English 102
Guidelines

the numbers / course goals / materials / participation / evaluation / paper format / deadlines / office / writing center / plagiarism & honor code

The Numbers

English 12:34 / Greenlaw 221 / 8:00-9:15 a.m. / TR
English 12:41 / Greenlaw 221 / 9:30-10:45 a.m. / TR
instructor: Dr. Paul Marchbanks
e-mail: marchban@email.unc.edu
office: Greenlaw #405
office hours: 9:00-12:00 and 1:30-3:00 p.m. / W
skype name: Paul Marchbanks
home phone: 929-4926 (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.)

Life's complexity inevitably escapes us. Processing the massive amounts of data that hit our five senses requires shortcuts, requires that we focus on some aspects of reality and neglect others. (Some psychologists suggest that the problem with disorders like schizophrenia or autism is an inability to sort incoming data, to separate the important from the unimportant.) This screening process is tailored by individual values and experiences which determine what gets into our minds and is processed, and what remains outside our consciousness.

English 12 will encourage you to reexamine reality--both how you as an individual habitually perceive it, and how you tend to share that perception with others through the medium of language.

In addition to reworking the stylistic and organizational strategies you bring to writing, this course will challenge each student to move beyond the instinctive, comfortable value systems s/he brings to a given topic, and to methodically consider issues from the varying perspectives provided by three significantly different disciplines. The scientific-minded folk among you, for instance, will learn to explore topics from an aesthetic, as well as biological, perspective, while those entrenched in the humanities will learn to reconsider "art" from less personal, more sociological and business-oriented perspectives. Specifically, this course will provide students some familiarity with the rhetorical strategies, writing guidelines, and discourse languages which differentiate the natural sciences, business, and the humanities. We will accomplish this by continually reexamining issues surrounding those with physical and intellectual disabilities.

Course Materials

• an "onyen"
• laptop w/ wireless card
• "Skype" (download here)
• The St. Martin's Handbook (CD version and/or book)
• The Student Guide to English 10, 11, and 12 (thin, yellow workbook, available in the bookstore)

Daily Materials

• fully charged laptop, booted when class begins, with Microsoft Word open and your browser set to our course home page
• drafts and notes for whatever assignment is in progress, preferably on your laptop (though printing out backup copies is always a good idea)
• all papers, handouts, and other files saved in multiple places (save everything till semester's end)

Participation & Attendance

This course requires and measures active participation in class. The small number of students in each section (up to 19) makes regular attendance and frequent contributions by everyone absolutely indispensable. Each unit, 20% of your grade will be determined by the degree to which you:

• provide helpful & timely feedback to those in your small-group (during both draft workshops and out-of-class assignments)
• bring fully completed drafts to draft workshops (saved and easily accessible on your laptop)
• work together productively during peer group work sessions
• arrive to class on time, boot your laptop quickly, and complete--and occasionally share aloud--warm-up exercises
• involve yourselves in class discussion

English 12 involves regular peer editing and group work, the effectiveness of which depends on the presence and active participation of every student in a given group. In addition to inevitably hurting your participation grade, absences will injure your final grade. After the first two missed classes, every additional absence (regardless of the reason) will detract an increasing number of points from your overall participation grade (3 absences = -1, 4 absences = -3, 5 absences = -6, etc.). Absences on draft workshop days will detract an additional 3 points from your participation grade (regardless of the reason), or 1 point if, despite your absence, you both send me your draft before class (via email), and comment on your peer group members’ work by midnight that day. In addition, every 2 tardies will detract one point from your participation grade.

Keep in mind that, per department guidelines, seven or more absences during an English course automatically place a student in danger of failing.

Scoring & Evaluation

For each of 3 units, you will receive 3 equally-weighed grades (1 participation and 2 feeder scores), as well as a unit project score which counts twice as much as the others. Plagiarism will earn you, at the very least, a 0. We will employ a 6-point grading scale. Though I will always assess your work, some of your assignments will be graded by your peers.

6 = A+ (rare, superior work)
5.5 = A (forceful and original argument; strong prose style; error-free)
5 = B+ (convincing and well-structured; virtually error-free)
4.5 = B (structured and clear argument; a couple stylistic or grammatical errors)
4 = B- (structured but predictable argument; a few distracting errors)
3 = C (some structure; weaker argument; distracting number of errors)
2 = D (completed assignment; little apparent effort; many errors)
1 = failing (incomplete work)

Obviously, you are statistically unlikely to earn a whole number for your average. Letter grades will be assigned using the following ranges:

A = 5.4 - 6.0
A- = 5.01 - 5.39
B+ = 4.8 - 5.0
B = 4.3 - 4.79
B- = 4.01 - 4.29
C+ = 3.8 - 4.0
C = 3.3 - 3.79
C- = 3.01 - 3.29
D = 2 - 3.0
F = 0 - 1.99


Deadlines

All drafts and final assignments must be submitted before class begins on the day they are due. Assignments will not be accepted late. If you are unable to attend class the day a draft or final assignment is due, it must still be submitted before class begins. I strongly recommend finishing assignments well in advance of their due date. Computer or printing problems do not constitute an excuse for late work. Call 962-HELP immediately whenever you have computer difficulties.

Paper Format

Papers will follow the models in the St. Martin's Handbook unless otherwise specified. Most papers will be double-spaced, include four 1-inch margins, and employ a 12-point, Times New Roman font.

Contact

I hope to work closely with each of you throughout the semester. Please contact me by Skype or email whenever you have questions. Also, feel free to drop by my office in Greenlaw #405. If you cannot see me during established office hours (above), we will schedule an appointment.

Writing Center

Experienced writers at the Writing Center offer free assistance with your assignments for any class. Please take advantage of this service. Doing so will improve the best writer's output (and your tutor there will relay to me what was discussed.) To set up an appointment, visit them online.

Plagiarism and the Honor Code

The goal of this course is, naturally, to improve your writing with the help of others. Regularly approach those in your group, myself, and tutors at the Writing Center for suggestions on how to improve your writing. Remember, however, that all work you submit must be your own. Any paper containing borrowed but undocumented thoughts or words will receive a failing grade, and I am obligated to report all instances of plagiarism to the Honor Court. You are responsible both for knowing the guidelines for documentation and plagiarism as covered in the The Student Guide and for remembering these issues after we have discussed them in class. Let me know if you have any further questions concerning this important issue.

Paul Marchbanks
marchban@email.unc.edu