ENGLISH 101: ENGLISH COMPOSITION I

Syllabus, Winter Quarter 2015

9:15-10:20AM | Room 1605
Cara N. Stoddard
carast@bigbend.edu | Office # 1618
Office Hours: 1:00-3:00 Mon-Thurs, or by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an introduction to college-level reading and writing and is designed to improve your critical thinking,
reading, and written communication skills. In this course you will learn strategies for critical reading and analysis,
drafting and revising essays, performing academic research, and properly attributing your sources using MLA citation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of the course, you should be very good at doing the following:
1. Comprehending college-level and professional prose and analyzing how authors present their ideas in view of
their probable purposes, audiences, and occasions.
2. Presenting your ideas as related to, but clearly distinguished from, the ideas of others (including the ability to
paraphrase, summarize, and correctly cite and document borrowed material).
3. Identifying rhetorical appeals in texts and advertisements and assessing their effect on an intended audience.
4. Developing a central claim (thesis) that follows one of the four ways to respond:
Agreeing with the thesis of the orig. text, but with a difference (adding something new)
Disagreeing based on factual merit (by poking holes in the support used in orig. text)
Disagreeing because of holes in the orig. argument (and adding neglected info)
Taking a middle ground by agreeing and disagreeing simultaneously, favoring one or the other
5. Supporting/illustrating your central claim (thesis) clearly and logically.
6. Gathering and evaluating information using the library resources and using your sources in service of persuading
your audience.
7. Using a variety of strategies during the prewriting or invention process including making a formal outline and
using a Research Log.
8. Revising holistically in an attempt to re-see how to best achieve what it is you are trying to communicate to an
audience in any given assignment.
9. Accurately proofreading your own work in order to produce writing that maintains the conventions of published
English.
10. Giving and receiving constructive feedback during peer review.
Of course, I expect that you are able to carry out some of these tasks already.

REQUIRED BOOK:
They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Third Edition
by: Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein | ISBN # 9780393935844
1

DEADLINES FOR MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS:

Thursday, January 8
Monday, January 12
Tuesday, January 20
Thursday, January 29
Monday, February 9
Wednesday, February 18
Tuesday, March 3
Wednesday, March 11
Wednesday, March 18

LAST DAY TO ADD A CLASS

Essay 1 1st Draft Due** (@9:15AM)
Essay 1 Final Draft Due** (@9:15AM)
Essay 2 1st Draft Due** (@9:15AM)
Essay 2 Final Draft Due** (@9:15AM)
Essay 3 1st Draft Due** (@9:15AM)
LAST DAY TO DROP A CLASS
Research Essay, 1st Draft Due** (@9:15AM)
Revision of either Essay 3 or Essay 4 Due** (@9:15AM)

**All writing assignments are to be typed and correctly formatted according to MLA standards (see the Purdue OWL website for details).

Week 1

Mon Jan 5Intros

Tues Jan 6Rhetorical appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos (meet in 1802)
Wed Jan 7Rhetorical appeals cont.: Historical Context for MLKs Letter from Birmingham Jail
Thurs Jan 8Letter from Birmingham Jail History of the Civil Rights Movement cont.

Week 2

Mon Jan 12Essay 1 1 Draft due, Peer Review & Point, Illustration, Explanation (PIE) paragraph organization model
Tues Jan 13Intro to paraphrasing (meet in 1801)
Wed Jan 14Intro to quote sandwiches (meet in 1801)
Thurs Jan 15Paraphrase and quote sandwich practice continued

Week 3

Mon Jan 19No School, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tues Jan 20Essay 1 Final Draft due, Criticism of Wal-Mart
Wed Jan 21Criticism of Apple (meet in 1801)
Thurs Jan 22Criticism of Amazon

Week 4

Mon Jan 26Group Work: annotating a text & selecting passages to quote
Tues Jan 27RadioLab activityestablishing credibility (ethos) for authors (meet in 1801)
Wed Jan 28Writing intro paragraphscapturing the state of the field (meet in 1801)
st
Thurs Jan 29Essay 2 1 Draft due, Peer Review

Week 5

Mon Feb 2Counterarguments & Rebuttals

Tues Feb 3Inserting factual data and up-to-date statistics (logos) (meet in 1801)
Wed Feb 4Socratic Seminar: Defend/Critique Wal-Mart, Apple, & Amazon
Thurs Feb 5Works Cited Practice (meet in 1801)

Week 6

Mon Feb 9Essay 2 Final Draft due, intro to Unit 3: Rape Culture in America (meet in 1801)
Tues Feb 10Listen to the Q Debate podcast: Do we live in a rape culture
Wed Feb 11 Wenatchee World articles, Todd Akin, and the legal definition of sexual assault (meet in 1801)
Thurs Feb 12Socratic Seminar: Is the U.S. a rape culture? Why does the answer to this question matter so much?

