ENG 101: Freshman Composition

(Section 22295914)
Spring 2016
M/W/F 1:00 to 1:50
ANSPACH 314
Instructor: Rebecca Bennett
Office: Anspach 010
Office phone: 989-774-7782

Email: benne2rt@cmich.edu
Office hours: MF 10:30-12:00 and by
appointment

You should always feel free to phone or email me with any questions you might have about the
course. Alternatively, feel free to stop by my office during my scheduled office hours. If my office
hours conflict with your class schedule, let me know and we can find an alternative time to meet.
Please keep in mind that I am not available 24/7, so I will not always be able to immediately reply to
your emails and/or phone calls. However, you can expect a reply to email and voicemail within 24
hours during the work week, if not sooner, and within 48 hours over the weekend.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
ENG 101 is an introductory nonfiction writing course designed to help you develop the skills
necessary to meet CMUs first-year writing competency requirement (a graduation requirement).
The course will emphasize critical thinking skills along with the ability to compose documents
designed for specific purposes, audiences, and contexts. Course assignments will center on a
process-based approach to writing that employs a shifting combination of planning, researching,
drafting, revising, and editing. These assignments will allow you to develop your competence in
writing strategies appropriate for learning across the curriculum and in a variety of academic and/or
professional areas. No matter what major you choose to pursue, in other words, the writing skills
you develop in ENG 101 will be crucial to your academic success. For this reason, the course should
be taken during your first year at CMU.
In order to receive credit for your first-year writing competency requirement, you must pass ENG 101
with a final course grade of C or higher.
COURSE PREREQUISITES
This course has no prerequisites. However, if you enrolled at CMU as an on-campus freshman, you
should have received a Writing Placement Score, which is based on your ACT score and high-school
GPA. Generally, we advise students with a placement score of 58 or higher to enroll in ENG 101.
Students with a placement score of 51-57 are encouraged to enroll in ENG 103/099, a four-credit
course which counts for first-year writing competency credit just like ENG 101, but which provides
additional support. Students with a score of 50 or lower are strongly encouraged to enroll in ENG
103/099. International students who speak English as a second language are encouraged to take
ELI 198, which also counts for first-year writing competency credit.

COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES

By successfully completing ENG 101, you will have demonstrated competence in three areas:
composing processes, rhetorical knowledge, and knowledge of conventions.
Composing Processes
By the end of the semester, you should be able to demonstrate the following through your
performance in the course:
An understanding that writing is a recursive process that usually requires multiple drafts.
An understanding that writing is a means of discovery as well as a means of communication
and the ability to use writing for both of these purposes.
An ability to productively perform collaborative aspects of writing processes, including
critiquing your own and others work and implementing revision advice from your instructor
and classmates.
The development of flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading.
An ability to use computer word-processing operations and other technologies to research,
compose, revise, edit, and format papers.
Rhetorical Knowledge
By the end of the semester, you should be able to demonstrate the following through your
performance in the course:
An understanding that effective writers need knowledge of topics, genres, and rhetorical
strategies.
A recognition that texts have rhetorical purposes and that successful writers negotiate the
rhetorical demands of differing discourse communities.
An ability to write texts that define, restrict, and illustrate topics.
An ability to form and evaluate effective theses or claims.
An ability to evaluate and use a variety of different principles of organization in paragraphs
and texts.
An ability to adjust tone, diction, and content to different audiences.
An ability to evaluate, analyze, and integrate with your own thinking appropriate secondary
sources and understand when such sources are necessary to a successful written text.
Knowledge of Conventions
By the end of the semester, you should be able to demonstrate the following through your
performance in the course:
An understanding of the conventions associated with different genres, including the use of
common formats for different kinds of texts.
An awareness of the features of Standard Written English, especially those that distinguish it
from spoken English.
An ability to write prose without clichs, verbosity, and monotonous syntax.
An ability to write prose in Standard Written English free of errors that undermine the
writers credibility, such as comma mistakes, spelling errors, and errors in agreement.
An ability to cite sources correctly.

