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English 1108 with Richard Jewell - Inver Hills Community College
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Office: Business 136 |
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Summary of Eng 1108
with Richard Jewell |
For larger or smaller print, click on "View" and "Text Size."
This Web page is a traditional syllabus. It is simply a summary of the Eng 1108 web site with nothing new or different.. For more details about each of the topics discussed here and much more, return to the home page and click on the links of your choice. To see more information about the author, including contact information, go to http://Richard.Jewell.net.
Welcome to
"English 1108--Writing and Research Skills" as taught by
me--Richard Jewell, your instructor. This four-credit course has an
assumed workload of about twelve hours per week: approximately eight hours for
homework and four clock hours for class-time activities. The Inver Hills
Community College Catalog describes this course as follows:
Eng 1108 Writing and Research Skills: Emphasizes expository and persuasive writing skills with attention to rhetorical modes, audience awareness, logical reasoning, critical reading, and research techniques. Prereq.: Grade of C- or higher in ENG 099 or recommendation by assessment.
This section also is a hybrid physical-classroom and online-class course. One third of your class time will be spent on the Web on discussion boards (bulletin boards), and the main textbook, syllabus, and other course materials also are on the Web. Please sign up for this course only if you are able to easily handle working on the Web and using email. If you have these basic Internet skills, then I am very happy to be working with you!
I'd like to make this course not only interesting and helpful to you, but also enjoyable. I also want you to participate as actively in the class as possible. In fact, part of your grade is based on your active participation, so have fun, talk out and up about class subjects in class and/or online, ask questions, and offer your input, especially when you are engaged in interaction with other students in the class, whether online or in a physical classroom. The more you put into this class, the more you'll enjoy it and the more rewarding you'll find it.
I also would like to make sure that all the materials, discussions and activities that are part of this course are accessible to you. If you would like to request accommodations or other services, please contact me as soon as possible. It is also possible to contact the Disability Services Office, L-224; phone, 651/450-8628; TTY, 651/450-8369.
Again, welcome to the course. We will have a relatively small class (max. 28), so we'll be getting to know each other somewhat well, and I would like you to participate as actively in the class as I do. In fact, part of your grade is based on your active participation: so have fun, talk out and up about class subjects, ask questions, and be active. The more you put into this class, the more you'll enjoy it and the more rewarding you'll find it.
How about the grading: will it be tough? If you're willing to work hard, it won’t be. My assumption is that most of you will work hard and earn an average or above-average grade. There also will be a lot of group work. Will you find it useless and/or boring? I doubt it. Even those who dislike group work usually find it productive and enjoyable most of the time in my composition classes. Why use it? It's highly efficient in teaching writing, it is enjoyable to most people, and it also is good training for your future profession.
This section of 1108 is also different in that it makes use of the Internet, as mentioned above. Internet use can save you $40-$80 because you will not have to purchase your main textbook and some class materials--they're on the Web. We'll also have one class per week on the Web--on a Web bulletin board. Finally, I sometimes may use email to contact you as a group and/or individually. As mentioned above, all of this Internet use is required in this section of 1108, as noted in the school schedule, so be sure you know how to handle such stuff before you decide to stay in this section.
What am I like? For starters, please feel free to call me "Richard" or "Mr. Jewell"--or anything else that's nice. :-) I'm looking forward to working with you. If you'd like to find out more about me, check out "About Richard." There's a description of me, a picture, my resume, and a sample short story of mine. I am somewhat new at IHCC. I taught undergraduate writing and literature at the University of Minnesota for five years, but in early 2001, IHCC offered me a lifetime position. One of the main reasons I decided to switch from the University of Minnesota to IHCC is that, I believe, two years at IHCC provides as good an education as the same two years at the average private four-year college in Minnesota--and a better education than the first two years at the University of Minnesota or a state university. I'm very glad you've chosen Inver Hills as your school. It is an excellent school. And the composition courses here are, in my own opinion and in accordance with national research, among the best in Minnesota.
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Textbooks
and Work Load |
REQUIRED
RESOURCES YOU MUST PURCHASE:
OTHER REQUIRED RESOURCES (you do not need to buy these):
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
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 class hour) 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" or you tend to be a below-average student, you may need to work more than the amount of time described here.
