ENG 2100-21 Syllabus

Course Title:
Time/Date:
Credit Hours:

English Composition II, Spring 2015

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 2:30-3:25
3

Course Description: In English Composition course 1201 students learn reflective,

analytical and argumentative writing strategies, incorporating sources and personal
experience. Students will negotiate between public and private rhetorical situations and
purposes to achieve academic literacy. They will write multiple drafts using a recursive
writing process as they work toward fluency in style and mechanics.
Required Texts: Bullock, Goggin, Weinberg. The Norton Field Guide to Writing. New
York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010. ISBN: 978-0-393-93382-6. They Say I Say. New York:
W.W. Norton & Co., 2010. ISBN: 978-0-393-93361-1. You are also required to bring
your brain to class; fully functioning and engaged thinking are critical. You will need
access to a computer with letter-quality printing. You have to type and print your
papers, no excuses. Your Sinclair user name and password and e-mail use are also
required. If you are not familiar with Angel, you must become familiar with Angel. Just
ask me or anyone in the computer lab with help navigating the Sinclair webpage.
Always bring drafts of your work to class with you. We will do group work and I may ask
for drafts at any time so be prepared.
How to get in touch with me:
Department:
English
Email:
gillespie.15@wright.edu
Phone:
(937) 206-5892
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10:00-12:00 325 Millett Hall.
This class provides the skills youll need to succeed in the academic reading and writing
that youll need in ALL your college classes. Please apply what you learn here to the
other papers youll need to write in all your other classes. It will help you shine in your
major and other courses.

To earn your grade: youll prepare a final research paper which will consist of work
focused on a single topic of your choosing. Youll receive detailed descriptions for each
assignment during the semester. You must submit and complete each paper to pass the
class.

Course Papers/Projects

Narrative Argument
Analysis
Summary (2)
Dialogue
Final Paper
Final Paper Presentation
(Each paper is worth 100 points except the final which will be worth 200.)

Topic Choice for the Semester

Your topic for the position paper will be of your own choosing, but is subject to class and
instructor approval. Each topic will analyze an aspect of social media. You'll be
spending all semester with this topic, so choose something you really care about, not
simply something that seems appropriate. We will work together in the first week to
select topics.

Due Dates, Submitting Work, Assignments, etc.

Papers are due at the start of class in paper form. Please make sure you keep
rough drafts and all materials you used to prepare your papers. Class work is
due at the end of the class session unless otherwise specified.
Bear in mind that computers crash, Internet connections fail, and servers run
slowly inevitably at deadline time! Save and back up your work frequently so
allow yourself some extra time.
You are responsible for knowing how to use your own e-mail program to keep
copies of mail. Please use your Sinclair angel e-mail account when you write to
me. Please make sure you identify yourself in the body of any e-mail message.
Make sure any e-mail has a subject line. If I cant tell who you are or why you
are writing to me, you may disappear into my trash folder!
You are responsible for your own work being submitted appropriately and on
time; this means you take responsibility for your the flash drive / e-mail / printer /
stapler / paper clips, etc. Glitches happen to us all, but their chances of
occurring can be minimized.
There will be independent work days throughout the semester -- these are days
for doing reading, research, and drafting. They are not days off, but are days
when we do not meet as a class.

Late Work / Missed Classes

Late class work is not accepted or graded.

If you know in advance that you cannot make a deadline, you may request an
extension. Please do not assume I will automatically give you one especially if you
wait until the due date to ask me. I am open to reasonable requests. (Hint: ask me at
least several days in advance, dont whine, and offer a timeline for your completion of
the project.)

Grading and Re-grading

All papers will be graded A-F. After the initial grading, your papers may be revised for a
higher grade. I will calculate your final grade based on the higher of the grades
received.
Each of your papers will ultimately be out of 100 points and your final research paper
will be out of 200. This makes the course worth a total of 800 points, including the final
presentation (which is worth 100 points). Each paper will receive a grade of 1-5, to
allow for rewrites. It breaks down like this:
5=100
4=90
3=80
2=70
1=60
A checkmark signals that the work was completed, but stands somewhere below a 60.
The final paper will be doubled.

I also encourage you to visit the Writing Center for free help at all stages of the writing
process. They can help in any classes you take not just English. The earlier in the
paper process you visit them, the more they can help you.

Revisions should be more than just correcting grammar and punctuation. Correcting
errors is expected and is not considered to be a revision. If you are in ENG 1200, you
should have basic grammar and mechanical aspects of writing under control. Revisions
should be an attempt to fix the overall problems in the paper. They should be wellthought out and not a quick attempt at a higher grade.

Academic Honesty
Although your work is reviewed by others, your assignments must be the direct result of
your own individual effort. In other words, do not hand in work that you did not create.

Class Room Policies

Turn off cell phones not vibrate or high-pitched. Do not make or receive calls
or text in class.

Do not do assignments for other classes, read other materials, listen to music,
play games, or distract other students.

