Plagiarism Policy:  Plagiarism is the use of someone else’s thoughts, words, ideas, or lines of argument in your own work without appropriate documentation (a parenthetical citation at the end and a listing in "Works Cited")–whether you use that material in a quote, paraphrase, or summary. It is a theft of intellectual property and will not be tolerated, whether intentional or not. It is also a violation of section V, "Academic Misconduct," under the Winthrop Student Conduct Code (http://www.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/Judicial/judcode.htm). The English Department has prepared The Correct Use of Borrowed Information to explain plagiarism (see www.winthrop.edu/english/plagiarism.htm .) You will be required to print out this statement, sign the last page, and bring it to class when required by your instructor. Ignorance or failure to consult this material is no excuse.

In this course, the plagiarism policy ranges from a failing grade on the particular assignment in question to failing the course and being subject to the school’s disciplinary action, depending upon the nature and severity of the offense.  If you intentionally plagiarize a paper, you will receive a failing grade in the course.

Intentional plagiarism is the deliberate attempt to claim another person’s ideas or written work as your own work. 

Student Code of Conduct:  As noted in the Student Conduct Code:  “Responsibility for good conduct rests with students as adult individuals.” The policy on student academic misconduct is outlined in the “Student Conduct Code Academic Misconduct Policy” in the online Student Handbook (http://www2.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/handbook/StudentHandbook.pdf). 

Turnitin.com:  We will be using Turnitin.com for all essays written outside of the classroom.  Instructions for creating an account and enrolling in this class will be provided before the due date for the first essay. Student tutorials for using turnitin.com are available at http://www.winthrop.edu/dacus/About/studentTIIinstructions.htm.

Late Paper/Assignment Policy:  This policy varies with the type of assignment:

• Informal assignments such as in-class activities and quizzes cannot be made up. 
• Notebook entries will not be accepted late.  The procedure for posting/turning in these assignments will be spelled out on the assignment announcements.  You may miss one without penalty.
• For formal essays, the work is due in-class according to the dates on the schedule.  Any work not handed in during the first five minutes of class will be penalized a half-letter grade for being late, and then one letter grade for each day late thereafter.  (This includes weekends, and days run from 12AM to 11:59PM).  For example, if a paper is due in class on Tuesday at 5:00, and you’re not there but show up at my office at 6:30, your paper will receive a half-letter grade deduction.  However, if I do not receive the paper until Wednesday, it will receive a letter and a half grade deduction: half a grade for not having it in class on Tuesday, and an additional letter grade for it being a day late.  After three days (including weekends), the paper will not be

 accepted.

·          Any paper is not submitted to Turnitin.com by the deadline will receive a five-point penalty.

Three additional notes: 1) I consider the paper being turned in when I receive the paper copy directly in my hands.  Slipping work under my door should then be avoided as there is no way to verify the time.  2) When I refer to work, I am referring to the hard copies; I generally will not accept assignments via email unless I have given prior approval.  3) Assignments may be turned in early (in fact, I encourage it).

 Note: If some kind of unforeseeable medical or legal situation arises, notify me as soon as possible.  Depending upon the severity of the situation and the nature of the documentation provided, this late policy may be adjusted.

Paper Storage:  At the end of the class, all graded papers and in-class writing assignments must be returned to your teacher for storage. Please make or save duplicate copies of papers if you wish to keep them. Stored papers may be randomly selected for assessment purposes; if yours is chosen, all identifying information will be deleted from it before it is used for assessment.

Duplicate Submission of Papers:  You may not submit a paper for a grade in this class that already has been (or will be) submitted for a grade in another course, unless you obtain the explicit written permission of me and the other instructor involved in advance. This is to conform to the Student Code of Conduct, §V, which states: "Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to … presenting the same or substantially the same papers or projects in two or more courses without the explicit permission of the professors involved." (Student Code of Conduct §V: http://www.winthrop.edu/studentaffairs/Judicial/judcode.htm )

Instructor Accessibility:  You can expect me to be available as a resource from which to draw and to obtain feedback. I am very responsive to email questions as long as I know who the email is from and have all information necessary to provide a complete answer. Please be sure to “sign” your emails as oftentimes email names are confusing at best (e.g., brownb1@winthrop.edu could be Bob Brown or Beth Brown). Please make sure to speak slowly and comprehensibly if leaving a voicemail so that I can decipher the name, message, and return phone number as well.

