Welcome to ENGL 1A
College Composition

Course Title: College Composition
Course Number: ENGL 1A
Units/Hours: 3 units/3 lecture hours, 1 TBA lab hour
Prerequisite: Tenth grade reading level on a standardized test, or READ 10 with a “C” grade or better; and English 52 with a “C” grade or better or qualification through assessment of skills using multiple measures.

Sections: 0304
Location: Life Sci 3
Days/Times: MTWTh 1:00-1:50 p.m.

English 1A is a composition course focusing on unity, clarity, coherence and vitality of expository communication within the sentence, paragraph, and essay. Students will increase skill in diction, syntax, style, and thesis development. The course requires frequent writing assignments totaling a minimum of 8,000 words. Support hour.

Steven Reynolds

Regarding office hours: The purpose of holding "office hours" is to give students the opportunity to meet with the instructor one-to-one to discuss issues related to the course or related to the college.  If you are on campus, you may just drop in during those times.  If my scheduled office hours do not fit your schedule, please call ahead to arrange an alternate meeting time. 

A student who completes this course should be able to:

1. Understand the stages of the writing process and use them to construct effective, well-structured paragraphs and essays free from elementary errors in grammar, mechanics, and spelling.
2. Identify, analyze, and compose paragraphs and essays in several rhetorical modes.
3. Identify, analyze, and assess individual strengths and weaknesses in his/her writing, including thesis development, organization and structure, development of details, coherence, clarity, pacing, diction, stereotyped thinking, and syntax.
4. Identify and verify facts, draw and assess inferences, distinguish between fact and opinion, and recognize the distinction between assumptions and opinions.
5. Discuss the distinctive qualities of works written by writers from diverse backgrounds.
6. Demonstrate information competency and research writing skills:
   • Determine information requirements for the research question, problem, or issue.
   • Use information technology tools to locate and retrieve relevant information.
   • Analyze and evaluate information.
   • Understand the ethical and legal issues surrounding information and information technology
   • Integrate information into an essay with quotations, paraphrases, and summaries.
7. Understand how to avoid plagiarism through proper documentation of sources.

1. Required Text 1:  Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2009. ISBN 0-312-59332-5.
2. Required Text 2: Selzer, Jack. Conversations. 6th ed. New York: Pearson, 2006. ISBN 0-321-31741-6.
3. Any good college dictionary.
4. Any good thesaurus, to help you find the right word.
5. A three-ring loose leaf binder.
6. Plenty of college-ruled filler paper.
7. Reliable access to a reliable computer.
8. Zip drives, flash drives, email, or your preferred way to transfer files from school computer to home computer.
9. Pens, pencils, and at least one highlighter pen.

(HELPFUL HINT: Textbooks are most easily acquired from the COS Bookstore.  However, if you are unable to get to campus, you can order your books online at Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, or Borders Bookstore.  If you order textbooks online, do so quickly to make certain you have your books before the first day of class!)

Deadlines 
        I adhere closely to the published schedule of assignments. Consequently, no assignment should catch you by surprise, and there should be no reason why any assignment should not be turned in on time. 

Reading Assignments
        All reading should be completed prior to the class date at which it will be discussed. 

Writing Assignment Deadlines
        Writing assignment deadlines: Each assignment is to be handed in at the beginning of the class period on the date the assignment is due. Do not get behind in your writing. This is a writing intensive course. There will be several types of writing assignments during the semester:

• Essays (10), various drafts of each.
• Summaries, critical responses, exercises, and other assignments.

Late Work and Make-up Work
        Generally, no late work will be accepted, and there will be no make-up work or extra credit work allowed for missed assignments. This policy will be negotiated only in the event of absences due to documented emergencies, and then only if the student has notified the instructor in a timely manner.

Attendance Requirements
       Attendance policies are outlined in your COS student handbook. The bottom line is that if you want your reading and writing skills to improve, you should simply expect to attend every class session. Also, be aware:

• There are no excused absences.
• If you have to be absent, you should notify the instructor in advance.
• If you do not call, your absence will be written down as a "no show."
• Make-up work or negotiations for late work will not be allowed for "no shows."
• It is your responsibility to find out what lecture material you have missed.
• After three (3) consecutive absences, you may be dropped from the course.

Dropping the Class
        It is the student's responsibility to complete the necessary paperwork for dropping a course.

The Support Hour (a.k.a. The "4th" Hour)
        You must spend one hour per week in the Computer Center of the LRC. This 4th Hour will give you resources to help you succeed in English 1A. During that time you can receive one-to-one help in English or in word processing. During that hour, you can also meet with the instructor in the LRC for one-to-one help, but you must make an appointment in advance to do so.

