ENGLISH 210 INTRODUCTION TO ESSAY WRITING 2018

Instructor: David Shaw

Classroom Location: H 615
Dept. Office: LB 665
Office Hours: 1:30pm- 2:30pm
Telephone: (514)848-2424 (ext. 4583)
Email: david.shaw@concordia.ca

Course Description
This course is intended for students who need practice in English composition
by focusing on diction, sentence structure, punctuation, paragraph
development, and essay writing. Group work is part of this course.

Course Outcomes
· Produce prose that is free of major grammatical errors
· Create prose using writing process that integrates critical reading and
thinking, academic integrity, organization, and purpose
· Write a well-organized essay/paragraph with a clear topic and thesis to
communicate developed ideas in an appropriate voice and style for the
audience
· Combine sentences into developed paragraphs
· Combine paragraphs into essays
· Write outlines that reflect the thesis and structure of the paragraph or
essay and describe how the points will be supported by examples and
evidence

Required Texts
John Sheridan Biays, Carol Wershoven, and Lara Sauer, Along These
Lines, 5th ed., (New York: Pearson, 2016).

A good dictionary (non-electronic)

Course Requirements
2 Short essays (450–500 words) 30%
4 Sentence-to-paragraph exercises (group) 20%
3 Paragraphs (150–200 words) 30%
Final Exam 20%

Notes
· Good attendance is essential as assignments are written in class. The
writing assignments will be revised at home. Missed in-class assignments,
even if for a valid reason, cannot routinely be made up later. All at-home
 revisions are submitted or handed in with the in-class draft attached. At-
home assignments are due at the beginning of class or by the date and
time specified in the online assignment.
· Late home revisions will be penalized and will not receive correction or
written comments, although they will be assigned a grade. Assignments
more than one week late will not be accepted.
· Without exception, students will not be permitted to use electronic
devices for personal use during class time.
· The sentence to paragraph exercises are done in class in small groups.
The three paragraphs will be done individually in class. The final exam
will have two parts: a sentence-to-paragraph exercise, and a short essay.
Only non-electronic dictionaries are permitted at the exam and during
class assignments.

Plagiarism
The most common offence under the Academic Code of Conduct is plagiarism,
which the Code defines as “the presentation of the work of another person as
one’s own or without proper acknowledgement.” This includes material copied
word for word from books, journals, Internet sites, professor’s course notes, etc.
It refers to material that is paraphrased but closely resembles the original
source. It also includes for example the work of a fellow student, an answer on
a quiz, data for a lab report, a paper or assignment completed by another
student. It might be a paper purchased from any source. Plagiarism does not
refer to words alone –it can refer to copying images, graphs, tables and ideas.
“Presentation” is not limited to written work. It includes oral presentations,
computer assignment and artistic works. Finally, if you translate the work of
another person into any other language and do not cite the source, this is also
plagiarism. Put simply: Do not copy, paraphrase or translate anything from
anywhere without saying where you obtained it!
(Source: The Academic Integrity Website: concordia.ca/students/academic-
integrity )

Important Academic Dates

Monday, 17 September is the deadline for withdrawal with tuition refund
from fall term and two term courses.
Monday, 5 November is the last day for academic withdrawal from fall term
courses.

Information about Grades

A: great; the work is of near professional quality. The document meets or
exceeds all
the objectives of the assignment. The content is mature, thorough, and well-
suited for the
audience; the style is clear, accurate, and forceful; the information is well-
organized and
designed so that it is accessible and attractive; the mechanics and grammar
are correct.
B: good; the document meets the objectives of the assignment, but it needs
improvement
in style, or it contains easily correctable errors in grammar, format, or content,
or its
content lacks depth, insight, or interest.
C: competent; the document needs significant improvement in concept,
details,
development, organization, grammar, or format. It may be formally correct but
superficial
in content.
D: marginally acceptable; the document meets some of the objectives but
ignores others;
the content is inadequately developed; or it contains numerous or major errors.
F: unacceptable; the document does not have enough information, does
something other
than the assignment required, or it contains major errors or excessive errors.
When grading your papers, I will also consider your participation during the
unit, including
your participation in the draft workshop and your demonstrated response to
feedback.

Note: It will be difficult to get an "A" for the course if you miss more than two
classes or
turn your work in late. Unless you make arrangements ahead of time, late work
will be
docked one letter grade per day that it is late. Work without drafts or peer
review
participation will be not be graded.

Grading Values

Letter Grade Numeric GPA

Range
A+ 90-100 4.30

A 85-89 4.00

A- 80-84 3.70
Letter Grade Numeric GPA
Range

B+ 77-79 3.30

B 73-76 3.00

B- 70-72 2.70

C+ 67-69 2.30

C 63-66 2.00

C- 60-62 1.70

D+ 57-59 1.30

D 53-56 1.00

D- 50-52 0.70

FNS (see below) 40 0

R (see below) 20 0
Course Outline
Note: Only major assignments and due dates are listed in bold below: the
dates may be subject to change. Regular reading is listed but additional
readings may be announced as needed. Also, the order and subject of some
classes might change as needed.

Week 1 Introduction to course requirements, texts, and methods

Writing sample

Week 2 Along These Lines Chapter 1: Writing a Paragraph

Along These Lines, Chapter 13: The Simple Sentence
Review of terminology (parts of speech, parts of a sentence,
etc.)
Assignment Paragraph 1 (written in class) 5%

Week 3 Along These Lines, Chapter 3: Illustration

Along These Lines, Chapter 14: Coordination, Chapter 15:
Subordination
Assignment Paragraph 2 (written in class) 5%
Return Paragraph 1 (first draft) for at home revision.
Assignment: Paragraph 1 Final Draft due (5%)

Week 4 Along These Lines, Chapter 7: Compare and Contrast

Along These Lines, Chapter 16: Avoiding Run-on Sentences

Assignment: Paragraph 3 (written in class) 5%

Return Paragraph 2 (first draft) for at home revision.
Assignment: Paragraph 2 Final Draft due (5%)

Week 5 Along These Lines, Chapter 6: Process

Along These Lines, Chapter 17: Avoiding Sentence Fragments
Return Paragraph 3 (first draft) for at home revision
Assignment Paragraph 3 final draft due (5%)

Week 6 Along These Lines, Chapter 9: Cause and Effect

Along These Lines Chapter 18: Using Parallelism in Sentences
Assignment Editing Exercise 1 (groups; written in
class) 5%

Week 7 Along These Lines, Chapter 11: Writing an Essay

Along These Lines Chapter 18: Using Parallelism in Sentences
Along These Lines Chapter 19: Correcting Problems with
Modifiers
Assignment Essay 1 First Draft (written in class) 5%
Week 8 Along These Lines, Chapter 8: Classification
Along These Lines Chapter 20: Using Verbs Correctly
Along These Lines Chapter 21: More About Verbs
Return Essay 1 (first draft) for at-home revision
Assignment: Editing Exercise 2 (groups; written in
class) 5%
Essay 1 Final Draft due (10%)

Week 9 Along These Lines, Chapter 10: Argument

Along These Lines Chapter 22: Making Subjects and Verbs
Agree
Assignment Editing Exercise 3 (groups; written in
class) 5%

Week 10 Along These Lines Chapter 23 and 24 Pronouns

Assignment Essay 2 First Draft (written in class) 5%

Week 11 Along These Lines Chapter 25: Punctuation

Assignment. Editing Exercise 4 (groups; written in
class) 5%
Return Essay 2 for at-home revision

Week 12 Exam practice session

Essay 2 Final Draft due (10%)

Week 13 Review for exam

T.B.D. Final Exam