English 102: Freshman Composition, Online

Southeastern Louisiana University

Department of English

Professor: Dr. Whitton

Office: DVickers 231

Office Hours: By Appointment

Phone: 549-2413 (no calls returned off-campus)

E-mail: nwhitton@selu.edu

Twitter: DrWhitton

Facebook: Dr. Whitton’s Online Office Hours (group)

Teacher Contract: I will get to know you as an individual and care about you as a person. I will address your interests in some way (either outside or inside the classroom). I will assist you to learn and will work hard to make sure you have learned. I will be passionate about this subject and about my teaching.

Placement: Students must have completed English 101 with a P or scored 29 or above on the English section of the ACT. If you have skipped 101, you must let me know before the final exam.

Course Description: English 102 is designed to help students improve their skills as writers, readers, and critical thinkers. Students will read and write about literature and other essays. They will practice writing expository papers including the argument, the critical essay, the research paper, and the essay examination. They will learn techniques such as the use of primary and secondary sources, basic documentation skills, recognition of various documentation formats including MLA and APA, the ability to use research in writing, and knowledge of library, field, and electronic research procedures. Students will develop an ability to write for various audiences and purposes (including timed, in-class writing). Students will develop productive planning and revising processes for various kinds of papers, including those requiring research. Finally, students will review punctuation, mechanics, grammar, and sentence structure within the context of their writing.

Teacher Expectations: When you finish this class, I hope that you will consider yourself a writer and will be comfortable reading and responding to any written material that you come across. The assignments that we do this semester are designed to be immediately useful in your life. I am happy to negotiate and tailor nearly everything on the syllabus to meet your individual needs because my primary goal is that you learn and grow as a person. Everything that we do will help you to pursue the courses in your major and improve your life.

Proficiency Notice: The full text proficiency notice with the requirements for this course will be available in Blackboard. Please make sure that you familiarize yourself with this document. You cannot pass this class without passing the proficiency exam. Students who do not pass this independent proficiency assessment cannot pass English 102 and are required to repeat the course in a subsequent semester.

Required Materials: The Little Brown Handbook - Rental

Roots to Branches – Rental

Two pocket light-colored folder for Proficiency Portfolio

Computer with high speed internet access

My CompLab access provided with books

Attendance: Attendance will be based on your participation in virtual classroom activities. I will not drop you for non-attendance or non-participation. It is your responsibility to withdraw. Last day to drop this class with a “W” is listed on your schedule. Please see or email me before dropping. All students who drop internet classes are placed on file in the English Department. Because space in internet classes is limited, I take dropping this course very seriously. There is always a waiting list, so please think carefully before giving up the spot that you have taken away from another student.

Paper Assignments:

All writing assignments must be at least 700 words, double-spaced, typed in MLA format and have a minimum of three sources (Note: one of your papers must be 5-7 pages). You may use your reader as a source, but you must have at least one source that can be documented as print-based (i.e. not from the internet and has original pagination, not printer page numbering) and is outside Roots to Branches. You must complete all essay assignments to pass this class. Each final draft must be followed by an email to the professor explaining specifically how your work matches one of the letter grades in the department grading rubric and what you learned from the assignment.

Papers 60%

Midterm Exam 15%

Quizzes & Assignments 25%

Proficiency Portfolio (see proficiency notice; not part of course grade):

Proficiency Statement

Two revised essays chosen from the assignments above

Final Exam

Grading Scale: Ten point grading scale; under a 60 is an “F.”

Extra Credit: I want to encourage you to attend cultural events held at SLU. If you attend an approved event, write a one page description of what you saw and turn it in you will receive extra credit. I do not drop any of your grades, but I will consider extra credit at the end of the semester if you are between two letter grades.

Late Work: Late work will not be accepted and will result in a zero.

Plagiarism: Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. Behavior that violates these standards is not acceptable. Examples are the use of unauthorized material, communication with fellow students during an examination, attempting to benefit from the work of another student and similar behavior that defeats the intent of an examination or other class work. Cheating on examinations, plagiarism, improper acknowledgement of sources in essays and the use of a single essay or paper in more than one course without permission are considered very serious offenses and shall be grounds for disciplinary action as outlined in the current General Catalogue. In taking this course, students understand that all required papers may be submitted to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the "Terms and Conditions of Use" posted on the Turnitin.com website.
 

