English 102 Course Objectives and Requirements

 

Please read this document carefully before proceeding to the rest of the course.  It's also a good idea to read MCC's "Distance Learning Tutorial" before you proceed. The tutorial is available at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/distance/

If you have questions after reading both the tutorial and the syllabus, don't hesitate to contact me.

 

If money is important to you, please pay close attention to the "Withdrawal" policy below. If it's not important to you, you can ignore the policy.

 

Instructor: Mark Gooding

Instructor's office: EO 5 on MCC's Southern & Dobson campus

Instructor's phone: 480-461-7624

Instructor's email: gooding@mesacc.edu

Instructor's office hours: Monday – Friday, 11:00 a.m. to noon

 

About the course

 

English 102 is a followup to its prerequisite, English 101.  If you're taking this class, I assume you already possess basic essay-writing skills--that is, I assume that you can do such things as select and focus a topic; plan and structure an essay; develop a thesis; write cohesive, unified paragraphs; provide good topic sentences and transitions; etc.  All those skills are necessary in English 102, but they are not the primary focus of instruction.  So when I make references to those things, as I frequently will in regard to homework assignments as well as in response to your own writing, I assume you know what I'm talking about.  If you don't, you will need to let me know. 

 

This course emphasizes two things: argumentation and research.  Roughly the first half of the course is devoted to the study of some of the basic principles of argumentation in the Western classical tradition.  Most of the second half of the course focuses on research--that is, on finding and evaluating information--and on incorporating that information into your own argumentative writing.  Additionally, you will learn (if you do not already know) a particular style of documentation, MLA style.

 

Technical requirements    j0285750 

 

·         access to the Internet

·         an MCC email account

·         a recent version of Microsoft Word

 

In this course you will learn

 

·         how to identify the "core" of an argument or construct an argument from its core.

·         how to effectively research and focus a topic using library and field research tools.

·         how to evaluate other people's arguments.

·         various argumentative strategies commonly employed by writers and speakers.

·         how to use the Modern Language Association's style of documentation in supporting your own argument.

·         how to create a visual argument

                                                                                                                    

 

Required text and materials           

 

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson.  Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with

 

            Readings.  8th ed.  Brief ed.  New York: Pearson-Longman, 2010.

 

You cannot complete this course without this textbook.  Students often justifiably ask, based on their experience in other courses, "Are we really going to use the textbook?"  In this case, the answer to that question is "Yes."  You will need the textbook for all assigned readings as well as for homework assignments.  By the time the course is finished you will have read virtually the entire textbook.  You will also, of course, be reading outside sources in the research component of the course.  But you should not need any textbook other than the one I've specified here.  MLA formats, for instance, are provided in this textbook, and I will also refer you to at least one other site that can help you out with MLA style.

 

Textbook availability (This is important!)   If you do not live near the MCC Southern & Dobson campus, this textbook should be available in most college textbook stores.  If you are unable to find it in a store near you, you can order it online at efollett.com.  Please be aware that shipping charges will be applied to the purchase price if you have to order the book online.  Bear in mind also that you will need this book by the first week of class.

 

Late assignments              hmy14fqu[1]

 

All late assignments are docked 10%, and no assignment will be accepted more than one week after the original due date. This policy does not, of course, apply to quizzes, which are only available at certain intervals during the course. 

 

 

Rewrite opportunities

 

You will write three formal essays for this course.  You will have the opportunity to rewrite each of those essays after it's been graded and returned to you.  The goal of rewriting the essays is to improve both your argumentation and writing skills, so your final grade on each essay will be the grade on the best draft you submit, whether it's the original "final" paper or the rewrite.  However, all rewrites must be turned in within one week after they've been graded and returned to you.  The clock on rewrites starts running on the day I return your graded paper to you.  Finally, no rewrites can be submitted after the date specified at the end of the "Due dates" page for the course--even if you've had less than a week to do your revision.

 

 

Withdrawal from the course

 

If for any reason you must withdraw from the course, please inform me and I will be happy to take care of the paperwork for you.  And please remember that if you simply stop submitting work to me at some point in the semester, I will not withdraw you from the course and, if you haven't requested a withdrawal, will give you a failing grade instead.

 

Important note! If money is important to you, I strongly advise you to pay close attention to the college's refund policy. Do not assume that if you never participate in the class, you won't have to pay for it. You may be wrong. Protect your own interests by familiarizing yourself with the refund policy.

 

 

Grading             dxgsqsaf[1]

 

This is quite simple. Each assignment, including homework assignments, will bear a certain point value.  So for each assignment you complete you will receive a certain number of points out of the total possible (for example, 9/10, or 79/100).  At the end of the semester, I figure your total points earned as a percentage of total possible points, and that percentage determines your letter grade for the course.  90-100%=A, 80-89%=B, 70-79%=C, 60-69%=D, lower than 59%=F. 

