CAI English 1010--Expository Writing

 Dr. B. Ayne Cantrell 
Last Taught Spring 2003

CAI REQUIREMENTS: CAI means “computer-assisted instruction.”  Your section of English 1010 will be taught in a computer lab, so you will need to have

 OTHER PREREQUISITES FOR STUDY:

 TEXTS

 MATERIALS

 COURSE OBJECTIVES

CAI English 1010 will introduce you to the writing process and give you much practice in writing expository essays (i.e., writing that intends to explain something about yourself and how you view the world).  We will use computer technology to facilitate our study and to aid the writing process.  Also you will learn reading strategies that will help you to read critically and write intelligently.  You will become a better, more confident reader and writer, and the skills you acquire will benefit you in college and throughout your life.  More specifically, you will learn 

1. To reflect on your growth as a writer and to become a critical reader of your own writing
2. To become a critical reader of the writing of others, including your classmates' writing
3. To use vocabulary associated with writing for the purpose of communicating about the writing process and essay genres
4. To generate ideas for writing and to explore and limit subjects for writing
5. To demonstrate an awareness of purpose and audience in your writing
6. To draw content for your writing from your imagination and experience and from written and interview sources and to summarize, paraphrase, analyze, quote from, and document these sources in your writing
7. To adapt the structures of sentences and paragraphs to the purposes of a given piece of writing
8. To revise your writing to create interesting, unified, coherent essays that are adequately developed
9. To edit your writing (a) to ensure that you have used specific, appropriate language and varied sentence types and (b) to eliminate serious grammatical and mechanical errors

 COURSE ACTIVITIES

Reading--The more you know about the composing process, the more effective your writing.  For this purpose, you will read (1) chapters from The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing and Portfolio Composition that will introduce you to strategies for writing, (2) sections from The Harbrace Handbook on matters of language usage, and (3) essays written by others, including the writing of your classmates.

 Writing & Revising—Effective writing, of course, is the major goal of English 1010, so you can expect to write a good deal.  In addition to an in-class introductory writing and five additional in-class writings in which you will reflect on what you are learning as a developing writer, you will write at least three drafts each of five essays (550-650 words each).  You will learn that effective writing is a matter of rewriting, a process made more efficient by the use of computers.  Both your peers and I will respond to your writing with suggestions for revisions.  These suggestions will ask you to rethink and reshape content and organization (not just to correct errors in grammar and mechanics).  Then you will have an opportunity to rewrite before you submit the essays for grading. 

 The writing and rewriting activity in English 1010 is designed to help you produce a body of work, called a WRITER’S PORTFOLIO.  Like the artist's portfolio (paintings that best present the artist's vision, style, and achievement), the writing portfolio will represent you as a writer.  From Essays 1-5 you will choose three fully revised essays for your portfolio (one essay selected from assignments 1 & 2 and two essays from assignments 3, 4, & 5) and submit them for a grade near the end of the term.  As practice in portfolio selection, you will submit a mid-term portfolio consisting of one essay (a revision of either Essay 1 or 2) at the end of the 7th week of the term.

 Objective tests on reading assignments--You will take six announced objective tests over selected chapters in The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing.  You may not use your book while taking these tests, but you may use your own notes and/or outlines.

 Student/teacher conferences--Students often say that they learn best how to improve their writing in student/teacher conferences.  I ask that you schedule two conferences with me outside of class to discuss your writing.  Because the conferences are mandatory, missing them will result in course failure unless rescheduled appointments are kept.  Of course, I invite you to set up additional conferences as you need them.  If you have questions, if you need help, please see me during my regular office hours or make an appointment for another time.

 Email--Often you will need to submit assignments to me via WebCT Mail (and, of course, you are invited to communicate to me via email at any time).  Even though you may have an email account already, I require that you use WebCT email, which means that you will need to activate your student computer account if you haven’t done so already and use our WebCT Expository Writing Mail function.  You will receive credit ONLY when you submit email assignments via WebCT Expository Writing; that is, you must be "in" our WebCT course to complete email assignments.

 GRADES

 Mid-term Informational Grade--At mid-term you will receive an informational letter grade (A, B, C, or F).  The mid-term grade will reflect the quality of your work at that point, but it will not determine your final course grade.

