ENGLISH 101: ENGLISH COMPOSITION I

Syllabus, Summer Quarter 2015

Cara N. Stoddard | carast@bigbend.edu
Office # 1618 | Classroom # 1607 | 10:15AM-12:15PM
Summer Office Hours: by appointment only

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an introduction to college-level reading and writing and is designed to improve your critical thinking,
reading, and written communication skills. In this course you will learn strategies for critical reading and analysis,
drafting and revising essays, performing academic research, and properly attributing your sources using MLA citation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of the course, you should be very good at doing the following:
1. Comprehending college-level and professional prose and analyzing how authors present their ideas in view of
their probable purposes, audiences, and occasions.
2. Presenting your ideas as related to, but clearly distinguished from, the ideas of others (including the ability to
paraphrase, summarize, and correctly cite and document borrowed material).
3. Identifying rhetorical appeals in texts and advertisements and assessing their effect on an intended audience.
4. Developing a central claim (thesis) that follows one of the four ways to respond:
Agreeing with the thesis of the orig. text, but with a difference (adding something new)
Disagreeing based on factual merit (by poking holes in the support used in orig. text)
Disagreeing because of holes in the orig. argument (and adding neglected info)
Taking a middle ground by agreeing and disagreeing simultaneously, favoring one or the other
5. Supporting/illustrating your central claim (thesis) clearly and logically.
6. Gathering and evaluating information using the library resources and using your sources in service of persuading
your audience.
7. Using a variety of strategies during the prewriting or invention process including making a formal outline and
using a Research Log.
8. Revising holistically in an attempt to re-see how to best achieve what it is you are trying to communicate to an
audience in any given assignment.
9. Accurately proofreading your own work in order to produce writing that maintains the conventions of published
English.
10. Giving and receiving constructive feedback during peer review.
Of course, I expect that you are able to carry out some of these tasks already.

TEXTBOOK:
They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Third Edition
by: Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein | ISBN # 9780393935844

DEADLINES FOR MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all essays are due by 10:15AM on the day listed.
Monday, July 6
Monday, July 6
Tuesday, July 7
Monday, July 13
Tuesday, July 14
Monday, July 20
Tuesday, July 21
Tuesday, August 4
Thursday, August 6
Thursday, August 6
Wednesday, August 12

LAST DAY TO ADD A CLASS

1st Draft Essay 1Selma Movie Critique (Print copy)
Final Draft Essay 1Selma Movie Critique (Submit on Canvas)
1st Draft Essay 2Summarizing & Paraphrasing (Print copy)
Final Draft Essay 2Summarizing & Paraphrasing (Submit on Canvas)
1st Draft Essay 3Agree Argument (Print Copy)
Final Draft Essay 3Agree Argument (Submit on Canvas)
LAST DAY TO DROP A CLASS
1st Draft Essay 4Disagree Argument (Print Copy)
Final Draft Essay 4Disagree Argument (Submit on Canvas by midnight)
Revision of Essay 3 or Essay 4Capstone (Submit on Canvas)

ATTENDANCE:
Attendance in English 101 is mandatory and a significant determining factor of your grade. Since the summer quarter is
so much shorter than during the regular school year, we have doubled the in-class time per day from one hour to two
hours. So, for the sake of getting the most out of this class as possible, I encourage you to come to class every day, even
if you can only make it to part of class or if you come late for the second half or have to leave early. I count each hour of
class as a an absence. If you miss more than two classesor four hoursof class, your grade will be dropped by
10%. Missing four classesor eight hoursof class is grounds for failing the class.
Thus, plan for unforeseen illnesses or travel plans later in the summer. Only absences for bereavement, hospitalization,
or previously scheduled college Sponsored Events or Activities (see Student Handbook for definition) are considered
excused absences. Whenever possible, please notify me before the excused absence to be sure to get any handouts
you might miss in class. Every other kind of absence including car trouble, illnesses and doctors appointments, and
being called into cover a co-workers shift at work is considered unexcused and counts toward your two allowed
absences.
In the case of a personal or family emergency, please be in contact with me via email about the situation, and I will do
my best to accommodate you. In the case of bereavement leave or a mental/physical health emergency for you or one
of your dependents requiring you miss more than one day in a row, you will be expected to keep up with your
coursework via Canvas. Arrangements will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Being in attendance means being physically present, awake, coherent, and fully prepared for class with the readings and
homework completed. If you do not meet all of these conditions you will be marked absent for the day. Coming in more
than 15 minutes late or leaving more than 15 minutes early will result in being marked absent for one hour of the twohour class (or a of your 2 allowed absences). Inappropriate use of cell phones, laptops, or tablets in class will result in
an unexcused absence. You are responsible for making up all of the work that you missed during an absence. Please see
me during office hours or schedule an appointment before the next scheduled class.

