Course
Expectations
You will be writing several essays that will
involve reading and responding not only to the essays in Ways of Reading but also to
peers’ essays. We will spend several weeks on each essay, drafting
and revising and editing. The computer should facilitate this drafting
activity: word-processed drafts allow you to see your writing in different
stages. After emailing your final papers to me, you will receive marked and
graded copies of your essays via email or web posting. Should you want to
read more of this course's description and competencies, I have included a
link to San Antonio
College's course
description and competencies.
Required Texts
1. Ways of Reading (8th edition)
by Bartholomae. This is an exciting reader. Don't be
alarmed by the difficulty and length of the assignments. I am very patient
with those students who persevere with this text. I am interested in your
interpretations of these readings.
2. The Scott, Foresman
Handbook for Writers (7th edition) by Hairston. This
text is a handbook that you will find very helpful for this course
and future courses.
Course Grade
You will complete five essays for this course.
Essays 70%
Course Class Email Participation
10%
Final 20%
A=90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79; D=60-69; F=59 and below
Your Weekly Class Email Grade
1.
The weekly class email submission will account for
your attendance and serve as 10% of your final grade.
2.
I will not save your weekly submission
class emails. I recommend that you not only save on a disk but also
create a hard copy.
3.
Each week, I will collect two or three of the best
student submissions and publish to all in the form of a weekly
newsletter. I will write comments when possible. You should
write comments to each other always.
4.
Save all email assignments
in a file which will be sent to me at the semester’s end for a final
grade. Here’s how I’ll grade these: 16+ = A; 13=B,
11=C; 9=D; 8 and Below = F
Please note that students can be dropped from this
course with one of the following occurrences: 1) three missed class email submissions;
2) failure to submit an essay.
Your Papers
One of the most important and essential aspects of
this course is learning the fine art of revision. In order to write well,
you learn to revise, revise, revise. In other words, writers never write
anything; they just stop rewriting. For example, Earnest Hemingway rewrote
the last page of his novel A Farewell
to Arms 39 times! Don't worry. I won't expect 39 drafts for
every paper that you write.
Rewrite policy: you may rewrite one
paper for a better grade. Rewrites should be returned to me one week
from the day that I email you the original graded paper. I will assign
online grammar exercises to complement your rewritten paper. You must let
me know immediately that you plan to rewrite so that I may assign these
exercises.
Submission of Essays:
1. In the subject line of
every email (especially your papers), you'll need to include your full
name, course and section, and, most important, the title of the assignment
Please email all papers as attachments. Extensions should either be
.rtf or .doc.
2. Send essay as an attachment,
making sure the file extension is one of the following: .doc or .rtf.
3. Use the MLA format. See the sample paper in
your Scott Foresman Handbook,
pp. 759-772 and more specifically, p. 822. I will not begin grading
your paper unless it is exactly formatted as the student model.
Include an extra address page that includes your name, course and section
number, mailing address, phone number and fax number if available.
I’ll be using this page to mail your graded papers back to you.
Late Papers
Late papers will not be accepted after the published
time line since you will be given significant time periods between each
essay due date. If an extreme situation occurs, you should immediately
contact me. .
Editing Your Papers
The Scott Foresman Handbook will
be your handbook. This handbook will answer many of your questions about
the conventions of standard written English. Perhaps, however, you have a
specific difficulty with a mechanical convention such as spelling or
punctuation or sentence structure. For these difficulties, you have several
tutorial links included in E-Handouts.
In addition, there are two tutoring services available on campus. In the
English Department, the tutorial services are available in Gonzales Hall
116. The tutors also have a hotline at (210)733-2503. The tutors require a
24-hour in advance appointment for closed, personal tutoring sessions. In
the Student Learning Assistance
Center (SLAC Lab),
tutors are available for any subject area. For hours of availability, call
(210)733-2106.
Of course, I will be available for questions either
online or during office hours. Other telephone or in person conference
times may be arranged in advance.
Grading Your Essays
I
will attempt to mark your paper in a manner similar to a standard printed
paper. Within your paper will be inserted comments such as "SP"
for spelling, "WC" for word choice, or other such standard marks.
See the last page of your Scott Foresman Handbook titled "Revision
Guide: Editing and Proofreading Symbols". In addition, I may insert
specific sections of the handbook to look at the difficulty you had with a
portion of your paper. Finally, at the conclusion of the paper, I will
insert comments along with your grade. I may mark interim drafts or
portions of drafts. Please revise your drafts according to the marks
inserted. I will return your papers in two weeks.
Final Exam
Your final essay exam topic will be mailed to you the
last Friday of the semester prior to final exam week. You will have three
days to complete the exam.
Policies
Attendance through Required Weekly Class
email Submissions: The school policy reads as follows: "A student
who has accumulated absences equivalent to two weeks of instruction may be
dropped." You will be expected to enter at least one class email
response per week. Please review your calendar site for a full semester's
worth of these required assignments.
San Antonio College Policies
1. No person shall, on the basis of race, national origin, religion,
sex, disability, age or color be excluded from participation in, be denied
the benefits of, or subject to discrimination under any program or activity
sponsored or conducted by San
Antonio College.
2. Disabled Student's Services (DSS) provides
accommodations, modifications, counseling, and services to allow equal
access to educational opportunities for students with disabilities.
Student support services are offered to disabled students who request
assistance at DSS, provide a letter of verification of disability, have an
interview with a DSS counselor and enroll at San Antonio College.
Support services and assistance are provided free of
charge and in accessible facilities. Examples of services available
to disabled students include: adapted entrance testing, special
registration, interpreters for the deaf, note takers, mobility assistants,
readers, scribes, writers and adapted computer lab, special orientation,
adapted classroom materials, special testing procedures, financial aid
guidance, academic and personal counseling, adapted furniture/equipment,
and other services that are reasonable and can be provided under provisions
of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Revised 5/13/08
