On-Campus Course Syllabus
ENG 201 L00.A
Composition II
Spring 2017
Class Information
Day and Time: Thursday 7:00-9:30 pm
Room Number: A 201
Contact Information
Instructor Name: Pam Merryman
Instructor Email: [email protected]
Instructor Phone: 214-460-5235
Instructor Office Hours: upon request
Course Description and Prerequisites
A study of English style and usage in written and oral expression. (Prerequisite: ENG 101)
Course Objectives
At the completion of this course, the student will be able to
• Read analytically and respond to interpretive works of literature in oral and written form.
• Demonstrate competency in writing an argument essay in response to a prompt
• Participate in peer review, responding to classmates’ writing’
• Collaborate in pairs or small groups with other class members to discuss readings and present work orally
• Become comfortable in participating in discussion boards
• Develop a well-written documented essay, complete with a clearly defined thesis, correctly citing sources
according to the Chicago Style Manual.
• Demonstrate the ability to write more competently, confidently, and fluently
• Show a refined understanding of unity, support, coherence, and sentence skills
• Realize the importance of grammatically and organizationally correct writing and speaking as they relate to the
communication of the gospel message.
These course objectives will be evaluated by appraisal of essays and other writings, quizzes, and oral responses.
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Required Textbooks
Charters, Ann, ed. The Story and Its Writer; An Introduction to Short Fiction (9th Edition)
Harris, Robert. Using Sources Effectively
The Criswell College Manual of Style (available online)
Course Requirements and Assignments
You will be responsible reading all assigned texts before each class meeting and for responding on Discussion Boards (E
campus/ Blackboard) as well as commenting on classmates’ responses. Some additional readings may be given to you
during a class period, and your response will be due by the next class period. Keep current by often referring to
Blackboard, or contacting your professor or a classmate. Your absence is not excuse for failure to get an assignment.
Personal Essay …………………………………………………....................................... 10%
Descriptive Essay………………………………………………………………….................... 10%
Short Story Analysis Essay……………………………………………………………………… 10%
Comparison/Contrast Essay …………………………................…...............……… 20%
Documented Essay (this will be the final)…………………............................... 20%
Discussion boards, USE assignments, class participation ………………………. 30%
(11 discussion board entries, 5 USE assignments)
Major Essays:
Personal Narrative Essay (1000-1200 words)
Descriptive Essay (1000-1200 words)
Short Story Analysis Essay (1200-1500 words)
Comparison/Contrast Essay (1200-1500 words)
Documented Essay (2100-2400 words)
Essays:
• must be written in Standard American English.
• must be computer generated, double-spaced using 12-point Times New Roman font
• must follow the guidelines set forth in the Criswell College Manual of Style or the MLA Style Manual, including
title page/heading, page numbers, footnotes/parenthetical notes and bibliography/works cited page.
Course/Classroom Policies and Information
Use of Electronic Devices: The use of electronic devices (cell phones, iPads, laptops, etc.) during class instruction or
discussion time is a distraction from the learning environment and therefore highly discouraged. If you have a specific
situation that believe warrants the use of such devices during the class period, please alert me to this prior to the
beginning of class.
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Class Attendance
Students are responsible for enrolling in courses for which they anticipate being able to attend every class session on the
day and time appearing on course schedules, and then making every effort to do so. When unavoidable situations result
in absence or tardiness, students are responsible for acquiring any information missed. Professors are not obliged to
allow students to make up missed work. Per their independent discretion, individual professors may determine how
attendance affects students’ ability to meet course learning objectives and whether attendance affects course grades.
Grading Scale
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
97-100
93-96
91-92
88-90
86-87
83-85
80-82
78-79
75-77
72-74
70-71
0-69
4.0 grade points per semester hour
3.7 grade points per semester hour
3.3 grade points per semester hour
3.0 grade points per semester hour
2.7 grade points per semester hour
2.3 grade points per semester hour
2.0 grade points per semester hour
1.7 grade points per semester hour
1.3 grade points per semester hour
1.0 grade point per semester hour
0.7 grade points per semester hour
0.0 grade points per semester hour
Incomplete Grades
Students requesting a grade of Incomplete (I) must understand that incomplete grades may be given only upon approval
of the faculty member involved. An “I” may be assigned only when a student is currently passing a course and in
situations involving extended illness, serious injury, death in the family, or employment or government reassignment,
not student neglect.
