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English 1108 with Richard Jewell - Inver Hills Community College
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Office: Business 136 |
Writing of Papers |
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On This Page
The Basics à How To Use This Page à Shortcuts à
Late Papers+Make Up
Delivery and Questions by Email
Tips--see below. ↓ --------
Tips: (1) Keeping Up with Homework
If you do homework late, you lose some attendance credit as a penalty. And late reading notes will not be accepted after Wk. 7 (for Wks. 1-5) and after Wk. 15 (for Wks. 6-15). So, it is usually very wise to keep up with the homework..
(2) Practice Makes Perfect
This class is about writing, and you will do so much of it as homework - both rough-draft and formal writing - that you can't help but become a better writer. You also will become a faster and more organized writer. So, plan on writing a lot! |
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There are a few other miscellaneous homework assignments, as well. Simply check the "Schedule" every week. Your "Course Packet" that you print out (you need two copies) also has a one-page table of assignments for the semester. Thus there are two focuses in this course: examining two nonfiction books and practicing writing and research beyond what you did in Composition I (Eng 1108): Two Focuses of Course
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How To Use This Page
This page not only describes the writing in this class in general but also describes how to do many of the weekly papers. See the links in the left-hand column for quick shortcuts to different parts of this page.
However, if you want specific directions on how to write a Draft 1, 2, 3, or 4 paper, you will need to refer to the "Course Packet." --------
Popular Shortcuts
Schedule (Dates/Wkly. Assignments)
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There are two main types of readings in this course, and several kinds of writings. First, every week, you will have one or more chapters to read from the two nonfiction books we are examining this term. I'll also ask you to write some notes about what you have read so that I know you have read the books (and so I don't have to give pop quizzes or other tests). There also will be, during the first half of the term, readings from our online writing textbook and our online grammar handbook. You'll also have to do some brief "Study Questions" about these textbook and grammar handbook readings. What about graded papers? Normally, there would be two major ones, both related in some way to the books we will read and discuss. However, this particular section of this course is different from most other composition courses in that there are no regular graded papers. Instead, there is a series of drafts of different papers, and each draft, when satisfactorily completed, receives two or more X's (depending on its difficulty). You will have as many times as you need to fix these drafts until they are right. They replace graded papers. Why am I using this system of having a lot of non-graded, X'ed drafts? It is my experience that people learn writing best from a lot of practice. I can guarantee you that by the end of this course, if you have worked hard and received a "C" or better for the course, you will be a better writer--and probably a much better, more confident writer. Students who have used this system in past terms tell me that they feel less pressure and like having as many opportunities as they can to get their papers right. This system also rewards those who work hard and work consistently. It simply is a matter of practice. Consider this course your apprenticeship in writing, as if you were apprenticed to a craftsman (me) who takes you just one step at a time and gives you plenty of chances to get each step right, as long as you are willing to keep working.
The
due dates and delivery of your homework are as follows:
LATE PAPERS and MAKE UP: "See "Late Papers and Make Up" below.
SAVING ONLINE MESSAGES: Are you ending homework by email? Always keep a copy in case your email is lost. Keep it until the end of the term. If your email system has a "sent mail" folder, you may want to not delete items from the folder until after you have received your final grade. Are you using a bulletin board (BB)? Be careful to wait until you see your message appear on the bulletin board, like other messages, before doing anything else on your computer. If you still have trouble losing BB messages, write and save them in MS Word first; then copy them to the BB and send them. ALSO: (1) Please make them in-text--in the text of your email itself--not attached. That means you should simply write them as an email message or, if you already have them on a word processing file, you should use your mouse and your "Edit" function to mark, then "Copy," and then "Paste" them into a regular email message. (2) To help me keep your paper separate from my regular email, use this subject title: Course # & section #, the Week Due, Assignment Type, and Name+Initial: e.g., "1111-99 Wk. 5 Comments Sue J.," (3) Always keep a copy until after the end of the course when you've received your course grade. (4) If you send me an email message (other than homework), please write "Question" in the subject line so I'll open it right away. Be sure your full name is somewhere in the email, too. And in the first several weeks, please remind me which course and section you're in. I ask this because I receive several dozen homework assignments each week by email, and I only open homework once or twice per week. (5-05)
If you want to know what the reading assignments are for each week, please see Dates/Weekly Assignments in this web site.
Introduction Study Questions Summaries Journals Drafts 1-4 of Papers
How to Present/Type the Weekly Papers (Study Questions & Journals) Submitting by email?
