ENC

1101 Paisey

Miami Dade College ENC 1101, English Composition 1 Professor Florence M. Paisey Department of English and Communications Contact: fpaisey@mdc.edu Credits: 3 Office: TBA M/W/F Hours: Wed 10:00 11:10 a.m. Office Hours: TBA Course Catalog Description First required core course in college-level writing. Focuses on composing essays and other works using various methods of development. Fulfills 8,000 words of the Gordon Rule requirement. Note: Must be completed with a grade of C or better. Prerequisites: Prerequisites are: Placement by SAT verbal subtest score, ACT English subtest score, CPT English subtest score or ENC 0021 with a grade of S. Required Textbook, Books, and Resources Dornan, Edward A. and J. Michael Finnegan. The Longwood Reader. 6th ed. New York: Pearson, 2006. Print. Troyka, Lynne Quitman and Douglas Hesse. Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers. 10th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. Print. Core Competencies This course is designed to meet the five course competencies (see appendix 1) stated for ENC 1101. These competences emphasize the development of writing and grammatical skills observed in standard American English. Students acquire a basic ability to produce well- organized and focused composition using various techniques of elaboration. Teaching Approach My teaching recognizes the potential, multiple learning styles, and academic needs that each student brings to the classroom. This approach is humanistic in nature and process oriented, emphasizing the instructors role as a facilitator in a supportive environment. Teaching techniques will engage students with multiple instructional strategies including lectures, discussion, demonstration, class activities, exercises, and case studies. Successful students will take responsibility for their learning and goal-directed behavior. Such student responsibilities involve punctuality, steady attendance, class participation, timely completion of reading and writing assignments as well as sustained effort.

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Learning Outcomes Construct well-formatted essays and research papers applying MLA guidelines. Use grammatically accurate and well-constructed sentences with strong, diverse vocabulary. Apply pre-writing strategies such as brainstorming, clustering, listing, free writing, questioning, cubing, outlining, and journaling. Develop a focused research question. Establish a thesis sentence that allows for specificity, breadth, and depth. Understand the distinction and relationship of thesis sentences and topic sentences. Organize an essay. Distinguish and demonstrate various techniques of developing ideas (narrative, illustration, definition, comparison and contrast, etc.). Define how a research paper differs from other papers or compositions. Analyze an essay and research paper identify thesis sentences, topic sentences, transition devices, and techniques of development. Critical reading. Develop skill in citing and contextualizing quotations that support ones claims. Comprehend plagiarism and surrounding ethical issues. Monitor ones writing skills become self-aware learners and writers. Course Requirements 1. Attendance. All students are responsible for attending each class. This course will allow for 3 absences during the term no excuses necessary. Additional absences cost 2 points in participation. Each class will present essential concepts and their discussion along with practical activities. Missing classes will prevent adequate progress in the course. I reserve the right to treat repeated lateness as an absence. We can probably accommodate conflicts with class time personal, work, etc.but, please talk with me in advance and please come to class. 2. Participation. Please record lecture notes either in print or electronically. Laptops may be used in class, but they must have all wireless/internet functions turned OFF. All other electronic devices, including cell phones, must be turned off and put away during class time. Participation will count as 15% of your grade and is based on your preparedness, your contribution to discussions, completion of class exercises among other performances. 3. Writing Assignments. Each student is responsible for completing eight writing assignments (4-5 paragraphs each). Each assignment will include a thesis statement,

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relative topic sentences, and either one or multiple explication techniques, such as narration, definition, illustration, comparison and contrast, argument, etc. Assignments count as 40% of the final grade. 4. Research Paper. Each student is responsible for a formal, documented research paper, completed according to MLA (or APA) styling format. Students may decide on topics that interest them; however, all students should consult me and obtain approval before beginning research. The research paper will count as 20% of your final grade. I will furnish a clear definition and rubric of how research papers will be assessed. 6. Frequent Exercises. Many small exercises as well as reading and writing activities will be 7. Missed Assignments. I am disinclined to accept late assignments and exercises. There is simply no time for catch-up work. Please talk with me or write to me, if an emergency or illness arises and you require an extension. 8. Submission of Assignments a. Submit all written work online through the Miami Dade College email account. I will not accept work submitted through Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL or any other proprietary account. b. Submit your work to: fpaisey@mdc.edu c. Always use MLA (or APA) format when submitting any assignment or exercise. d. Always complete your written work using a word processing program and attach the file to your email. Do not submit any exercise or assignment in the body of an email message. e. Submit ONLY one assignment or exercise per email please do not attach multiple exercises or assignments. f. Identify the exercise or assignment in the SUBJECT line of the email message. conducted in class and sometimes finished outside of class (homework). Such assignments might include a reading and demonstration of a writing technique in class such as development of a thesis sentence, illustrating a claim, providing supporting evidence or logical ideas -- argument. These exercises will count as 25% of your grade. While the exercises will seem small, forgoing these exercises can have a significant effect on your grade. It is important to take part and complete these activities.