COURSE TRAJECTORY:
Week 1

Wed July 1begin watching Selma

Thurs July 2Rotten Tomatoes critiques,
begin work on Essay 1 (1801)

Week 2

Mon July 6Peer Review

Tue July 7listen to and discuss Obamas Selma speech
Wed July 8Paraphrase Tips and Tricks
Thurs July 9Quote Sandwiches

Mon July 6Shelby County v. Holder (1801)

Tue July 7Annotate Obamas Selma speech (1801)
Wed July 8Paraphrase Practice
Thurs July 9Intro PIE, Quote Sandwich Practice (1801)

Week 3

Mon July 13Peer Review

Tue July 14This American Life Cops See It Differently Pt. I
Wed July 15TAL Cops See It Differently Pt. 2
Thurs July 16Topic Sentence Review (Claims)

Mon July 13Watch & Annotate James Comeys speech (1801)

Tue July 14Research Eric Garner (1801)
Wed July 15Research Michael Brown (1801)
Thurs July 16work on Essay 3 (1801)

Week 4

Mon July 20Peer Review

Tue July 21On Point with Tom Ashbrook re: Baltimore
Wed July 22DeVega & Haleem close reading
Thurs July 23Socratic Seminar

Mon July 20Using the Known-New Contract to Transition

Tue July 21Research Freddie Gray & Balt. Protests (1801)
Wed July 22Webber v. Blackwell & Schwarzwalder articles
Thurs July 23Socratic Seminar

Mon July 27Counterarguments & Rebuttals

Tue July 28Database Intro, Opposing Viewpoints (1801)
Wed July 29Workshop Counterargument/Rebuttal
Thurs July 30POC or Thug: the Medias Rhetoric

Mon July 27Library Database Intro, Proquest (1801)

Tue July 28Research Time Cont. (1801)
Wed July 29POC or Thug: the Medias Rhetoric (1801)
Thurs July 30Project Implicit (1801)

Mon Aug 3Workshop Intro paragraph

Tue Aug 4Workshop Body Para. 1 & 2
Wed Aug 5Workshop Conclusion
Thurs Aug 6Peer Review

Mon Aug 3TAL Is This Working

Tues Aug 4close reading of Claudia Rankine Citizen excerpt
Wed Aug 5close reading of Blindspot excerpt
Thurs Aug 6work on Essay 4 (1801)
**TURN IN Essay 4 ON CANVAS by midnight Thurs.
Mon Aug 10Group Presentations
Tue Aug 11Optional Class: Conferences/Work Time (1801)
Wed Aug 12Reflection Letter

Week 7

Wed July 1Introductions, Syllabus, Course Policies

Thurs July 2Selma (cont.)

