Course Requirements

Course Requirements:

Textbooks and Supplies: Please secure the following by the second week of class:

• Access to a computer, the Internet, and a printer: most of our readings will be available online, in lieu of using a reading anthology, and much of our writing will be completed or submitted online.
• Access to the Reserves at the Ursula C. Schwerin Library for materials not available digitally.
• Access to an online writing guide, such as the Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu
• A college-level dictionary, such as the American Heritage Dictionary.
• A sturdy folder to hold your work and course handouts.
• A notebook for class notes and reading notes
• Various in-class handouts

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory in this discussion-based course. Arriving late, leaving during class, or leaving early will count as half of an absence. City Tech’s policy states that four or more absences will result in a WU grade. I will not grant excused absences since three absences are permitted without penalty. Absence is not an excuse for missing or late work; you must get class notes from a classmate and keep up with your reading and written work.

Participation: To meet our course goals, your participation in each class is essential. Come prepared to each class, bring any required books or materials, and contribute to the day’s activity. Your physical presence is not enough! If you do not contribute to the discussion, workshop, or small group activity, I will assume you are unprepared. Similarly, participation on the course site is essential for our virtual community. Please be respectful of other viewpoints or opinions in class and online. Distractions such as food, non-ENG 1101-materials, or cell phones are not permitted, since they will negatively affect your participation, and in turn, your success in this course.

Writing: You will write in class, on the course site, and privately outside of class. There will be due dates for drafts and for finished copies of assignments, but you will be responsible for pacing your work and completing drafts. Formal assignments should be submitted in a reasonable 12-point font with one-inch margins on all sides—further details will be provided on the assignment description. Assignments are due electronically by the beginning of class unless otherwise noted. If you believe you have a legitimate reason for requesting an extension for an assignment, do so at least 24 hours before the due date. Assignments submitted late but without my approval prior to the due date will be severely penalized. Although in-class writing will not be graded—except for the formal in-class essays—it will contribute to your essay assignments, and will affect your essay grade, your in-class writing grade, and your participation grade. These pieces of informal writing must be kept in a writing folder, since we will return to texts, themes, and ideas throughout the semester.

Revisions: Revision is an essential part of writing. Assignments will involve both a draft and a revised version. Please be aware that revision is not the same as correcting—true revision involves re-envisioning your essay, refashioning and rewriting it. Guidelines for revisions, as well as due dates, will be available with each assignment description. If you would like to revise an assignment after I have graded it, you must first make an appointment with me and adhere to our revision contract.

Homework: Assignments, whether for reading or writing, are due at the start of class. Please follow the schedule listed on the schedule of classes. In addition to the reading, blog, and drafting assignments, there will be a vocabulary assignment. For each reading, you will be expected to select one vocabulary word, define it, and explain how you now understand the material with the word defined. Additional words that will help the class understand the material will also be listed, and you can choose to define one of those instead.

Course site: In addition to our meetings in the classroom, we will have a virtual community on a course site: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/english-composition. Formal and informal assignments will be posted to the site in various places and formats, and we will hold discussions there as well. You will be responsible for posting according to the homework schedule. Additional posting assignments will be announced as appropriate. Posts should be approximately 250 words, comments 100 words, unless otherwise indicated. I encourage you to blog and or comments beyond the assigned schedule; doing so will improve your grade.

Grading: Your course grade will be calculated based on the following percentages, which reflect the value of the entire project; missing any component will result in a lower grade. Passing ENG 1101 is contingent upon attendance and the successful completion of all assignments and the final exam.

Essay #1 (Writing about Photographs): 5%

Essay #2 (Revised Essay about Photographs): 5%

Essay #3 (Walking and Writing in Overlapping New Yorks): 10%

Essay #4 Midterm (Summary and Essay about an Article): 10%

Essay #5 (Research Project): 15%

Essay #6 (SAFA site posts): 5%

Essay #7 Final Exam (Summary and Essay about an Article): 15%

Oral Presentation (Verbal Drafting of Research Project): 5%

Course Site writing and participation (including vocabulary and blog posts): 20%

In-class participation, quizzes and in-class assignments: 10%