March 15th.  Please read "Black Hair" by Gary Soto and be prepared to discuss it in class.  Feel free to email me questions, and have a fun and safe Spring Break!

In-class Writing and Homework

On your blogs, I would like you to write for twenty minutes without stopping.  The subject: a family member.  You can write about any family member, on any subject pertaining to him/her.  Describe what he or she looks like; think about the characteristics he or she possesses that defines who he or she is; or think about some conflict that you've had with him or her (possibly a conflict you've witnessed him or her deal with).  What ever you decide to write about, make sure to write nonstop for twenty minutes (or longer, if you'd like).  This information could be used to draft an essay for our personal narrative unit.

For homework, you will need to complete the first draft of a personal essay.  You can turn one of your in-class writing prompts into an essay, or you can choose to write about something else.  Whatever the case, make sure that you are a part of the story and that it has conflict.  You will need to post an electronic copy of this draft to the discussion board (titled "First Draft Peer Review") by next Thursday (March 1st).  We will workshop them in class.

In addition to the rough drafts, there are two reading assignments due for next week.  Under the Content section of D2L, you will find two personal essays--"Graduation," by Maya Angelou, and "Me Talk Pretty One Day," by David Sedaris.  Have these read before and be prepared to discuss them during class next week.  We may have another quiz on one of the pieces.

Blog Posts and Reading Assignments

The in-class writing prompt for February 16th is to write about a nightmare experience that you lived through.  Think about the film we watched in class, Groundhog Day, and write about a time when your fears came to fruition.  Or, another way to think about it is to write about a really horrible day that you experienced.

As I discussed in class on the 16th, you have some reading and writing homework.  The written assignment is to respond to the Good Thunder reading (assignment sheet found in D2L under the Content section). 

In addition to writing a response to the Good Thunder reading, you have two reading assignments for homework: the first is to read an essay by Diana Joseph titled, "The Boy," and the second is to read an essay by Sarah Vowell titled, "Shooting Dad."  Be prepared to discuss both essays in class on February 23rd.

Peer Review Practice and Blog Posts

In preparation for future peer reviews, and to help you through the Summary/Response revision process, we will be conducting practice runs via the D2L Discussion board.  I have place you all into groups and have asked you (in class) to post one of the essays you have submitted to the Dropboxes to your group's discussion forum.  Please choose one of your group member's essays to read and review.

After you have read your peer's essay, reply to his/her post with feedback for how they can improve the piece.  You can use the descriptive or prescriptive method when responding, but please avoid simply saying "I liked this," or "I didn't like this."  If something is or isn't working in your peer's paper, be specific about how they do or don't work.

• Descriptive method: identifying what the writer is doing in his/her piece and discussing the payoffs and pitfalls of those choices.
• Prescriptive method: telling the writer what needs to be changed or left alone and providing your reasons.

For the in-class writing, I asked you all to respond to the question, "What did you take away from the Tim O'Brien essay?"  You can go any direction you'd like with this question, but try to write for about 15 minutes when responding.

Also, I have uploaded a document to D2L that consists of questions to consider when responding to a text.  Please feel free to reference this document, as well as pages 70-83 in the Rules for Writers handbook, when working on your Summary/Response paper.

Homework for February 9th

I just wanted to clarify the reading and writing assignments that are due next week.  First, the writing assignment is to write a response to the film, Groundhog Day.  The assignment sheet for this response can be found under the Content section of D2L.  If you have any questions about the guidelines, please contact me as soon as possible.

The reading assignment for next week can also be found under the Content section of D2L.  Please have the essays "I Want a Wife," by Judy Brady, and "How to Tell a True War Story," by Tim O'Brien, read by class on Thursday.  We will have a short quiz on both essays prior to discussing them.  There is no writing response due for these readings; just be prepared to discuss them in class.

