Required texts, available in the campus bookstore:

Flachmann, Kim and Michael Flachmann. The Prose Reader: Essays for Thinking, Reading, and Writing. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2008.

Troyka, Lynn Quitman and Douglas Hesse. Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2007.

Other required expenses:

  a computer disk to save work on

  writing paper (for drafting papers, informal writing in and out of class, and other tasks)

  a folder or two for class materials

  photocopying

  a good dictionary

You do not need to own a computer, because you may use campus computers, especially to produce the final versions of your papers (since they must be in typescript). Always back up your electronic documents, and keep a copy (electronic or otherwise) of any work you hand in.

Course description: A course designed to provide students with reading, writing, research, and documentation skills necessary for college level work. Placement will be based on the Basic Skills Assessment in reading and writing. Credit for this course does not apply toward a degree or certificate.

Course objective: Students will increase their skills in reading comprehension and analysis; develop their composing, revising, and editing skills; improve the grammar and mechanics of their writing; learn to write clear, organized, and effective essays; incorporate research and documentation of sources into a project; and enhance their vocabulary. To do well in the course, you will need to work on the following aspects of writing. You will need to write paragraphs that are coherent, each one having a clear purpose or topic that it develops with clear supporting details. Each paper needs to have a logical organization overall, with clear transitions that develop a line of thinking from paragraph to paragraph. Within each paragraph, every sentence must be clear and must follow logically from the one before it. In each sentence, every word and every piece of punctuation should be carefully checked, so there are no errors. And for papers requiring a thesis statement, you must make the overall point of the paper clear from the outset and stick to that point throughout the paper, covering the topic as fully as the topic requires and not wandering away from it. You also must use the correct format for setting up a paper, including the proper format for citing sources. We will attend to these basic matters throughout the course, in addition to focusing the ideas expressed in your writing.

Student responsibilities: You are responsible for reading the material for each class and completing the assigned response questions, as well as completing all formal and informal writing and research assignments by their due dates. It will be difficult to pass the course without completing all the major assignments. Bring both books to every class meeting. Also, you may be required to critique each other’s work during the semester and thus to bring copies of some papers to class.

Attendance at all class meetings is required. Absences will affect your grade through reduced participation; I keep track of participation on a daily basis. Remember to come prepared to each class: do the reading listed on the schedule and prepare your written work on time (prepare your work even for days class may be cancelled, such as for snow). You are responsible for keeping engaged in what happens in class during the period. Keep in mind that one absence equals a full week of class, so any more than one will begin to make a substantial reduction in your participation. This will be true even when you have a good reason for not being present: only in very rare cases will it be possible for you to make up any in-class work.

Grading: Students earn their grades through their work; it is a mistake to think that an instructor “gives” grades. An overall grade of C or better is required for completing this course and moving on to English 101. I will determine the course grade according to the following percentages:

Class participation, including written questions on readings—25%

Paper 1—10%                        

Paper 2—10%                         Paper grades include

Paper 3—10%                         all preparatory assignments

Paper 4—10%                         and any revisions.

Paper 5—10%                        

Research project, including related assignments—20%

Final exam—5%

Please note that I will not assign grades for individual papers early in the semester; I will wait until you have written at least two papers before assigning letter grades. We will be concerned first of all with how to improve your writing, then with the grade level your work earns. Only the final course grade goes into your record.

Here are some general descriptions for the standard grade categories:

A   Work that is outstanding and fully polished, in every way head and shoulders above most work at the course’s level.

B   Solid, competent work, better than most at the course’s level; perhaps work that is outstanding in some respects, but only adequate in others; work that could use some revision.

C   Adequate work, meeting the assignment’s basic requirements, perhaps strong in some respects but weaker in others than most work at the course’s level; typically, work in need of more drafting.

D   Work that is weaker than most at the course’s level, or a partially fulfilled, short, or flawed assignment, perhaps exhibiting basic difficulties with language.

F   Very weak work or a largely unfulfilled assignment, or one more than two weeks late.