What you cannot expect of me is to be available 24/7. While I do check my email and voicemail regularly, including weekends (if I am in town), I do not necessarily check them more than once a day or late in the evenings. Therefore, if you procrastinate on an assignment, you may not have the information you need to complete the assignment appropriately. Please plan your time accordingly to maximize the probability that you will receive a response in time for it to be useful.

Students with Disabilities:  If you have a disability and need classroom accommodations, please contact Gena Smith, Coordinator, Services for Students with Disabilities, at 323-3290 (or ext. 3290 from campus), as soon as possible. Once you have your professor notification letter, please notify me so that I am aware of your accommodations well before the first assignment.

Safe Zones Statement:  I consider this classroom to be a place where you will be treated with respect as a human being – regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, political beliefs, age, or ability. Additionally, diversity of thought is appreciated and encouraged, provided you can agree to disagree. It is my expectation that ALL students consider the classroom a safe environment.

Contacting Your Instructor:   All instructors in the Department have voice mail in their offices and Winthrop e-mail addresses. Make sure you write down my phone number and e-mail address where you will not lose it.  I check my voice mail and email each weekday.  (I do not usually check them on the weekend).   You can also leave messages for me in the department mailroom, 248 Bancroft, which is open from 8:30-5:00 each day. 

Attendance Policy:  In this class, I will follow the standard Winthrop policy, which states: “Students are expected to attend classes and should understand that they are responsible for the academic consequences of absence.  The student is responsible for all requirements of the course regardless of absences. Instructors are obligated to provide makeup opportunities only for students who are absent with adequate cause such as incapacitating illness, death of an immediate family member, or authorized representation of the university.  The instructor will be responsible for judging the adequacy of cause for absence.  The student is responsible for providing documentation certifying the legitimacy of the absence to his or her instructor in advance of such absences.  In health-related or family emergency cases where advance notice is not possible, documentation should be provided to the instructor no later than the date the student returns to class.  . . . If a student’s absences in a course total 25 percent or more of the class meetings for the course, the student will receive a grade of N if the student withdraws from the course before the withdrawal deadline; after that date, unless warranted by documented extenuating circumstances as described in the previous section, a grade of F or U shall be assigned.” 28 class meetings are scheduled, so 25% or more = 7 or more absences.

Despite the high number of absences technically possible under the above policy, your success in Writing 101 will depend heavily on class discussion and information presented during class time.  A high number of absences will be reflected in the loss of points for daily grades and probably in the quality of your essay assignments.  For these reasons, I expect you to attend and be on time for all classes.

- 3 tardies of more than 5 minutes will result in an absence. I need everyone here so we can make full use of our time.  Make sure you are in your desk and ready at the time class is supposed to start.

- Sleeping in class will result in an absence.

- Text messaging or other electronic disturbances during class will result in an absence.  TURN OFF YOUR PHONES BEFORE COMING TO CLASS. 

Writing Center:  The Writing Center provides support for all students in all Winthrop classes free of charge.  It is located in 242 Bancroft (x-2138).  Check its web page www.winthrop.edu/wcenter for current hours.

E-mail List Serves: Winthrop automatically generates a listserv for each class using the Winthrop e-mail addresses of all students enrolled in a class on the first day of instruction. If you add the class late or if you prefer to use an alternate e-mail address, you must personally enroll in the listserv. You can find the instructions for doing so at http://www.winthrop.edu/acc/imailsrv.asp.

Handheld Technology Policy:  Laptops are not permitted.  Exceptions are made for students with documented disabilities. 

Some Things That I’d Like You To Know:

-Ask me for help if you are having trouble or something is unclear.

-I value my students’ involvement in class discussion and development.  I will expect that you contribute your ideas regularly during the course, and many of our day-to-day activities will be dependent on your involvement.  This means that you will have to come to class prepared – prepared means having done whatever work is assigned and being ready to contribute to what is going on in class that day.  Don’t underestimate the importance of your role in this course and in making this an important learning experience not only for you but for all of us.