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Assigned
Papers (For details, see "Writing of Papers" and "Dates/Weekly Assignments") |
For our section of this course, I have developed a somewhat unusual approach. There will be no graded papers. Instead, you will have a number of drafts of papers and revisions of those drafts, and you will receive X's for the drafts once they are complete. You also will make your own choices of subject matter for these drafts. If you don't get the drafts right the first time, you will have as many chances as you need to fix them. The only limit you will have on these drafts and the X's you get for them is a time limit: you must be done with them by the end of the semester. There also will be readings of chapters to do, and rough-draft study questions or journals to write about them.
In all, I have planned a large amount of practice for you--i.e., practice of writing--as that is the primary way in which people become good writers. Some of these papers are like lab practice in a biology course: they will show me you've done the readings and help you practice writing and think about it more. Other papers are continuing revisions so that you can feel and see your papers growing from a first, rough idea to a very well-finished product. I am doing these kinds of assignments instead of having several objective tests or several graded papers because I believe that in the long run, you'll learn more from writing frequently on a weekly basis.
DETAILS ABOUT WEEKLY PAPERS, ROUGH DRAFTS, & FINISHED DRAFTS
How many assignments are there? There are many. Most, however, are short and relatively easy, and some, while longer, still usually are rough-draft papers. The key to whether or not you succeed in this class is consistent hard work: if you keep working hard to get the rough-draft papers done each week, you will succeed in this class.
Please remember that you may write these as "lab" papers--in very rough-draft form--without worrying about grammatical usage, spelling, or punctuation (except for the Draft-4 papers).
STUDY QUESTIONS: First, you'll read a required chapter in the main textbook. This chapter will describe how to write a certain type of paper. Then you will type or handwrite rough-draft answers to the "General Study Questions" available through the chapter. You'll have a choice of questions to answer for 150+ words about the chapter.
JOURNALS: There will be just a few journals: about yourself, about the course Web site, and about how you liked the course (at the end). Journals must be 300+ words, rough draft.
DRAFT 1, 2, 3, AND 4 PAPERS: The final type of weekly papers is the drafts of papers to write each week. You will have a number of drafts to write, and you will be responding to a main reading book mentioned above, which everyone will be reading, or to a book of your own which you will choose from a list of possible books on related topics. 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 time 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. You will have a total of eight Draft 1's, and from these you'll develop three Draft 2's. From these, to receive more than a "D," you'll develop three Draft 3's. And to receive more than a "B," you'll two of the Draft 3's into Draft 4's. You will have thorough directions at each step of the way.
NOTE: For more instructions on how to write these papers, see "Writing
of Papers."
Be sure to
check the "Dates/Weekly Assignments regularly to see what is due.
If you run into a true emergency, do call me or come see me before
homework is late.
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Grading
and Attendance (For details, see "Grading" and "Attendance.") |
I use a point system, as mentioned above. As a result, attendance is worth roughly 1/3rd of your grade; your writing (weekly, rough-draft, and finished papers) is worth about 2/3rds of your grade; and your participation and improvement can bring the total grade up or down up to one letter grade.
WEEKLY & OTHER PAPERS
This portion of your grade will be determined by how many of your weekly, rough-draft, and finished writing assignments you turn in. Each assignment will be worth one or more check marks or "X's" of credit. Your total number of X's for both writing and attendance will determine your grade, along with some final changes for improvement and participation.
ATTENDANCE & IMPROVEMENT/PARTICIPATION
The attendance portion of your grade will be determined by how many of your classes you attend. Both on-ground (in-person) classes and online (discussion board) classes count toward attendance. Make ups are allowed but may involve extra time because you have missed direct contact with me and the rest of the class. Each class you attend is worth 1/2 to 1 "X." Your total number of X's for both writing and attendance will determine your grade, along with some final changes for improvement and participation.
Lateness/Leaving Early in regular classroom at IHCC: If you are 15 min. late to arrive or early to leave a physical-classroom class, you'll lose half a credit for that class hr.
Make up: --see details in "Attendance."
The improvement/participation part of your grade will be determined by how actively you participate and improve. There are a variety of ways to do this. Your letter grade for the course as determined by the above point system (for attendance and writing) can go up or down an entire letter grade based on excellent or poor improvement/participation.
CONCLUSION
I hope you enjoy the class! If there's anything I can do to help you enjoy it more--alternatives, help with understanding something, etc.--come see me, email me anytime, or call me from 9 am-9 pm. My phone number, email address, and other info are at the beginning of this syllabus.
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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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