In-class Writing and Homework

On your blogs, write about an event with which you were involved that required you to respond with some type of action (written or verbal).  Here are some things to consider when constructing your post:

• Identify what happened.
• Who was involved?
• How did you respond/what action to did you take?
• Was your response in writing or in person?
• What was your demeanor/tone?  How did you act?
• Did you consider your audience in the moment?
• How did your "audience" respond?
• Did you achieve your intended purpose?
  
• Looking back on the situation, is there anything you would have done differently?  Why or why not?

Your written assignment for this week is to write a response to the Good Thunder event that we attended during class.  I will have access to the archived session soon in case you wanted to listen to the reading again; please contact me via email if you're interested.  The assignment sheet for this paper is available under the Content section of D2L.

In-class Writing and Homework

On your blogs, you should have two posts for this week:

1. Notes on "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr.
   
2. Sample passage from the MLK essay along with a summary of the passage

For this second post, make sure you transcribe (or copy & paste) a sizeable paragraph from the MLK essay.  After you have done this, accurately summarize the passage in one to two sentences.  Make sure to put the summary in YOUR OWN WORDS, while maintaining the integrity of the original text.

Your homework for next week (1/26/2012) is to read "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift and write a response to the essay in preparation for our class discussion.  You can locate the essay and assignment sheet under the Content section of D2L.  If you have any issues viewing the essay and/or assignment sheet, please contact me as soon as possible.

We will be meeting in our regularly schedule classroom (AH 331) next week (1/26/2012) prior to attending the Good Thunder Reading.

Who I Am

For your first informal writing assignment, you will address the prompt "Who I Am" in class, on your blogs.  What qualities make you who you are?  What are your interests, hobbies, goals, experiences, scholastic and career choices?  After you have brainstormed some ideas for this prompt, you will need to turn the free-writing exercise into an essay, which will be due at the beginning of class next Thursday (January 19th).

• 500 Words
• MLA Style (see page 523 in textbook)
• Typed; 12-point, Times New Roman font; double-spaced; proper heading and page numbers; no paragraph spacing; 1" margins on all sides

In addition to the printed assignment, you will need to also turn in an electronic copy via the D2L dropbox.  Questions?  Send me an email: daniel.dewolf@mnsu.edu

Also, remember to have read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" for next week, and be prepared to discuss it.

Course Schedule - Spring 2012

Week 1:          Thursday, January 12^th

Lesson/Discussion: Introductions, setup blogs, e-mailing your instructor, in-class writing.

Homework: Turn your first blog post into a short paper; read “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr.

Week 2:          Thursday, January 19^th

           

Lesson/Discussion: Reading Quiz; discuss MLK essay; identify rhetorical elements. In-class writing prompt.

Homework: Read “A Modest Proposal,” by Jonathan Swift and write a response paper.

Week 3:          Thursday, January 26^th

Lesson/Discussion: Turn in Swift response paper; discuss essay; attend Good Thunder Reading 7:30pm–9:00pm.

Homework: Write a response to the Good Thunder Reading.

Week 4:          Thursday, February 2^nd

Lesson/Discussion: Turn in reading response; watch a film and work on rhetorical analysis.

Homework: Write a response to the film, based on rhetorical ideas. 

Week 5:          Thursday, February 9^th

Lesson/Discussion: Turn in film response; discuss Summary/Response and Workshops.

Homework: Write a Summary/Response Paper on “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr.

Week 6:          Thursday, February 16^th

Summary/Response Paper Due

Lesson/Discussion:  Discuss elements of Personal Narrative; conduct in-class writing; Good Thunder Reading 7:30pm–9:00pm. 

Homework:  Write a response to Good Thunder Reading; Read “American Male, Age Ten,” by Susan Orlean and “The Boy,” by Diana Joseph.

Week 7:          Thursday, February 23^rd

Lesson/Discussion:  Turn in reading response; take reading Quiz; discuss essays.  In-class writing prompt.

Homework: Read “Black Hair,” by Gary Soto and “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” by David Sedaris.  Write a response to one of the assigned essays.