-If you would like to meet with me outside of my office hours, the best thing to do would be to set up an appointment with me.  Also, I get a large number of emails each day.  I will respond to my emails, but there may be a delay.

-I like to write comments and give feedback.  However, it takes me time to do that.  I will return work as quickly as I can – 1 to 2 weeks for major assignments.  Also, please know that I never intend to sound sarcastic in a comment.  If my comments are unclear, please ask.  I’ll be happy to clarify.  Our rubric sets standards high (note that a “C” means that you have done what you were asked to do).  I want to help you reach those standards by developing your writing potential.

-Writing is a lot of work, so give yourself time to do that work.  Writing a paper involves more than just sitting down and pounding out a draft and turning it in.  Writing involves critical thinking and reading, fleshing out ideas, crafting lines of text.  Value your voice by staying with your words a while; see what they show you.

Daily Schedule of Readings and Assignments:  See attached calendar.

Kara S. Beasley

Bancroft 212

Office Phone: (803) 323-4559

E-mail: beasleyk@winthrop.edu; Website: http://faculty.winthrop.edu/beasleyk

Office Hours: TR 8:45-9:30 and 11-12:15 or by appointment

Writing 101-025/3 Credit Hours

Fall 2011

Withers 117

TR 3:30-4:45pm

Texts:    Axelrod, Rise, Charles Cooper, and Alison Warriner.  Reading Critically: Writing Well, 9^th edition.  NY: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 

Harris, Muriel and Jennifer L. Kunka.  Prentice Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and Usage.  8^th Edition.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011.  Third Custom Edition for Winthrop.

Materials:  In addition to the texts, you will need a dictionary, a looseleaf notebook, and four two-pocket folders to turn in your papers.

Course Goals:  Goals for all courses in the Department of English, including those that meet requirements for NCATE certification, are described at http://www.winthrop.edu/english/goals/index.htm.

Departmental goals for Writing 101 include the following:

1.    To use writing, the critical reading of mature prose texts, and research as means of general cognitive development, as activities which foster intellectual growth in an academic environment.

2.    To encourage students to see writing as a learning tool that is important in all contexts and is not confined to the writing classroom. 

3.    To teach students to plan, organize, and develop persuasive essays by using introspection, general observation, deliberation, course reading, and research beyond classroom texts. 

4.    To make students aware of their individual voices and how those voices can be adapted to fit different audiences and rhetorical situations. 

5.    To encourage students to view writing as a process by using several prewriting, organizing, drafting, revising, and editing strategies. 

6.    To stress the importance of clear communication by teaching students to revise effectively through the complete rethinking, restructuring, and rewriting of essays. 

7.    To encourage independent thinking. 

8.     To teach students to evaluate, document, and incorporate source material accurately and appropriately, according to “The Correct Use of Borrowed Information.” 

Specific goals for teacher certification majors are listed at http://www.winthrop.edu/english/goals.htm#englished.

Touchstone/ GNED Goals:  This course meets Touchstone Goal One: “To communicate clearly and effectively in standard English” and Goal Three: “To use critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and a variety of research methods.”  It also provides students with opportunities to meet potentially Goal Four: “To recognize and appreciate human diversity (both past and present) as well as the diversity of ideas, institutions, philosophies, moral codes, and ethical principles” as well as Goal Seven: “To examine values, attitudes, beliefs, and habits which define the nature and quality of life.”  Writing 101 appears in the Touchstone Program as part of the “Writing and Critical Thinking” skill area.

Global Learning Initiative: This course participates in the Global Learning Initiative.  The global learning component of this course is the following: Students will analyze and evaluate advertising across cultures.

Learning Outcomes: 

1.      Students will analyze and evaluate nonfiction prose texts both for their ideas and their rhetorical choices through the use of critical reading strategies.

2.      Students will plan, organize, and develop persuasive, logical, and well-supported essays by using strategies such as introspection, general observation, and deliberation of source material.

3.      Students will recognize and use prewriting, organizing, drafting, and revising strategies. 

4.      Students will apply feedback from the instructor, peers, and self-analysis to improve their writing. 

5.      Students will evaluate, document, and incorporate source material accurately and appropriately, according to “The Correct Use of Borrowed Information” and MLA documentation style. 

