Course: English 110 G (English Composition)
Instructor: Michael J. Cripps
Meeting Days/Rooms
- Monday/Wednesday, 11-12:20 PM (Marcil 317)
- Friday, 11-11:50 AM (Marcil 317)
- Individual Conferences (TBA in Marcil 26)
Office Hours (26 Marcil Hall)
- Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 9:40-11 AM
- By Appointment (please ask!)
Course Description (from the catalog)
This course introduces students to writing as a conscious and developmental activity. Students learn to read, think, and write in response to a variety of texts, to integrate their ideas with those of others, and to treat writing as recursive process. Through this work with texts, students are exposed to a range of reading and writing techniques they can employ in other courses and are introduced to fundamental skills of information literacy. Students work individually and collaboratively, participate in peer review, and learn to take more responsibility for their writing development. Placement into this course is determined by entering SAT (or ACT) writing scores or by successful completion of LAC 010. 4.000 Credit hours.
Successful completion of English Composition fulfills a requirement in the CAS Core Curriculum and the WCHP Common Curriculum.
Specifics for ENG110 G
Our class is an introduction to active and critical reading, and to academic, source-based writing. We will work to analyze and synthesize ideas in our readings and to develop our own positions on these ideas. Along the way, we’ll explore a variety of approaches to the writing process so that we can locate those practices that work for us. We will write for each class meeting. While some of that writing will be collected and graded, much of it will be preparation for class or for our formal paper assignments. Before you know it, you’ll be thinking more analytically, reading more critically, and writing better.
We write in the 21st century, so we will also be using some 21st century tools in our work. Class meetings are discussion-based, regularly involve both collaborative small group work and brief, informal presentations, and sometimes involve work on the computer. For each formal paper in the course, we will complete a first and final draft. We will participate actively and constructively in peer review for our drafts. Peer review helps us become more capable readers of others’ work, while also helping us see our own writing from new perspectives.
We will maintain our formal work in a writing portfolio, a folder that contains all of our formal paper drafts. At the conclusion of the term, and periodically throughout the term, we will reflect on that work in writing. Those reflections provide an opportunity for us to think about how we’re developing as readers, writers, and thinkers.
Support for the Course
- Office Hours: I welcome individualized and small-group work with my students.
- Writing Fellow: We are fortunate to have the added support of a dedicated peer writing tutor who can support reading, writing, and revision.
- SAS 011: All ENG 110 students may register for a one-credit support “writing lab” course that accompanies work in ENG 110. In SAS 011 students work on their ENG 110 projects. It’s free!
Learning Outcomes
Students who complete English 110 should
- Demonstrate the ability to approach writing as a recursive process that requires substantial revision of drafts for content, organization, and clarity (global revision), as well as editing and proofreading (local revision).
- Be able to integrate their ideas with those of others using summary, paraphrase, quotation, analysis, and synthesis of relevant sources.
- Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking.
- Be able to critique their own and others’ work by emphasizing global revision early in the writing process and local revision later in the process.
- Be able to find, evaluate, and use material located through the library’s online catalog, through subscription databases, and through internet search.
- Document their work using appropriate conventions (MLA).
- Control sentence-level error (grammar, punctuation, spelling).
Please visit the English Department’s English 110 website for an explanation of the learning outcomes.
Grading
English Composition is a writing class and so your grade will be very closely connected to your writing development over the term. Most of your grade will be based on formal writing (papers and web publications), though informal writing and discussion will also be significant factors in determining your final grade. You will find this informal writing and class participation to be closely connected to your work on the formal writing.
- 55% of your final grade will be based on your performance on three formal, revised papers, with later papers weighted more heavily than early papers.
- 15% of your final grade will be based on three opinion/analysis projects published online.
- 15% of your grade will be based on peer review.
- 10% of your grade will be based on homework, your portfolio, and class participation.
- 5% of your grade will be based on satisfactory completion of the final exam day assignment.
Final Grade Range
- A = 93-100
- A- = 90-92
- B+ = 87-89
- B = 83-86
- B- = 80-82
- C+ = 77-79
- C = 73-76
- C- = 70-72
- D = 60-69
- F = <60
- I = Nearly all work completed; fewer than 5 absences
- WP = Withdrawal while passing after first two-thirds of the term
- WF = Withdrawal while failing after first two-thirds of the term
- W = Withdrawal during first two-thirds of the term
Required Texts
Buying used can often save us a good deal of money and so I’m all for used books! But please don’t buy the wrong book or you’ll have some trouble. There are dozens of Hacker books out there and only one is correct for us. Use the ISBN to help you out, especially if you try to buy a book outside of the bookstore!
