EN 101
Calendar below. More information following the calendar.
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TOPICS, ASSIGNMENTS, DATES
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| August 30 |
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F |
Introduction to the class Diagnostic Essay
Plagiarism Peer Reviewing
Prewriting: Handbook, pp. 50-82, 88-89
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| September 6 |
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F
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Labor
Day—No Class
Paragraphs: Handbook, pp. 131-138, 116-130
In-class Workshop: Writing the First One-Paragraph Essay (Model)
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| September 13 |
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F
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DUE: First One-Paragraph Essay
In-class Workshop: Writing the Second One-Paragraph Essay (Model)
Critical Reading: Handbook, pp. 6-32 In-class Reading: "Deconstructing the Dead"
DUE: Second One-Paragraph Essay Critical Reading continued
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| September 20 |
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F
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In-class Workshop: Writing the Third One-Paragraph Essay (response to
"Deconstructing the Dead")
DUE: Third One-Paragraph Essay (on "Deconstructing the Dead")Revision: Handbook, 97-107
In-class Workshop: Revising an Essay Bring your three one-paragraph essays to class Three Sure-Fire Ways To Improve Your Writing: Parallelism, Active Verbs, and Eliminating Nominalizations
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| September 27 |
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W
F |
Critical Thinking and Writing: Handbook, pp. 34-56 In-class Reading: Parsons, "Why We Need Conspiracy Theories"
DUE: Third One-Paragraph Essay Revised (turn in "Deconstructing the Dead" revision with original version)Writing a Three-Paragraph Summary In-class Reading: Bowditch, "The Danger of Knowing For Sure"
Writing Introductions and Conclusions: Handbook, pp. 138-145 Bring draft of Three-Paragraph Summary to class
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| October 4 |
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W
F |
In-class Reading: Nickel, "Circular Reasoning: The ‘Mystery’ of Crop Circles
and Their ‘Orbs’ of Light"
DUE: First Three-Paragraph Essay: Summary of "The Danger of Knowing for Sure") Writing an Evaluation In-class Reading: Shermer, "How Psychics and Mediums Work" In-class Reading: Glassner, "How Robots Will Steal Your Job"
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| October 11 |
M
W-F
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October Holiday
DUE: Second Three-Paragraph Essay: Evaluation of "Circular Reasoning" Conferences (Bring to conference all previous papers, too.)
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| October 18 |
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W
F |
Conferences
DUE: Third Three-Paragraph Essay: Evaluation of "How Robots Will Steal Your Job" Writing the Five-Paragraph Essay Writing an Analysis In-class Reading: Ivins, "An Odd Country" In-class Workshop: Writing an Analysis |
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| October 25 |
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F
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DUE: First
Five-Paragraph Essay: Analysis of "An Odd Country" Writing Arguments: Handbook, pp. 146-181 Out-of-class Readings: Frist, "Not Ready For Human Cloning" Carrington. "Why Human Cloning Isn’t A Moral Problem" (Read both before coming to class) In-class Workshop: Writing the Five-Paragraph Argument Essay (on cloning) |
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| November 1 |
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W
F |
DUE: Second
Five Paragraph Essay: Argument on Cloning Documentation of Sources Using the MLA System: Parenthetical References: Handbook, pp. 631-637 Works Cited List: o Documenting Books: Handbook, pp. 638-639 o Documenting Periodicals: Handbook, pp. 641-644 o Documenting Electronic Sources: Handbook, 646-649 Out-of-Class Reading: Barry, "Sentience: The Next Moral Dilemma" (Read before coming to class)
Due: Revision of Second Five-Paragraph Essay (Cloning) Turn in revision with original version Continuing discussion of "Sentience"
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| November 8 |
M
W
F |
In-class Workshop:
Writing the Five-Paragraph Argument Essay (on "Sentience: The Next Moral
Dilemma") Grammar Review: Fused Sentences and Comma Splices Pronoun References Shifts in Person and Number DUE: Third Five-Paragraph Essay: Argument on "Sentience" The Art of Reasoning: How to Avoid Logical Errors |
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| November 15 |
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Logic,
continued Out-of-class Reading: Cartmill, "Oppressed by Evolution" (Read before coming to class) Continuing discussion of "Oppressed by Evolution" Writing the Extended Argument In-class Workshop: Writing an Extended Argument |
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| November 22 |
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W-F |
DUE: First
Extended Essay: Argument on "Oppressed by Evolution"
Thanksgiving Recess
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| November 29 |
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W
F
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Out-of-class
Reading: Wilson, "Is Humanity Suicidal?" (Read before coming to class) Continuing discussion of "Is Humanity Suicidal? In-class Workshop: Writing an Extended Argument (on "Is Humanity Suicidal?")