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REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS & OTHER COURSE MATERIALS

There are three required textbooks for this class:
Bullock, Richard, Michal Brody, and Francine Weinberg. The Little Seagull Handbook. 2nd ed.
New York: W.W. Norton, 2014.
Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in
Academic Writing, with Readings. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2015.
Roen, Duane, Gregory R. Glau, and Barry Maid. The McGraw-Hill Guide: Writing for College,
Writing for Life. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013.
ASSIGNMENTS, EXAMS, & OTHER CLASS WORK
The assignments will allow you to practice the various tasks involved in writing genres common in
college and professional life. They are sequential insofar as later assignments build on skills acquired
in earlier ones. Assignment guidelines will be available on Blackboard for each assignment. The
Writing Skills Exams will help you improve fluency and your ability to write competently under
stressful conditions by giving you practice at organizing your thoughts, getting them down on paper,
and revising and editing them, all in a relatively short amount of time.
Assignment #1: Writing to Reflect (1,000-1,250 words)
100 pts.
Assignment #2: Writing to Analyze (1,250-1,500 words)
125 pts.
Assignment #3: Writing to Inform (1,750-2,500 words)
250 pts.
Assignment #4: Writing to Share Experiences (1,250-1,500 words)
150 pts.
Five Writing Skills Exams (250-500 words each)
175 pts.
o Exam 1
10 pts.
o Exam 2
35 pts.
o Exam 3
35 pts
o Exam 4
45 pts
o Exam 5
50 pts
Other Class Work (in-class writing and exercises, reading quizzes, etc.)
200 pts.
Total
1,000 pts.
GRADES
You can expect me to grade and return your assignments and exams within one week of the due
date (not the date you submitted the work); however, if you submit work late, I cannot guarantee to
return your graded work within one week.
A grade of C is the normal grade for this course, and students must receive a C (not a C-) to
receive first-year writing competency credit for this course. The grades of A and B are honor
grades, indicating a student has produced excellent or very good quality work while meeting the
minimum quantitative requirements. An E grade means the student has not met the minimum
requirements either quantitatively or qualitatively. Each assignment will receive a letter grade
(sometimes with a + or -) as follows:
A papers are generally characterized by the following:
complete adherence to assignment requirements
strong evidence that the full range of course objectives are met
engaging, fresh, and clear language
effective, clear, and focused topic development
extensive support and elaboration
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effective organization
well-developed paragraphs
variety in sentence structure
effective audience awareness
excellent use of conventional grammar, punctuation, and usage
excellent integration and citation of sources (when applicable)

B papers are generally characterized by the following:

complete adherence to assignment requirements
strong evidence that the full range of course objectives are met
clear language
generally clear and focused topic development
good support and elaboration
good organization
generally well-developed paragraphs
variety in sentence structure
generally effective audience awareness
good use of conventional grammar, punctuation, and usage
good integration and citation of sources (when applicable)
C papers are generally characterized by the following:
basic adherence to assignment requirements
evidence that most of the course objectives are met
generally clear language
adequately clear and focused topic development
adequate support and elaboration
adequate organization
adequately developed paragraphs
some variety in sentence structure
adequate but variable audience awareness
adequate use of conventional grammar, punctuation, and usage
adequate integration and citation of sources (when applicable)
D papers are generally characterized by the following:
little or no adherence to assignment requirements
little or no evidence that course objectives are met
unclear language
weak and unclear focus and topic development
little or no support and elaboration
inadequate organization
inadequate paragraph development
little variety in sentence structure
lack of audience awareness
inadequate use of conventional grammar, punctuation, and usage
inadequate integration and citation of sources (when applicable)

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E papers are generally characterized by the following:

