SYLLABUS

ENGLISH 1102: Composition II
Fall 2001
Dr. Richard Nordquist
Office: Victor 1-10
Phone: (912) 921 5626
e-mail: nordquist@mail.com
FAX: (912) 921 5688
Nordquist’s home page: www.nt.armstrong.edu/Nordquist.htm
English 1102 web site: www.nt.armstrong.edu/1102.htm
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Required Texts

Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, 5^th edition (2002), Robert DiYanni
The Scribner Handbook for Writers, 3^rd edition

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Course Objectives

This course will help you to improve your composition skills and deepen your understanding and enjoyment of literature. In both reading and writing, you will employ analytical and interpretive strategies essential for solving problems and communicating in the academic and professional worlds. In short, you will be required to think and to express your thoughts coherently in writing.

To achieve these objectives, you will satisfy these requirements:

Read assigned fiction, poetry, and drama.

Become familiar with the elements that make up each literary genre.

Express an understanding of literature in class discussions.

Express an understanding of literature in content quizzes and tests.

Express an understanding of literature and demonstrate critical thinking skills in essays that are insightful, coherent, rhetorically effective, and grammatically sound.

Demonstrate the ability to employ basic research skills in a final research project.

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Format

Final versions of out-of-class essays should be word-processed according to the conventions described in the current edition of the Scribner Handbook for Writers. (I will provide specific guidelines and models.)

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Grading

Final grades will be determined according to the following scale:

class participation 5%

quick quizzes 10%

project #1 10%

project #2 15%

project #3 20%

project #4 20%

final exam 20%

Essays will be graded on a scale of A to F, as defined in the departmental guidelines. Essays should be turned in on time. A late essay will be docked one letter grade per day. An assignment that is not turned in at all will receive a grade of 0 (the equivalent of a double F on the grade scale).

Quick content quizzes will be graded as follows:

10 correct answers A,
  9, B
  8, C
  7, D
  6, F

In determining your final quiz average, I will drop your lowest quiz grade. There will be no make-up quizzes.

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Attendance & Participation

Class begins at 4:30: to avoid distracting others, please make every effort to arrive on time. If you show up after the class has taken a quiz, you will not be allowed to make up the quiz.

Because discussion (as a class and in small groups) is the primary form of teaching and learning in this section of English 1102, regular attendance is essential. Though the course web site should serve as an important resource, English 1102 is not an online course, and work on the web is not an alternative to class attendance and participation.

Class attendance means arriving and leaving at the scheduled times. You’re permitted five cuts during the term. These five cuts anticipate disease, despair, carburetor problems, and other disasters. In other words, I recognize that you’re adults and your reasons for taking the cuts are your own business: no need for phone calls or letters from the doctor. If you must miss a class, it’s your responsibility to get in touch with a classmate to collect any handouts and to find out what new assignments have been given and what changes (if any) have been made in the syllabus. If you take four or five of your cuts before midterm, I’ll strongly encourage you to drop the course at that time with a W.

Your final course grade will drop a full letter grade (i.e., 10%) for each absence beyond the allotted five absences. Perfect attendance will be awarded with a guaranteed A for the class participation grade.

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Withdrawals

Students in English 1102 may not withdraw from the course without the permission of the LL&P department head, Dr. Parham (Gamble Hall 110).

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Keeping Organized

Keep all of your writings (drafts as well as final copies, each clearly labeled) in a pocket folder. When you turn in an assignment, the essay must be in this folder.  Put current assignments on top, past work below.

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The Writing Center

It is your responsibility to correct any structural or grammatical problems that I find in your work. In most cases, you should be able to correct these faults with the aid of your handbook. However, should your handbook prove inadequate, please take advantage of the resources of the Writing Center (Gamble 109). In addition to help with editing skills, tutors in the Writing Center can guide you in developing and revising your essays. They won't, of course, write your papers for you, nor will they proofread your finished work. But they can help you to improve your writing.

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Ethics

You are responsible for reading the assigned editions of each work listed in this syllabus--not abridgments, summaries, or "study guides." In composing essays, unless I specifically direct otherwise, you should rely solely on course texts, class discussions, and your own ideas. Unauthorized reliance on secondary sources of any kind (whether direct or indirect) will be treated as plagiarism. Abide by the Armstrong Honor Code (linked to course web site). We’ll spend time in class discussing the implications of the Code, particularly in regard to research methods. If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please see me.

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Communications

While working on any course project, please don’t hesitate to send me questions via e-mail or to fax drafts for me to review. I’ll also be happy to visit with you in my office, but please call or e-mail ahead of time to schedule an appointment. Because committee work, administrative chores, and appointments with other students frequently gobble up my days, the one way I can be counted on to give you my undivided attention is to ask that you schedule an appointment at a mutually convenient time. Appointments can usually be scheduled days (after noon) or nights (until nine p.m.)–even on Sunday evenings. In any case, be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to do your assignments well. Most important of all, if you're having problems, don't moan, don't weep, don't gripe–schedule an appointment to see me.

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October 11    midterm

October 15-16   fall break

                                        November 22 Thanksgiving

December 6    last day of class

                                        December 13 final exam

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Readings and Projects

All assigned readings and projects will be posted on the course web site–at least one week (and usually more) before the due date.

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