If you are late, please enter quietly.

Be kind to each otherrespect each others opinions, need to work, and need to
receive honest feedback about assignments.

Please do not talk or turn your back during presentations or when other students
have the floor during a discussion.

If you miss class, please check Angel for handouts and / or contact a class mate
for notes before e-mailing me with questions. You are welcome to ask me
questions, but check your resources first.

In addition to being courteous and adult behaviors, these also help with your grade. For
example, if you are physically in the classroom, but you spent the whole time doing
something else such as texting or playing games, you were not present mentally. You
may have prevented others from being able to fully participate because they needed
your response or couldnt focus because of what you were doing.
ENG 2100Exit skills
These are the skills that the Department of English believes a successful ENG 1200
student should be able to perform with competence and independence. In other words,
by the end of your 1200 class you should be able to do an acceptable job of these
without other people helping you.
Academic reading
Choose and evaluate sources for
Authority
Accuracy
Objectivity
Currency
Relevance

Analysis
Develop facility with academic conventions introduced in ENG 1100
Present self-evaluation that identifies, demonstrates, and articulates learning and
writing skills
Research
Locate, evaluate, and use academic sources
Incorporate a variety of types of reliable sources, including within major academic
areas
Use sources to support claims and develop thesis
Interpret evidence
Establish connections, references, and relationships between sources
Evaluate possible bias and entrenched loyalties of sources
Avoid quote-stacking and throw-away quotes
Foreground writers argument without overreliance on sources
Document and cite correctly in MLA and APA formats, choosing appropriate
format for academic area
Argument
Write an arguable thesis statement
Use reasonable tone that
establishes common ground
avoids personal attacks
Respect and grapple with the complexity of issues
Recognize emotional appeal and logical fallacies
Sustain progressive, focused, and logical argument that supports thesis
Acknowledge, accommodate, and refute counterarguments logically and ethically
Choose and engage target audience that includes skeptical readers
Avoid stereotyping and oversimplification
Use reliable and varied evidence to support claims
Facility with language and writing

Establish purpose and use precise language understandable for any academic
reader
Avoid plagiarism
Observe sufficient mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling (MUGS)
conventions to preserve coherence and meaning of text and credibility of writer
Produce texts whose meaning and purpose can be readily understood by a cold
reader
Use electronic environments to draft, revise, edit, and share or publish texts.

Tentative Schedule (subject to change)

Week 1:
Monday 1/12
Introductions. Fact or fiction stories.
Information card.
HMWK:
Write a letter describing your experience with past English classes, what you have
liked/disliked, and how comfortable you are with beginning 1200.
Wednesday 1/14
Discuss the syllabus. Begin talking about social media.
HMWK: Start thinking about an aspect of social media that you might be interested in
writing about.
NOTE: ALL of your writing assignments will be related to this topic because each paper
will help you to build your final paper.
Friday 1/16
Discuss subjects that could be interesting paper topics.
HMWK: Decide on a topic for the semester.
Week 2:
Monday 1/19
Discuss and workshop final paper topic ideas. Nail down a topic to follow throughout

the course in each writing assignment.

HMWK: Read the chapter on Narrating in your Field Guide.
Wednesday 1/21
Begin discussing the narrative argument paper and how to fit this paper with the topic
you have chosen.
What is a narrative argument? How are the rules different?
HMWK: Come up with a personal story to use for your narrative argument paper. Be
ready to share your story in class Friday.
Friday 1/23
Share narratives. How can we use a personal story as evidence? How does this work
with argument?
Specifics of a narrative. Pertinent details, time, place, and setting. Goals for writing a
narrative for an argument. How will our narratives guide us to and through our
argument?
Review how to set up a paper in MLA format: Font, Heading, Title, etc.
HMWK:
Read the chapter in your Field Guide over Arguing. Begin writing the narrative. Be
ready to share/discuss your narrative in class Monday.
Week 3:
Monday 1/26
More examples of narratives.
Guidance on how to add argument.
HMWK:
Work on finishing the narrative and adding the argument.
Wednesday 1/28
Discuss what we mean by argument. What makes an argument academic?
HMWK: Keep working on the narrative argument.
Friday 1/30
Talk about how to transition from a narrative to an argument.

HMWK: finish writing the narrative argument, due Monday.

Week 4:
Monday 2/2
Narrative Argument due.
Begin searching the internet for a picture, post, meme, etc. which you will analyze.
HMWK:
Find a picture, post, or meme and be ready to share it with the class on Wednesday.
Know how your chosen visual relates to your topic.
Please read the preface and introduction to They Say I Say.
Wednesday 2/4
Share pictures with class.
HMWK: Start thinking about why you chose this particular image and how it relates to
your topic.
Friday 2/6
Paperclip analysis. Group work. Debate. In-class writing: describe an item from your
book bag. Blind exercise.
Discuss how to add details to writing. Discuss how to make an analysis relevant.
Figure out why you chose the item you did and how the picture/meme/post is important
to an audience.
HMWK: Begin work on the analysis paper.
Week 5:
Monday 2/9
Jeopardy
HMWK: Continue working on the analysis paper.
Wednesday 2/11
Time to meet for mini presentations.
HMWK: be ready to present on Friday. Continue work on Analysis paper, due Monday.
Friday 2/13
Mini presentations

HMWK: Finish the analysis paper, due Monday.