Week 5

Second hour of class

Week 6

First hour of class

Mon Aug 10Group Presentations

Tue Aug 11Optional Class: Conferences/Work Time (1801)
Wed Aug 12Re-visit Essay 1 (1801)

COURSE ETIQUETTE:
Classroom citizenship. The classroom is a learning community. Any behavior that disrupts this community will not be
tolerated. This includes speaking to other students while I am talking, sleeping in class, passing notes, being rude or
belligerent to me or other students, etc. This is a discussion-based course, and I expect you to treat each other with
dignity and respect. We will be discussing sensitive topics and reading each others personal writing in this course.
Please be considerate of others ideas and beliefs and do not discuss the content of others papers with students outside
of this class. In accordance with Big Bends Discrimination Policy, disrespect or discrimination towards students based on
race, color, national origin, ethnicity, citizen status, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status,

age, or religion will not be tolerated. If you feel your well-being is being jeopardized or you have observed someone
else being treated disrespectfully, please come speak to me about it privately after class or during my office hours.
Readings. In accordance with Big Bends mission statement to encourage multiculturalism, this class has been
intentionally designed to include readings that represent a diverse set of cultures and peoples and express points of
view on controversial contemporary social and political issues. In this class we may discuss, read, write about, or view
texts that you disagree with or find offensive. Such texts are not necessarily condoned, but rather used to prompt
discussion and explore ideas that may be outside of our individual preferences and comfort levels. In this college
classroom you are required to engage maturely and academically with all texts, regardless of their content or rating.
Please email or see me privately during office hours if you have any questions about this policy.

Technology. In order to promote habits and skill-sets unique to scholars of the 21st century, this course has a heavy
emphasis on the use of technology. You will be expected to check our Canvas page every day for a detailed description
of the homework, and you will be submitting your homework and essays on Canvas and receiving important margin
notes and feedback on your writing from your instructor on Canvas.
It is my expectation that you purchase and use Microsoft Word for all typed assignments in this class. If you cannot get
Word on your personal or home computer, you will need to schedule at least an additional hour per day and several
hours over the weekends to spend on campus using the computers in the library.
Having said that, more often than not, during class time, technological devices serve as distractions to you and the
people around you, so please silence and put away your phones at the start of class. There will certainly be exceptions
to this rule, when I will allow you, even encourage you, to use your smart phone or device in class, but I will notify you
when it is appropriate to take out your phone. Texting, taking calls, and checking the time on your cell phone is not
permitted in class. Any use of technology in class, including receiving audible texts or calls, will result in an unexcused
absence for that day.

LATE WORK:
Homework and essays are due at the beginning of class. I do not accept late homework or Canvas quizzes. You will
receive a zero on the assignment if you do not have it with you or submitted on Canvas by the time class starts on the
day it is due.
The one-time-only exception to this no late work policy is when using your Stuff Happens coupon distributed on the
first day of class. This coupon allows you to turn in the assignment one class period late; however, you still must
complete the assignment in order to get the points. You may only use this coupon once per quarter, and it is only
applicable on homework assignments and Canvas quizzes (not on essay drafts).

In the case of a late 1st Draft, you will receive a 0/10 on Peer Review. A late final draft will be graded as follows:
Within 24 hours = 10% point reduction
2 days late = 20% reduction
3 or more days late = 30% reduction

Note: Because of the extensive and time-consuming nature of the comments I make on each student essay I read, I
usually take 1 full week (4 class periods) to grade and return essays. Thank you in advance for your patience. If you
have questions on a draft while you wait for formal feedback, dont hesitate to come by my office during office hours (or
email me a time) and we can look through your essay together.