Classroom Decorum: Free discussion, inquiry, and expression are encouraged in this class. When responding to your classmates and your professor electronically, please be polite. If you violate the University’s decorum policies, your email/posting will be sent to the Office of Judicial Affairs.

ADA Policy: If you are a qualified student with a disability seeking accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, you are required to self-identify with the Office of Disability Services, Room 203, Student Union. No accommodations will be granted without documentation from the Office of Disability Services.

Email Policy: E-mail is considered one of the official forms of communication at the University. Requests to substitute non-Southeastern e-mail addresses for purposes of official communication will not be honored. With an internet course, you will be expected to check email and Blackboard every day. I cannot answer emails sent from non-SLU email addresses. I generally answer emails with 48 hours of receipt.

On-Campus Involvement: You are not required to meet with me during the semester, but I encourage you to come by during office hours to talk to me about your papers. You have the opportunity to receive online tutoring, but if you would like me to read over a paper before the final draft is due, I ask that you come by my office. You are required to attend the final exam on the Monday of finals week at 8am. Please make arrangements now to miss work or secure child care. All other activities will take place online.

Off-Campus Involvement: The University system in America uses hours to delineate class requirements. Thus, a three-hour course means that a student is expected to spend three hours per week in class and six hours working on the requirements for that course outside of class. That is why the traditional course load per semester is 15 hours (15 hours in class + 30 hours outside of class = a full time job of 45 hours). Since we do not have in-class hours, you should expect to spend about nine hours each week for this course. Some weeks you will finish your assignments in much less time, however you should use your extra time to work on your essay. Internet classes are not designed for students who do not have time for college. In fact, most students find that Internet classes take up more time than traditional classes.

Class Schedule: Weekly assignments will be available through Blackboard and many will be linked to MyCompLab. If you have problems with an assignment or need help, feel free to email me or set up an appointment in my office or in the Blackboard chat space. We will also use the Blackboard Discussion Board to talk about the common readings for the paper assignments. There are a number of challenges when taking an online course, but I do not ever want you to feel that I am inaccessible. We have a lot to cover in 102 and it is important that you get the skills necessary to pass the proficiency exam.

Writing Center: Students are invited to make use of services provided by the SLU Writing Center at 383 DVickers, where trained student writing consultants offer individual help and tutoring on a full range of writing topics and issues.

Peer Review:

All writing assignments are due in their completed format (i.e. over 700 words, typed, in MLA format) by the rough draft date or the final draft will be docked two letter grades. All essays must be peer reviewed in MyCompLab and then resubmitted by the final paper due date. Some assignments will also be submitted to Smarthinking as a requirement. The purpose of peer review is not for students to act as teachers, but rather for your work to be read by a wider audience. Turning in a completed rough draft is essential for you to improve your essay, and by extension your grade.

Weekly Assignments: Your weekly assignments are designed to help you to complete your essays and learn more about the world around you. They will be posted in the assignments section of Blackboard. You may also have quizzes to take throughout the semester in this area and in MyCompLab.

Discussion Board: Since we do not have the luxury of in-class discussion, we will use online resources to make sure that we understand the readings for each paper and each assignment. Your discussion board entries will be graded on their content, length, and care. After you finish the reading, you should post a response entry on the discussion board for that author. In your response, you should raise issues about the piece and how you will use it in your essay. You should also point out how the piece of writing does/does not relate to your own life and current situation. Finally, you should offer several questions for discussion with classmates. You will not receive credit for entries that amount to, “It was great. I liked it.” or “That was the worst thing that I have ever read. I hated it.” Neither of these entries tells us anything about the piece or why the reader has made this assessment. Make sure that you spell check each entry before posting (note that Blackboard includes this option on the discussion board). Once you have posted your first entry, you should check back to read what your classmates have to say and to see if you can answer their discussion questions. Your conversation and continued postings improve your Blackboard grade as long as they are substantive and add to the discussion. In the discussion board for each essay, I will ask you to post your thesis or research question – what are you trying to accomplish in your paper. You will then need to respond to your classmates, giving them your answer to their question or your opinion of what they are arguing in their essay.

Midterm Exam: Your midterm exam will also be taken online in Blackboard. You will be asked to answer a question similar to the final exam essay. Your midterm will be graded in terms of grammar, completeness, use of sources and MLA format.

Help: Finally, if you need any help with anything this semester, please do not hesitate to ask. I am here to help you do well in this course.