0   A missed assignment or any assignment that contains willful plagiarism.

Remember that plagiarism is a serious offense, in which you cheat by presenting something you did not do while claiming it is your work. Plagiarism takes several forms: borrowing the words of others—even just a phrase—without identifying those words with quotation marks (usually, this means copying words from sources), using words or ideas from sources without clearly identifying the sources in your paper (even paraphrasing without citing a source is plagiarism, not just exact copying), or turning in an assignment that has been written by someone else (even a part of it). Getting advice from a tutor or another student is not plagiarism as long as you do not take more or less exact sentences or in some other way fail to write the assignment yourself. We will talk about this later, and we will get into detail about citing sources. But as a rule, ask me if you are ever uncertain about how to use borrowed material. If you plagiarize—and it is entirely up to me to judge whether you have—I have the option not only to fail the assignment but to fail you for the entire course, and for the most serious cases of plagiarism students can be expelled from college.

Preparation of papers: All your formal papers and projects (not the answers to questions about the readings) must be typed on standard paper with a standard font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins all around, and stapled in the upper left corner, usually with the early drafts of the paper attached to the back. If you do not know how to use a word processor, you can get help in the tutoring center. See page 608 in the Simon and Schuster Handbook for how to format your papers. Always revise and edit your work several times; always proofread carefully and read your work aloud to catch awkward phrasing. I expect you to begin your reading and writing assignments early and to plan your time well. Never try to print out an assignment just before class. I may turn back, without a grade, any work that has been poorly prepared. You may correct a couple of errors in black ink on the final version.

Penalty for late assignments: An assignment measures skills as of its due date; a student who turns an assignment in late gains an unfair advantage in several respects. Each week an assignment is late, it will be reduced one full grade. Missed attendance will not be an excuse, even if you have a good reason for the absence. Moreover, i will not accept any paper more than two weeks after its original due date (except in very special circumstances in which I am notified before the original due date). Questions on the readings will also be marked down if they are late.

Revision policy: You may revise any graded assignment once, and I may require a revision. The revised version will earn a grade that does not replace the original grade (except in rare cases); instead, the two grades will blend so that the overall grade is halfway between the two. To get credit for any revised assignment, you must turn in the original, graded version along with it, the week after the class as a whole has received the graded assignment back from me.

Extra help: Early in the semester, you will be introduced to the tutoring center. All students have access to tutoring for various subjects. You may apply for tutoring on your own, and I may require you to go.

If you are a student with a disability and you believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact either Jim Grimord, Director of Learning Services, or Chris Scarborough, Learning Disabilities Specialist, and complete a self-disclosure form. To avoid any delay in the receipt of accommodations, you should contact either Mr. Grimord or Mr. Scarborough as soon as possible. Please note that I cannot provide accommodations based upon a disability until I have received an accommodations letter from either of these individuals.

Tentative course schedule: Reading assignments to be prepared outside class are in bold. For all readings of individual essays in The Prose Reader, use separate paper to write out answers to the “Understanding Details” questions after the reading (at the top put your name, the author’s name, and the due date); for the chapters in the book, just underline main points and make notes in the book. When responding to “Understanding Details,” use whole sentences and write full responses; this will be part of your grade in class participation, so if you write brief or careless responses, you will receive a poor grade for this part of the course. I will discuss the paper assignments and all other assignments in class, and there may be additional assignments or other variations to the schedule. Thus, if you miss a class period, you should see me at the next class meeting, or e-mail me or contact one of your classmates.

Final exam: Date and time TBA, in the regular room.

Logging on to campus computers (except in the library, where no login is needed):

Username: [your Banner student ID number—the numerals only]@student.commnet.edu

Initial password:

First 3 letters of your birth month, the “&” sign, last 4 digits of your Social Security number

(example: Oct&6789)

You must change your password to a new one (of your choice) after your first login.

Logging on to your QVCC account (for all your records, including your advisor and your grades, as well as to register, to update your contact information, and so on):

Go to www.online.commnet.edu

Select “Login to ONLINE”

User ID: @[your Banner student ID number]
Initial PIN: your birth date in 2-digit format, MMDDYY

You must change your PIN to a new one (of your choice) after your first login, and the PIN must be 6 characters long.

The schedule of classes is available, also, at www.online.commnet.edu.

Logging on to the library’s reference databases, from off campus
(you do not need to log on when using the databases on campus):

Either use @ and your Banner student ID number (and the password that goes with it) or use the barcode number on the back of your library card. You should go to the circulation desk in the library and get a card as soon as it is convenient.