 

 

Graded assignments for the course and their point values

 

Five reading quizzes @ 20 points each:                                                  100     

 

Homework:                                                                                                  100

 

Mini-argument:                                                                                           100

                       

First Argument (first of the three formal essays):                               200

 

Source Critique (second of the three formal essays):                          200

 

Researched Argument (third of the three formal essays):                 200

 

Visual Argument:                                                                                        100    

              

 

Total                                                                                                   1,000 points

 

 

Submitting your work to me  srfj_pfx[1]

 

All of your written work for the course will be submitted in one of the following ways: 1) as an email message to me; 2) as a posting to the electronic "bulletin board" (discussion group) for the course, in which case all other students in the class will be able to read your posting; 3) as an online multiple-choice reading quiz that you will take using a program designed specifically for that purpose (links will be provided to each of the five reading quizzes); or 4) as an attachment to an email message to me.  This last method you will use only for the three formal essays.  You must write your essay on a word processor, the same as you would if you were going to print it out and hand it in to me in person, and then attach the essay to an email message and send it to me.

 

Specific instructions will be provided for submitting each assignment.  Please follow those instructions explicitly.  If, for instance, you submit a formal essay to me in html (as an email message instead of a wordprocessed document), I will not read it.  You will have to submit it in the proscribed format before I respond to it.

 

Important note! Please read this carefully and make sure you understand it. If you don't understand it, ask! Not often, but occasionally, a student claims to have turned in an assignment and not gotten credit for it. I keep every message you send me for the duration of the semester. So if I've forgotten to give you credit for an assignment (and it happens), I pull it up in my email and correct my mistake. However, if I can't find the assignment (and that also sometimes happens), I can't give you credit for it--no matter how insistently you claim to have done it. Therefore, for your own protection, you should make sure you keep every message you send me throughout the course. If you completed an assignment and didn't get credit for it, and I can't find it in my mail from you, you can forward the original, dated email message with the assignment as proof that you completed the work and submitted it to me. If you don't forward that original message, you'll either not get credit for the work at all (if it's more than a week late), or you'll be docked the 10% late penalty (if I still get it within a week after it was originally due). Sorry, but I make no exceptions to this rule.

 

 

 

 

Quizzes

 

There are, as I mentioned, five 10-question, multiple-choice reading quizzes in this course.  The material covered by each quiz is specified below. 

 

Quiz 1: chapters three and four

Quiz 2: chapter five

Quiz 3: chapters six and seven

Quiz 4: chapters ten, eleven, twelve, fourteen, and fifteen

Quiz 5: chapters sixteen and seventeen (along with my short lecture on "advice for the research project" in Unit Three)

 

 

How the course is organized  iegrqfrj[1]

 

To help you plan for the course, I have organized the material in four "units." 

 

o    Unit One covers aspects of argument discussed in chapters one, three, four, five, six, and seven of the textbook and culminates in the First Argument paper (your first formal essay).  In a standard 16-week semester it will take us about six weeks to complete Unit One.

o     Unit Two covers the various "types of claim" that are the subject of textbook chapters ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen.  It will produce the "mini-argument" identified above in the syllabus.  In a standard 16-week semester, we will spend about two weeks on this unit.

o    Unit Three is the "research" component of the course and will cover material from chapters sixteen and seventeen.  You will write both the Source Critique and your Researched Argument in conjunction with this unit.  If you're taking this course in a standard 16-week semester, plan on spending about six or seven weeks on this unit.

o    Unit Four will produce the Visual Argument (see textbook chapter nine).  It's the easiest assignment you'll have in this course.  You have to produce a one-page "advocacy" advertisement like those in chapter nine.  You'll spend no more than a week or two on this assignment.  While you're working on it I'll be grading and returning your Researched Argument papers so that you have time to revise and re-submit that paper by the end of the semester. 

 

 

 

MCC-Blacksm                        EARS (Early Alert Referral System)

                                                           

 

 

MCC Early Alert Program (EARS)

 

Mesa Community College is committed to the success of all our students.  Numerous campus support services are available throughout your academic journey to assist you in achieving your educational goals.  MCC has adopted an Early Alert Referral System (EARS) as part of a student success initiative to aid students in their educational pursuits.  Faculty and Staff participate by alerting and referring students to campus services for added support.  Students may receive a follow up call from various campus services as a result of being referred to EARS.  Students are encouraged to participate, but these services are optional. 

 

Early Alert Web Page with Campus Resource Information can be located at:  http://www.mesacc.edu/students/ears

or at the “Early Alert” selection at the mymcc link from MCC’s home page.

 

 

 

 

 

Proceed to Unit One

 

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