PLAGIARISM:
I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that you will do honest work and that you will work with me
on improving writing that is your own. But plagiarism is a serious matter, and incidents of it have been on the rise both
at Big Bend and nationally. So I feel that it is important to explain what the consequences are.
The two basic kinds of plagiarism:
1. Malicious or intentional. This is the most serious kind of academic theft. It involves presenting someone elses
work as your own, directly copying from a source without using quotation marks or citations, rephrasing and
summarizing without citations, or re-submitting your own work from a different quarter or different course.
2. Plagia-phrasing or mosaic plagiarism. This is when you use quotation marks around large chunks of text from
a source that you wanted to quote or when you use a paraphrase that has too many of the same words as the
original text. Even if you cite these texts as a general sources at the end of the essay in a Works Cited, this is still
considered plagiarism because, in the act of trying to use a quote sandwich or re-word the passage into your
own words, you ended up relying too heavily on someone elses ideas and wording. This kind of plagiarism also
involves integrating source material (as a quote or paraphrase) without citing your source in the sentences /
paragraphs themselves (in other words you are missing the in-text citation). Even if several different sources
were copied or combined, it is still plagiarism.
The consequences of plagiarism:
If any essay or homework assignment involves plagiarism of the first kind (malicious or intentional) you will receive a 0
on that assignment and will not be allowed to re-do the assignment for a better grade.
If an essay involves plagiarism of the second kind (mosaic plagiarism with missing in-text citations) you will be required
to come to set up an appointment outside of class time to work on accurately summarizing and using in-text citations.
Then you will have 24 hours from this meeting to rewrite and re-submit the paper using correct forms of
documentation in order to receive creditI will regrade the essay with a 10% deduction for it being late.
Additionally, if any of your writing over the course of this quarter involves plagiarism of the first kind (malicious or
intentional), I am empowered by the Student Code of Conduct to assign a grade of F for the course, a penalty that may

be imposed in particularly serious cases and I will also make a complaint to the Vice President of Student Services, who is
responsible for enforcing the regulations in the Student Code of Conduct. So, in addition to the academic penalty of
receiving an F in the course, you may also be subject to other disciplinary penalties, which can include suspension or
expulsion. Although such severe penalties are rarely imposed for first-time offenders, the Vice President of Student
Services Office maintains disciplinary records as part of a students overall academic record.
A final word on plagiarism: I understand the occasional temptation to use copy-pastebut I am surprisingly good at
recognizing plagiarism. My basic message is Do Not Do It. When you need to take something from another persons
workan idea, a powerful statement, a set of facts, or an explanationcite your source.

GRADING:
The majority of the points for this course come from daily assignments and participation, so be sure to keep up with the
daily readings and homeworks. Simply turning in final papers will not result in a passing grade in this class. Your
percentage in the class is based out of 515 points (subject to change). You must turn in all 4 essays and receive at least
307 points to pass this class. In order to receive a 2.0 (the grade required for this course to transfer to most 4-year
colleges), you will have to receive a minimum of 374 points.
The points are distributed as follows:
Unit 1Selma Critique (50)
Selma Background Info (10)
Essay 1 Peer Review (10)
TSIS Intro + Ch. 1 Quiz (10)
Essay 1 Final Draft (15)
In the News DB (5)

Unit 2Paraphrasing & Quoting

(110)
Shelby Co. v. Holder Notes (10)
Obama Speech Annotations (10)
TSIS Ch. 2 Quiz (10)
TSIS Ch. 3 Quiz (10)
Essay 2 Peer Review (10)
Essay 2 Final Draft (50)
In the News DB (5)
Blue Books (5)

Unit 3Agree Argument (185)

TAL Cops Pt. 1 Notes (10)
TAL Cops Pt. 2 Notes (10)
Comey Speech Annotations (10)
Eric Garner Notes (10)
Michael Brown Notes (10)
TSIS Ch. 4 Quiz (5)
TSIS Ch. 6 Quiz (10)
Essay 3 Peer Review (10)
Essay 3 Final Draft (50)
In the News DB (5)
Blue Books (5)
Midterm (50)

Unit 4Disagree Argument (170)

On Point: Baltimore Notes (10)
Freddie Gray Notes (10)
Socratic Seminar (5)
Annotated Bibliography (15)
TAL Is This Working Notes (10)
Citizen Notes (10)
Blindspot Notes (10)
Essay 4 Peer Review (10)
Essay 4 Final Draft (50)
Quality of Revision (10)
In the News DB (5)
PresentationOral (5)
PresentationWritten (10)
Blue Books (5)
Reflection Letter (5)

Grading Scale:
A
B

Represents achievement that is outstanding or superior relative to the level necessary to meet the requirements of the
course.
Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet the requirements of the course.

