| ENG 110 |
RHETORIC AND RESEARCH
|
SPRING 2008 |
| Dr. Kevin Brown
|
|
Lee University
|
HOW TO GET IN
TOUCH WITH ME
Office: Vest
Building 101C
Office Hours: MWF 10-11, 1:30-2; TTh 1-2
Phone: 8232
E-mail: kbrown@leeuniversity.edu
UNIVERSITY MISSION
STATEMENT
Lee University seeks to
provide education that integrates biblical truth as revealed in the
Holy
Scriptures with truth discovered through the study of the arts and
sciences and
in the practice of various professions. A personal commitment to
Jesus Christ
as Lord and Savior is the controlling perspective from which the
educational
enterprise is carried out. The foundational purpose of all
educational
programs is to develop within the students knowledge, appreciation,
understanding, ability and skills which will prepare them for
responsible
living in the modern world.
TEXTBOOK
Kirszner,
Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. The Pocket Wadsworth Handbook.
Third
Edition. Boston, MA:
Thomson Wadsworth,
2006.
GRADING PROCEDURE
| Annotated Bibliography and Proposal #1 |
5% |
Paper #1 |
25% |
| Annotated Bibliography and Proposal #2 |
5% |
Paper #2 |
25% |
| Annotated Bibliography and Proposal #3 |
5% |
Paper #3 |
20% |
| Presentation |
5% |
Quizzes/Daily Assignments |
5% |
| Final Exam |
5% |
|
|
The grading scale is as follows:
| A = |
92% or above |
C+ = |
78 - 79% |
| A- = |
90 - 91% |
C = |
72 - 77% |
| B+ = |
88 - 89% |
C- = |
70 - 71% |
| B = |
82 - 87% |
F = |
69% or below |
| B- = |
80 - 81% |
|
|
·
You must make a C or better in order to pass this course. Since
there is no D grade for this course, the average student for this
course doing
the average amount of work should expect a low B.
Interesting
Fact: According to “What Student
Engagement Data Tell Us About College Readiness,” by George Kuh, “…nine
of ten
first-year students expected to earn grades of B or better while
spending only
about half the amount of time preparing for class that faculty say is
needed to
do well.”
· You
must complete all major assignments in order to pass this course.
LATE WORK
Because all of the assignments in this class are related to
the work we are doing at a specific time, it is important that work be
turned
in on time. Otherwise, the connection between what we are doing
in class
and the out-of-class assignment is lost. If work is late, the
penalty is
5 points per class day. If you have a major life crisis, talk to
me about
it, and we’ll work something out; otherwise, all work is due at the beginning
of the class on the assigned date. If you know you are going
to
absent on a day when an assignment is due, please turn it in ahead of
time. I will not accept any papers later than 2 weeks
after the
due date. Also, no papers will be accepted after the last
day of
class.
Also, quizzes and daily work will not be made up. Quizzes
begin at the scheduled beginning time
for the course, and they end ten minutes
after class has started. If you come in
late, but before those ten minutes are up, you will be able to take as
much of
the quiz as we cover during that time; if you come in after those ten
minutes
have passed, you will not be able to take the quiz that day. If you leave before the end of class, your
quiz will also not count for that day.
Thus, you are rewarded for being punctual and present at all
classes,
but you are not penalized for missing a few classes.
ACADEMIC
INTEGRITY/PLAGIARISM
The Lee University
Catalog states, “As a Christian
community of scholarship, we at Lee University
are committed
to the principles of truth and honesty in the academic endeavor. As
faculty and
students in this Christian community, we are called to present our
academic
work as an honest reflection of our abilities; we do not need to
defraud
members of the community by presenting others’ work as our own. Therefore, academic dishonesty is handled
with serious consequences for two fundamental reasons: it is stealing –
taking
something that is not ours; it is also lying – pretending to be
something it is
not. In a Christian community, such pretense is not only unnecessary,
it is
also harmful to the individual and community as a whole.
Cheating should have no place at a campus
where Christ is King because God desires us to be truthful with each
other
concerning our academic abilities. Only with a truthful presentation of
our
knowledge can there be an honest evaluation of our abilities. To such
integrity, we as a Christian academic community are called” (60).
Pages
60 and 61 further define academic dishonesty and plagiarism, and we
will talk
about it further in class. If you have
any questions at any time, please ask them, as this issue is one of the
most
serious in higher education. The penalties
are severe, as the catalog states: “The
faculty member may determine an appropriate course of action ranging
from
giving the student an F on the assignment or exam to awarding an F for
the
course” (61). Please treat this issue
with the gravity it requires.
STUDENTS WITH
DISABILITIES
Lee University
is committed to the provision of reasonable accommodations for students
with
disabilities as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973.
Students who think they may qualify for these accommodations should
notify
their instructor immediately. Special services are provided
through the
Academic Support Program.
TECHNOLOGY
Cell Phones --
Against all of my efforts, cell phones have become a part of almost all
college
students’ lives. They should not,
however, be a part of this class. All
cell phones should be out of sight
and off (not on vibrate) during
class. This ban applies to all uses of
cell phones, whether that be text messaging or checking the time.
E-Mail -- I
communicate with my classes frequently via e-mail, and I check it quite
often. Thus, this avenue is one of the
best ways to get in touch with me. That
said, remember that you are writing an e-mail to a professor, not one
of your
friends. Thus, words should be spelled
correctly and capitalized, and the tone should be appropriate to your
audience. I would suggest this approach
for communicating with any of your professors.