Week 7

COURSE TRAJECTORY:

Mon Feb 16No School, Presidents Day

Tues Feb 17Workshop Intro paragraphs (state of the field) (meet in 1801)
st
Wed Feb 18Essay 3 1 Draft due, Peer Review
Thurs Feb 19begin The House I Live In documentary

st

Week 8

Mon Feb 23The House I Live In

Tues Feb 24The House I Live In
Wed Feb 25Discuss Ta-Nehisi Coates article re: redlining & Andrea Jones article re: mandatory minimums
Thurs Feb 26Socratic Seminar: Redlining and mandatory minimums; is the U.S. in 2015 still suffering from racism?

Week 9

Mon March 2Research Day 1 (meet in 1802)

Tues March 3Workshop Intro paragraphs (state of the field)
Wed March 4Research Day 2 (meet in 1801)
Thurs March 5Workshop 2 Body paragraphs

Week 10

Mon March 9Research Day 3 (meet in 1801)

Tues March 10Writing counterarguments & rebuttals (meet in 1801)
st
Wed March 11Essay 4 1 draft due, Peer Review
Thurs March 12Paraphrase & Quote sandwich review

Week 11

Mon March 16Revision Workshop (meet in 1801)

(Tues March 17)Optional essay Q & A (meet in 1801)
Wed March 18Essay 3/4 Final draft due @ 9:15AM, Reflection Letter in-class writing activity
Thurs March 19No class

ATTENDANCE:
Attendance in English 101 is mandatory. More than eight absences (two weeks) from class is grounds for failing the
course. After 5 absences, your grade will be negatively affected. Anywhere from 6-8 absences will result in a 10%
deduction from your overall score in the class. 9 or more absences equals an F (0.0) in the course. Thus, plan for
unforeseen illnesses or travel plans later in the quarter. Only absences for bereavement, hospitalization, or previously
scheduled college Sponsored Events or Activities (see Student Handbook for definition) are considered excused
absences. Whenever possible, please notify me before the excused absence to be sure to get any handouts you might
miss in class. Every other kind of absence including car trouble, illnesses and doctors appointments, and being called
into cover a co-workers shift at work is considered unexcused and counts toward your eight allowed absences.

In the case of bad roads, we will still have class unless the college is closed (you will receive a notification through BBCC
Campus Alerts if campus is closed). However, I recognize that many of you commute long distances to school and that
icy roads around Grant County can be very dangerous. If you plan to miss class, you must send me an email through
Canvas before 9:15AM on the day you are going to miss in order for your absence to be excused. More importantly, you
are responsible for working from home to stay caught up with the class. You should follow along on Canvas with the
days lesson and assignments and return the following day with all the work assigned on the day you missed
completedbe in touch via email or phone if you have questions.
3

In the case of a personal or family emergency, please be in contact with me via email about the situation, and I will do
my best to accommodate you. In the case of bereavement leave or a mental/physical health emergency for you or one
of your dependents requiring you miss more than one day in a row, you will be expected to keep up with your
coursework via Canvas. Arrangements will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Being in attendance means being physically present, awake, coherent, and fully prepared for class with the readings
completed. If you do not meet all of these conditions you will be marked absent for the day. Coming in more than 10
minutes late, leaving early, and inappropriate use of cell phones, laptops, or tablets in class will result in an unexcused
absence. You are responsible for making up all of the work that you missed during an absence. Please see me during
office hours or schedule an appointment before the next scheduled class.

