Course Syllabus

English Composition

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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.

Fall 2024 textbook details will be available on 2024-05-20. 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.

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

• • Instructor and Student led whole-class discussions
  • Feedback from the Instructor
  • Activities including journals, discussions, and essays
  • Close reading and genre writing assignments
  • Mid-term exam
  • Research project of the student's choosing

*this course is 7 weeks long, it moves quickly and that is why I recommend ordering the textbooks for receipt before class starts.

Weeks run from Tuesday - Monday in Canvas, online. Discussion forums are where we work as a group to review class readings & exercises. Students share your own work and also feedback (peer review) with classmates. While student journals are reviewed only with the teacher.

The "Questions about Homework" forum is also held every week and questions about the course in general or a specific assignment are always welcome. Others may be wondering about the same thing and will see responses to your question so everybody learns.

One original* essay is due approximately every week. Generally 1-2 pages double spaced, although the final original* research paper is approximately 7 double spaced pages.

* original work means that the paper is researched and written by the student this semester, for this class.

Office Hours (optional):

While zoom meetings are not required for this class, I am available to meet with you by appointment throughout the semester.

• • Office Hours take place online over Zoom
  • Students who wish to schedule an Office Hours meeting willemail me with their availability and we will decide on a day & time: penelope.nolte@ccv.edu

Evaluation Criteria

• 20% Homework (readings and essay assignments)
• 35% Attendance and Participation (journals and discussions)
• 35% 7-10 Page Research Project
• 10% Mid-term reflection

Please note, our syllabus is subject to change as needed. Canvas will always have the most current list of assignments & due dates.

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

To be present for attendance, post your original work in Canvas each week and take part in class discussions of the assigned prompt. Guidelines for class discussion are shared in Canvas.

Missing & Late Work Policy

Discussions and other assignments will close after two (2) weeks. If you are unable to post your homework on time please let me know as soon as you can safely do so. Homework that is more than 1 week late will lose 25% of points otherwise earned, unless extenuating circumstances that prevented its posting are communicated to me and to your Academic Advisor.

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