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Syllabus / 151 English Composition
ONLINE /
Dr. John Holladay
English Composition 151--Monroe County Community College
Dr. John Holladay, Humanities Professor
English 151 Syllabus--Fall
2008
Three Credits
Office Hours:
Tuesday/Thursday 8:30-9:30 AM, 11-12:30
PM
Phone: Voice mail: 734-384-4155
Please call or write if you'd like to make an
appointment.
Texts and supplies:
SF Writer 4th ed. / Ruszkiewicz, Seward, and
Hairston ISBN 0-13-233458-5
A
Recent Version of MS Word
Greetings Fellow Writers--and Future Writers:
Perhaps English 151 is a requirement for your college degree. If your past
experiences with writing courses have not been good ones, your attitude towards a writing
course may be one of vague fears and uneasiness about the semester ahead. Let
me assure you, by the end of the semester you will find newly gained confidence and ease
with writing--and you will probably enjoy the experience.
Your primary responsibility in this class is writing, frequently and vigorously.
You will be asked to write several times a week. You will be writing on a computer
for the whole writing process. I, for one, found the shift from hand-written
composition to composing at the keyboard difficult at first, but that did not last too
long. Stick with it, and, if this is now a problem, you will find the difficulty short-term and surmountable.
Each student in this class will write a sequence of projects.
In this class you will also find yourself writing in
discussion forums to communicate with others. Your audience for this sequence of
assignments will be this class, MCCC Writing Fellows, and, of course, you instructor.
You will be reviewing each other's papers throughout the semester. You will
present your paper to an assigned group of students, and they will respond, both in
general and on specific aspects of writing. This will probably help you become a better
reader and a more perceptive critic of your own and other writer's work.
I, of course, will respond to your work too, but my responses will not always be in the
form of a letter grade. I keep a record of all your work, and if you ever want to
know how you're doing, call on the phone, send email, or
come to my office and ask. You may also
check your grade in the Blackboard Gradebook (see under Tools).
Indeed, stop in during office hours any time. I will also send you your mid-term grade
by email, and, for those who can attend, we will have a conference to discuss your progress. The main idea of the
class is to make you your own best editor and critic so that you can leave English 151
knowing how to approach writing to the best of your ability.
I have been teaching 151 English Composition for thirty-nine years, and
there are no guarantees, but based on past
performance, I feel confident in predicting that if you attend all sessions, participate
in all assignments, and complete all your individual and group work on time, you will
almost certainly be writing well enough to receive a "C" for this class. If your
writing improves and much work is evident, you will probably receive a "B," and
if you are writing really well by the end of the semester, and you have participated
enthusiastically and completely in all activities, you will receive an "A."
ATTENDANCE: You must work online several times a week
and show evidence of this in the online classroom.
You are allowed only two late assignments before late assignments begin to
affect your grade.
Be
aware of the College’s policy on withdrawals as printed in the Student
Handbook: If you drop any class before
the end of the twelfth week, you will receive an automatic grade of
W. If you drop any class after the twelfth week, you will receive an E in
the course. This is now the policy in all MCCC courses.
GRADING: Your grade will be based on the following
proportions:
(Note: These numbers are projected totals and may change.)
WRITTEN WORK
60 % / Formal Writing Projects (These
are the essays we work through on the discussion boards with peer responses
and writing fellow responses.)
[The 60% listed above will be based on final grades
when they appear in two portfolios: midterm portfolio (30%) and final
portfolio (30%). The final grade for each portfolio will factor in
these three items: first draft, peer responses to others' first drafts, final
draft.]
30% / Average of Quizzes and Short Writing Assignments
that I edit and grade
10% / Discussion Board Assignments / Forums,
early drafts, peer responses, and rubric responses
Final Grade = 60%+30%+10% = 100%
TOTAL 100 POINTS
"A"=90 to 100 percent / "B"=80 to 89 percent / "C"=70 to
79 percent / "D"=60 to 69 percent
STUDENT CONDUCT: Appropriate student conduct as defined by
the Monroe County Community College Student Conduct Code will be expected of students at
all times. See the MCCC Catalog.
LATE PAPERS: You
will not receive credit for late papers/projects. A paper not
submitted by the time it is due is late. You can avoid last-minute
computer problems by NOT waiting until the last minute to submit
assignments. I will excuse two late assignments. After that, all
late assignments will receive a zero.
Plagiarism: Any act
of plagiarism will cause the student to
fail the course.
Students with Disabilities
We will make appropriate accommodations based on a student's
disability. If you do have a disability but have not voluntarily disclosed the
nature of your disability and do not have the support you need, you are invited to contact
the coordinator of the Learning Assistance Lab, Dr. Cindy Riedel, at criedel@monroeccc.edu.
I am looking forward to getting to know each of you through your writing and in our
individual conferences. If you write honestly and enthusiastically about what you really
know, you will find the course to be a stimulating, educational, and rewarding experience.
Please send comments or additions/corrections to:
jholladay@monroeccc.edu
John Holladay, Ed.D., Humanities Professor
Monroe County Community College
1555 S. Raisinville Road
Monroe, Michigan 48161
| Also, as soon as you have
registered for the class, please send Dr. Holladay your email address at the following
location: jholladay@monroeccc.edu
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