Our particular Syllabus
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English 1000 Summer 2008 ~ Aaron Harms
Section 6: A & S 41 M-F 1:20-2:20
Contact Information
Office: Tate 1 ~ Phone: 882-0681
MWF:9:00ish-9:50ish and by appointment
Email: aahz67@mizzou.edu AIM: old65@mac.com
Course WIKI: Home
Course BLOG: Blog
Purpose of the class
Language is the basis of thought and the highest intellectual activity we practice. It is also the way we define ourselves—who we are as a species, as individuals, as a society, and as a culture. How we use language—our word choice, style of expression, tone—can convey much about our background, education, personality, even values. Likewise, the success of communication between individuals tells much about the health of a society and its culture. In many ways, we are our language (Goshgarian 24). In general then, it's like that first graphic on the home page, it's words and worlds, and their connections. In this class, you’ll be asked to use your language, verbally and through written assignments, to communicate with me and your peers successfully and creatively. My hope is that each of you, at the close of the course, will not only be better able to write and revise your own and your peer students’ written work, but also have an understanding of the steps one takes to critically read and thoughtfully consider the other works and arguments you may encounter throughout your college careers.
Speaking of college careers, that will be a large part of our inquiry for the semester. In particular we will focus on the idea of cultural literacy. Although this is a fairly common term, definitions vary, which will be part of our discussion. In connection with cultural literacy, we'll be looking at our own campus and your college experience here, and just what it might mean for you to be a student at the University, as well as the connections that your education has (or doesn't have) to cultural literacy.
Required Textbooks
Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace, Third edition, by Joseph Williams
Additional Readings
Can be found on the Readings page
Policies and Other Stuff you should know
Our classes meet five times a week, and you are expected to attend all class periods. While you’re here, cell phones should be turned off or muted, in order to aid our concentration on the subject matter. Please don’t spend your class time texting/IMing on your phone either. While I love text, I’d rather you spend the time we have together each day with course texts instead. A typical class will include both writing and discussion. Come to class, participate in the exercises and discussions, and it will help you out on the formal papers, as well as on your final grade. Remember, if you must miss class, it’s always important to find out what you missed. To that end, you should contact me if you have missed or have to miss class. I don’t require a reason, only that you take responsibility and let me know that you will be (or are) missing class. This should be done as soon as possible after, if not before the class meeting time.
Because of the semi-online nature of our course, you should also expect to do some of the composition process in class. This may include working on papers, commenting on other students' papers, doing internet research, or other more informal writing exercises.
Late Work
Again, although you won't ever hand me an actual paper, deadlines are still deadlines. To that end, I will not accept late work. This includes out of class assignments as well as formal papers and peer reviews. If papers are due, and you know in advance that you’ll be absent, your paper should be posted prior to the due date. To be as clear as possible: If these requirements are not met, the grade for the assignment in question will be a zero.
Speaking of Grades…
The three formal papers will make up the bulk (90%) of your final grade in the course. The other 10% will be made up of responses to the readings in the textbook. Each formal paper cycle will be worth 30% of the final grade—for each cycle, you will complete 2 drafts of the paper. During the paper cycles, the percentage weight for each draft will change, with the first draft always weighted more heavily than the second. Your total percentage and the relative letter grade can be found on the grading scale below.
A 95-100
A- 90-94
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F 0-59
With this scale in mind, you should also review and consider the Rubric that I'll be using to evaluate your assignments.
Plagiarism
Academic integrity is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university. All members of the academic community must be confident that each person's work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students is dishonest whether or not the effort is successful. The academic community regards breaches of the academic integrity rules as extremely serious matters. Sanctions for such a breach may include academic sanctions from the instructor, including failing the course for any violation, to disciplinary sanctions ranging from probation to expulsion. When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, collaboration, or any other form of cheating, consult the course instructor. Academic honesty is essential to the intellectual life of the University. Thus, academic dishonesty, such as cheating and plagiarism, is a basis for disciplinary action. In all cases of academic dishonesty, the faculty member makes an academic judgment about the student’s grade on that work and in that course and reports all incidents to the provost for disciplinary action. Special Consideration for Students with Disabilities
If you need accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please inform me immediately. Please see me privately after class, or at my office.
To request academic accommodations (for example, a note taker or extended time on exams), students must also register with the Office of Disability Services, located on the web at http://disabilityservices.missouri.edu, or at S5 Memorial Union, 882-4696. It is the campus office responsible for reviewing documentation provided by students requesting academic accommodations, and for accommodations planning in cooperation with students and instructors, as needed and consistent with course requirements. For other MU resources for students with disabilities, click on "Disability Resources" on the MU homepage.
Ah, the Papers
Each of the 3 formal papers will be explained in detail during class, and there are links below to the assignment prompts as well. We will be stressing the Process of writing throughout the entire semester, that is, multiple revisions of a single paper over a period of time. This means you should be prepared to do a lot of writing, reading, and thinking, both in and out of class, for each paper. There will also be a peer review process for each paper, wherein you will comment on other students' papers. You can find the guidelines for this at Aaron's Peer Review Assignment. Furthermore, I will expect individual conferences with each of you, as well as visits to the Campus Writing Center. You are more than welcome to visit me during office hours, or contact me via email, if you have SPECIFIC questions regarding your papers. As an added bonus, I’ve included my AIM address, for real time feedback, if I happened to be logged in when you’re logged in.
Here’s a quick overview of the three papers, and a synopsis of the other assignments, so you’ll have a better idea as to what’s required for the rest of the semester.
Paper 1: Your analysis of a single text, in this case, a video about student ecology.
Paper 2: The addition of a rhetorical framework to that initial analysis.
Paper 3: The further addition of your connection to, and argument regarding, issues of student ecology and cultural literacy here at our University.
Five Single Page Style Responses: These will be 350-400 words, and will include a summary, analysis, and response to certain chapters in the Style book. Each response is worth 1% of your final grade, and they will be graded on a 10 point scale.
Five Blog Responses: This should be much like a discussion board. These are worth a total of 5% of your final grade, and will be assessed as a whole. You should make at least five posts, but you're welcome to make more, depending on the conversation.
Finally, you can reach our tentative schedule for English 1000 in the Summer of 2008.
