General Course Information

Required Text
 

• Current grammar handbook (1999 or newer).  (A Writerâs Guidebook, by Axelrod & Cooper, is available on reserve in the HSU Library).

Suggested Texts

College-level dictionary and thesaurus (paperback editions are fine)

Materials
 

• Pens and highlighters
• 5 tabbed, letter-sized, manila-colored file folders
• Ample supply of clean-edged 8 1/2" x 11" paper
• 1 personal stapler and staples to fasten your assignments
• Funds for duplicating your essays and for various course materials

English 200 is designed to provide you with continued, intensive, and individualized instruction, building on the experience you gained in English 100I/100. Since this class is a workshop, it will allow you freedom to revise and improve your writingÑon your own, with me, with your peers, and, if you choose, with writing consultants. During the course of the semester, you will produce an Assessment Portfolio consisting of three analytical, thesis-driven essaysÑwhich may include your papers that passed English 100I/100/200 portfolio with a score of 8 or higher, revised papers from your English 100I/100/200 portfolio, or new papers you write for English 200Ñand a cover letter introducing your Assessment Portfolio to readers. By the close of this semester, you will have gained writing skills that will serve you well in future courses and beyond; in addition, you will have become confident in your writing abilities, know where to turn for advice on your writing, and be more self-reliant. Some students may complete this course in eight weeks.
 
Course Requirements
Attendance:

Because success in this course depends upon response groups and class participation …
 

• attend classes and labs
• participate actively and positively in class
• come prepared with up-to-date work
• underpreparedness earns an "F" for course
• you are permitted only 1 absence
• additional absences impact your grade

• 4 class absences and/or chronic tardiness results in a course grade of "F" (Failure)
• obtain class notes, etc. if you miss a class
• be on time to each class session (disrupting class by arriving late is unprofessional and rude)
• roll is taken on the hour; if you arrive late, you will have been marked absent.

In the first seven weeks of the semester, you will draft/revise three essays. Because we are working on such a tight schedule, nothing may be turned in late. All assignments are collected or checked in class on the date they are due. Missing assignments and papers will dramaticallyÑand negativelyÑimpact your course grade. If you plan to miss a class, make other arrangements to submit your work on time (i.e., send your work with a friend or hand it in before it is due). Also, coming unprepared undermines your success; therefore, chronic underpreparedness will result in a course grade of "F" (Failure).

Assessment Portfolio:

On a more positive note, it is possible to complete this course before the end of the semester by submitting your full Assessment Portfolio to the Portfolio Committee for final assessment at the midterm. During the sixth week of class, we will meet to discuss whether your work will be ready for such an assessment after only seven weeks or whether you would be better served by pursuing the full fifteen-week course. If we agree that you are ready for the full assessment, you will prepare a complete Assessment Portfolio (one cover letter and three Portfolio-ready essays) for the mid-semester Portfolio reading, and you will compile your four Working Portfolios (see explanation below). If the Portfolio Committee deems your portfolio passing, you will have successfully completed the course.

Obviously, this option will require your disciplined commitment to the course in these first seven weeks. Much will depend on your workload in other courses and the amount of time and energy you are prepared to devote to English 200. If we determine that you would be better served by taking the full fifteen-week course, you will prepare and hand in only one paper for the mid-semester Assessment Portfolio; the second half of the semester will be devoted to intensive revising to prepare your essays for final Portfolio Assessment. Please note that in each lower-division, general-education college course you are expected to put in at least six hours per week outside of class to perform adequately (at "C" level) in this course.

Working Portfolio:

Please maintain a Working Portfolio for each of your Portfolio submissions, including your cover letter. In each Working Portfolio folder, collect everything that went into the production of that paper: rough drafts, prewriting, notes, research, response from colleagues and me, and so forth (note that this may require you to include work completed during previous semesters). I ask that you maintain working portfolios for three reasons: first, I need you to recognize and value the work that goes into good writing; second, I need to protect you against any potential plagiarism accusations; and third, the Composition Program requires it. If you cannot produce a comprehensive and satisfying Working Portfolio upon request, I must ask you to abandon that paper and write another.

Peer Response and Discussion Groups:

Response and discussion groups are an important part of this class. These groups serve a valuable function: they afford a means for discovering essay topics, they furnish you with a haven to test your ideas, they offer a place to gain input on your essays, they provide models of othersÕ writing, and they allow you to engage in dialogue about the writing and creative processes. Take advantage of the opportunity that these groups provide for you!

Conferences: We will hold at least three one-on-one conferences during the semester.

• Introductory Conference: You will meet with me during the first week of the semester to discuss your Self-Introduction, share your English 100I/100/200 Assessment Portfolio, and analyze your writing strengths and weaknesses. Before leaving class today (our first class meeting), sign up for your mandatory Introductory Conference. Please bring your English 100I/100/200 Assessment Portfolio (which you will need to retrieve from your former instructor) and bring your Self-Introduction to this conference.
• Portfolio Conference: During week six, we will meet again to review your work in the course and to determine a strategy for the Assessment Portfolio. Please come prepared with all of your Working Portfolios so that we can discuss your options.
• Grading Conference: If you submit to and pass the mid-semester Portfolio with a final portfolio, please attend a grading conference during week nine through thirteen; if you submit to the final Portfolio during week fifteen, please attend a grading conference during final exam week. During your grading conference, we will review your work and determine your course grade. Bring your Assessment and all your Working Portfolios to this conference, as we will use them in figuring your grade for English 200.

Out of Class Assistance

Please actively seek assistance; several sources exist to help you succeed in this course:

• I am available and willing to give you any help that I can
• The HSU Writing Center (FH 205) is a valuable resource (sign up in FH 201);
• Your colleagues can also help. Obtain the telephone numbers and/or e-mail addresses of at least two class colleagues and form a study/response group.

Please also let me know of any documented disabilities (approved through the Student Disability Resource Center, House 71) and what accommodations would contribute to your success in this class.

Grading

Successful completion of English 200 earns you six to eight units of credit: the letter grade you earn in English 200 will replace the SP (Satisfactory Progress) you previously earned in English 100I/100 (three/five units), and you will earn three units of credit (CR) for English 200. Incompletes are not available for English 200. If you do not fulfill the course requirements or if your Portfolio does not pass assessment, you will not receive credit for and will need to repeat English 200.

Academic Dishonesty

Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses.  The university catalogue provides a detailed definition of both academic dishonesty and plagiarism and lists "usual penalty for a student found to have cheated" as "disciplinary probation, suspension, or permanent expulsion from the university" (350).  Please know that I will not tolerate any form of academic dishonesty; I am interested in your ideas and views, not those of nameless others, so those who plagiarize will, at the very least, fail the course.  Consult the HSU Catalogue for a complete discussion of academic dishonesty.

Final Note: This syllabus may be subject to change during the course of the semester.