English Composition II Syllabus
English Composition II Syllabus
Course Description:
The design of this course is to facilitate the change between what was covered in English Composition 1 with more complex critical thinking and writing skills. It is a research based course. Expectations are to make arguments, consider views from others, examine bias, research topics, and work with other class members. The intention of this course is to aid you in building a base for the remainder of your college career by challenging you to study rhetoric, bias, and persuasive writing. ENGL 1100 is a prerequisite.
Course Objectives:
Students will effectively write for a variety of audiences, analyze language use, examine diverse texts, take part in research to use in papers, evaluate historical and cultural environments of a piece of writing, and to verbally discuss opinions and beliefs.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Students will read and critically evaluate sections from at least three genres, including drama, poetry, and short fiction.
- Students will identify the literary elements that distinguish each genre.
- Students will interpret, analyze, and evaluate written texts.
- Students will articulate and develop a unified, restricted, and precise thesis.
- Students will produce work that is unified, coherent, detailed, and grammatically, syntactically, and mechanically correct.
- Students will use knowledge and skills to become open-minded, curious learners and careful, critical readers who can evaluate information, form connections within a source, and between sources, discern implicit warrants within sources, and forge educated opinions based on the analysis.
- Students will develop a sensitivity to and respect for cultural norms and opinions other than their own.
- become independent researchers and autonomous learners who can recognize the objectives of a task and understand the steps necessary to complete that task.
Text:
- They Say I Say: The Moves that matter in Academic Writing 2nd Edition, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
- Additional materials provided by the instructor, Salon.com, and NewYorker.com
Academic Integrity:
Academic integrity has no grey areas; there is no such thing as cheating a “little bit”. We have the same penalty for all academic integrity violations: “Failure” for that course. All of the following are considered academic integrity violations: cheating, plagiarism, falsification of work, or any attempt to engage in these activities. Example, leaving notes open during a quiz.
Acting in an unethical manner reduces the value of an ECU course or degree to that of diploma mill universities. Everyone’s reputation would suffer. Academic integrity is not a trivial matter and is taken very seriously. For additional information on the university’s academic integrity policy, please visit http://www.ecu.edu/cs-studentlife/policyhub/academic_integrity.cfm.
ECU seeks to comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students requesting accommodations based on a disability must be registered with the Department for Disability Support Services located in Slay 138 (252-737-1016 (Voice/TTY)).
University emergency notices (including closings):
- University emergency information can be found on the ECU homepage. It is usually highlighted with a red bar that will specify the alert. http://www.ecu.edu or go to http://www.ecu.edu/alert
- Emergency hotline: 252-328-0062
Classroom Conduct:
You are in college and will be treated and respected as an adult. Because of the nature of discussion involved in this class, it is important that we respect each others opinions and values. Discipline problems will not be tolerated. Any discipline problems will result in removal from class. Phones/Beepers/IPods: All electronic devices should be turned off during class or put on silent.
Disruptive Academic Behavior:
East Carolina University is committed to providing each student with a rich, distinctive educational experience. If a student fails to follow reasonable standards of behavior in the classroom or in online discussions, may be removed from the course by the instructor following appropriate notice. Students removed from a course under this policy will receive a grade of “drop” according to university policy and are eligible for tuition refund as specified in the current tuition refund policy.
Grading Policy:
No late assignments are accepted unless discussed with the instructor prior to the due date. If you are going to miss a class, be sure to talk with the instructor prior to that class to make arrangements for due assignments. The instructor will accept assignments that are emailed BEFORE the class meets on the day the assignment is due. I will give you 5 extra points if you email me the grading and attendance policies by the end of the first week of school and state that you understand the policies.
- Research One
- Research Two
- Research Three
- Portfolio (including essays) %50
- Journals 15%
- Class Participation 10%
- Large Research Paper 25%
Participation/Attendance Policy:
Student success is largely dependent on attending class, it is important that you make an effort to attend every class session. Realizing that unavoidable emergencies may arise (such as being sick), you are allowed to miss three class sessions. A student who misses more than three will lose a letter grade for each additional absence.
- Students are allowed only three class absences.
- Students who miss class are responsible for finding out about and making up missed classwork/notes/future assignments/etc.
- Students who sleep in class or have constant side conversations that are not a part of class discussion will be asked to leave and will be considered absent.
- Extreme exceptions can be made by absences that are excused by the Dean of Student’s Office.
Class Participation:
Attendance and participation are important to your success. Your participation grade is determined by active participation in class discussions, responding to questions to demonstrate good preparation, and regular attendance. Since attendance is so important to this course, a bonus of ten points will be added to your lowest evaluation if no meetings are missed. Five points will be added if only one meeting is missed. Excessive absences will lower your grade.
*This syllabus is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.
Tentative Course Schedule of Textbook Readings and Due Dates
Week 1
Thursday: Introduction and review syllabus
Week 2
Tuesday: Ethos and Logos Review (no reading) and review MLA
Thursday: Graff & Birkenstein, pg. 30-38 & Group Activity
Week 3
Tuesday: Graff & Birkenstein, “As He Himself Puts It” & Group Activity
Thursday: Discuss personal/rhetorical analysis
Week 4
Tuesday: Work on rough draft for personal/rhetorical analysis
Thursday: Journal 1 due
Week 5
Tuesday: Peer Reviews
Thursday: Conference day
Week 6
Tuesday: Conference day
Thursday: Work on Essay 1 in class
Week 7
Tuesday: Teacher selected readings & Group Activity
Thursday: Research 1 Due
Week 8
Tuesday: Teacher selected readings & Group Activity
Thursday: Discuss textual rhetorical analysis & Group Activity
Week 9
Tuesday: Journal 2 due
Thursday: In class activity-student selected readings
Week 10
Tuesday: Work on Research 2
Thursday: Peer and short conference day
Week 11
Tuesday: Research 2 due
Thursday: Graff & Birkenstein, pg. 214-220
Week 12
Tuesday: Library visit, discuss research, and how to do an annotated bibliography
Thursday: Journal 3 due
Week 13
Tuesday: Graff & Birkenstein, pg. 405-409 & Group Activity
Thursday: Peer Reviews
Week 14
Tuesday: Research 3 due
Thursday: Class conference
Week 15
Tuesday: Work on research paper
Thursday: Discuss research paper and portfolio
Week 16
Tuesday: Research paper due
Final Exam
Monday: Portfolio Due
*This syllabus is adapted from Temple University.
