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Writing Fundamentals WRT 100 Pima Community College East Campus, Fall 2009

Instructor Information

April Conway Email: arconway@pima.edu Office Hours: By Appointment. Please email me to make an appointment.

Course Information

10839 Wednesdays, 7:00-9:30p.m. in E1-103 Description. Prerequisite(s): Satisfactory score on writing assessment test. Principles and practices of writing. Includes writing college-level essays, review of basic writing skills, and written works. Also includes narrative/descriptive, expository, and persuasive writing. Performance Objectives Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to do the following:

1. Generate, organize, and select ideas and develop them into coherent paragraphs and essays.

2. Use a variety of writing styles for different audiences, and improve writing by correcting errors, restructuring, and rewriting.

3. Write essays and other works to include drafts and in-class writing for 7,000 words total term output.

Course Outline

I. Writing College-level Essays A. Process of prewriting, writing, revising, and editing B. Organization and outlining C. Writing several essays (minimum 750 words) D. In-class writing

1. Preparing for in-class writing 2. Writing one or more in-class essays 3. Other in-class writing exercises

E. Reading, analyzing, and discussing model writers 1. Professional/academic writings 2. Student writings

II. Review of Basic Writing Skills A. Mechanics B. Sentence structure and variety C. Paragraph development

III. Written Works A. Drafts B. Essays

1. Narrative/descriptive

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2. Expository 3. Persuasive

C. In-class writing

Course Requirements Required Text Joy, Anna. We Are America: A Thematic Reader and Guide To Writing. 6th ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. Other Requirements

1 Computer and Internet Access. This is a computer enhanced course and will require that you have some access to a computer outside of the classroom. If you do not have access to a computer at home, make sure to schedule time in the computer labs on campus. If you foresee a problem with this, please let me know.

2 MyPima. This course will rely on MyPima throughout the term. I will disseminate course information and assignments and you will use the Message Boards for communication with classmates. If you are unsure of how to use MyPima or have questions, please let me know early in the term.

3 Email. Students are expected to have and check Pima Email at least once a day. 4 Memory Stick / Disk / Electronic Storage. Students will need a system for getting

work electronically to class. Email will work fine. Just make sure you know how to attach files.

Course Policies

Take Responsibility for your learning. Learning is a process that takes hard work and time. For this class, taking responsibility means at least doing the following:

1 Read and know the syllabus. This will be your guide for the term. If you have questions about any of the information make sure that you ask early on.

2 Manage your time effectively. This class will require approximately 2 hours of outside work for every 1 hour in the classroom (approx 6 hours per week). The 6 hours outside of the classroom will be spent completing reading assignments, grammar exercises, and writing. If you know that you tend to procrastinate, let me know. I can help you develop strategies to help you manage your time.

3 Expect to write multiple drafts of each essay. While it might seem daunting, drafting is an essential component of becoming a skilled writer.

4 Ask for help. If there is something you do not understand, ask for help. There are a multitude of resources (on and off campus) available to you. Please see me!

5 Know Pima policies and deadlines. Make sure that you know the procedures and deadlines for withdrawing from this class because it is your responsibility.

Attendance. Class work, discussions, and activities cannot be made up.

1 More than 3 absences will result in a lower final grade. More than 4 absences may

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result in a withdrawal from the class. Please plan accordingly. In-Class

1 Attend class prepared. My expectation is that everyone has completed every assignment before arriving to class. Students that are obviously unprepared will not be allowed to participate in class activities and will lose the associated points.

2 Participation is required. Students are expected to participate in class activities. Choosing not to participate in more than half of the activities during a given class period will result in a half of an absence for that class period.

3 Develop a community of learners. We are a diverse group of individuals and can learn a great deal from each other. We will be doing a great deal of learning and writing together. For this to work, each of us will need to be respectful of others, open to approaches and perspectives different from our own, and able to provide and accept appropriate and constructive criticism.

4 The Student Code of Conduct will be used as the guide for appropriate student behavior: http://www.pima.edu/studentserv/studentrights/student-conduct/index.shtml. In addition to these guidelines, I do not allow the following:

o Cell Phones (text messaging, answering calls, taking pictures, playing games, etc.)

o Surfing the internet. If you are given an assignment that requires use of the computers in class, you must stay on task. Surfing unrelated sites, checking email, chat, etc. will not be counted as participating in the assignment.

Submitting Work. Students are expected to follow these guidelines for each writing assignment.

1 All submitted work must be typed. You must also do the following: o Use a standard font (Arial, Times New Roman) in 11 or 12 point size and regular

style (not bolded) o Use standard margins (1”) o Make sure your name, date, and the course appear at the top of every

document.

