English 101


English 101 is designed to introduce you to academic forms of thinking and communicating through the written word. In your collegiate and professional careers, you will be expected to possess excellent writing skills that you will use to articulate cogent and well-constructed arguments. It takes many years to learn these skills and it is unrealistic to think that one semester or one year will make anyone into an “expert” writer. I’m not even sure that there is such a thing. Writing is a difficult, messy, individual process.

You will be graded accordingly. The emphasis in this class, and in the portfolio grading system, is on individual improvement. Consequently, you will receive feedback throughout the semester that will address, among other things, the intellectual strength of your arguments, the clarity of your presentation, and the interest value of your writing (e.g., “why does your audience want to read this piece?”).

You will write often and widely in our units on popular culture, social issues, and professional issues. There are 9 total assignments in this class – 3 unit projects and 6 feeders, or smaller pieces designed to lay the groundwork for the unit projects.

As first-year students, this is an exciting time for you – and for me, as your teacher. I hope to provide opportunities for you to develop your analytical skills and your abilities to express innovative ideas through writing.

N.B.: These documents are designed for class use. They are also available on Blackboard, but I have put them here for backup. Occasionally the system goes down, requires maintenance, etc., and there is a slight chance of losing the BB course website. To protect student privacy, all sample documents are available on BB only.

Syllabus
For a copy of the syllabus, click here.

Guidelines
Journals
Grammar Presentations

Assignments & Draft Workshop Handouts
Unit 1
Unit 1 Assignment Sequence
Feeder 1 Draft Workshop Handout
Feeder 2 Draft Workshop Handout
Unit Project Draft Workshop Handout

Unit 2
Unit 2 Assignment Sequence
Feeder 1 Draft Workshop Handout
Feeder 2 Draft Workshop Handout
Unit Project Draft Workshop Handout

Unit 3
Unit 3 Assignment Sequence
Feeder 1 Draft Workshop Handout
Feeder 2 Draft Workshop Handout
Unit 3 Draft Workshop Handout

Teaching Position
For a statement on my beliefs about teaching, click here.




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