Welcome to English 103!

The description of English 103 from the course catalog is as follows: “focus on the organization, coherence, and development required for college papers. Intensive study of the conventions of written English, including grammar, punctuation, and sentence construction.” This section in particular will focus on critical reading, constructing solid arguments, and writing, editing, and revising persuasive papers. You should think of this class as more of a skill-building class than a class where you listen and absorb knowledge. We’ll do a lot of writing and revising, and a lot of analyzing of texts (yours and those from Current Issues and elsewhere). Finally, if you’re lucky and learn to write persuasive essays well enough, maybe you’ll end up richer at the end of this course. (No kidding!)

Required Texts

Barnet, Sylvan and Hugo Bedau. Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, With Readings. 6^th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2002.

Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 4^th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 1999.

(Additional readings will be handed out in class.)

You'll also need a good college dictionary for this course. If you don't have one yet, you need to get one. I recommend either the American Heritage Dictionary or Webster's 10^th Collegiate Dictionary. The paperback edition of the American Heritage Dictionary is available in the bookstore; if you can't find it, ask a bookstore employee for help.

Tentative Course Schedule (contains only first several weeks, and is subject to change)

CI = Current Issues & Enduring Questions, J indicates a day a journal entry is due (see journal assignment sheet)

Shaded boxes indicate days we will not meet as a class (individual conferences are held instead of a regular class session)

Due dates for other major assignments this semester:

Final Grade Breakdown:

Papers - 60% (paper 1 - 10%, paper 2 - 15%, paper 3 - 22%, paper 4 - 13%)

In-class essays, participation, and other in-class assignments - 15%

Error logs – 10%

Preparation for conferences, peer work – 5%

Journal, portfolio, and other assignments – 10%

Your participation grade is based on the following:

·         how well-prepared you are for class

·         how actively you participate in class discussions, and

·         your attendance

Papers

All papers are graded on content, style, mechanics, and organization. A papers (which are excellent papers) exceed all standards for college writing proficiency at Goucher (see writing proficiency criteria) – they are very well written, carefully argued, interesting, and they have only minor problems in at most a one or two areas. B papers are reasonably well written and could be revised to meet the standards of an excellent paper, but have several minor problem areas. C papers are average – they are coherent and have a locatable thesis, but they have a number of minor problems or one major problem. Papers that receive a C- or lower do not meet a number of the standards for writing proficiency, and have more major problems in more areas. Please understand that this may not be the grading system you were used to in high school: for me, an average paper is a C, a good paper is a B, and an excellent paper is an A.

More on the papers

We’ll write four out of class (as opposed to in-class) essays during the semester:

·         one short position paper (3-4 pages, no research required),

·         an argument analysis paper in which you'll write an analysis of an argument from our book (3-4 pages),

·         a mini research paper (5-7 pages) in which you’ll present your own argument about a topic discussed in class, and

·         an essay for Newsweek’s “My Turn” column (approximately 3 pages) on the topic of your choice. For this paper, no research of any sort is necessary.

Reading critically and writing clearly and persuasively can be hard work. You may not have had to write papers like these before, and you may find it difficult to do so. Please understand that I know this is hard work, and I’m here to help you learn and polish these skills. Please feel free to drop by my office if you’re feeling frustrated. I’m happy to go over a draft or a reading with you, discuss an assignment you’ve gotten back, or just chat about whatever is bothering you. If I'm not around, send me email. I check email quite often when I'm near a computer. If you let work pile up because you feel overwhelmed, it will be hard to get back on track, so please come talk to me sooner rather than later if you’re having any trouble.