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ENGLISH 110:

First-Year Composition

Winter 2000 Syllabus

Instructor: Ben McCorkle
Class: M/W 11:30 - 1:18
Office: 503 Denney Hall
Room: 214 Aviation Bldg.
Office Phone: 292.1702
Office Hours: M 1:30-4:30 pm and by appt.
Mailbox: 421 Denney Hall (the box under my name)
email: mccorkle.12 AT osu.edu

Note: Syllabus is subject to change as needed.

     "Gentlemen, you do me too much honor, but I have
      four reasons for not writing: I am too old, too lazy,
      too fat, and too rich."--David Hume (1711-1776),
      British philosopher and historian, declining to
update his best-selling History of Great Britain.

Course Description:

English 110 is designed to accomplish two broad goals--not only improving your skills as a writer and communicator within an academic environment, but also developing awareness as a critical thinker and reader of texts. More specifically, the First-Year Composition course will provide a forum for examining some of the various literacies a person encounters throughout a lifetime--(1) personal, (2) academic, and (3) public discourse communities are the three main contexts for the quarter. Weíll focus on cultivating your rhetorical and analytical skills, both of which serve to make you a better writer and thinker. The ways in which this goal will be met include: discussions of various readings throughout the quarter, several writing assignments, reader response sessions during which you provide worthwhile commentary on your classmatesí essays, and the willingness to put forth the necessary thought and effort.

Texts:

The Writer's Companion: A Guide to First-Year Writing. Kay Halasek et al, eds. 2nd ed. Needham Heights, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing, 1999. [WC]

Connors, Robert and Andrea Lunsford. The Everyday Writer: A Brief Reference. New York: St. Martinís Press, 1998. [EW]
Writing Lives: Exploring Literacy and Community. Sara Garnes et al, eds. New York: St. Martinís Press, 1996. [WL]
Your own writing journal: some sort of notebook or binder to collect your various informal writing assignments during the quarter.

Class Requirements:

Essays--There will be a total of three essays, 4-6 pages in length. Essays One and Three will be revised once, and Essay Two will be revised twice.

Writing Journal--This will be an informal space to jot down your thoughts on the readings for the quarter, in-class writing exercises, responses to your classmatesí work, and any other inspiration that might strike you over the next ten weeks. Your writing journal will be a major component of your final grade, so a relatively easy way to insure a better grade for yourself would be to actually do the assignments as they arise.

Readings--Several readings are assigned throughout the quarter. Weíll be discussing and writing about these at length, so actually reading them is essential to the functionality of our class. If it seems that we are having trouble completing the readings for class, I will begin assigning impromptu quizzes which will figure into the final participation grade.

Final Essay--You will compose this two-page essay at the end of the quarter to describe your development as a writer, what youíve learned, and how this class has changed your approach to textual analysis and critical understanding.

Conferences--Early in the quarter, weíll be scheduling one short individual conference for each of you, so I can better gauge your specific needs, concerns, or questions about the course. I also encourage you to consult me at any time during the span of the quarter if you have questions or need help (please note my office hours and contact information at the top of the Syllabus); thatís what Iím here for. Additionally, we will also have three separate reader response meetings during which youíll workshop your essay drafts in small groups.

Evaluation:

Essays One, Two, Three--20% each (60% total)
Final Essay--10%
Writing journal--15%
Participation--15%

Class Policies:

Plagiarism--Refer to pages 86 - 87 of WC for a definition of plagiarism. This will be treated in all cases as a serious offense, and work suspected as plagiaristic will be forwarded to the proper personnel. You can avoid this by being extra-careful when you cite your sources.

Student Work--Any work left in my office after the end of the quarter will remain there for an additional two quarters (in this case, until the end of SU 00). If youíd like to pick anything up after the quarter, contact me so we can make arrangements to do so.

Late Work--I will not accept late writerís journal entries. Essay drafts can be up to three days late, but with each passing day, your grade on the assignment will drop 1/3 of a letter grade (from a B+ to a B after one day, from a B to a B- after two days, etc.). Additionally, if you fail to produce copies of your drafts in time for reader response sessions (when Draft One is due for each essay), your overall class participation grade will drop one letter grade.

Attendance--You are both expected and encouraged to come to each class meeting. Department policy will not allow more than four unexcused absences--that means, simply, that you must fail the course. Additionally, after two unexcused absences, I will lower your final grade by 1/2 (from a B+ to a B-, for example); this fine is doubled on reader response days. Tardiness of more than 15 minutes is considered an unexcused absence, and persistent tardiness (i.e., more than three) of less than 15 minutes will count as one unexcused absence. For an absence to be excused, it must be documented, for instance a doctorís note. For a list of what the University deems excused absences, refer to page 84-85 of The Writerís Companion.