Students are responsible for contacting their professors prior to the end of the semester, plus filing the appropriate
completed and approved academic request form with the Registrar’s Office. The “I” must be removed (by completing
the remaining course requirements) no later than 60 calendar days after the grade was assigned, or the “I” will become
an “F.”
Academic Honesty
Absolute truth is an essential belief and basis of behavior for those who believe in a God who cannot lie and forbids
falsehood. Academic honesty is the application of the principle of truth in the classroom setting. Academic honesty
includes the basic premise that all work submitted by students must be their own and any ideas derived or copied from
elsewhere must be carefully documented.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to:
• cheating of any kind,
• submitting, without proper approval, work originally prepared by the student for another course,
• plagiarism, which is the submitting of work prepared by someone else as if it were his own, and
• failing to credit sources properly in written work.
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Institutional Email Policy
All official college email communications to students enrolled in this course will be sent exclusively to students’
institutional email accounts. Students are expected to check their student email accounts regularly and to respond in an
appropriate and timely manner to all communications from faculty and administrative departments.
Students are permitted to setup automatic forwarding of emails from their student email accounts to one or more
personal email accounts. The student is responsible to setup and maintain email forwarding without assistance from
college staff. If a student chooses to use this forwarding option, he/she will continue to be responsible for responding
appropriately to all communications from faculty and administrative departments of the college. Criswell College bears
no responsibility for the use of emails that have been forwarded from student email accounts to other email accounts.
Disabilities
In order to ensure full class participation, any student with a disabling condition requiring special accommodations (e.g.,
tape recorders, special adaptive equipment, special note-taking or test-taking needs) is strongly encouraged to contact
the instructor at the beginning of the course, or if a student has a learning disability, please inform the professor so
assistance can be provided.
Intellectual Property Rights
Unless otherwise specifically instructed in writing by the professor, students must neither materially nor digitally
reproduce materials from any course offered by Criswell College for or with the significant possibility of distribution.
Resources and Support
Blackboard and CAMS: Criswell College uses Blackboard as its web-based learning tool and CAMS for student data.
Students needing assistance with either of these resources should contact the Campus Software Manager at
[email protected].
Student Services: The Student Services Office exists to foster and encourage success in all areas of life—physical,
intellectual, spiritual, social, and emotional. Students are encouraged to reach out for assistance by contacting the office
at 214.818.1332 or [email protected]. Pastoral and certified counseling services are also available to Criswell
students. Appointments are scheduled through the Dean of Students Jeff Campbell, at [email protected].
Wallace Library: Students can access academic resources and obtain research assistance by visiting the Wallace Library,
which is located on campus. For more information, students can email the Wallace Library at [email protected] or call
214.818.1348.
Writing Center: Students are encouraged to consult with writing tutors to improve and enhance their skills and
confidence by practicing techniques of clear and effective writing. To consult with a tutor, students can visit the Writing
Center located on the first floor near the Computer Lab, or they can schedule an appointment by emailing
[email protected] or calling 214.818.1373.
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Course Outline/Calendar
Week 1—Jan. 17
Introduction to the course and syllabus overview
Read and complete discussion questions on “Girl” by Jamaica
Kinkaid and “Barbie-Q” by Sandra Cisneros
Assign Essay One – Personal Reading and Writing History
Week 2—Jan. 24
Due:
Read "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield
Read “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin
Respond to literary readings on Discussion Board
Read Chapter Two of Using Sources Effectively (USE)
Complete Review Questions on page 27 of USE
In Class:
Week 3—Jan. 31
Due:
Discuss literary selections
Discuss “Finding, Choosing and Evaluating Sources”
Questions, clarifications and brainstorming for Essay
One – Personal Reading and Writing History
Essay One – Personal Reading and Writing History
Read Chapter Three of USE
Complete Review Questions on page 39 of USE
In Class:
Week 4—Feb. 7
Due:
Assign Essay Two – Descriptive Essay
Discuss “Preparing Your Sources”
Read and discuss “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne
Jewett
Read “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Read “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Respond to literary readings on Discussion Board
Read Chapter Four of USE
Complete Review Questions on page 59 of USE
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In Class:
Week 5—Feb. 14
Due:
Discuss literary selections
Discuss “Quoting Effectively”
Questions and Clarifications for Essay Two –
Descriptive Essay
Essay Two – Descriptive Essay
Read Chapter Five of USE
Complete Review Questions on page 77 of USE
In Class:
Week 6—Feb. 21
Due:
Assign Essay Three – Short Story Analysis Essay
Discuss “Paraphrasing and Summarizing”
Read and discuss “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
Read “Good Country People” and “Everything
that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor
Read Related Commentary: “On ‘Good Country People’”
by Dorothy Tuck McFarland
Read Related Commentary: “A Rhetorical Reading of
O’Connor’s ‘Everything that Rises Must Converge’” by Wayne C. Booth
Respond to literary readings and commentaries on
Discussion Board
In Class:
Week 7— Feb. 28
Due:
Discuss literary selections and commentaries
Questions and Clarifications for Essay Three –
Short Story Analysis Essay
Essay Three – Short Story Analysis Essay
Read Chapter Six of USE
Complete Review Questions on page 93 of USE
In Class:
Read and Discuss “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie
Olson
Assign Comparison/Contrast Essay
Assign Documented Essay
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Week 8—March 7
Due: Proposals for Comparison/contrast Essay (Minimum of one page typed
brainstorming of ideas/outline/journal)
In Class: Comparison/Contrast Essay discussion
Read and discuss “Hyphenated Identity in ‘Good Country
People’ and ‘Everyday Use.’” By Carol M. Andrews
Week 9—March 21
Due:
Read “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane
Read Related Commentary: “The Sinking of the
Commodore” by Stephen Crane
Respond to literary readings and commentary on
Discussion Board
In Class:
Week 10—March 28
Due:
Discuss literary readings and commentary
Comparison/Contrast Essay
In Class: Read and discuss “Why I Live at the P. O.”
by Eudora Welty
Week 11—April 4
Due:
Read “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Read Related Commentary: “Blackness in Hawthorne’s
‘Young Goodman Brown’” by Herman Melville
Respond to literary reading and commentary on
Discussion Board
In Class:
Week 12—April 11
Due:
Discuss literary readings and commentaries
Questions and Clarifications on Documented Essay
Read “A Worn Path”
Read Related Commentary: “Is Phoenix Jackson’s
Grandson Really Dead?” by Eudora Welty
Respond to literary readings and commentary on
Discussion Board
In Class:
Week 13—April 18
Discuss literary readings and commentaries
Questions and Clarifications on Documented Essay
Due: Thesis and Preliminary Outline for Documented Essay
In Class:
Library Research and Consultations on Documented Essay
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Week 14—April 25
Due:
Read “Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville
Read related commentary: “A Deconstructive Reading of
Melville’s ‘Bartleby the Scrivener.’” By J. Hillis Miller
Respond to literary reading and commentary on
Discussion Board
In Class:
Discuss literary reading and commentary
Questions and Clarifications on Documented Essay
Week 15—May 2
In Class:
Read and discuss “The Swimmer” by John Cheever
Questions and Clarifications on Documented Essay
Week 16—May 9
Due:
Documented Essay (Counts as Final)
In Class:
Presentations of Documented Essays
There may be minor date changes in the due dates. Take note of any Blackboard/Classroom announcements. Please
check your Criswell College student email daily. Contact your professor or a classmate if you must miss.
You will receive a detailed assignment sheet (information will also be on Blackboard) for each essay with requirements,
suggestions and a grading rubric.
All contributions to the discussion board must be carefully and thoughtfully written, as well.
E-mail details:
Use your criswell.edu e-mail for all your correspondence with your professor. All emails should contain a subject line
and be written in complete sentences and in Standard American English.
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