Course Requirements: 

Assignment                                                                                                                           % of Grade

Essay 1                                                                                                                                  10%

Essay 2                                                                                                                                  15%

Essay 3                                                                                                                                  15%

Essay 4                                                                                                                                  20%

Final Exam                                                                                                                           15%

Writer’s Notebook                                                                                                               10%

Advertising Project                                                                                                              5%

Conference                                                                                                                           5%

Daily Grade                                                                                                                          5%

Here is a general description of the procedures we will follow regarding these course requirements:

Essays

You will develop 5 essays: 3 out-of-class and 2 in-class (this includes the final).  You will be expected to have all but the in-class essays typed.  All papers must be double spaced and follow standard MLA guidelines as outlined in your handbook for documentation and style as well as follow “The Correct Use of Borrowed Information.”  Use Times New Roman 12 point font.  I will ask you to turn in your prewriting and rough drafts with your final copy, so keep everything.  I usually ask that you turn the information in using a two-pocket folder:  on one side, place the prewriting, notes, drafts, and on the other, place the final copy by itself.  Please note that departmental policy requires me to keep the graded version of your essays.  Make copies of any graded essays that you would like to keep by the end of the semester.

Peer Evaluations

In addition to my feedback, the advice and ideas of others who are approaching an assignment from the same place as you is often valuable in composing your final draft.   To improve your writing and to encourage revision, we will have peer evaluations for all but the in-class essays.  You will need to turn in these critiqued rough drafts with the final paper.  These rough drafts are NOT optional, and while they are certainly subject to change, the more complete your rough draft is, the more feedback your classmates can give you. If you are not prepared for these peer evaluations, are absent, or do not turn in the critiqued drafts with your final paper, you will have 5 points deducted from the final paper grade.  (Note: If you miss this peer review because of extenuating circumstances such as traveling to represent the university, a visit to the Writing Center may count as an appropriate substitute; however, this must be approved by me in at least 2 classes in advance). 

A note about Revision: You will be allowed to revise your first essay, and EITHER your second or third; revision grades will be averaged with the original grades to determine your final average.  Revisions will generally be due one week after I return the original graded copy to you, unless I say otherwise.  Revisions will not be accepted after the due date.  A revision is, usually, the complete rewriting of a paper.

Writer’s Notebook

This LOOSELEAF notebook will contain various in-class reading activities.  For example, I may ask you to complete a research exercise or to write a response to one of the readings.  The assignments will vary and are usually announced in class. 

Daily Grade
This grade may include class participation, leading discussion, and/or quizzes.

Syllabus Change Policy: Sometimes, over the course of the semester, it is necessary to make changes to the course calendar or the syllabus.  I will make any such changes to the copy of the calendar and syllabus on my web site; I will also announce them in class, but in case you miss the announcement you should check the web site regularly for changes.  The documents posted on my web site will be considered the official versions.

Grading Policies: 

This class will use the plus/minus grading system. In this class, the following numerical equivalents for grades are used:

A             =              93-100                                   C             =              73-76    

A-            =              90-92                                     C-            =              70-72

B+           =              87=89                                    D+           =              67-69

B             =              83-86                                     D             =              63-66

B-            =              80-82                                     D-            =              60-62

C+           =              77-79                                     F              =              59 and bellow

Essays will be evaluated by the standards listed in the “Rubric for Freshman Composition,” which can be found at the following web address: http://www.winthrop.edu/english/rubric.htm

*According to the Writing 101 Guidelines, “Students must earn at least a C- in Writing 101 in order to enroll in HMXP 102 and must repeat Writing 101 if they earn less than a C-.”

Final Examinations:  The final examination for this class is scheduled for Wednesday, December 7^th at 11:30 am.  Winthrop University policy requires that all classes meet during their scheduled final examination period. This schedule can be found on the Records and Registration website. Winthrop University policy specifies that personal conflicts such as travel plans and work schedules do not warrant a change in examination time. You are responsible for checking the time of your final examination and for making arrangements to be there. 

Additional Information:  The English Department’s home page is http://www.winthrop.edu/english.   The home page for our book is www.bedfordstmartins.com/readingcritically (also listed inside the back cover of your book).