Course Blackboard:
http://bb.elmhurst.edu

Course Homepage:
http://www.elmhurst.edu/~bridgeto/eng105web
(bookmark this page on your computer in OM 100)

Course Description

English 105 focuses on increasing students' written fluency--their ability to use the writing process as a means of discovering ideas; to see revision as a necessary and recursive part of the writing process; and to see good writing as dependent on its context.  (That's the official college catalog description.)

• by learning more about the purposes and contexts for writing,
• by discussing and inventing ideas for your writing,
• through review and feedback, and
• from revision and rethinking of your writing.

Textbook (available at the Elmhurst College Book Cellar)
The Call to Write, by John Trimbur. 2^nd Ed. Addison Wesley Longman, 2002. 

• An Elmhurst College login name and password, for access to electronic resources (and email if you choose)
• Any active email account that you can access easily and frequently (your Elmhurst College account, hotmail, AOL, etc.)
• Floppy disks and protective disk case

Overview of Assignments
In this course, you will write frequently, but not all of your writing will be formal "papers." We will explore several different genres of writing, including letters, rhetorical analyses, informative documents (such as FAQs, brochures, and fact sheets) and profiles. You should expect to do significant homework assignments for each class, including both reading and writing. Sometimes your writing may be very casual; at other times, you will find yourself working hard to craft and polish a piece of writing. Toward the end of the course, you will create a portfolio of writing that represents your efforts and your development as a writer.

Grading
To receive credit, you must complete your work on time. No credit will be given for late work. If you are absent from class on a day when we complete a graded assignment in class, it cannot be made up. If you know in advance that you must miss a class, you must make arrangements to hand in your work in advance. (Some exceptions may be made only in very special circumstances.)

Homework, in-class assignments, and on-time first drafts: Half of your course grade will be based on your day-to-day work. When you turn in written homework or an in-class assignment such as a peer review, you’ll receive a grade from the following scale:

In addition, when you come to class prepared with a draft of a writing project, you will automatically receive a grade of 3. I will not grade drafts of writing projects in this class, although I will give comments and suggestions.

Writing Portfolio: The other half of your course grade will be based on your portfolio. At the end of the semester, we will spend about two weeks working on revisions of your writing projects and completing some reflective writing assignments. During this time, you will meet individually with me as well as give and receive peer feedback on revisions to your writing projects.

• Completeness. At least three different writing projects and a reflective letter must be included in the portfolio.

• Variety and appropriateness. Your writing projects should reflect different types of writing, appropriate to different situations and audiences. These situations/audiences should be specified as part of the writing project. In particular, I will invite you to reflect on how this piece of writing "made a difference"—to you, to your classmates, or to members of other communities to which you belong.

• Writing quality. The texts of your writing projects should be well-written: focused, organized, developed in ways that are suitable for the audience, written with clear and interesting sentences and vocabulary, and carefully proofread. Your documents should be typed in an attractive, readable, and appropriate format.

Through revision and editing, you can craft the writing in your portfolio to show the very best work you are capable of. In making decisions about how to revise your writing projects, you should review my comments as well as think about any comments your peers or tutors have made. Make sure that you understand what these comments mean! Ask questions, get more feedback if you need it.

We will be taking advantage of the computers in our classroom for extensive in-class activities, as well as drafting and revising papers. I expect you to use these computers during class. If you have a computer at home that is not directly compatible with the computers in our classroom, either you must learn how to convert files (I can give you some suggestions for doing this but no guaranteed method; systems vary widely), or you must manage your time so that you can type and revise your papers using the campus computer facilities.

Always observe basic rules for safeguarding computer texts. Save to your disk frequently as you are writing. Print out a current version of your text at the end of any writing session. Make a back-up disk and update it every day. Keep your disks in a hard case to protect them. Always allow yourself enough time before a paper is due to deal with any technical difficulties that arise in formatting a file or printing your paper. Remember that credit cannot be given for late work.

Attendance
Please attend every session of this class. If you anticipate ongoing conflicts with work, sports, or other responsibilities, you should not be enrolled in this section. The in-class activities and discussion are an essential part of your learning. This is not a lecture-based course; you cannot make up a class by borrowing somebody’s notes.

If you are overtaken by an emergency, or you have an important scheduling conflict that prevents you from attending a class, please contact me, in advance if possible. Be sure to submit your assignments, in advance if possible.

Your attendance in the course will affect your final grade. Students who attend class learn more themselves and contribute more to others’ learning, and this is reflected in the grades they receive on various types of assignments. In addition, I may lower the final course grade of any student who misses an excessive number of class meetings. (According to English Department policy, any student who misses more than six class meetings in a MWF section will fail English 105, barring extraordinary circumstances.)

Academic Honesty
This course will involve a lot of collaboration among students—you will read each other’s work frequently, and offer suggestions to each other for revision. However, each student is responsible for writing and revising her/his own assignments. It is not acceptable for you to write any part of anyone else’s assignment (except if the assignment is a team project), or for anyone else to write any part of your assignment. If you are ever in any doubt about the integrity of work that you have done in good faith, please bring your questions to me.

I take Elmhurst College's academic integrity policy very seriously. A clear violation of the policy will result in your failing the course. Any case of plagiarism that appears to me to go beyond carelessness or misunderstanding of scholarly convention will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

The Writing Center at Elmhurst College
The Elmhurst College Writing Center offers one-on-one tutorials to help students at all levels to improve their writing. A peer tutor can help you to draft, revise, or edit a paper for any course (not just composition). To work with a Writing Center peer tutor, drop in during scheduled hours or sign up for an appointment on the sheet posted outside the Writing Center.

The Writing Center is located in the Frick Center, Room 229 (Main Level). Call 630-617-5689 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Elmhurst College Disability Policy
The College will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. If you have a disability that may have some impact on your work in this course, please contact the Director of Advising at 103 Goebel Hall (617-3450).

Please visit the English 105 homepage to find daily assignments and due dates:
http://www.elmhurst.edu/~bridgeto/eng105web

CW = The Call to Write