LATE WORK:

Homework and essays are due at the beginning of class. I do not accept late homework. You will receive a zero on the
assignment if you do not have it with you or submitted on Canvas by the time class starts on the day it is due. The one
exception to this no late work policy is when using your Stuff Happens coupon distributed on the first day of class. This
coupon allows you to turn in the assignment one class period late; however, you still must complete the assignment in
order to get the points. You may only use this coupon once per quarter, and it is only applicable on homework
assignments (not on essay drafts).
In the case of a late 1st Draft:
if turned in within 24 hours, you will receive a 0/10 on Peer Review but can still receive up to a 10/15 on your
draft. Essays turned in late that dont meet the minimum requirements will still receive a 0/15.
after 24 hours you will receive a 0/15, but I encourage you to come by my office hours to read through your 1st
draft together so you can get feedback on in in order to ensure you will do well on the final draft.
A late final draft will be graded as follows:
Within 24 hours = 10% point reduction
2 days late = 20% reduction
3 or more days late = 30% reduction
Note: Because of the extensive and time-consuming nature of the comments I make on each student essay I read, I usually take 2 weeks (8 class
periods) to grade and return essays. So thank you in advance for your patience. Know that I will never require you to turn in revisions of a draft
(for a grade) before youve received your feedback from me. If you have questions on a draft while you wait for formal feedback, dont hesitate to
come by my office during office hours (or email me a time) and we can look through your essay together. Due to grade deadlines, I cannot accept
your Final Argumentative Research Essay after Thursday, March 19 at midnight. Any research essay submitted after Thursday, March 19 at
midnight will receive a zero.

COURSE ETIQUETTE:
Classroom citizenship. The classroom is a learning community. Any behavior that disrupts this community will not be
tolerated. This includes speaking to other students while I am talking, sleeping in class, passing notes, being rude or
belligerent to me or other students, etc. This is a discussion-based course, and I expect you to treat each other with
dignity and respect. We will be discussing sensitive topics and reading each others personal writing in this course.
Please be considerate of others ideas and beliefs and do not discuss the content of others papers with students outside
of this class. In accordance with Big Bends Discrimination Policy, disrespect or discrimination towards students based on
race, color, national origin, ethnicity, citizen status, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or chosen gender,
veteran status, age, or religion will not be tolerated. If you feel your well-being is being jeopardized or you have
observed someone else being treated disrespectfully, please come speak to me about it privately after class or during
my office hours.
Readings. In accordance with Big Bends mission statement to encourage multiculturalism, this class has been
intentionally designed to include readings that represent a diverse set of cultures and peoples and express points of
view on controversial contemporary social and political issues. In this class we may discuss, read, write about, or view
texts that you disagree with or find offensive. Such texts are not necessarily condoned, but rather used to prompt
discussion and explore ideas that may be outside of our individual preferences and comfort levels. In this college
classroom you are required to engage maturely and academically with all texts, regardless of their content or rating.
Please email or see me privately during office hours if you have any questions about this policy.

Technology. In order to promote habits and skill-sets unique to scholars of the 21st century, this course has a heavy
emphasis on the use of technology. You will be expected to check our Canvas page every day for a detailed description
of the homework, and you will be submitting your homework and essays on Canvas and receiving important margin
notes and feedback on your writing from your instructor on Canvas.
It is my expectation that you purchase and use Microsoft Word for all typed assignments in this class. If you cannot get
Word on your personal or home computer, you will need to schedule at least an hour per day and several hours over the
weekends to spend on campus using the computers in the library.
Having said that, more often than not, during class time, technological devices serve as distractions to you and the
people around you, so please silence and put away your phones at the start of class. There will certainly be exceptions
to this rule, when I will allow you, even encourage you, to use your smart phone or device in class, but I will notify you
when it is appropriate to take out your phone. Texting, taking calls, and checking the time on your cell phone is not
permitted in class. Any use of technology in class, including receiving audible texts or calls, will result in an unexcused
absence for that day.
5