How It's Figured
       Your grade for the course will be determined by your successful completion of all assignments.  The assignments are weighted according to the following percentages: 

Support Hour Quizzes and Exams Deadlines Midterm Portfolio Final Portfolio

2%  23% 25% 25%  ___25%  100%

Grading Scale
        Grades will be determined according to the following scale:  

A  B  C  D  F

90-100 80-89 70-79 60-69 59 or below

Excellent Good OK Needs work  Serious problems

        Although a D is sometimes considered a passing grade, it will not satisfy graduation requirements for Area A in General Education, and it will not transfer to a four-year university. Therefore, if you receive a "D" for the course, you will need to repeat English 1A.

What Gets Graded
Here is a list of the various assignments that you will complete for this class.

• Support Hour: You must complete at least 17 hours of work in the Computer Center of the LRC (one hour per week). This time can be spent conducting research, working on drafts of your papers, or working with tutors. (percentage grade)
• Deadlines: You will receive one point for every assignment that you turn in on time. (percentage grade)
• Journal: You should keep a journal of ideas that you can use for writing essays, summaries, and critical responses. (not graded, but recommended)
• Summaries: You will write academic summaries of some of the readings from the text book. (not graded, but counted in the deadlines)
• Critical responses: You will write critical responses to some of the readings from the textbook. (not graded, but counted in the deadlines)
• Résumé and application letter: You will create two work-related documents. (not graded, but counted in the deadlines and assessed in the final portfolio)
• Quizzes: These will be quick, multiple choice quizzes to help you remember and apply the rules for grammar, punctuation, and documentation. (percentage grade)
• Exams: You will take one midterm and one final exam. These exams will test your ability to compose essays on the spot. (percentage or letter grade)
• Essays: You will compose various drafts of ten essays this semester. (not graded, but counted in the deadlines)
• Portfolios: You will present your best essays in two portfolios. The essays will not be graded individually, but you will receive one grade for your body of work. (letter grade)

Evaluation of Essays
        Your essays will be evaluated through the use of portfolios, which will work as follows: during the semester your peers will comment on your essays. I will also comment on them and give constructive feedback. You will then revise the essays and make them better, changing content where needed and polishing up any errors. At midterm and at the end of the semester you will submit your work in a portfolio, and at those times the work will be graded—one grade for the body of work. Individual drafts will receive no grades during the semester, but you should be able to gauge your progress from the comments you receive during the revision process. Comments can be interpreted as follows:

"Excellent!" or "Superb!" = A
"Good!" = B
"OK" = C
"Needs work" = D
"Incomplete," "Where is it?" or "This is not your work" = F

A Note About Plagiarism:

          These examples are not all inclusive of every possible form of plagiarism and should not be considered as such.

Academic Accommodations: Students have the right to request reasonable modifications to college requirements, services, facilities or programs if their documented disability imposes an educational limitation or impedes access to requirements, services, facilities or programs. A student with a disability who requests a modification, accommodation, or adjustment is responsible for requesting necessary accommodations by identifying himself/herself to the instructor and, if desired, to Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSP&S) in Eddy Hall 1.

Students with a print disability—a visual limitation or reading difficulty that limits access to traditional print materials—may request printed materials in an alternative media format. Examples of alternative media formats include electronic format (e.g., text on CD), Braille, tactile graphics, audiotape, and/or large print. Students can make alternative media requests through DSP&S in Eddy Hall 1, 938-5297.

Students who consult or request assistance from DSP&S regarding specific modifications, accommodations, adjustments, alternative text or use of auxiliary aids will be required to meet timelines and procedural requirements established by the DSP&S office.

Tutoring: Tutoring services are provided by the college at no cost to students. If you would like to request a tutor to meet with you regularly to help you learn material from this or any class, contact Cindy Shipley in the Academic Success Center, 938-5514.

Student Sensitivity: Students, staff and faculty at College of the Siskiyous may have allergies, environmental illnesses, multiple chemical sensitivity, or related disabilities. Please keep this in mind when selecting and applying personal care products. In addition, if you smoke, please do so only in designated smoking areas while you are on campus.

Classroom Etiquette:
Please . . .

• Turn off all electronic devices: cell phones, I-pods, blackberries, etc. 
  Exception—you may use a laptop for note taking.
• Do not wear headsets, hats, or sunglasses in class.
• Speak loudly so that people can hear you at the far end.
• Treat others as you would like to be treated.
• Respect everyone's opinions; there will be a lot of them.
• Support your claims and opinions with evidence.