Laptops -- Since
more and more students have laptops, many are bringing them to class to
use
them to take notes. If using a laptop in
class helps your performance in class, then I encourage you to use one. However, since we have wireless on campus,
the temptation is always there to instant message friends or surf the
web (not
to mention simply playing solitaire).
Resist these temptations.
Printers -- The
printers on campus are notorious for running out of toner and/or paper,
and
they often simply don’t work, usually at times you desperately need
them
to. Thus, do not rely on a campus
printer (or even your own) at the last minute.
You will end up late for class, missing the quiz, and, often,
the paper
still won’t have printed. Print your
papers out the night before they are due.
While I have sympathy with your struggles with the printers,
advance planning
can help tremendously here.
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
- This class works best as a discussion
class. Read your assignments carefully and come to class prepared to
ask questions, challenge, and explore ideas in depth with your
class members and professor.
- I expect you to attend class every day
it is held. There may be times, though, when an absence might be
unavoidable. You are responsible for what is on the
syllabus and for what goes on in class, whether you attend or not,
including changes to the syllabus.
- We do a good deal of group work in
class, largely based on the readings. You
are expected to participate in the group work, including sharing that
work with the class at large.
- Participate in class discussions, but
do not dominate. Often, students believe
that they have to speak more than anyone else to show their
contributions to the class. Instead, that
type of behavior usually shows a lack of maturity on the student’s part
and a lack of understanding of how to truly contribute to academic
discussions. Understanding when to speak
is often as important as knowing what to say.
PROFESSOR
RESPONSIBILITIES
- I will come to class prepared, with a
clear goal or goals for that class meeting.
- I will clearly explain all assignments
and answer questions to make certain that assignments are clear.
- I will return assignments promptly
with appropriate feedback.
Interesting Fact: According
to “What Student Engagement
Data Tell Us About College Readiness” by George Kuh, “Students who talk
about
substantive matters with faculty and peers, are challenged to perform
at high
levels, and receive frequent feedback
on their performance typically get better grades, are more satisfied
with
college, and are more likely to persist.”
- I will clearly lay out and explain
grading criteria for all major assignments.
COURSE
GOALS
At the end of
this course, the successful student should be able to:
- Write a long (roughly 8 pages) essay
with a clear thesis, adequately supported with clear, specific
examples, using original research and correct, full citations.
- Write a medium-length essay (6 pages)
with a clear argument, adequately supported with clear, specific
examples, using original research and correct, full citations.
- Present the information used in
writing the medium-length essay to the class using a clear thesis;
specific, credible and credited sources; and solid, basic public
speaking skills.
- Write a moderate length (4 or more
pages) literary analysis, showing a clear understanding of a story or
poem, using original research and correct, full citations.
- Read other students’ essays and
provide helpful, constructive feedback.
- Read articles and books to gather
information for writing essays.
- Paraphrase and summarize information
correctly, provide context for that information in an essay, and cite
it correctly.
WHY ARE
YOU TAKING THIS COURSE?
I would guess
that most of you signed up for this course because you were told that
it is
required. While this statement may be
true, a brief explanation of why this course is required might help
provide you
with some context. This course is the
second
of two courses that focus on writing. As
the title states, the course should introduce you to rhetoric (the art
of
argument) and research. Thus, the
writing you do in this course will be similar to writing you will do
throughout
your time at the college level, helping you to prepare for your major
courses,
which will require much more writing.
This course, then, will focus on thesis-driven, evidence-based
argumentative writing that is supported through solid research of
various types
that is correctly cited in papers. Also,
there will be some study of literature and how to write about it, as
this
course is the last of the required English core. This
course is the next step toward helping
you become scholars in your field, as it helps solidify the foundation
for the
academic writing you will do for the next few years.
THE WRITING CENTER
The Writing
Center is located
on the second floor of the Vest Building. It
is
staffed by students who are either English majors or who have done well
in
their Freshman writing courses. You can
sign up for a 30-minute session with them, where they will look at any
aspect
of your paper you believe needs work.
You can go in at any point in the process of writing your paper,
from
brainstorming a topic to final, grammatical proofreading.
Always remember to take your assignment sheet
and grading rubric with you, as this information will help them
tremendously. When you sign up for an
appointment, please do not skip it, as you have taken a spot from
someone else,
if you do. You can use the Writing Center for papers for any course
at any
level, not just for this course, and I encourage you to do so. The one warning is that the Writing Center
employees are students, and they are not perfect. Remember
that your paper is your paper. Thus,
if they make a suggestion, and you
disagree with them, ignore their suggestion.
You are responsible for the final paper you turn in, not them;
thus,
every decision is yours.
Two Final Interesting Facts: According
to “What Student Engagement Data
Tell Us About College Readiness” by George D. Kuh, “…first-year
students expect
to do more during the first-year of college then they actually do (NSSE
2005). For example, about three-fifths
expected to spend more than fifteen hours a week studying, but only
two-fifths
did so.” He also states, “For example,
almost half (47 percent) study only three or fewer hours per week, well
below
the thirteen- to fourteen-hour-per-week average of first-year students
at
four-year colleges and universities.”
You get out of college what you put into it.
All course
information, including this syllabus and schedule, can be found at my web site.