PLAGIARISM:
I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that you will do honest work and that you will work with me
on improving writing that is your own. But plagiarism is a serious matter, and incidents of it have been on the rise both
at Big Bend and nationally. So I feel that it is important to explain what the consequences are.
The two basic kinds of plagiarism:
1. Malicious or intentional. This is the most serious kind of academic theft. It involves using someone elses work
as your own, directly copying from a source without using quotation marks or citations, rephrasing and
summarizing without citations, submitting someone elses paper as your own, or re-submitting your own work
from a different quarter or different course.
2. Plagia-phrasing or mosaic plagiarism. This is when you use quotation marks around large chunks of text from
a source that you wanted to quote or when you use a paraphrase that has too many of the same words as the
original text. Even if you cite these texts as a general sources at the end of the essay in a Works Cited, this is still
considered plagiarism because, in the act of trying to use a quote sandwich or re-word the passage into your
own words, you ended up relying too heavily on someone elses ideas and wording. This kind of plagiarism also
involves integrating source material (as a quote or paraphrase) without citing your source in the sentences /
paragraphs themselves (in other words you are missing the in-text citation). Even if several different sources
were copied or combined, it is still plagiarism.
The consequences of plagiarism:
If a 1st draft involves plagiarism of the first kind (malicious or intentional) you will receive a 0 on that draft and will be
required to come to my office hours to work on re-writing the plagiarized portions before I will accept your final draft.
If a 1st draft involves plagiarism of the second kind (mosaic plagiarism with missing in-text citations) you will be required
to come to my office hours to work on accurately summarizing and using in-text citations. Then you will have 24 hours
from this meeting to rewrite and re-submit the paper using correct forms of documentation in order to receive credit.
If a final draft involves either type of plagiarism, you will receive a 0 on the assignment, and I will not accept a re-write
for partial credit. Additionally, if a final draft involves plagiarism of the first kind (malicious or intentional), I am
empowered by the Student Code of Conduct to assign a grade of F for the course, a penalty that may be imposed in
particularly serious cases and I will also make a complaint to the Vice President of Student Services, who is responsible
for enforcing the regulations in the Student Code of Conduct. So, in addition to the academic penalty of receiving an F in
the course, you may also be subject to other disciplinary penalties, which can include suspension or expulsion. Although
such severe penalties are rarely imposed for first-time offenders, the Vice President of Student Services Office maintains
disciplinary records as part of a students overall academic record.
A final word on plagiarism: I understand the occasional temptation to use copy-pastebut I am surprisingly good at
recognizing plagiarism. My basic message is Do Not Do It. When you need to take something from another persons
workan idea, a powerful statement, a set of facts, or an explanationcite your source.

GRADING:
The majority of the points for this course come from daily assignments and participation, so be sure to keep up with the
daily readings and homeworks. Simply turning in final papers will not result in a passing grade in this class. Your
percentage in the class is based out of 590 points (subject to change). You must turn in all 4 essays (MLK Rhetorical
Analysis, Evaluation of a Corporation, Rape Culture Essay, and Redlinging/Mandatory Minimum Essay) and receive at
6

least 352 points to pass this class. In order to receive a 2.0 (the grade required for this course to count at most 4-year
colleges), you will have to receive a minimum of 428 points.
The points are distributed as follows:
Unit 1Rhetorical Analysis (140)
TSIS Intro & Ch. 1 Quiz (10)
Rhetoric in Commercials DB (5)
Commercials NC (5)
TSIS Zinczenko & Ch. 2 Quiz (10)
TSIS Ch. 3 Quiz (10)
MLK Letter Annotations (10)
st
1 Draft (15)
Peer Review (10)
PIE Practice (10)
Final Draft (50)
Blue Books (5)

Unit 2Corporate Criticism (155)

Walmart Quiz (10)
Apple Quiz (10)
Amazon Quiz (10)
TSIS Ch. 4 Quiz (10)
TSIS Ch. 6 Quiz (10)
RadioLab Activity (5)
st
1 Draft (15)
Peer Review (10)
CA + Rebuttal Handout (5)
Socratic Seminar DB (10)
Socratic Seminar Participation (5)
Final Draft (50)
Blue Books (5)

Unit 3Rape Culture (95)

Defining Rape In-class Activity (5)
Valenti Annotations (10)
Q Debate DB (5)
Socratic Seminar DB (10)
Socratic Seminar Participation (5)
Sayreville Quiz (10)
st
1 Draft (15)
Peer Review (10)
Blue Books (5)
Midterm Exam (20)

Unit 4Research Essay (200)

Coates Ch. 1 & 2 Quiz (10)
Coates Ch. 4, 5, & 6 Quiz (10)
Jones Quiz (10)
Socratic Seminar DB (10)
Socratic Seminar Participation (5)
Annotated Bib x3 DB (15)
st
1 Draft (15)
Peer Review (10)
Revision Plan (5)
Reflection Letter (5)
Blue Books (5)
Capstone Research Essay (100)

Grading Scale:
A
B

Represents achievement that is outstanding or superior relative to the level necessary to meet the requirements of the
course.
Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet the requirements of the course.