Additional Resources:

Again, I stress that I am available to you as a resource outside of the classroom; after all, it is in both our interests that you meet with some degree of success in this class. However, there are a number of other resources that may prove useful to you this quarter. Among these are the Writing Center, the Writing Programs Ombud (Mike King), and the Office for Disabilities Services (ODS). You should look at Chapter 5 of WC (pages 93 - 96) for descriptions of these resources as well as others.

Daily Schedule:

It is your responsibility to keep current with this schedule, but remember also that the schedule may change. Readings listed for any particular day are to be completed in advance of that day; you need to be prepared to discuss them in class.
Abbreviation Key--
WL = Writing Lives
WC = The Writerís Companion
EW = The Everyday Writer

UNIT ONE (Personal Literacies):
W 1.5 Introduction
Review of Syllabus
First Day Essay assignment

F 1.7 "Literacy": Framing a Definition; A Rhetorical Introduction
Prompt for Essay One will be handed out.
WL--Part One: The Practice of Literacy (1 - 20)
WL--Scribner, "Literacy in Three Metaphors" (34-49)

M 1.10 WL--OíBrien, "The Things They Carried" (50-62)
WL--Eighner, "On Dumpster Diving" (63-74)
Writing Journal--an introduction and discussion.
In-class writing--Engaging Eighner

W 1.12 Draft One of Essay One Due (with copies)
WL--Readings by Douglass, Hart (103 - 108; 121 - 132)
In-class writing--"Writing the Life" and Depicting Difference
Reader Response--an introduction and training session.
WC--III B. "Talk Amongst Yourselves" (23 - 29); III F. "Play it Again" (73 - 82)

W 1.19 Reader Response to Essay One

M 1.24 Grammar Workshop Day (whee!)
Bring EW to class (9 - 24); skim sections on Style, Grammar, and Mechanics
Bring a copy of your Essay One draft to class.

UNIT TWO (Academic Literacies):
W 1.26 Higher Learning = Higher Earning, or 3 Hots and a Cot?
Final Draft of Essay One Due
Prompt for Essay Two will be handed out.
Film: Education in Ohio Schools
WL--Readings by Hughes (140) and Royster (223-234)

M 1.31 WL--Readings by Heath and hooks (142-161; 235 - 245)
WC--III A. "How to Win Friends. . ." (11-22), III C. "Into the Fray. . ." (31-46)
Writing Journal--respond to at least one of the last 4 WL readings before class.

W 2.2 Draft One of Essay Two Due (with copies)
WL--Reading by Bloom (294-304)

M 2.7 Reader Response to Essay Two

W 2.9 Draft Two of Essay Two Due
WL--Reading by Freire (209-222)
In-class writing--The Ideal Academy?

UNIT THREE (Public Literacies):
M 2.14 Film: George Orwellís Animal Farm

W 2.16 Final Draft of Essay Two Due
Prompt for Essay Three will be handed out.
WL--Orwellís "Why I Write" (25 - 31)
In-class writing--Is Writing Political?

M 2.21 Multi-media: Friend, Foe, or Fuhgeddabouddit?
WL--Readings by Sizer, Solomon (323-341), Katz (367-377)

W 2.23 Draft One of Essay Three Due (with copies)
WL--Readings by Rapping and Ventura (378-397)
WC--III D. "Working With Texts"; III E. "(Itís Not) Just the Facts" (47-71)
In-class writing--Any Good in Commercial Culture?

M 2.28 Where It's @. . .
WL--Kadi, "The Internet is Four Inches Tall" (431-440)
EW--Wired Style (241-247)

W 3.1 Reader Response to Essay Three

M 3.6 WL--Readings by Kantrowitz, Tannen (441-452)
In-class writing--Cyberculture: Digital Doomsday or www.rennaisance.com?

W 3.8 Final Draft of Essay Three Due
Final Project Prompt will be given out (due 3.13 by 5 p.m. in my mailbox).
Turn in writing journals
Wrap-up discussion--Integrating the Three Units. . .
Class Evaluations

First Day Essay Prompt:

In the next 50 minutes, please respond in writing to the following prompt. Use as many specific details or examples as possible, and be sure to take some time for planning and proofreading.

Describe the earliest memories you have of speaking, reading, or writing, and discuss the significance of those early events.

. . . And as a personal aside, Iíd just like to welcome all of you into our little community; I look forward to working with each of you. Good luck, work hard, and donít forget to have fun in the process.