Course Syllabus

Spring 2024 | ENG-1061-VR02 - English Composition

In Person Class

Standard courses meet in person at CCV centers, typically once each week for the duration of the semester.

Faculty

Mary Pernal
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Collin Lee

General Education Requirements

VSCS Introductory Written Expression

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

In this course, students develop effective composition skills and research techniques. Students learn strategies for organizing, evaluating, and revising their work through extensive reading of a variety of essay styles and literary texts; apply writing and research techniques to their papers; and demonstrate proficiency in first-year college-level writing and information literacy.

Essential Objectives

1. Consistently apply an appropriate writing process that includes planning, drafting, revising, and editing.
2. Demonstrate in written work an awareness of the relationship among writer, subject, audience, and purpose.
3. Demonstrate writing proficiency with a range of rhetorical approaches to include narration, exposition, argument, and critical analysis and recognize the stylistic and structural strategies in the writing of others.
4. Discuss writing by authors from diverse (such as racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and gender) backgrounds to explore how perspectives and experiences may shape voice in composition.
5. Focus written work around an explicit central thesis, a position statement or proposition advanced by the writer that is arguable and supportable and develop the thesis systematically, using specific details and supporting evidence.
6. Compose written work that demonstrates effective use of sentence structure, paragraphing, grammar, syntax, punctuation, and spelling.
7. Demonstrate proficiency in research writing skills by completing one or more papers that:
a) Develop and support an arguable thesis;
b) Locate, evaluate, and incorporate appropriate scholarly and professional sources, including primary and secondary evidence as needed, to address an academic research question;
c) Appropriately acknowledge and document sources, using standard MLA or APA styles.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

This course uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations, along with free Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials.

Spring 2024 textbook/book details will be available on 2023-11-06. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

ENG-1061-VR02 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

For Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials details, see the Canvas Site for this class.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

Teaching will take place in class, and through comments on assignments. Everyone is encouraged to participate in class discussions. You are welcome to ask questions and seek clarification. You are also welcome to share you ideas. We will discuss various readings from our textbook and other sources. We will also discuss and debate (politely and respectfully) various topics the class generates for our final writing project. Expect this to be an interactive classroom. Your presence and input in each class, even by being a good listener for those of you who are on the quiet side, are welcome. Finally, it is important to keep up with the short reading assignments from our excellent textbook. Coming prepared to class with readings completed at home will to your success and engagement.

Evaluation Criteria

Grading for this course is broken down as follows:

Class Participation 25%

Review essay 10%

Narrative Essay 10%

Response to Environmental Article 5%

Final persuasion/research essay 20%

Midterm/Final Exams 20%

Final Presentation 5%

Short homework assignments 5%

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

All students are expected to attend class as required. Please contact me if there is an extenuating circumstance, and we can discuss a make-up assignment. Class participation is 20% of your grade. Class participation includes attendance and engagement in class discussions and activities. Each missed class lowers your class participation grade by 15 points! (I will offer the opportunity to make up one absence with a make-up assignment, but beyond that absences will steadily wear away at your class participation grade. If you miss more than three days, you will not be able to complete the covered material adequately and will not be able to receive a passing grade. In other words, more than three days out of the 15 that we meet means that you will not have enough class participation to fulfill the required contact hours to pass the class. On the positive side, showing up for class is great way to boost your grade, and perfect (or near perfect) attendance will have a significantly positive effect on your grade.

Missing & Late Work Policy

All assignments must be completed in order to pass the class. Late assignments will lose a half grade per class, unless a pre-approved extension period has been granted due to illness or extreme circumstance. ALL assignments must be in by the second to last day of class. No exceptions.

Experiential Learning Expectations

Hours: 1-5

During week three of the course, students will be writing a review of a local business or community establishment. They will need to go on their own and experience what the establishment has to offer, and they will also need to interview someone who works there. Students will receive extra credit if they try to publish their reviews in a local newspaper or publication.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity