College Writing II sections 217 & 220 Spring 2006 Syllabus

Dr. Bridget Marshall:  bridget_marshall@uml.edu

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:30 to 1:45 in O’Leary 414 and most other times by appointment.    E-mail me or call my office to set up a time to meet with me.
Office Phone: 978-934-4179

Required Texts:

• The Seagull Literature Reader 2005 ed. by Joseph Kelly  (Norton)
• Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage (Dramatists Play Service Inc.)
• One ticket to the Merrimack Repertory performance of Intimate Apparel (more information TBA) running 2/9/2006 - 3/5/2006.  You must see it before Tuesday, February 28th.

In College Writing II, we will build on the skills you have learned in College Writing I.  We will read, think about, discuss, and write about sophisticated texts and ideas, developing your analytic and interpretive skills.  Although our readings will be of the sort that you would expect from an English class (short stories, plays, poems), the skills of reading, interpreting, discussing, and writing that we will hone are ones that are useful in every discipline and every career.

There are six major essays for this class, each with multiple drafts.  This is a total of approximately 25 pages of writing with 250 words per page.  You will be required to share your drafts and final essays with peers in the class.  Here is a general outline of the essay assignments:

#1            Short Stories: Analysis of any short story we’ve read so far           
#2            Drama: Analysis & Performance Review of Intimate Apparel
#3            Substantial Revision: Revise one essay completed so far
#4            In-Class essay exam: Covers all readings in the class so far
#5            Poems:  Analysis of any poem(s) we’ve read so far
#6             Substantial Revision: Revise one essay (including an essay exam question) not
       previously revised

All of these essays will involve multiple drafts.  There is a draft due (in class and/or in conference) at least once before the final paper is due.  It is to your benefit to have your draft as advanced as possible so that you can get thoughtful response from your peers and me.  Essay #3 and Essay #6 are called “Substantial Revisions.”  For these essays, you will take a previous essay that received a grade and work to develop it – to change and revise it substantially.  The “Substantial Revision” assignments will involve much more than just cosmetic revisions like copy-editing and fixing grammar.  In the Substantial Revisions, I will be looking for expanded thinking and writing, typically involving the incorporation of a research source.  The revised essays will not erase the original essay grades, but the revisions will be weighted more heavily in the calculation of the final grade. 

Class Requirements: 

• Attendance is required.  This is not a correspondence course.  You can fail the course for not attending class, even if you do all the writing.  You have two “free” absences to use as you need.  For every class beyond those two that you miss, your final grade for the class will be lowered one grade step.  (I.e., if you have a “B” for the class, but have missed 4 classes, you will receive a “C+” for your final grade.)  Also included in your attendance are your conferences with me.  There are several scheduled conferences that you MUST attend.  I usually cancel at least one class during conference week.  If you miss a conference without contacting me before you miss it, it counts as an absence. 
• Assignments are due at the beginning of class unless otherwise noted.  When you arrive in class, you should be ready to hand in a draft, or to work with it in a peer response group. 

• Good classroom citizenship is required.  Good classroom citizenship goes beyond just “participation” in the sense of raising your hand a lot.  It includes sharing your thoughts and ACTIVELY LISTENING to the thoughts and comments of your peers.  Please be considerate of your classmates and make the classroom a space where everyone can speak their mind.  We will have both full-class discussions and small group work.  If you are not particularly comfortable speaking in the full-class discussion, be sure you are making up for it in the smaller group discussions.  Also, as a courtesy to everyone in the room, please turn off your cell phone before class begins.  Please refrain from using cell phones, text messaging devices, or other technological distractions that are disrespectful to your teacher and to your classmates. 
• Revising is not an option; it is required.  The multiple draft process does not mean that you write a bad essay and then fix your typos; always write your best.  Substantial revision is part of your grade.  I will look at your drafts to see that you have expanded and refined your writing through the process.  In order for me to see this, you must save every draft. When you turn in a final essay, you should also include all drafts, notes, peer response, etc. associated with that essay.  You should also save final papers that I return to you with comments.  When you turn in your two substantial revision papers (essays #3 & #6) you MUST turn in the previous paper (with my comments) that you are revising.
• You should maintain electronic copies of every final paper you turn in until after you have received a final grade for the course.  This will be a backup in the rare event that a paper goes missing.  Also, on occasion, I will ask you to e-mail me an electronic copy of your paper.  I strongly recommend that you save your papers in multiple places – establish a backup device, or e-mail copies of papers to a free g-mail account or your UML e-mail account.
• You will be required to share your writing and respond to the writing of your peers.  We do this to stress the point that you are not just writing for a teacher or for a grade; we are writing for a community of writers.  Become comfortable with sharing your writing; this is a necessary step in improving your writing and becoming part of the academic community.  I expect that all students will respond to each other’s writing with useful and respectful feedback.
• I expect that all students will read the assigned text for the day it is due.  In order to help you keep up with the readings, each day a group of students (roughly 1/3 each session) will need to prepare one page of writing in order to help us start the day’s discussion.  One-pagers on reading assignments are due AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS.  You might want to bring two copies of your page.  You will need to turn in one to me at the start of class.  It may be helpful for you to have a copy for yourself during discussion, when I may call on you to elaborate on your writing for the day.  While the students who have written on the text for the day will certainly be central to the class’s discussion, all students should be able to contribute to the discussion.  If it seems that students are not keeping up with the readings, I may give reading quizzes to add further incentive.
• Remember that it is your responsibility to keep track of things.  By “things,” I mean drafts of essays that have a tendency to get lost in computers or dorm rooms, assignments from class days that you missed, and class work that hasn’t been submitted.  I keep track of everything that is turned in.  If you are unsure if you have any late or outstanding assignments, you can certainly ask me; however, I will not chase you down begging you to turn something in.
• Everyone taking College Writing II must attend a performance of the Common Text Play, Intimate Apparel at the Merrimack Repertory Theater.  The play’s run begins on February 9th.  You are responsible for purchasing a ticket to and attending a performance of the play during its run.  I urge you to purchase your ticket as soon as possible, as tickets will sell out.  You can choose the night you want to see the play, but you must see it before Tuesday, February 28th.  The Common Text Program will provide free buses from Fox Hall on Wednesday and Thursday nights of the play’s run, so if transportation is a concern, consider attending on one of these nights.

Evaluation and Grading:  Grading writing is my least favorite aspect of the course, however, grades are necessary, not only to the University, but also in many cases in order to motivate students.  Here is some general information about what is graded and how I tabulate a final grade:

• You will receive “checks” or “zeroes” for one-pagers and drafts.  Occasionally, I record a “check plus” for a particularly outstanding effort on a draft or small assignment.  If you don’t have a writing assignment or draft on the day it is due, or your draft seems seriously lacking in effort, you will receive a zero for the assignment.
• For the final draft of each essay, you will earn a number of points that can be converted into a letter grade.  I will record this final number (not a letter grade) for each essay assignment.  These numbers are not the only indication of your grade; completing drafts, class work, and peer work is also included in the tabulation of your final grade.  Please keep in mind that every draft counts; your final grade for the course will include all checks, zeroes, and number grades.   Here is a breakdown of the elements of the final grade:

Essay 1 (Stories):  10%
Essay 2 (Drama): 10%
Essay 3 (Revision): 20%
Essay 4 (Exam): 10%
Essay 5 (Poetry):  10%
Essay 6 (Revision): 20%
Classroom Citizenship: 10%
Short Writings (one-pagers) and in-class writing: 10%

• Please keep in mind the attendance policy (already detailed in the “Requirements” section above).  Absenteeism is the leading cause of poor grades in College Writing.  Your final grade is reduced by a grade step (i.e., an A goes to an A-, an A- becomes a B+) for every absence beyond two (2).  Extensive, excessive, or habitual lateness, or arriving in class unprepared to work can also be considered an absence.
• I do not accept papers via e-mail or on a disk.  Any paper that is due is due at the beginning of class.  You should arrive at the beginning of class with a printed copy of your paper. 
• If you miss class, you should send your assignment to class with a peer or leave it in my mailbox.  When you return to class, you are responsible for having the assignment due on that day, as well as any work you missed on previous days.  Consult the syllabus, contact a friend in the class, or send me an e-mail in order to find out what will be due on the day you return to class.  If you know in advance that you are going to miss class, I highly recommend that you let me know this so that you can keep up with the work.
• If you have a concern about an individual essay grade or a question about your standing in the class, I am quite happy to talk with you.  This type of conversation is best suited to an individual conference.  You can see me at your regular conference, drop by my office hours, or schedule an appointment at another time.
• A final word on the unpleasant part of grades, specifically the bad ones:  I hope that all my students will strive to do their best work in this course, but if you are determined to do only the minimal amount of work and get the minimum passing grade, you might want to know what the bottom line is.  This much is nonnegotiable: you are not eligible for a passing grade of D unless you have attended at least 11 of 14 weeks worth of classes, and completed 90% of the assignments.

In accordance with University policy and the ADA, I will provide accommodation for students with documented disabilities.  If you have a disability, please contact the Office of Disability Services: McGauvran 363, phone: (978) 934-4338 as soon as possible.  They will contact me regarding effective accommodations.  In order to speed up this process, you can also let me know in person or via e-mail.  This documentation is confidential.

Semester Schedule

Below you will find a preliminary outline for the semester.  If you miss a class, you are still responsible for what was due on the day(s) you missed and on the day you return, so ALWAYS consult the syllabus (or a classmate, or me) if you have missed or will miss a class.  If the University closes and class is cancelled, keep reading and writing; we will attempt to cover both class sessions’ materials on the day we return.

About Academic Honesty

All University policies on plagiarism apply to all writing assignments in this course.  If you plagiarize an assignment, you will receive an “F” for the course, and you are subject to other discipline (including expulsion from the University) at the discretion of the instructor and the University.  Here is the University’s definition of plagiarism, as found in the Academic Rules & Regulations, available online at http://www.uml.edu/admin/registrar/academicrules/academicdishonestycheatingandplagiarism.htm
Plagiarism is defined as:

• Direct quotation or word-for-word copying of all or part of the work of another without identification or acknowledgment of the quoted work
• Extensive use of acknowledged quotation from the work of others which is joined together by a few words or lines of one’s own text.
• An abbreviated restatement of someone else’s analysis or conclusion, however skillfully paraphrased, without acknowledgment that another person’s text has been the basis for the recapitulation.

Unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism.  You must cite all sources that you use, including online sources.  Also, remember that “using” a source includes DIRECTLY QUOTING, PARAPHRASING, AND USING IDEAS from any source.  There is nothing wrong with “getting help” from other writers, just be sure to acknowledge it by using quotation marks or author/page citation appropriately.  Please take the time to give proper credit to the work of other authors.  It is a matter of respect – for yourself, for other authors, for your classmates, and for me.

I know that it is easy to find information and indeed whole papers on the internet.  You should know that it is also easy for me to find these sources.  If I suspect you’ve done this, I will take the time to find the source, and there is every likelihood you will be caught.  Please don’t waste your time or mine by plagiarizing a paper.  If you’re having difficulty with a writing assignment, please talk to me before the day it is due.  Please, do not make the decision to plagiarize a paper.  It is always better to turn in an assignment late – or even not turn one in at all – than to turn in a plagiarized paper, for which you will fail the entire course.

Some Final Words of Advice:

Come to class prepared.  Bring the course text every day.  Bring a draft – a printed, readable copy – on days when writing is due.

Because there is writing due most days, you need to work hard to keep up with it.  Sometimes student schedules lead one to take some time off with the expectation of getting back to it later.  This is a very bad idea for this course especially, since the multiple drafts, in-class peer response, and comments from me will happen on a pretty tight timeline.  I urge you now – at the beginning of the semester – to set aside regular (ideally, daily) time to read and write for this course.  Developing good study habits now will serve you well as we get to the busiest time of the semester, when you have longer papers due for me, not to mention the lab reports, exams, and other obligations to all of your courses.

Save everything you write for this class.  When I collect a paper, I expect you to turn in all drafts, short assignments, and peer response work associated with this essay.  On occasion, I will ask you for an electronic copy of your essay, so be sure to keep all essays saved on your computer, and ideally on a backup disk or the University’s system.  Practice good organization and save everything.

Back up your computer files by saving to a disk, burning a CD, saving to the University network, or another safe and secure source.  You can even e-mail papers to yourself.  Whatever you do, keep your backups up to date.  This is good advice for all of your academic work, not just the writing you do for this course.  Computers break, get stolen, get locked in cars and dorm rooms, and are otherwise unreliable.  You are responsible for backing up your system.  Please do it.