2 All students must turn work in on time. Assignments due in class are expected at the beginning of class. Beginning one minute after the class is scheduled to begin, assignments are considered late.

o Assignments turned in late but during the class period will incur a 5% penalty. o Assignments turned in late but within the same day will incur a 10% penalty. o Assignments turned in the following class period will incur a 20% penalty. o No assignments will be accepted more than one week after the original due

date. All drafts must be turned in to receive credit for the final draft. Maintain regular contact with me. You can:

o Email arconway@pima.edu.

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Do not plagiarize. At this institution, plagiarism is defined as: The representing of the work of other persons as one's own, including but not limited to the use of work by others and information downloaded from the Internet, is plagiarism. The use of another person's words, ideas, or information without proper acknowledgement is also plagiarism. To avoid plagiarizing, you will be citing works you refer to, paraphrase, and directly quote. Plagiarized work will at least be given a grade of zero and cannot be made up. Depending on the severity of the plagiarism, students may also fail the course. ADA policy. If you have a disability that requires special accommodations, you are strongly urged to notify me and the Disabled Student Resource office, 206-7699, at the beginning of the term so that reasonable accommodations can be made in a timely manner. FERPA. Pima Community College informs its students annually of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. This act, with which the institution intends to fully comply, protects the privacy of educational records, and establishes the right of students to inspect and review their education records, and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data through informal and formal hearings. Students also have the right to file complaints with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Office concerning alleged failures by the institution to comply with the act.

Grades Attendance & Participation 10% Final Essays 50% Autobiography (5%) Travel Writing (10%) Compare-Contrast (10%) Editorial (15%) Poetry Analysis (10%) Final Portfolio Copies of graded essays, 20%

final revision and rough drafts of each, and a reflective letter other writing generated for class

Other Assignments 20% In-Class Activities (10%) Homework (10%)

Grade Distribution. A=90%-100% B=80%-89% C=70%-79% D=60%-69% F=0%-59% Other Grades.

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The Grade of Incomplete (“I”) will be given at the discretion of the instructor only when the student has completed at least 80% of the course work with a grade of C or better. The student must request the “I” before grades are turned in. The Grade of “W” designates an official withdrawal. It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw officially from the course. A “W” has to be initiated by the student by filling out a withdrawal form. This needs to be done before the official withdrawal deadline, November 5. Students who stop attending class and do not withdrawal from the class officially will receive an “F” at the end of the term. Important dates to remember: Add deadline: September 1, 2009 Drop/Refund/Audit deadline: September 8, 2009 Student Withdrawal deadline: November 11, 2009 No Class: College Closed Labor Day: September 7, 2009 Veteran’s Day: November 11, 2009 Thanksgiving: November 26-29, 2009 Last Day of class: December 20, 2009 Final grades Dues: December 24, 2009

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Tentative Course Outline (Fall 2009)

Class Reading Journal Chapter

Review

Essay Other Prep

W 8/26 continual

W 9/2 Chapters 1&2 Pg 25 Consider all Qs #1#3#5 Topic 1

Bring your Textbook (continual)

W 9/09 Chapter 3 p 51 3k p 46 Chapter 6 p107-122 Consider all Qs p113 #1,2,4 Topic1

Writing Auto Rough

W 9/16 Ch 4 P Revising Ch 6 123-136 Describing

Auto Final

W 9/23 Ch 5 Essay Revision Ch 6 137-148 Defining

W 9/30 Ch 6 148-163 Classifying Ch 23 Sentence Types, Grammar, Mechanics Kinds of Sentences491-493

TW Rough

W 10/7 Ch 7 166-208 Casual and Process Analysis

Travel Writing Final

W 10/14 Ch 7 209-219 Compare Contrast Ch 23 Punctuation 503-509

Punctuation Quiz

M 10/21 Ch 8 221-236 Evaluating Ch 23 493-502 Verbs

C&C Rough

W 10/28 Ch 8 239-263 Taking a Stand Ch 20 Correcting Fragment&Run-On Sentences

C&C Final

M 11/4 Ch 15 How to Write a Research Paper Ch 22 Consistency of Person and Tense

W 11/11 Veteran’s Day-No School

M 11/18 Ch 16 Documenting a Research Paper

Editorial Rough

Documentation Quiz

W 11/25 In-class Editorial Final

Bring Poems

M 12/2 Ch 9 Writing About Poetry Bring Poems

W 12/9 In-class Poetry Poetry Rough

Final Week

No reading Portfolios Poetry Final