Course Syllabus

Fall 2025 | ENG-1061-VM02 - English Composition

In Person Class

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

Faculty

Roger Cranse
View Faculty Credentials

Hiring Coordinator for this course: Jennifer Gundy

General Education Requirements

English Composition

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 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. Discuss the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the writing process, including appropriate use, prompting techniques, and proper attribution.
8. 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 computer recommendations Support page.

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.

Fall 2025 textbook details will be available on 2025-05-19. 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-VM02 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

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

• Close reading, analysis, and discussion of essays, research papers, and other materials.
• Explication of assigned reading materials.
• Instruction on various kinds of writing including narration, description, argumentation, and thesis-driven research.
• Instruction on sentence construction.
• Instruction on research strategies and methods of inquiry.
• Regular writing assignments.
• Regular in-class discussions and readings.

Evaluation Criteria

• Research paper 35%
• Report 15%
• Argumentation paper 15%
• Personal essay 15%
• Shorter writing assignments 20%

The research paper must receive a grade of "C" or better for the student to pass this course.

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

Class rules

• Attendance at every class is required. If you must be absent for personal emergency or illness, contact me ahead of time by e-mail or in-person. More than three unexcused absences will result in a grade of "F." If you are experiencing cough, fever, or shortness of breath, do not come to class; your absence will not count against you.
• If you miss class or homework due to illness or other reasons, contact me and I will work with you to devise a plan to make up the missed work.

• Bring your book and other materials to class and be on time.
• Stay focused, no side conversations, stow your smartphone and computer (flipped sessions excepted for computer), and no profanity in class. See also CCV’s Student Code of Conduct Policy and Procedures.
• We will take one or two breaks during a class session. Please do not leave the room otherwise.
• FERPA. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ensures that your performance and grades are strictly confidential. I cannot share these with other students, faculty, spouses, friends, and parents. I can share these with your CCV advisor. If you sign a waiver, I can also share these with your parents or other person(s) you designate. I believe this law is a fine protection of students’ work.

Preparation for class

• Complete your homework properly for every class. Bring your textbook and handouts to class!
• We’ll have a number of handouts. Get a folder to put these in.
• Please also keep a notebook devoted to instructive sentences.
• Have your pad and pencil or pen at the ready to take notes in class.

Homework

• As a general rule, shorter reading assignments should be read twice. Keep a highlighter, pen, or pencil handy for marking significant passages in the text and passages that particularly please you.
• Written homework should be typed and doubled-spaced using a 12-point font. Proofread your work carefully before submitting. Written homework may be submitted on paper in class or on Canvas in Assignments.

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

Apply Now for this semester.