severe deficiencies in clarity; language use; support; sentence and paragraph development;
organization; audience awareness; grammar, punctuation, usage; and adherence to
assignment requirements and objectives
plagiarism
Grades on assignments will be based on the number of points acquired out of the total number
possible. Grades will be posted on Blackboard. The grading scale for the individual assignments is
as follows:
A = 94.00-100% /A- = 90.00-93.99%
B+ = 87.00-89.99% / B = 84.00-86.99% / B- = 80.00-83.99%
C+ = 77.00-79.99% / C = 74.00-76.99% / C- = 70.00-73.99%
D+ = 67.00-69.99% / D = 64.00-66.99% / D- = 60.00-63.99%
E = 59.99 or less
Blackboard will keep a running total of the points you have accumulated on the assignments. Here
is the grading scale for the course based on the total points accumulated.
A = 940-1000 pts. /A- = 900-939 pts.
B+ = 870-899 pts. / B = 840-869 pts. / B- = 800-839 pts.
C+ = 770-799 pts. / C = 740-769 pts. / C- = 700-739 pts.
D+ = 670-699 pts. / D = 640-669 pts. / D- = 600-639 pts.
E = 599 pts. or less
CLASS POLICIES
You should read the class policies carefully, since failing to adhere to these policies can have a
negative impact on your grades in the course.
Policy for Attendance
This is a collaborative class where we will all work together towards both common and individual
learning objectives. Your consistent attendance is crucial to your own success as well as the success
of the class as a whole. If you miss class, you will reduce your chance of success in the course. You
will also let your classmates down, as they are relying on you to make your contribution to the class.
Missing class means missing in-class work, which means lost points and a lower final course grade. If
you are consistently late, you will lose points on in-class work. To put it simply, poor attendance
will wreck your final grade. If you do not think you can consistently attend this class, you should
drop the course right now.
Policy for Revising Papers
Revision means re-seeing, and that is exactly what writers try to do: to take another look at their
drafts and make sure the content, organization, writing style, reasoning, and so on are set before
editing, proofreading, and printing or otherwise submitting a final version. Obviously, writers must
become adept at re-seeing their own drafts, but to do that, they often benefit from getting
feedback from others. In this class, you will receive that feedback on your work-in-progress from
your peers and from me. Conversely, by reading and commenting on your classmates work, you
should also become a stronger, more critical reader of your own writing.

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Each of the four major essay assignments will go through the process of invention, drafting,
revising, and editing. I will place you into groups on Blackboard and you will upload your peerresponse drafts to your Group page. You will revise your first draft based on the comments you
receive from your group members and your own good judgment as a writer. You will then submit
the revised second draft to me for review. I will provide you with revision suggestions and a
tentative grade. You are allowed, but not required, to revise a second time and submit a third draft
for me to review.
The following conditions for revision apply to the third and final draft of the assignment:
You must do more than merely correct grammar and format. A revision must improve the
substance of the assignment (e.g., its content, reasoning, organization, writing style, etc.), as
well as correct most editing errors, without introducing many new ones.
If your final draft is better than the previous version I reviewed, your grade will be raised
accordingly; however, if the revision is not substantive or actually turns out to be worse than
your second draft, your grade wont be raised, but it wont be lowered either. I may offer you
a chance to revise once morebut dont count on it.
My comments on the initial draft I review will reflect the problems that, at the time, seem
most serious and happen to catch my eye. Rarely will an instructor comment on everything
that is effective or ineffective about an assignment.
If you need additional help revising, you may take your draft to any of the CMU Writing
Center locations or submit your draft to the Writing Center for online consultant review at
http://webs.cmich.edu/writingcenter.
I will compare the new draft of your paper with the previously reviewed draft to see whether
your revision is substantial (as opposed to superficial). When I read a revision, I will
probably comment on problems that were not commented on the first time. These
problems will affect the grade of the revision. Moral: dont just fix the problems that got
pointed out; reread your paper with a critical eye and do all you can to improve it.
Any penalties for lateness and/or for failing to submit a draft for peer response that might
have applied to the previously reviewed draft also apply to the revision.
Policy for Peer Response
Peer response is a crucial component of this course, and for it to work effectively, students must do
what they are supposed to do by the date and time they are supposed to do it. If you do not submit
a draft to the file exchange on your Blackboard group page for peer response by the deadline, you
will lose 20 points from your final assignment grade. If you do not comment on any of your group
members drafts by the deadline, you will lose an additional 20 points. If you comment on some but
not all of your group members drafts, you will lose a portion of that 20 points. If we do in-class
peer review instead of on Blackboard, you will also lose 20 points if you miss it. In other words, if
you do not complete the peer response, you will lose 40 points total from the final grade for your
paper. Exceptions are possiblefor example, if you were unable to comment because a group
member did not submit a draft until the day the comments were due. Such exceptions are rare,
though, because I closely monitor the peer-response groups and move students to other groups to
make sure drafts have been submitted in each group well before the comments are due.
Policy for Late Assignments
The policy varies depending on the assignment:
Drafts of major paper assignments will lose 5% of the grade for each class day it is late.
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However, you may turn in one instructor draft up to three class days late without a grade
penalty (except for the final draft of Assignment 4, which is due on the last day of class).
Any assignment more than one week late will not be accepted and will receive a zero; in the
case of final drafts, the grade will remain the same as on the previous draft.
Writing skills exams cannot be turned in late, since they are timed tests taken during class.
However, if you miss an exam for an appropriate and documented reason (e.g., illness,
student athlete obligations, military duty, or family emergency), you may be allowed to make
the exam up.
In-class exercises, reading quizzes, and similar assignments completed during class time
cannot be made up and cannot be turned in late.

