English
Composition II
34
English 102
014/TH
2-3:15PM CCEJONES205
016/TH
9:30-10:45AM CCEJONES101
|
Instructor |
Assistant Professor, Dr. Joel
Peckham—Ph.D. in English with a Dissertation on American Literature from The |
|
Office Location |
CCSNYDER S272B |
|
Office Hours |
M,W,F 11am-1pm |
|
Office Phone Number |
513-558-1249 |
|
Email Address |
joel_peckham@yahoo.com |
|
Homepage |
http://www.joelpeckham.com |
Catalog Course Description: English Composition II. 3 ug. cr. Continuation of
sequence, focusing on writing more advanced assignments in persuasive and
analytical writing, critical reading of various genres and using, evaluating
and documenting library and electronic resources. Prereq.:
34ENGL101
General Description/Explanation:
In this course, we will use mixed
genres for readings: essays, articles, arguments, short stories, poems, or any
number of historical, cultural, scientific, sociological, and literary essays,
etc. The course will focus on the themes of Gender, Family, and Civic
Responsibility. Students will analyze the texts, respond critically,
practice summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, and really learn how to synthesize
ideas and information. The more advanced critical reading and thinking builds
on that introduced in 101, as do the writing assignments, which ask students to
engage in more sophisticated academic writing. While they are still negotiating
between the familiar and unfamiliar, the personal and the public, the course calls for more sophisticated interaction with texts.
Course Materials:
Argument Now: A Brief Rhetoric
by Jonathan Alexander and Margaret Barber
1 Composition Notebook to be used as
a reading journal
1 3-Ring Binder
Learning Outcomes /
Course
Much
of this course will focus on the relationship between the individual and
society—specifically focusing on the how issues of gender and family relate to
politics and community. Of course this is merely a loose theme to help
frame our discussions. Ultimately this course is about learning how to
engage with the ideas of others as a means of complicating our own thinking and
writing. We will be actively reading essays on topics related our themes
and then will attempt to evaluate those essays, respond to them, and then
synthesize what we learn from them into our own persuasive and argumentative
works.
Step #1:
Step #2: The
resistant reader: knocking down and building up. Of course by this point
in the quarter students will be getting fairly adept at recognizing gaps in
arguments and weakness in writing. In this part of the course we will
encourage that practice of learning to dismantle an argument by exploring
debating technique. But we will also begin the process of learning how to
propose a counter-argument. This section of the course will be capped off by an
essay in which a student must disagree with one of the assigned essays.
Then the student must construct a counter-argument or proposal using his or her
own experience as the basis for his or her response.
Step #3:
Synthesizing, Appropriating, Citing and Researching. The final
section of the course will involve an introduction to the research process in
which a student must recognize a social issue or problem in our culture.
The student must explore the causes of the problem and propose a possible means
of addressing the problem through some form of civic, legislative, or social
activism. This assignment will require to do some first-hand research and
to incorporate the ideas of others through the collecting, evaluating and
synthesizing of secondary materials.
GRADING SYSTEM, WHAT YOU
ARE ASKED TO DO:
Three Essays, 4-5 pages each, on the assignments listed above.
The first two essays will be 200 points each, and
the third 400 points, for a total of 800 points.
Revisions: Revision is required of any paper on which the
student scores less than 80%. For papers earning a higher score,
the revision becomes optional. The revised grade will be averaged with the
original score. Revisions are due two weeks after the return of the
original essay. The final essay will have a required rough draft deadline
in which an early, mostly complete rough copy of the essay will be turned in to
the professor for preliminary evaluation. The final copy will not be
turned in until the day of the final exam.
Individual
Meetings: All students scoring
less than 80% on a paper must meet with the professor for an individual
appt. For students earning a higher score, the meeting is optional.
Students attending individual meetings must come prepared to take notes.
Other than minor notations, these essays will not have substantial written
commentary. If a student misses his of her appointment without notifying
the professor at least two hours in advance, that student loses the opportunity
to revise the essay in question and will receive the original score as a
permanent mark. The professor will not be available to further explain
the grade assigned for that essay. The missing revision will also
negatively affect the class participation grade. Students are encouraged to
meet with the professor about their work regardless of the grades received. If
a student cannot meet during my office hours or scheduled class-time appts., I
may set up a special session or a phone appt.
Reading Responses and
Reading Journal: Students
must keep a reading journal in which they write one-paragraph responses of every
essay that they read for this class. On occasion I will give a
specific assignment relating to the essay in which I require you to write a
more formal response (a paraphrase or summary for example), or a more creative
response. If I do not give a specific assignment, the expectation is that
you will write a paragraph in which you agree or disagree with something the
author says and give your reasons why. I will often ask students to read
from these journals and will check them regularly. The reading journal
will be worth 100 pts.
Class
Participation/Discussion Board Participation: Students will participate both on the
discussion board at least twice weekly and in class
discussion. Missed classes will damage this portion of the grade, but
merely attending class does not insure a high mark. I expect students to
have done the assigned work and to be prepared to comment on it every
class. This grade is worth 100 pts. out of
1000. However, I reserve the right to lower or raise a student’s grade
more than 10% of the overall mark if the student is disruptive to the learning
environment of his or her peers. Conversely, a particularly adept
discussion and group leader may see his or her grade raised more than 10%
Breakdown:
Paper #1—200 pts
Paper #2—200 pts
Researched Paper—400 pts
Class Participation—100
pts
Reading Journal—100 pts
Total: 1000 pts.
CODE OF ETHICS / BYLAWS:
Mutual Respect:
All members of this
writing community exist on equal terms as scholars, writers, and as human
beings. All cultural backgrounds, belief systems, lifestyle choices, etc.
deserve and will receive respect. Community members will address each other
with appropriate decorum. Any form of discrimination and/or prejudice, verbal
or otherwise, is unacceptable. Violators may be asked to leave the classroom.
Attendance:
This course is process
oriented with a heavy emphasis on class participation, discussion, and
revision. Missed classes, therefore, will negatively affect student grades.
Students will receive 2
"free," unexcused absences (a free absence does not mean that you can
make up a pop quiz on the day you have missed). After that, each absence will
result in the deduction of 50 full points from your grade total (out of 1000).
An excused absence requires supporting documentation and (preferably) prior
notification. Illness, Family Emergencies, University sponsored field trips,
and Automobile Accidents are reasons for missing class. Hangovers, tests in
other courses, dates, and defective alarm clocks are not. At the
beginning of every class I hand out a sign-in sheet for that day. If your name
is not on it, you are absent. If you come into class after the sheet has been
passed around, you are absent. Show up on time.
Withdrawal dates
Plagiarism
1. Submitting another's published or unpublished work, in whole, in part, or in paraphrase, as one's own without fully and properly crediting the author with footnotes, citations or bibliographical reference. 2.Submitting as one's own, original work, material obtained from an individual or agency without reference to the person or agency as the source of the material. 3.Submitting as one's own, original work, material that has been produced through unacknowledged collaboration with others without release in writing from collaborators.
Students
with Disabilities: The policy of the University of
Cincinnati Clermont College requires students to
self-identify and provide proper documentation to Jennifer Radt,
732-5327. Academic Director of Disability Services, located in the
