Course Description: English 103 is designed to offer you practice and instruction in writing with other texts. You will be learning to read critically and respond in writing to what you have read. Another emphasis of this course will be constructing arguments in writing.

Required Texts and Materials:
1) Veit, Richard, Christopher Gould, and John Clifford. Writing, Reading, and Research, 4th ed.  Boston: Allyn Bacon, 1997.
2) An EdNet student account (to be assigned during the first two weeks of class).
3) Two high-density computer disks.
4) A two-pocket paper folder.
5) A manila folder.

Required Coursework: Your grade for this class will come from a Class Folder you turn in at the end of the semester; the Class Folder includes, in addition to a cover letter, three basic divisions of work: the Reading and Homework Journal, Polished Papers, and the Research Portfolio. IN ORDER TO PASS THIS CLASS, YOU MUST TURN IN A COMPLETED CLASS FOLDER.
--Reading and Homework Journal (30%): Your assigned daily homework and responses to readings should be kept together in a notebook which you will hand in every four weeks. All reading responses and daily homework assignments must be done when you come to class each day for participation points; I will not take any homework or reading freewrites late. When I return these assignments, place them in your Reading and Homework Journal, which I will look at as a whole every four weeks. You will, therefore, have a chance to still receive some points for homework that you didn’t get done by class time. Neither your homework nor your reading responses have to be typed, but be sure to make print-outs of the homework and writing you post online to include in your notebook. You should also include print-outs of any peer response you do online. Basically, anything you do for this class that isn’t a polished paper or part of the research portfolio should go in the Reading and Homework Journal. Be sure to label and date everything you put in!!

--Polished Papers (40%): You will be writing a variety of responses to readings this semester, including a paraphrase, a summary, a synthesis, an argument analysis, and a critique of an argument. These polished papers will be due on specific dates for evaluation, and I will not accept them late without prior arrangements. See the Late Policy. After you get the graded paper back, you may revise for a better grade AFTER you have a conference with me. You MUST keep all of these papers to turn in at the end of the semester in your class folder. The Polished Papers must be typed, double-spaced, in MLA format. Be sure to make print-outs of any papers you post online. As I mentioned before, ALL POLISHED PAPERS MUST BE IN YOUR FINAL PORTFOLIO IN ORDER TO PASS THE CLASS. Again, this gives you a chance to earn back a few points on something that you may not have turned in earlier in the semester. 
 Each individual polished paper is worth:
   Paraphrase                            50 pts.
   Summary                               50 pts.
   Synthesis (Summary Report) 100 pts.
   Analysis of Argument            100 pts.
   Critique of Argument            100 pts.

--Research Portfolio (20%): The culmination of the reading and writing skills you practice this semester will be a research-supported argumentative essay. You will complete several steps in this process, and these will be due for participation throughout the last part of the semester. When you turn in your research portfolio, all the elements of the assignment MUST be in it. The portfolio will include: topic freewrites, prospectus, preliminary outline, thesis statement and revised outline, rough draft, and polished draft. 

--Class Folder (10%): Your final class folder will include all the work you did for the semester, plus a cover letter introducing and explaining your work. 
 
 

Your final grade, then, will be calculated as follows:

           Reading and Homework Journal        300
           Polished Papers                                 400
           Research Portfolio                             200
           Class Folder                                     100 
                                                                 1000 points
 

EdNet and Online Participation: We will be using RVC’s EdNet system extensively in this class; when you get your account, you will be able to access EdNet from any computer on campus or any computer off-campus with WWW access, with one warning: AOL is not designed to work with other software systems, and many students have trouble using EdNet through AOL. We will be doing EdNet training during the second week of the semester, and there is both computer-based and online training available and a printed EdNet manual, if you want further training. Starting in the fifth week of the semester, the day you are regularly scheduled to meet in the computer lab in CLI will be an online class day with your physical attendance optional. You will be required to complete an online assignment each week rather than attending that face-to-face class session. Of course, the computer lab WILL be open for you to use during our class time, and I will be in my office if you need any help. 

Other Policies:
· I do not accept late work unless we have made PRIOR arrangements. You may not “make-up” or receive extensions on informal writings. You may receive extensions on due dates for polished papers by having a verbal exchange with me, either in person, over the phone, or in writing, at least 24 hours BEFORE the due date. Remember, the work must still be done and included in your class folder. 
· Plagiarism will result in failure. Do not represent someone else's ideas, words, or concepts as your own.
· My doors and ears are always open. Please talk to me about your writing concerns; it is both my job and my privilege to read and respond to your writing.
· I check my e-mail very regularly, and I highly recommend that you take advantage of this very easy and reliable way to contact me. You may also find me “on-line” with the Ednet in the evenings or in the afternoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I am not on campus, and you are always welcome to use the “private chat” function to talk to me then.
· I reserve the privilege to ask any student to leave who is not prepared for class (having completed assigned readings and writings) or is not actively participating (like playing Solitaire or staring out the window). I will not waste your time, my time, or the time of your classmates playing babysitter. Your motivation is your responsibility.