Week 8:          Thursday, March 1^st

Lesson/Discussion: Turn in response paper; discuss essays; personal narrative assignment sheet; discuss workshops/questions for consideration.

Homework:  Draft a personal narrative.

Week 9:          Thursday, March 8^th

*No Class—Spring Break

Week 10:        Thursday, March 15^th

Lesson/Discussion: Rough Draft of a Personal Narrative Due; Group Workshops.

Homework: Write the Final Draft of your Personal Narrative.

Week 11:        Thursday, March 22^nd

Final Draft of Personal Narrative Due

Lesson/Discussion: Begin argumentation unit; narrowing down a topic; constructing a thesis statement. Good Thunder Reading 7:30pm–9:00pm.

Homework: Write a response to the Good Thunder reading; choose a topic for research; compose a thesis statement; begin searching for sources.

Week 12:        Thursday, March 29^th

Lesson/Discussion: Turn in Good Thunder response; evaluating sources; logical fallacies; citing and referencing sources.

Homework: Reading assignment TBD

Week 13:        Thursday, April 5^th

Lesson/Discussion: Library Research; discuss reading assignment.

Homework: Write an annotated bibliography; continue researching your topics.

Week 14:        Thursday, April 12^th

Lesson/Discussion: Turn in Annotated Bibliography; conduct in-class research.  Good Thunder Reading 7:30pm–9:00pm.

Homework: Write a response to the Good Thunder reading. Reading assignment TBD.

Week 15:        Thursday, April 19^th

Lesson/Discussion:  Turn in Good Thunder reading response; discuss reading assignment; in-class research and writing.

Homework: Work on rough drafts of Argumentative Research Paper.

Week 16:        Thursday, April 26^th

Lesson/Discussion: Rough Draft of Argumentative Research Paper due; peer editing/workshops.

Homework: Write final draft of Research Paper.

Week 17:        Thursday, May 3^rd

FINALS WEEK

Final Draft of Argument Research Paper Due

Meeting in AH 331 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm

English Composition Syllabus

Spring 2012

Course: ENG 101–26 Composition

Course Meeting: 6:00pm–9:45pm Thursdays

Course Location: AH 331

Instructor: Daniel DeWolf

Office: AH 201K

Office Hours: 5:00pm–7:00pm W (e-office hours); 4:00pm–6:00pm H

Office Phone: 507-389-5540

Email: daniel.dewolf@mnsu.edu

Website: http://dewolfsyllabus.blogspot.com

Course Goals: To develop writers who use the English language effectively and who read and write critically. The course objective is to prepare students for the writing that they’ll be required to do throughout their college careers. By the end of the class, students will be able to do the following:

a) demonstrate and practice strategies for idea generation, audience analysis, organization of texts, drafting, evaluation of drafts, revision, and editing;


b) write papers of varying lengths that demonstrate effective explanation, analysis, and argumentation;


c) become experienced in computer-assisted writing and research;


d) locate and evaluate material, using PALS, the Internet, and other sources;


e) analyze and synthesize source material, making appropriate use of paraphrase, summary, quotation, and citation conventions;
demonstrating knowledge of proper source documentation;

f) employ syntax and usage appropriate to academic writing and the professional world.

Required Text: Rules for Writers (Seventh Edition) by Diana Hacker

ISBN-13: 978-0312647360 ISBN-10: 0312647360

Required Coursework/Grading:

Weekly Writing Responses 20%

Each week we will have a written assignment due. These assignments include reading responses, critiques, rough drafts of your formal essays, and Good Thunder reflection papers. I will provide you with detailed guidelines for each of these writing assignments prior to their due dates.

Essays 65%

Summary/Response Essay 20%

Personal Narrative Essay 20%

Argumentative Research Essay 25%

The majority of your grade will be determined by the quality of work you produce when composing three major essays: a Summary/Response, a Personal Narrative, and an Argumentative Research paper. Each essay will be generated from an in-class prompt. Students will engage in the three steps of writing: pre-writing, drafting, and revising. Rough drafts are to be posted to D2L for in-class, peer editing. The final draft of each essay will be submitted to D2L on the assigned due date and a hard copy will be required, as well. Essays will be graded on how well the students follow and apply the criteria for each essay outlined on the assignment sheets, which will be available to students on the day each essay is assigned.

Participation 15%

Students will be required to engage in free-writing (to be posted as a blog) during specified times, conduct peer reviews of essay drafts via D2L, and participate in class discussions based on the assigned reading. Failure to participate in any of these activities will result in the loss of some or all of a day’s participation points. During lectures, discussions, and presentations, you will be required to TURN OFF your computer monitors and pay attention. If you are caught using your computer or surfing the internet when you have been directed to turn off your monitor, you will not receive participation points for that day. Working on your computer during lectures, discussions, and presentations is distracting to everyone.

Attendance

While attendance doesn’t make up a portion of your final grade, failure to show up to class can have a negative impact on it. You cannot receive participation points if you aren’t in class. You are allowed one (1) absence without penalty. After the allotted one absence, you will receive a 10% deduction from your final grade for each absence thereafter. An absence is an absence: there are no distinctions between excused and unexcused absences. If you aren’t able to attend class, please refer to D2L or the syllabus blog for homework and missed assignments.

Grading Scale:

A = 100-90 B = 89-80 C =79-70 D = 69-60 F = 59-0

NOTE: the lowest PASSING grade a student can earn in English 101 is a C. If a student earns a grade lower than a C, he/she will have to repeat the course. This is a policy that has been set by the university.

Class Policies: Failure to turn in work at the beginning of class on its due date will result in a full letter grade deduction for that assignment. Writing done for this class is considered public text. Assignments are tentative and subject to change. 
Students who need to meet with the instructor and are unable to do so during scheduled office hours can make an appointment via email. Cell phone use in class is not permitted. Please silence or power off phones while in class. If an emergency arises, please exit the classroom quietly to take the call outside. Drinks and food are not allowed in the computer lab. You will be asked to discard or put away any food or drink you bring to class.

Academic Dishonesty: MSU has a zero tolerance policy regarding Academic Dishonesty. Students caught plagiarizing, cheating, or colluding will receive an automatic failing grade, and they will be required to retake the course. Academic Dishonesty—per MSU Policies and Procedures—is defined as follows:

Plagiarism – Submission of an academic assignment as one’s own work, which includes critical ideas or written narrative that are taken from another author without the proper citation. This does not apply only to direct quotes, but also to critical ideas that are paraphrased by the student. Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:

• submitting the work of others as your own

• submitting others’ work as your own with only minor changes

• submitting others’ work as your own without adequate footnotes,

quotations, and other reference forms

• multiple submission of the same work, written or oral, for more than one

course without both instructor’s permission, or making minor revisions

on work which has received credit and submitting it again as new work.

Cheating – Use of unauthorized material or assistance to help fulfill academic assignments. This material could include unauthorized copies of test materials, calculators, crib sheets, help from another student, etc.

Collusion – Assistance to another student or among students in committing the act of cheating or plagiarism.

Center for Academic Success: In addition to working with the instructor, students are encouraged to take advantage of the services offered by MSU’s Center for Academic Success located in the basement of Memorial Library (ML 116). These services include free tutoring sessions in nearly all subject areas, including composition. By appointment or walk-in, the Center is open to students Monday through Friday. MavCard required. Go to http://www.mnsu.edu/supersite/academics/success or call 507-389-1791.

Note for Students with Disabilities: From the Office of Disability Services: “MSU provides students with disabilities reasonable accommodation to participate in educational; programs, activities, or services. Students with disabilities requiring accommodation to participate in class activities or meet course requirements should first register with the Office of Disability Services, located in 0123 Memorial Library, telephone 389-2825, TDD 711 and then contact me as soon as possible.”