Policy for Incomplete Course Grade

CMU has specific policies and procedures that students must follow in requesting an Incomplete,
and it is outlined in CMUs Undergraduate Bulletin. A decision about whether to grant an Incomplete
is entirely up to the discretion of the instructor. An instructor may consider giving an Incomplete
only if the student meets both of the following criteria:
The student must have successfully completed 51% of the coursework, and successfully
completed means that the student has earned a C or better on that coursework.
The student has a reason for requesting an Incomplete that the instructor finds both
legitimate and compelling. The burden of proof is on the student to provide legitimate,
compelling evidence that he/she is unable to complete the remainder of the course
requirements due to some unforeseen emergency (e.g., suffering a serious illness or injury,
being deployed for military service). Claiming to have a serious problem is insufficient:
students must provide compelling evidence to support their claims. Not having enough time
to complete the coursework due to job and/or family constraints is neither a legitimate nor a
compelling reason. Everyone is busy.
Policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty
As stated in the CMU Undergraduate Bulletin, In the academic community, the high value placed on
truth implies a corresponding intolerance of scholastic dishonesty. Written or other work which
students submit must be the product of their own efforts and must be consistent with appropriate
standards of academic and professional ethics. Academic dishonesty, which includes cheating,
plagiarism, and other forms of dishonest or unethical behavior, is prohibited. In cases that involve
the above instances of academic dishonesty, the students grade and status in the course are left to
the discretion of the instructor. These are serious offenses that involve serious consequences.
In this class, plagiarismwhether intentional or noton any of the assignments and/or exams may
result in an E grade for the assignment. While the Internet has made it easier for lazy,
unintelligent, and/or unethical persons to commit plagiarismeither by copying and pasting
material into their papers without citing the sources or by ordering completed essays from online
paper millsnew technologies have also been developed that make it easy for instructors to
determine whether the students writing is actually their own and whether all source material has
been adequately cited. In this class, assignments may be checked for plagiarism by using SafeAssign.
In addition, the academic integrity policy makes it very clear that recycling your own papers is a
serious act of academic dishonesty. If you have taken ENG 101 before, do not recycle your papers
from your previous class.
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Policy on Submitting Assignments