 Final Course Grade--To pass the course and earn three credit hours, you must achieve a course grade of C or better.  D is not a passing grade in 1010.  You cannot turn in F work for the Final Portfolio and pass the course.  Also, to be eligible to earn course credit, you must (1) complete all in-class writings, (2) complete at least three drafts of all five essays, (3) complete sentence-level corrections, (4) submit mid-term portfolio and final portfolio, (5) meet writing assignment deadlines, and (6) meet all attendance requirements for classes, conferences, and peer groups.  Then your course grade will be determined as follows: 

Students who fulfill all course requirements but fail to achieve C or better and who are attempting the course for the first time will receive a course grade of N (not passing), which gives them another opportunity to pass the course without lowering their GPAs.  Final course grades will be reported as A, B, C, F, or N (no plus or minus grades).

 Grading Scale:

90-100 = A (3.7-4.0)
 80-89  = B (2.7-3.6)
70-79   = C (1.7-2.6)
60-69   = D (0.7-1.6)
59 --     = F  (0-.6). 

Please note that to pass English 1010, you course average must be a C (at least 70 or 1.7 GPA).  For description of A, B, C, F portfolio grading standards, see Portfolio Composition 9.

 COURSE POLICIES

 Attendance--Class attendance is extremely important to you and your classmates' success in CAI English 1010 because unlike the lecture course where your class absence affects no one but yourself, CAI English 1010 is structured around your participation in class.  Your writing is our subject matter, and most days we will be prewriting, writing, or rewriting in class.  Often classes will be conducted as writing workshops where your classmates and I will confer with you about your writing and where you will respond to your classmates about their writing. 

 Therefore, you are expected to attend all classes.  I will take roll daily, and if you (1) miss more than three of the required classes, (2) participate in fewer than three of the required five peer response groups, or (3) do not attend the two mandatory out-of-class teacher/student conferences, you will fail the course.  Exceptions will be made to this policy only under extraordinary circumstances and then only when the student makes up the class time missed by completing additional student/teacher conferences or working with a tutor in the Writing Center.

 Only documented university-sponsored functions (for instance, trips relating to sports, chorus events, livestock judging) are automatically excused.  In such cases, you are responsible for notifying me of the absence well in advance, and you are responsible for getting your work in early--before you have to be absent.  For other absences that you want excused, you must present in writing the request and explanation for my consideration.

 Being prepared for class is expected, even after any absence. Your Daily Schedule of Assignments is quite detailed, so there is never an acceptable excuse of “Gee, I didn’t know that was due.”  Also you may email me with questions and/or select classmates and exchange phone numbers and email addresses to use as a means of staying informed about class work when you have to miss classes.

 Tardiness--Three late arrivals will equal an absence.  If you arrive after I call roll, it is your responsibility to alert me to your attendance.

 Late Work--It is imperative that you submit your work on time.  I do not accept unexcused late work more than one week late.  Unexcused late essay drafts will result in the Final Writer’s Portfolio being penalized 1/2 letter grade for each draft submission late.  Only excused late Mid-term and Final Writer’s Portfolio will be accepted.  Should you want me to consider late work, you must submit in writing your reason(s) for why I should accept it late; then, I will determine if your reason(s) warrant my accepting the late work without penalty.

 Plagiarism--You know that using another's work as your own is wrong.  The most flagrant instances of plagiarism are (1) submitting work that is copied from another student's writing, (2) having someone dictate what should be written (such as having a typist rewrite a paper, substituting his/her language for the student's), and (3) using sources without documentation.  Such violations are very easy for writing teachers to spot because we get very familiar with students’ prose style (and you should know that writing teachers at MTSU often read the writing completed in each other's classes).  Cases of plagiarism and cheating often result in the students’ failure in the course and may be reported to the Dean of Judicial Affairs for disciplinary action.

 FREE TUTORING SERVICE

 The Writing Center is located in Peck Hall 325 (phone 904-8237, e-mail uwcenter@mtsu.edu).  There students receive valuable one-on-one instruction to improve their writing.  If I find that you have writing problems that can be best addressed in tutoring sessions, I will recommend--and sometimes require--that you take advantage of this free service.

 WRITING TOOLS