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| December 6 |
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DUE: Second
Extended Essay: Argument on "Is Humanity Suicidal?" Revising the Extended Argument Office Consultations DUE: Revised Second Extended Essay
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December 13
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Final Exam Week
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EN 101 COLLEGE WRITING
Instructor J. O’Donnell
Office Library C206
Office Hours MWF 2:00-3:00 and by appointment
Contact 577-6652
Information
odonnell@dwc.edu
Course An introduction to writing and research, designed to meet the demands
Description for effective writing at the college level. Instruction includes frequent writing assignments, classroom practice of the techniques learned in class, and use of research and library resources.
Course By the end of the semester you will be able to:
Outcomes
q
at the sentence level, write basic sentence patterns avoiding the most common grammar and punctuation mistakes and using the MLA documentation system correctly;q
at the paragraph level, closely read written work and write coherent paragraphs demonstrating unity of purpose;q
at the essay level, create a sustained argument and develop ideas effectively.
Readings The only book you will need to buy is Rosen & Behrens, The Allyn and Bacon Handbook, 5th ed.
All other readings are from online sources. They will be sent to your College email account in plenty of time to complete them for class. You are expected to bring a hard copy to class when we start our discussion of each. Without a copy of the text in front of you as we work on it, you cannot be intellectually engaged in the class or participate meaningfully. Consequently you will be considered as not attending that day.
In-class We will be doing quite a bit of work in the classroom and you will often be asked
Workshops to bring in material for peer review. Without the assignment you are causing an inconvenience for someone else. Consequently you will be considered as not attending that day.
Attendance The attendance policy for all EN 101 sections is the same: more than six absences is an F for the course (or you may choose to withdraw). However, more than a few absences will adversely affect your participation grade. Don’t come to class if you’re sick, but don’t miss class unnecessarily in case you do get sick. Think ahead.
Assignments Eleven written assignments are scheduled for the semester: three one-paragraph essays, three three-paragraph ones, three of five-paragraphs each, and two extended argument papers of five to seven pages, both of which will require thorough research.
All assignments—including the drafts brought to the in-class workshops--will be printed.
Grades These percentages will be used to calculate the final grade:
10% 3 One-Paragraph essays
25% 3 Three-Paragraph essays
30% 3 Five-Paragraph essays
30% 2 Extended essays
5% Participation and Preparedness
As you may already have surmised, this is not a course in which one can stare vacantly into middle space for an hour. Involved participation and preparedness are expected and comprise a significant part of the final grade. This is no different from what you would do at any job. I can’t give you a raise, but I will increase your final grade corresponding to the degree you participate and are prepared for class.
Plagiarism I don’t assume people will plagiarize. However, they do. Just to be clear: plagiarism is using another person’s words or ideas without acknowledgement of the source.
The penalty for plagiarism is an F for the course and the incident reported to the Vice President for Academics. If you’re stumped for a subject, see me. If you can’t meet a deadline for reasons beyond your control, see me. Don’t be tempted to plagiarize. The writing instructors are experienced in detecting plagiarism and have available to them specialized programs to detect it. The consequences are severe. Think ahead.