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CAI English 1020: Research and Argumentative Writing Dr. B. Ayne Cantrell ENGLISH 1020 PREREQUISITES:
CAI REQUIREMENTS: CAI means "computer-assisted instruction." Your section of English 1020 will be taught in a computer lab, so you will need to have
TEXTS AND MATERIALS: Axelrod and Cooper's, Reading Critically, Writing Well. 6th
edition. English 1020 combines a study of and practice in argumentation, critical reading, and research, which means that in all your major writing you will attempt to persuade your readers with clear and valid arguments backed up with reliable, correctly documented sources. To succeed in the course, you will need to build on the writing/reading skills you learned in English 1010. I assume, for example, that in your first-semester writing class you learned to successfully revise your writing for matters pertaining to audience, purpose, thesis, organization and development and to appropriately edit your writing for correct language usage. Also in your first college-level composition course, you began to learn how to read critically your own writing and the writing of others. In English 1020, you will apply, practice, and extend these essential writing/reading skills. In addition, in English 1020 you will learn
Because of the research component and the complexity of writing sound arguments, English 1020 is a demanding course both on your time and effort. You will always have homework, and I expect you to spend at least three hours of study on English 1020 outside of class for each period spent in class (however, students who do well in the course tell me that they spend much more time than this three hour minimum per class). Read on to find out how our course of study works. COURSE STUDY AND ACTIVITIES: Writing & Revising. Expect to write (and rewrite) a lot.
Reading. Yep, you guessed it! Expect to read a lot, too.
Research. Essays 2-5 all require library, Internet, and/or field research and 3 to 5 sources each. Testing. You will have announced short objective type quizzes on most reading assignments. Peer Review. Beginning with Essay 3, peers will read and respond to second drafts of all essay writings. See WebCT Course Content: Assignments (Peer Response) for a description of peer review. To earn course credit, you must participate in at least two of the three peer reviews. Student/Teacher Conferences. My students often say that they best learn how to improve their writing in conferences with me. 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. You may e-mail or phone me (even at home--before 10 PM), too. WebCT Email. Often you will need to submit assignments to me via WebCT email (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 MTSU Pipeline to access our WebCT course. See class handout—Daily Schedule of Assignments- for instructions on how to access our WebCT course and use WebCT mail COURSE POLICIES: Grading
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 | Penalty for late drafts: Unexcused late essay drafts 1-2 will result in the Final Writer’s Portfolio being penalized 1/2 letter grade for each draft submission late. |
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| The N Grade: 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. |
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| Grading Scale: 90-100 = A (3.7-4.0 GPA); 80-89 = B (2.7-3.6) ; 70-79 = C (1.7-2.6); 60-69 = D (0.7-1.6) below 60 = F (0-0.6). Please note that to pass English 1020, you course average must be a C (at least 70 or 1.7 GPA) and that final course grades will be reported without plusses or minuses. |
Absences and Tardies--Only three unexcused absences are allowed. Three late arrivals will equal an absence. Should you miss class and believe the absence warrants an excuse, write a note stating the reason why the absence should be excused, and I will consider its merit and determine if the absence will be excused. University-sponsored functions are automatically excused, but students are responsible for submitting work early. I will take roll daily, and if you (1) miss more than three unexcused absences, (2) participate in fewer than two of the three 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.
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.
Late Work—Because English 1020 is a skills course in which one skill is built on another and because late work is moved to the back of my grading line, it is imperative that you submit your work on time. Here are important late work policies:
| I do not accept late work more than one week late. |
| I do not read draft 2 of essays until draft 1 has been completed as required. |
| Unexcused late essay drafts 1-2 will result in the Final Portfolio being penalized 1/2 letter grade for each draft submission late. |
| Only excused Writer’s Portfolios 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 submitting another's work as your own is wrong. The most flagrant instances of plagiarism are (1) submitting work copied in sum or parts from another source (such as the Internet or another student), (2) having someone dictate what should be written (such as having a typist, tutor, friend, or parent rewrite a paper, substituting his/her language for the student's), and (3) using sources without sufficient documentation. Such violations are very easy for writing teachers to spot because we get very familiar with students’ prose style: You should know that writing teachers at MTSU often read the writing completed in each other's classes and have available to them Internet resources to check plagiarized papers. Cases of plagiarism and cheating most often result in failure in the course and will also be reported to the Dean of Judicial Affairs for disciplinary action, which could be as severe as expulsion from the university.
Another kind of plagiarism, one that is less flagrant but still constitutes failure in the Writer’s Portfolio, is inadequate paraphrasing. When you copy the authors’ language without using quotation marks, even when you document the sources, you have plagiarized. See Harbrace "Inadequate paraphrasing" (594-95) and make sure you learn to avoid this kind of plagiarism, too.
Classroom Behavior. See the English Department’s statement on the definition and consequences of disruptive behavior in the classroom (WebCT Content: Assignments).
TUTORING SERVICE: The University Writing Center is located in Peck Hall 325 (phone 904-8237, e-mail uwcenter@mtsu.edu). From simple matters of sentence punctuation to complex matters of essay organization or development, at the UWC 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.
OVERVIEW OF TEACHER AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES:
To contribute your success in the course, I promise
To contribute your success in the course, you should
COURSE OUTLINE. I have divided our coursework into four units of study. Units 1-3 introduce you to essential reading, research, and argumentative writing skills needed to succeed in English 1020. Unit 4 gives you time to perfect those skills. Please see class handout—Daily Schedule of Assignments—for specific due dates.
Weeks 1-6
Unit 1 Argumentation
Unit 2 Reading Critically
Unit 3 Research
Weeks 7-17
Unit 4 Extended practice in argumentation, critical reading, research, writing and revising
Writer’s Portfolio (Draft 3 of three essays)
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