Grades of A or B are honors grades. You must do something above and beyond the min. requirements in order to earn an A or B.
C
D

Represents achievement that meets the basic requirements in every respect. It signifies that the work is average, but
nothing more.
Represents achievement that meets some but not all of the basic requirements. It signifies that a significant amount of
coursework is either missing or received not-passing grades.
If you receive less than 307 points in the course or fail to hand in one of the 4 major writing assignments, you will
automatically earn an F. If your average grade is a D but you did not complete one of the major components of the
course (one of the 4 major papers), you will automatically earn an F in the course. Accumulating more than eight
absences also will result in an F. There is no reason for receiving an F in this course unless you simply fail to submit the
required work.
Stands for Incomplete. Under very unusual circumstances you could be assigned an Incomplete in the course if
something happened to you within the last two weeks of the quarter that made it impossible to complete the course

(a serious accident or illness that left you hospitalized and very significant personal tragedy, etc.)

%
95-100
94
92-93
91

A
= GPA
= 4.0
= 3.8
= 3.7
= 3.6

B
%
89-90
87-88
86
85
84
83
82
81
80

= GPA
= 3.5
= 3.4
= 3.3
= 3.2
= 3.1
= 3.0
= 2.9
= 2.8
= 2.7

C
%
= GPA
79
= 2.6
78
= 2.5
77
= 2.4
76
= 2.3
75
= 2.2
74
= 2.1
73
= 2.0
----------transfer cut-off----------72
= 1.9
71
= 1.8
70
= 1.7

%
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62
61
60
<60

D
= GPA
= 1.6
= 1.5
= 1.4
= 1.3
= 1.2
= 1.1
= 1.0
= 0.9
= 0.8
= 0.7
= 0.0 (F)

Re-doing Final Drafts. I will allow you to re-submit Essays 1, Essay 2, or Essay 3 again after the Final Draft due date if you
turned the essay in on time and received a D or F (except in the case of plagiarism), and I will average the two Final Draft
grades. All revised Final Drafts must be turned in on or before Wednesday, August 12 by 12:15PM.
A Note on Transferring. While any grade above a .7 (60%) is considered passing at Big Bend, many programs and
colleges require a 2.0 or higher in order to transfer credits earned in a class. In addition, students who fall below a 2.0
are particularly likely to struggle in other classes that require academic writing. Speak to your advisor or transfer
colleges for details about this issue.

RESOURCES:
English Skills Lab: If you would like another reader for any of your essays or if you would like help on an essay in
between your first and final drafts, you may schedule an appointment with a tutor at the English Lab. The English Skills
Lab is Located the 1800 Building inside the Library, Room 1832.
Summer Quarter Hours:
Monday - Wednesday....9:00am - 3:00pm
Thursday - Friday.............8:00am - 3:00pm
The English Skills Lab can help with all stages of the writing process and all levels of writers, so it is not always necessary
to have a completed draft prepared in order to meet with a tutor.
Student Success Center: If you need to use a computer, to check out a laptop, or if you are struggling in any of your
classes, you can sign up for peer mentoring or supplemental instruction, contact Diana Villafana at 509.793.2369. The
Student Success Center is located in the 1400 Building and is open Mon-Thurs 8am-5pm and Fri 8am-2:30pm.
Accessibility & Disability Services: Big Bend Community College is committed to providing accommodations in academic
programs to ensure maximum participation by all students with disabilities and to minimize the functional limitations
their disabling condition has on their education. Proper procedures are in place to obtain equal access wherein the
student and college staff work together to facilitate reasonable accommodations. The Disabled Student Services Office is
located in the 1400 Building. Loralyn Allen is the disabled students liaison. Her office, located inside the Counseling
Center, is open Monday - Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To schedule an
appointment contact her at 509.793.2027.
For the hearing impaired TDD is available in the Registration/Admissions Office for incoming and outgoing calls at
telephone number 509.762.6335.