Grades of A or B are honors grades. You must do something above and beyond the min. requirements in order to earn an A or B.
C
D

%
95-100
94
92-93
91

Represents achievement that meets the basic requirements in every respect. It signifies that the work is average, but
nothing more.
Represents achievement that meets some but not all of the basic requirements. It signifies that a significant amount of
coursework is either missing or received not-passing grades.
If you receive less than 500 points in the course or fail to hand in one of the 4 major writing assignments, you will
automatically earn an F. If your average grade is a D but you did not complete one of the major components of the
course (one of the 4 major papers), you will automatically earn an F in the course. Accumulating more than eight
absences also will result in an F. There is no reason for receiving an F in this course unless you simply fail to submit the
required work.
Stands for Incomplete. Under very unusual circumstances you could be assigned an Incomplete in the course if
something happened to you within the last two weeks of the quarter that made it impossible to complete the course
(a serious accident or illness that left you hospitalized and very significant personal tragedy, etc.)

A
= GPA
= 4.0
= 3.8
= 3.7
= 3.6

B
%
89-90
87-88
86
85
84
83
82
81
80

= GPA
= 3.5
= 3.4
= 3.3
= 3.2
= 3.1
= 3.0
= 2.9
= 2.8
= 2.7

C
%
= GPA
79
= 2.6
78
= 2.5
77
= 2.4
76
= 2.3
75
= 2.2
74
= 2.1
73
= 2.0
----------transfer cut-off----------72
= 1.9
71
= 1.8
70
= 1.7

%
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62
61
60
<60

D
= GPA
= 1.6
= 1.5
= 1.4
= 1.3
= 1.2
= 1.1
= 1.0
= 0.9
= 0.8
= 0.7
= 0.0 (F)
7

Re-doing Final Drafts. I will allow you to re-submit Essays 1 (MLK Rhetorical Analysis) or Essay 2 (Evaluation of a
Corporation) again after the Final Draft due date if you received a D or F (except in the case of a grade reduction for
tardiness, plagiarism, or academic dishonesty), and I will average the two Final Draft grades. All revised Final Drafts
must be turned in on or before Wednesday, March 18 at 9:15AM.
A Note on Transferring. While any grade above a .7 (60%) is considered passing at Big Bend, many programs and
colleges require a 2.0 or higher in order to transfer credits earned in a class. In addition, students who fall below a 2.0
are particularly likely to struggle in other classes that require academic writing. Speak to your advisor or transfer
colleges for details about this issue.

RESOURCES:
English Skills Lab: If you would like another reader for any of your essays or if you would like help on an essay in
between your first and final drafts, you may schedule an appointment with a tutor at the English Lab. The English Skills
Lab is Located the 1800 Building inside the Library, Room 1832.
Winter Quarter Hours:
Monday - Wednesday....8:00am - 8:00pm
Thursday........................8:00am - 4:00pm
Friday.............................9:00am - 4:00pm
The English Skills Lab can help with all stages of the writing process and all levels of writers, so it is not always necessary
to have a completed draft prepared in order to meet with a tutor.
Student Success Center: If you need to use a computer, to check out a laptop, or if you are struggling in any of your
classes, you can sign up for peer mentoring or supplemental instruction, contact Diana Villafana at 509.793.2369. The
Student Success Center is located in the 1400 Building and is open Mon-Thurs 8am-5pm and Fri 8am-2:30pm.
Accessibility & Disability Services: Big Bend Community College is committed to providing accommodations in academic
programs to ensure maximum participation by all students with disabilities and to minimize the functional limitations
their disabling condition has on their education. Proper procedures are in place to obtain equal access wherein the
student and college staff work together to facilitate reasonable accommodations. The Disabled Student Services Office is
located in the 1400 Building. Loralyn Allen is the disabled students liaison. Her office, located inside the Counseling
Center, is open Monday - Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To schedule an
appointment contact her at 509.793.2027.
For the hearing impaired TDD is available in the Registration/Admissions Office for incoming and outgoing calls at
telephone number 509.762.6335.