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g. After you submit an assignment, I will reply within two days. If I have not replied, it is highly probable that I never received your work. It is your responsibility to resend the assignment. Please retain all assignments you have sent to me in your sent folder. (We will discuss this in class.) h. Please contact me if you have any questions or would like me to review your work and make suggestions. 9. Extra Credit. Grades will be based exclusively on the requirements for the course. 10. Student Behavior. I expect responsible, courteous adult behavior from all students. This includes courteous and professional email etiquette (netiquette). Plagiarism and Academic Honesty Academic honor and honesty are imperative. Miami Dade College maintains a firm policy toward plagiarism. Please complete your own assignments and follow policy regarding academic honor. We will thoroughly review what constitutes plagiarism and how to prevent any misunderstandings. Any plagiarized exercise or assignment will not be accepted. Such unethical behavior will be regarded very seriously with weighty consequences. Grading 15% Participation 25% Class Exercises 40% Writing Assignments 20% Documented Research Paper Online Writing Resources Purdue Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ University of Wyoming Research Tutorial: http://tip.uwyo.edu Texas Research (Information Literacy) Tutorial: http://www.brazosport.edu/Library/TILT/intro/internet.htm University of Wisconsin Research and Writing Tips: http://www.library.wisc.edu/research-tips/top-ten-list/top-ten-list.html University of California, Berkeley: Tutorial on Science Informations Life Cycle: http://www.lib.uci.edu/how/tutorials/FindScienceInformation/public/index.html American Universitys Research Tutorial: http://www.library.american.edu/tutorial/index.html Hunter College MLA Tutorial (with exercises): http://library.hunter.cuny.edu/tutorials/mla/mla_tutorial.html

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Acadia Universitys Tutorial on Citing Sources: You Quote It, You Note It. http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/ Class Schedule: This is a tentative schedule and will be adjusted as student needs determine. Mon, Sept. 30 Introductions Review and discuss the course syllabus. Students will produce one in-class writing assignment to be submitted by the end of class. Read Chapter 1, Longwood Reader, pages 1-21 Wed, Oct 2 Introduction to MLA formatting and styling Textbook Discussion, Chapter 1 What is writing? What is rhetoric? Handbook, page 17 Avoiding Plagiarism Textbook Discussion, Chapter 1 Audience, Writing, and Writing Forms Fri, Oct 4 MLA formatting and styling Textbook, Chapter 2, pages 25-29

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Appendix 1 Course Competencies Competency 1: The student will produce writing by a. choosing and limiting a subject that can be sufficiently developed within a given time, for a specific purpose and audience. b. developing and refining pre-writing and planning skills. c. formulating the main point to reflect the subject and purpose of the writing. d. supporting the main point with specific details and arranging them logically. e. using appropriate transitional devices. f. writing an effective conclusion. Competency 2: The student will write well-developed essays by a. writing an introductory paragraph. b. constructing a thesis statement. c. developing the thesis by: providing adequate support that reflects the ability to distinguish between generalized and concrete evidence. arranging the ideas and supporting details in a logical pattern appropriate to the purpose and focus. Patterns may include descriptive, narrative, and evaluative writing, process analysis, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, exemplification, and others. writing unified prose in which all supporting material is relevant to the thesis. writing coherent prose and providing effective transitional devices. writing an effective conclusion.

Competency 3: The student will proofread, edit, and revise by a. recognizing and correcting errors in clarity. b. recognizing and correcting errors in unity and coherence. c. using conventional sentence structure and correcting sentence errors such as fragments, run-ons, comma splices, misplaced modifiers, and faulty parallelism. d. recognizing and correcting errors in utilizing the conventions of Standard American English including: using standard verb forms and consistent tense. maintaining agreement between subject and verb, and between pronoun and antecedent. using correct subjective, objective, and possessive case pronouns. maintaining consistency in point of view. using standard spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

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selecting vocabulary appropriate to audience, purpose, and occasion.

Competency 4: The student will read and respond to selections by a. identifying main ideas, purpose, overall organizational patterns, supporting details, and elements of coherence in assigned readings. b. distinguishing fact from opinion. c. summarizing and/or paraphrasing passages. Competency 5: The student will conduct research by a. assembling sources on a designated subject. b. taking effective notes from sources. c. recognizing when and how to document sources.