Unless otherwise instructed by me, complete all the essay assignments using MS Word and upload
them to Blackboard. Do not email any coursework to me without my permission. Do not send any
course work to me by U.S. Postal Service, UPS, or FedEx without my permission. It is your
responsibility to keep backup copies of all your writing assignments and exams during the semester.
Policy on Cell Phone/Computer Use in Class
Cell phones are distracting to you, your classmates, and your instructor. For this reason, they may
not be used during class. If you use your phone during class, you will automatically lose credit for
any in-class writing done that day and/or lose five points from your overall in-class writing grade.
You will not be warned, and continued use of your phone will result in additional five-point
penalties. The simplest way to avoid this penalty is to turn off your cell phone and put it away in
your pocket, purse, or backpack. Inappropriate use of your laptop and/or tablet, such as checking
Face Book during class, will also result in a five-point penalty as well. I would prefer if laptops were
not used in class unless I request their use.
Policy on Email
You are required to use your cmich.edu email account for this course. I will not reply to emails sent
from yahoo.com, hotmail.com, or other non-CMU email accounts.
KEYS TO SUCCESS IN THIS CLASS
Some of the advice below comes from former students who have done well in this class. Some of
this advice comes from experienced instructors who have taught the course to traditional and
nontraditional students in a variety of formats.
Carefully read this syllabus and other materials posted on the course Blackboard site as well
as any materials and emails I send you.
Dont underestimate the level of difficulty and amount of work required. You will not do
well if you place the work for this course at the bottom of your list of priorities. Succeeding
in schoollike anything elsemeans making sacrifices, including some that are painful.
Dont procrastinate. If you try to complete the work at the last minute, its quality will suffer,
as will your grade. You will not receive a C or better this course if you wait until the last
minute to complete the assignments or to contact me about what you do not understand.
Carefully read and study the assigned chapters and articles in the textbooks and other course
materials, and incorporate into your assignments the writing theories, strategies, and
suggestions discussed there.
Read and follow carefully the assignment and exam instructions.
View the assignments, exams, and other class work from the perspective of the intended
readers. One of the goals of this course is to get you to think more strategically about who
might read the documents you write. Never assume that anything you write is private, and
dont assume that your intended readers are only your classmates and instructor. In this
course, all writing is public in the sense that it is subject to review by your peers and
instructor. Grades, however, are private.
Proofread and edit your work carefully. You will be held accountable for various aspects of
effective writing, including content, style, rhetorical effectiveness, and grammatical
correctness. This class will help you further develop an appropriate and effective writing
style, but if you dont already grasp the fundamentals of correct grammar, punctuation, and
usage, then youre unlikely to earn a C in this course.
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STUDENT SERVICES
Writing Center
Because writing is such an important part of a university education, CMU provides free Writing
Center support to all CMU students, in any class, at any stage of the process, from brainstorming to
final editing (although the WC will not edit your papers for youthats your job). If I think you
have specific needs as a writer that would benefit from additional input, I might suggest that you
work with a writing consultant at the Writing Center and/or submit a paper to the Writing Centers
online consulting service. Because the Writing Center gets busy, plan ahead and schedule your
session/submit your paper well before assignments are due. For face-to-face sessions, be sure to
take your draft, assignment sheet, syllabus, and any other relevant class materials. To learn more,
visit the CMU Writing Centers website at
https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/chsbs/Centers/WritingCenter/Pages/default.aspx.
Student Disability Services
CMU provides students with disabilities reasonable accommodations to participate in educational
programs, activities, and services. Students with disabilities requiring accommodations to participate
in class activities or meet course requirements must first register with the office of Student Disability
Services (Park Library, Suite 120, 774-3018, TDD 774-2568, sds@cmich.edu). Instructors are not
obligated to provide accommodations to students who have not registered with Student Disability
Services. After you have registered with Student Disability Services, they will send me a description
of the type of accommodation you might need.
Veterans Resource Center
I recognize the complexities of being a member of the military community and also a student. If
you are a member of the military community, please inform me if you are in need of special
accommodations. Drill schedules, calls to active duty, complications with GI Bill disbursement, and
other unforeseen military and veteran related developments can complicate your academic life. If
you make me aware of a complication, I will do everything I can to assist you or put you in contact
with university staff who are trained to assist you, such as the staff of the Veterans Resource Center
(114 Warriner Hall, 774-7991, veterans@cmich.edu). To learn more about the center, go to
http://global.cmich.edu/veterans/Default.aspx

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DUE DATES FOR MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMS

All assignments and activities are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on the dates listed below:
Writing Skills Exam #1 (diagnostic essay) ......................................................................................... M 1/11
A1 D1 uploaded to your groups file exchange on Bb for peer response ..................................... M 1/25
Peer response comments due on A1 D1 .............................................................................................. F 1/29
A1 D2 uploaded to Bb for instructor review..................................................................................... M 2/01
A2 D1 uploaded to your groups file exchange on Bb for peer response ..................................... M 2/08
Writing Skills Exam #2 ........................................................................................................................... F 2/12
Peer response comments due on A2 D1 .............................................................................................. F 2/12
A1 D3 uploaded to Bb for instructor re-evaluation ......................................................................... M 2/15
A2 D2 uploaded to Bb for instructor review..................................................................................... M 2/15
Topic proposals for A3 due ................................................................................................................. W 2/17
A2 D3 uploaded to Bb for instructor re-evaluation ......................................................................... M 2/29
Writing Skills Exam #3 ........................................................................................................................... F 3/04
A3 D1 uploaded to your groups file exchange on Bb for peer response ..................................... M 3/14
Peer response comments due on A3 D1 .............................................................................................. F 3/18
A3 D2 uploaded to Bb for instructor review..................................................................................... M 3/21
Writing Skills Exam #4 ........................................................................................................................... F 3/25
A3 D3 uploaded to Bb for instructor re-evaluation ......................................................................... M 4/04
A4 D1 uploaded to your groups file exchange on Bb for peer response ..................................... M 4/11
Peer response comments due on A4 D1 .............................................................................................. F 4/15
A4 D2 uploaded to Bb for instructor review..................................................................................... M 4/18
A4 D3 uploaded to Bb for instructor re-evaluation ........................................................................... F 4/29
Writing Skills Exam #5 ......................................................................................................................... W 5/04

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