- Bullock, Richard, Michal Brody, and Francine Weinberg. The Little Seagull Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014. (ISBN: 978-0-393-93580-6
- Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2014. (ISBN: 978-0-393-93584-4.
These two texts, together, form a very useful set of reference and college/academic writing resources. Buy these and use them through college. They’re a small investment.
Other readings will be available through the use of online search tools and through the UNE library.
Marking Your Texts
You need to mark your texts in this class. Engaged, academic readers and writers mark their texts. If you’re afraid to write in your book because of what you learned about “school property” in high school, you need to confront that fear and get over it – NOW!
Real readers write on their texts!
Academic Integrity (including Plagiarism)
English Composition is an important introduction to college-level reading and writing. As an emerging college-level writer, you will develop your ability to read responsibly and critically, to work with texts appropriately, and to write in ways that are valued and respected within the community. We will conduct ourselves with integrity by doing our own work, by acting as responsible peers in (and out of) class, and by working with sources in ways appropriate to the academic community of which we are a part. It is understood that we are learning to work within the norms of our community, and so we will work on these matters.
Students enrolled in English 110 are strongly encouraged to take a few minutes to complete the nationally recognized Academic Integrity 101 Self Test (http://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism/self-test) to familiarize themselves with the issue.
UNE has a clear policy on academic integrity and a multi-step procedure for addressing cases of suspected academic dishonesty. Both the policy and the procedure are distributed as a two-page handout at the beginning of the term. They are also available on the UNE website: Academic Integrity Policy (Student Handbook, p.47); Procedure for Reporting Alleged Academic Dishonesty.
In our class, the policy applies to all of our work, from homework to formal papers. The policy does not inhibit robust collaboration.
Assorted Rules & Regulations
- I genuinely enjoy talking with students. Please arrange to meet with me if you want to talk, or if you are having any trouble with the class. Reach out early!
- Attendance is mandatory, period. Class is part of your “job” as a student. Miss more than two classes and expect a reduction in your final grade. (Two absences will certainly cover an illness, emergency, etc.) Miss more than six classes and expect not to pass the course. (Show up more than 10 minutes late and it’s a half absence; show up more than 20 minutes late and you’re absent for the day.)
- Papers should be typed and double-spaced, with 1″ margins. A cover or title page is not required, though each paper should have your name, the date, and a working title. (We’ll use Google Docs because of its robust sharing/commenting/change-tracking abilities)
- Papers are due on the due date. A late final draft will be docked one full letter grade for each day it is late; a late first draft will be docked one half letter grade for each day. First and final drafts that do not meet assigned page or word-count minimums will incur a similar penalty.
- Homework (reading questions and other smaller assignments) is due on the due date. Since this work advances our class discussions, late homework will not be accepted. You can miss two homework assignments with no penalty. (Since much of this work happens online, you can hand homework in on time even when you’re absent.)
- Place is important. When in class, be in class! I text, browse the web, and multitask as well (or as poorly) as the next person. But I won’t text or do other work during our class; I expect the same from my students. (Yes, I can see the phone on your lap under the desk.) If you can’t stay off your phone for 80 minutes at a time, you have a serious problem that will undoubtedly limit your ability to progress in any profession!
- We have a “working” schedule. This means that assignments and due dates are subject to change as the class unfolds. I will inform you of any changes as they come up and will update the course schedule online so that we can stay on the same (web)page.
Accessibility and Documented Disabilities
The University of New England will make reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Any student eligible for and needing academic adjustments because of a disability are requested to speak with the professor at the beginning of the semester. Registration with Disability Services, located in Stella Maris 128 (ext. 2815) on the Biddeford Campus and the Lower Level of Ginn Hall (ext. 4418) on the Portland Campus, is required before accommodation requests can be granted.
Student Academic Success Center
The Student Academic Success Center offers a range of free services to support your academic achievement, including tutoring, writing support, test-prep and studying strategies, learning style consultations, and many online resources. To make an appointment for tutoring, writing support, or a learning specialist consultation, go to une.tutortrac.com. To access our online resources, including links, guides, and video tutorials, visit https://sites.google.com/a/une.edu/student-academic-success-center.
Midterm Academic Progress Reports
The University of New England is committed to the academic success of its students. At the midterm of each semester, instructors will report the performance of each student as SATISFACTORY (S) or UNSATISFACTORY (U). Instructors will announce when these midterm academic progress reports will be available for viewing via Uonline. This early alert system gives all students important information about progress in their courses. Students who receive an UNSATISFACTORY midterm report should take immediate action by speaking with their instructor to discuss suggestions for improvement such as utilizing the services of academic advising, the Student Academic Success Center, Counseling Services, and Residential Education.