Week 6:
Monday 2/16
Analysis paper due.
Finish mini presentations.
HMWK: Please read Is Google Making us Stupid? By Nicholas Carr.
Wednesday 2/18
Begin discussing how to find scholarly research that you can count on. Learn to
navigate the Library page.
Search for two research articles related to your topic.
HMWK: If you did not find the articles in class, continue searching. Have them ready for
class on Monday.
Friday 2/20
Introduce Summary: structure and content.
Discuss the difference between what an author is saying vs. what s/he is doing using
Carrs article.
Look to your own research to analyze the difference.
Discuss the difference between a claim and evidence.
HMWK:
Read Analyzing a Text in your FG. Also read Part 1.1 They Say and 1.2 Her Point Is
in TSIS.
Begin reading your chosen research articles. Highlight important information.
Work on Summaries. One summary due for each article you chose. 2 summaries total.
Create a tentative thesis statement.
Week 7:
Monday 2/23
Thesis workshop. Come to class prepared, with your thesis in hand.
HMWK:

Please read 1.3 As He Himself Puts It and 2.4 Yes/No/Okay, But in TSIS. Google
stalk your authors. Get to know them. Try to understand why theyve chosen to write
the article that youve chosen for research.
Wednesday 2/25
Continue thesis workshop.
Friday 2/27
Begin discussing dialogueformatting, intertwining the creative with the academic.
HMWK: start pulling quotes from your research that you believe you could use in the
dialogue. Pay attention to the parts of each article that discuss the same subject as the
other.
Week 8:
Monday 3/2
How to create a clever, witty dialogue that also analyzes an argument. How to get to
know an author. How to understand not only what they write, but why they have
researched and argued their topic.
Look at the information you found about your authors.
Discuss why each side is being argued so differently. Acknowledge the stakes.
HMWK:
Read Arguing a Position in the FG.
Also read 4.12 Whats Motivating This Writer and 2.5 And Yet in TSIS.
Wednesday 3/4
Discuss in text citations.
Create a Works Cited page in MLA format. Due Wednesday
Friday 3/6
Works Cited page due.
How to argue. Why we argue. How to argue logically. Logical Fallacies.
Why we avoid the I and the You in argument. Recognizing clichs.
HMWK:
Work on the Dialogue paper.

Please read 2.6 Planting a Naysayer in Your Text and 2.7 So What, Who Cares?
Week 9:
Monday 3/9
Discuss the difference between argument and persuasion. Sell an item to the class.
Discuss the differences in language and tone.
HMWK:
Please read 4.11 I Take Your Point in TSIS.
Wednesday 3/11
Talk about logical fallacies.
HMWK: Work on dialogue paper.
Friday 3/13
Catch-up day. This day is for working on the upcoming projects and rewriting past
papers.
Week 10
Monday 3/16
Dialogue paper due.
Begin discussing the final paper. Start with intro and thesis.
Go over expectations. Discuss how to bring previous papers together to add to final
paper.
HMWK:
Begin writing the final paper, intro with thesis.
Please read 3.8 As a Result and 3.9 Aint So/Is Not and also 3.10 But Dont Get Me
Wrong.
Wednesday 3/18
Final paper Intro with thesis due.
Social media trivia.
HMWK:
Please read 3.10 Dont Get Me Wrong in TSIS.

Friday 3/20
Begin discussing claims and evidence.
HMWK: start working on a pro/con list.
Week 11:
Monday 3/23
Claims exercise.
HMWK: Start working on your own claims.
Wednesday 3/25
HMWK: create a list of 10-12 claims due Monday. Bring attempts to class Friday for
peer review.
Friday 3/27
Finish discussing claims. Go over the work everyone has done so far.
HMWK:
Finish the list of claims, due Monday.
Week 12:
Monday 3/30
Claims due.
Discuss how to add evidence to claims.
Wednesday 4/1
Examples of evidence. How to set up paper.
HMWK: work on final paper.
Friday 4/3
Discuss final paper presentations.
Week 13:
One-on-one conferences to discuss final paper. You will meet with me at a scheduled
time, but will not have regular class time. Use the time out of class to work on revising
papers and putting together your final paper.
Week 14:

Monday 4/13
First three pages after thesis due.
Synthesizing. How to bring information together into a cohesive whole.
Wednesday 4/15
Conclusion with solutions due.
In class writing time. It will benefit you greatly to come to class and use this time wisely.
Friday 4/17
In class writing time.
Work on rewrites, final paper and final presentation.
Week 15:
Final paper presentations.
Week 16:
Final Paper due.