All assignments are based on the weekly "Schedule," and many of them are rough draft. The rough-draft papers may be written quickly, even sloppily, by pen or by computer printout (but Drafts 1-4 do have to be typed). You'll get a check mark for doing them and receive a grade at the end of the term for how many check marks you've received. The comments about your readings are meant to help you think more about--and better absorb--the readings. These comments also help me know that you are doing the readings. They are like lab practice in a biology course or drills in physical education or sports: for your practice and thinking. I will skim these papers quickly, but I won't usually read every word that you write, as the papers are mainly for your practice (and besides, I receive 100-400 such papers per week from my four or five classes, so I don't have time to read and comment on all). For this reason, if you have a question or want me to look at a particular place on your comments, write a note to me in dark ink or circled at the top of your paper so I will notice it! I will be glad to answer any questions you have or look more carefully at a part or a paper special to you and comment on it. By having these "practice" papers, we can avoid tests, pop quizzes, and other objective testing. All papers must be on time. Late papers are not accepted because most of them help you prepare for class discussions and activities. Most assigned papers for any given week always will be due on Wednesday or Thursday of that week (depending on whether my classes for the term are on M/W or T/Th), whether on campus or online. (And for a night class, your papers will be due at the time you show up for class.) However, there are some exceptions: see ""Due Dates & Delivery Methods" above for more. Please remember to consider the weekly writings as "lab" papers--written in very rough-draft form--without worrying about grammatical usage, spelling, or punctuation: HOW TO PRESENT THE WEEKLY PAPERS Directions:
HOW TO PRESENT THE WEEKLY PAPERS
Directions:
The main purpose of your writing "Study Questions" is to think about the assigned reading on paper: i.e., using a different part of your brain than is used in reading and in marking the text. A second purpose is to better recall what you read: studies show that the more ways you communicate--to yourself or others--what you have read, the more you tend to remember of it. And a third purpose is, simply, to prove to me that you did the reading. Please remember that though this may seem tedious, it replaces pop quizzes and tests, and it also helps almost 100% of learners remember better. Directions: There are only a few summaries. When you do a summary, you should write it with complete objectivity, never entering or allowing your own opinion in it. You should try to write the summary as if the author him or herself might write it, giving as much weight or importance to each idea as the author would, or as little. Most summaries in academic and business writing are rather short. For this class, I'd like you to write 300 words or more for each summary unless otherwise noted. Most summaries in academia and the business world are written in the form of one or several paragraphs. However, so that you can practice doing summaries well, in this class, please write them as a list of sentences, with the page numbers of the reading showing on the left, and the contents of each page or two on the right. Write a full, complete sentence for each page or two: for example, p. 1: The author discusses her experience of first discovering, at age 18, that she has cancer of the brain. pp. 2-3: She explains how the cancer was diagnosed and how she felt about it. p. 4: She talks about how her closest friends responded with a mix of fear and pity. pp. 5-6 She says she dislikes pity and that her friends' pity for her made her feel even worse than their fear. pp. 7-8....
Be sure you have a complete sentence for each page, don't do more than one or two pages per line, be sure to have the page number, and make your summary 300+ words in length. For the length, figure out how many pages you must summarize, then divide that number into 300 words: e.g., if you're going to read 60 pages, then use 300 w. / 60 = 5 words per page. As a result, for every two pages, you'd need to write a sentence about 10 words long.
How do you know what to summarize on each page in so few words? Pick out either the main idea or two in that page or two, or pick out the most important idea or two in that page or two. Directions: There are only a few journals. For the "Hello Richard" and the "Goodbye Richard" journals, write 300+ words thoughtfully and/or creatively. In the "Hello Richard" Journal, simply say hi to me, tell me about yourself, and tell me how you feel about writing of different kinds and why or how. For the "Goodbye Richard" journal, tell me how the course worked for you, what you learned, what you still need to learn, and what you hope to do with your learning about writing in the future. For the Journal about the Web site, please see the directions in the "Schedule." For all three journals, simply type/handwrite 300+ words in rough-draft form. To read how to turn in all "Journals" and "Study Questions," please see above, "How To Present the Weekly Papers." DRAFT 1, 2, 3, AND 4 PAPERSThe final type of weekly papers is the drafts of papers to write each week. You will have many drafts to write, and you will choose the subjects of them. There will be no graded papers. You'll simply receive X's for each correct draft. And if a draft isn't right, you'll have about a week in which to fix it--and even fix it again, if necessary. The only limit you will have for fixing these drafts is the length of the class itself: you must have all the drafts (or as many as you can) done by the end of the semester. Basically, here is how it works:
At a minimum, you must write 10+ pages of formal writing for this course, which means that you must successfully complete (get X's on) two Draft 4's OR any combination of three different papers that are in the Draft 2, 3, and/or 4 stage of development. [For example, to meet this requirement, you could have the following three papers: (1) a Draft 2 of Paper B, (2) a draft 3 of Paper F, and (3) a Draft 4 of Paper H.] The "Course Packet" available for printing here online also has a one-page "Table of Assignments" that show about when the Drafts 1-4 are due (or go to the top of this Web page and click on "TABLE OF ASSIGNMENTS"; then return to this Web by closing the MS Word window). The Draft 1's are short--about 500+ words each, and just require a typed rough draft. The Draft 2's require the addition of more supporting details (stories, quotations, etc.) and greater length. The Draft 3's require typing, more organization, and a bit more length. The Draft 4's require careful editing for grammar, spelling, and punctuation, along with a bit more final length. The directions for these papers are in your "Course Packet," which you must print from this Web site. (And if you want, there are alternatives for some of the above papers. These are explained at the very end of the "Course Packet." For Papers B and C, you may instead write an analysis of a reading and/or an evaluation of a reading. For Papers E and F, you may instead write a magazine article and/or a literary thesis paper. And for Paper H, you may instead write an analysis or a recommendation report. Again, directions for these are in the "Course Packet.")
