Writing Expository Expository Writing: English 101:PA Vera Eliasova Spring 2009 Time and Place: MW 6 (5.35-6.55 pm), HCK 114, Douglass Campus Office: 135 George Street, 3rd floor. Office Hours: Wednesday 2.30-3.45 pm or by appointment e-mail: [e-mail] Course site: https://sakai.rutgers.edu Writing Program Website: https://wp.rutgers.edu COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES:
Required Texts: Miller and Spellmeyer, The New Humanities Reader, 3rd edition Ruszkiewicz, Friend, Hairston, Handbook for Writers Course Requirements: Read seven selections from The New Humanities Reader. Write six out of class essays (5 full pages minimum length). Submit typed Rough and Final drafts, font 12, double spaced, 1 inch margins. Only hard copies of drafts are accepted; they must be handed in personally on a due day. Give three brief oral presentations in class, including one on grammar. Take one in-class Final Exam (graded pass or fail). You must pass the final exam. Complete and submit Peer Reviews and homework assignments in time. Participate in group and class discussions. Keep all Rough and Final Drafts in a separate folder. Policies: (Items below are Writing Program Policies) Attendance. After four absences you risk failing the course. These four absences include sickness and documented emergencies. Lateness. Missing more than 15 minutes of class counts as half an absence. Submitting Papers. You are required to submit all six papers to pass. If you are two assignments behind, for any reason, you automatically fail the course. Writing mechanics. Papers that exhibit significant punctuation, grammar, spelling, syntax, or other errors (generally, three or more errors per page) risk failing. Plagiarism. You are asked to review and abide by the University's code on plagiarism. Submitting plagiarized material results in severe sanctions. Being respectful of others while in a classroom i.e, by turning off cell phones. You cannot drop Expos 101 without a Dean's Permission. Grading The final grade for the course is determined not by an average but by the level you are able to sustain over the last three papers. The lowest passing grade is C. One half of a letter grade will be deducted for late Rough and Final Drafts. All grades are subject to Departmental Review.
COURSE DESCRIPTION for English 101: Expository Writing In this course you will read and write about a variety of texts concerning a range of fascinating, relevant, contemporary issues. Course goals include helping you to read deeply, think critically, synthetically and creatively, and write interpretively and effectively. You will learn how to develop your own understanding of texts by identifying and defining authors' key concepts, selecting and analyzing significant passages, and explaining authors' overall arguments. You will also learn how to organize, develop, and persuasively present your own ideas by synthesizing multiple sources. In developing these essential academic practices, we will engage especially in the following activities: Reading: Over the course of the semester, we will read difficult and complex texts. None of them has a simple, essential meaning can that be understood with just one reading. It is your responsibility to read each text several times. The first time you read a text, you might obtain a general idea of the author's topic and arguments. The second time you might look at the way the author defines and uses certain key concepts. Then you return to the text again to focus closely on difficult or complex passages that will help you to better understand the text as a whole. You might read the text a fourth, fifth, or sixth time as you consider two texts in relationship to each other and to your own ideas. Writing: You will submit a rough draft and a final draft of each essay. A rough draft should not simply be your random thoughts put on a page an hour before class. You should consider your rough draft as a fully engaged, well developed first attempt at a final draft. You may write and rewrite your paper two or three times before you turn it in as a "rough" draft. Similarly, you may need to do more than correct a few grammar errors and change a sentence or two for your final draft. You will often have to rewrite entire pages of your paper, introduce new ideas, and create new paragraphs. Just as you have to read each essay several times on your own, you need to write and revise a paper several times on your own before you turn it in. Public Speaking: Presentations will be brief but effective. These exercises may include presenting on reading, context, and/or grammar. In-class activities: Class activities will include writing, discussion, and group work. Often I will provide you with a short passage or set of questions to respond to in writing or to discuss in a small group with your fellow students. I strongly encourage you to take notes at all times; your classmates are excellent sources of insight into the texts and assignment questions. One of the most important activities is peer review. On days that your rough drafts are due, you will bring the original and three copies of your draft to share with your classmates. As a peer reviewer, you will be required to respond thoughtfully and constructively to your classmates' papers. You will discuss the papers in terms of clarity, use and explanation of evidence, and the overall argument. Each peer reviewer will complete a written assessment of his or her classmates' papers. You should use the reviews you receive from other students to rewrite and revise your drafts. Homework: Out-of-class assignments will include short responses to the texts you read, describing your own writing concerns, and analyzing short sections of the text or of your own paper. Office hours: My office hours are listed at the top of the syllabus. I highly recommend you to take advantage of them to discuss your questions about your writing process. If you have a significant time conflict, let me know and I will arrange to meet you at another mutually convenient time. Tutoring: I strongly encourage you to take advantage of the tutoring services offered by the campus Writing Centers (Douglass, Livingston, and College Avenue Campuses). This is a good chance to make more progress as you work closely with an experienced tutor on your own papers.