English 1113: Principles of Composition I Fall 2011

Instructor: Michael Rifenburg Email: rifenburg@ou.edu Office: 312 Gittinger Hall Office Hours: MW, 9.00a.m. -10.30 a.m. Meeting Days/Times/Places ENG 1113.020 TR 9.00-10.15 a.m. , Gittinger Hall 236 ENG 1113.001 TR 10.30-11.45 a.m., Gittinger Hall 232 Required Text Goshgarian, Gary, ed. Exploring Language. Pearson. General Information and Policies Objectives: Principles of Composition I is designed to introduce students to the type of scholarly writing expected at the university level. This class will works through various steps in the writing process including, prewriting and discovery, drafting and reviewing drafts, editing and revising, and submitting polished essays on time and in the appropriate format, in an attempt to help students get accustomed to this new level of writing. In more detail, students learn to develop and articulate claims that answer the requirements of the assignment and show a thoughtful consideration and understanding of the issues you are writing about. Additionally, students also learn to support this claim with wellselected evidence that demonstrates an ability to make appropriate rhetorical and logical choices. And finally, students learn how to read rhetorically, with a critical attention to the rhetorical choices and methods of persuasion employed by others. While possibly a daunting course, my goal is to help you begin to enter this new level of writing, and I look forward to helping you navigate through these assignments.

Requirements and Grading: Four papers are required. In addition to these four major papers, I will be assigning brief writing responses in connection to our reading as well as asking you to present on material at various points throughout the semester. These responses, presentations and class participation constitute the final ten percent of your class grade. Borderline grades will be raised only for those who have been active and informed participants in class discussions. Final grades will be calculated according to these percentages. Notice that equal weight is not given to each task. Literacy Task #1: Literacy Task #2: Literacy Task #3: Literacy Task #4: Reading Responses: Presentations: 15% of final grade 25% of final grade 25% of final grade 15% of final grade 10% of final grade 10% of final grade

The four tasks will receive a letter grade (see below for how reading responses will be graded). In order for students to read the comments and assessment, major paper grades will not be discussed until 24 hours after the grade is given. As assigned by the Department, the four essays we will be writing are titled: Scholarly Discourse Discourse Analysis Persuasive Writing Language Narrative Submission of Work: Unless specified, I ask that all 4 Literacy Tasks be typed and turned in via the appropriate D2L dropbox. Keep in mind that the campus maintains many computer labs if access to a computer is an issue. Format your papers according to MLA guidelines: Standard 12 point font (not bolded or italicized) Double-spaced No extra spaces between paragraphs (if you run Word 08, this can be touchy)
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 1 standard margins all around Your last name and page number on each page after the first upper right hand corner No title pages Titles should be centered. No need to bold, underline, or italicize them On the first page in the upper left have: Your name My name Course Date Finally, I will not accept papers via email or on disk, unless permission has been given. Reading Responses: For some of the reading assigned for our class, I will ask you to perform a reading response. The reading responses will be turned in at the beginning of class on the day that the reading is due, will be graded, and then returned. Reading responses will receive a grade of 0 (not acceptable), 1 (somewhat acceptable), or 2 (acceptable). Unless specifically assigned, these responses are not a summary, but an informed response. I will not accept late responses without a legitimate excuse, nor will I accept responses over e-mail unless prior arrangements have been made. Conferences: Conferencesa time to talk one-on-one with meare important during the writing process. I will be happy to meet during my office hours or at a prearranged time. If needed, feel free to contact me at any point during the semester to chat. Make-up Work: Students are held responsible for all material covered during any absence. I accept late papers, but they will be penalized. Late papers will lose a full letter grade for each day the paper is late. A paper turned in one day late will be marked down one letter grade. A paper turned in two days late will be
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marked down two letter grades. After two days a paper will not be accepted and will receive an automatic F. Please note: one day means one day, NOT one class day. I have attached a schedule to this syllabus informing you of the due dates for all major papers; therefore, plan ahead if necessary. I am more lenient on reading responses. If your absence is excused, any work from the missed class will be due the first day you return to class. If the absence is unexcused, work must be turned in the day its due Revision: Papers are never finished; we just run out of time. With this in mind, the option of revising one of the four major papers is available. Note that this is optional and not required. Also, to be able to revise a paper, you have to turn one in originally. In other words, please dont think that if you forget to turn a paper in, you can revise it later. If you decide to revise one of your writing projects for a higher grade, you should read the assessment comments and rethink your approach to the assignment. Think of revising as rewriting. We are going for fundamental changes to paper and not simply moving commas around. Your revision grade will replace the original grade. In order to be eligible for revision, complete these three steps: Meet with me to talk about my comments and for assistance in improving the original draft; Compose a revision plan where you clearly outline the necessary changes and how you plan to accomplish them; Turn in the original draft, your revision plan, and the revised draft. Make sure your name is on everything. Revised drafts are due the day of the final. Important Dates: Last day to drop for full refund: Sept. 2nd Labor Day: Sept. 5th (Monday) OU/Texas: Oct. 7th (Friday) Thanksgiving Holiday: Nov. 23rd-Nov. 27th
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Final Exams: Eng 1113.020: Wed. Dec. 14th, 8:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. Eng 1113.001:Mon. Dec. 12th, 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Release Statement: The policy statement and syllabus are open to change upon the instructors discretion. Finally, continued enrollment in this class signals agreement to the policy statement. Cell phones are not allowed. Make sure to turn phones off.