How much work is a typical college class? 3 cr. = 9 hrs./wk.; 4 cr. = 12 hrs./wk. That includes both class and homework. I'd like to ask you for your commitment this semester to the expected amount of time for work. The Inver Hills (and national) standard is three hours of work (two of homework and one of class time) per week for every one college credit, to receive an average grade. This class is a four-credit class, so please plan on spending at least twelve hours per week on class and homework: four on class and eight on homework. This represents an average--some weeks may be less, some more. It also represents the work needed by the average college student to receive an average grade (which, nationally, is probably a "B" or "B-" in the first two years of college). If you want an "A, " have not had much practice with writing, or tend to be a below-average student, you may need to work more than the amount of time described here. Please note that some people tell me they just think I am saying this to scare them a little, but that in reality this will be like most other classes in which you can skip a lot and still do okay. That is not the case. I am telling you the truth. I have surveyed many of my composition classes (both 1108 and 1114), and the average hrs. per week that people work for and attend my class (combined) in 1108 is about 10 hrs./week. This works out to about 3.5 hrs. of attendance and 6.5 hrs. of homework per week. And the average grade is a B. If you want an A - or if you are weak in writing - you may have to work much harder and longer. And there will be some weeks that are much, much harder, while others may be a bit easier. Basically, my students tell me that they rarely have to work as hard in other classes as they have in mine. But those who finish almost always tell me it was well worth it because of how much they have learned. Ask around.
Why don't I allow make up of missed homework? There are four reasons. They all boil down to the fact that we can't accomplish as much, have as much fun, or develop your writing abilities as well if you can be late all the time in getting your homework done. If you're interested in the four reasons individually, here they are:
There are, however, exceptions. They are as follows:
Beyond these exceptions, if you miss some of your homework, you cannot make it up. However, you are allowed attendance make up/extra credit. In fact, you can do so much attendance make up/extra credit that it can help balance out a bad homework grade. You can just keep doing attendance extra credit way past an "A+" for attendance--e.g., you can earn an A++++--and this will average in with your homework grade to help pull it up higher. For example, if you were to receive a "B" for homework (60% of your overall grade) because of missing assignments, you could do a lot of make up and extra credit work for attendance and receive an "A++++++" for attendance (20% of your overall grade); each "+" equals 1/3 of a letter grade, and the two grades here would average to a full "A." Again, if you are interested in doing make up/extra credit for attendance, please go to "ATTENDANCE/Makeup and Extra Credit."
Asking a Question by Email?
Just email me at Richard at Jewell dot net by eleven a.m. M.-F., and I'll usually get back to you within two or three hours, six days per week. I'm slower on Saturdays, and don't do email at all on Sundays. Be sure, however, to write in the subject line the word "Question" somewhere, and your first and last name. Why? I have an online class that sends me lots of homework by email, and I only open homework once a week. So, if you want me to answer you within a day, you need to let me know that your email is a question and not just homework. I'm very happy to answer such questions, usually very quickly (once a day), so just let me know that you have a question. And why your name? I get a lot of email with some pretty interesting fictional email names, but these people forget to tell me their actual, real names, so I sometimes have no idea what class they are taking from me. In the first several weeks, it might help if you tell me not only your name, but also your course and section. Later on, your name will be enough if you tell me your actual, real name.
Sending a Draft 1-4 by Email Attachment:
This is a complex for some people: don't try it unless you know what you're doing with MS Word attachments. These directions are for MS Word (not "Works") using Windows for PCs. (If you have a Mac/Apple, I'm not sure whether these directions will work.):
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Most recent update of this page: 25 Aug. 2009
You may always return to the home page by clicking on "Home
Page" on the left-hand side of the bar at the top. You also may click on the
picture to the right. You also may Google "richard.jewell"
or "richardjewell" to find a link to this site. Images courtesy of IHCC, Barry's Clip Art, Clip Art Warehouse, Clip Art Universe, Clipart Collection, MS Clip Art Gallery and Design Gallery Live, School Discovery, and Web Clip Art First date of publication: January 1, 2005. Graphics
redesigned June 3, 2007 & Aug. 1, 2008. |
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