101
English
PROFESSOR JOHN REPP
Department of English & Theatre Arts
•Syllabus
•Assignments
•Course Plan
ENGLISH 101
College Writing
© 2006
John Repp
Professor
Department of English & Theatre Arts
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Edinboro, PA 16444
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Part
Syllabus
Think of the syllabus that follows as the “Constitution” of this course. Your continued enrollment signifies
commitment to the principles and practices described below.
C
ollege Writing will introduce you to the pleasures of nonfiction prose, the rituals and forms of
academic writing, and the power of style and syntax. By means of writing prompts, reading
assignments, essay assignments, revision sessions, whole-class discussions, and small-group
work, you will become a more fluent writer.
Basic Information
How to Contact Me
Office: Centennial Hall 235
Office Phone and Voice Mail: 732-2887
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-10:30 (Centennial Hall 235); Fridays, 2:00-5:00 (Garden
House, Porreco Campus)
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.edinboro.edu/~jrepp
Course Materials
Drafts from class members
Handouts, as necessary
Approved course composition book
The Common Sense, by Marie Ponsot and Rosemary Deen
Requirements
Participation and Deportment
Class sessions will consist of writing and/or discussion of writing. More specifically, you’ll write in
response to prompts I’ll provide; work on essay assignments, discuss material in our course texts;
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engage in small-group work; and discuss student work-in-progress. I expect each of you to make
eager, substantial, and authentic contributions to class sessions.
“Deportment” means “how a person carries herself,” and connotes courtesy, poise, and dignity.
My evaluation of your participation and deportment will comprise 10% of the final course grade.
Writing
Assignments and Prompts, the Notebook, and Notes on Format
You’ll write a great deal, both in and out of class, and always in response to a prompt, exercise, or
essay assignment intended to develop your ability to compose superb nonfiction prose.
You must purchase and bring to every class session one of the notebooks for sale in the bookstore
as a “textbook” for this section of ENGL 101. You’ll do writing of various kinds in the notebook,
much of it in class, and I’ll collect the results periodically, expecting you to have written one full
page per calendar day. If you meet this requirement each time I collect your notebook, I’ll record an
“A.” If you fall short, even by a single word, I’ll record an “F.” My evaluation of your notebook will
comprise 15% of the final course grade.
Any piece of writing you distribute to the rest of us or submit to me must conform to the following
format requirements:
1. Typewritten (double-spaced, except for the heading) in black, twelve-point type (except for
the title) in a standard font (I prefer Garamond, Goudy Old Style, Times Roman, Baskerville
Old Face, Book Antiqua or Helvetica) on 8 ½ X 11 white, bond paper. Leave one-inch
margins all round.
2. If the submission is longer than one page, number succeeding pages in the upper righthand corner, beginning with the second page.
3. Staple submissions longer than one page.
4. In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, provide a single-spaced heading that includes
the following information in the following order:
Your Name
ENGL 101
Assignment Name
The Date
[skip three spaces]
Center and Italicize the Title in 18-Point Type
[Skip three spaces and begin double-spaced text of the assignment.]
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Note
A “Format Template” exists on my web site. After clicking on “ENGL 101” on the home
page, click on “Handouts,” and you’ll find the pertinent link.
The Portfolio
At the end of the term, I’ll collect a Portfolio of your work. My evaluation of this Portfolio will
comprise 60% of your course grade. See Appendix 3 for details concerning the content of the
Portfolio.
Grammar, Mechanics, and Paragraph Rhetoric Examinations
Twice this term, you’ll complete Grammar, Mechanics, and Paragraph Rhetoric Examinations. I’ll
derive the contents of these examinations from essay drafts submitted by class members. Taken
together, these examinations will comprise 15% of your course grade.
Reading
We’ll read and discuss material from the textbooks and from drafts, handouts, and worksheets
distributed throughout the term. We’ll read and discuss this material as writers, which means we’ll
explore what it can teach us about our own work and how to do it. We’ll read aloud frequently.
Grades
I use “C” as a benchmark. That is, I assume before reading your work that you can write at the “C-level”:
clear, competent writing that consistently demonstrates a practical understanding of the aims and
substance of our work together. In this course, doing “C” work is not the abject failure some people
think, but a confirmation of demonstrable skill. For me to label your work at a higher or lower level than
“C,” your work itself—regardless of your intentions—must convince me of its greater or lesser quality.
To be more specific: “A” work is compelling, surprising, deeply satisfying, flawless in execution. I would
choose to read such writing, whether I were teaching this class or not. “B” work is “A” work with minor
flaws. “C” work, as I’ve said, displays overall competence and control. “D” work displays a crucial
weakness or weaknesses. “F” work does not fulfill assignment or course expectations in any substantial
way.
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How to Act
Respect yourself.
Respect everyone else.
Attend class and arrive on time.
Prepare for class and submit all work on time and in the proper form.
Purchase the course texts and bring them to every class, unless instructed otherwise.
Explanation
If you get sick or have an emergency, let me know before the class you expect to miss. If you cannot
reach me at my office phone number, leave a message on my voice mail, send an email, leave a note
in my mailbox, slip a note under my office door, or call the English & Theatre Arts Department
office (732-2736) and leave a message. Following this procedure results in an “excused” absence. If
you accumulate more than one “unexcused” absence, you will fail the course—unless, of course
you’ve already dropped or withdrawn.
Note
You may not accumulate more than two absences—whether “excused” or “unexcused”—
and remain in the course, except for extraordinary circumstances, which must be documented
and verified with the appropriate university offices and personnel, and then approved by me.
If you attempt to submit an assignment after the time and date due, I’ll return it to you without
reading or grading it—unless I’ve decided sickness or emergency warrants such lateness.
If you attempt to submit an assignment not prepared according to the format guidelines, I’ll return it
to you without reading or evaluating it.
If you arrive late more than once, I’ll remind you how crucial our uninterrupted work. Each further
late arrival will count as an “unexcused” absence.
If you don’t own the course texts and/or fail to bring them to class, you aren’t prepared to be a
member of the group.
If you act rudely (talking while anyone else is talking, straying from the activity I’ve assigned in such
a way that you affect others’ work, speaking abusively to anyone present, etc.), I’ll wait until the class
session ends to remind you to either respect yourself and the rest of us or withdraw from the course.
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Note
You may not interfere with anyone else’s education. If you cannot (or will not) follow
directions, work productively with others, or behave in an adult manner, do not remain in
this course.
More than many other classes, this section of ENGL 101 depends for its success on your commitment to
the work we do. If everyone in the class truly gets involved, we’ll have our best opportunity for an
illuminating, pleasurable experience. I look forward to our work together.
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Part
Course Plan
Refer to the plan that follows to stay up-to-date on assignments and course activities. When you see the name of an
assignment or exercise next to a particular date, that means you must have that activity completed by the time class
meets that day—unless I make a change.
September 1: Course Introduction; Names; The Fable; Prolific Writing; Observations/Inferences
September 8: CS, 3-22; The Fable/Aphorisms; Notebooks collected (8); The Family Story
September 15: CS, 23-24; The Family Story; Observations/Inferences; One-Sentence Meanings;
Notebooks collected (15)
September 22: Definition Essay; CS, 25-52; Notebooks collected (22)
September 29: Definition Essay draft due; Sample Essays/Paragraphs/Sentences discussed; Once/Now
Essay; CS, 65-71; Notebooks collected (29)
October 6: Once/Now Essay draft due; Sample Essays/Paragraphs/Sentences discussed;
Notebooks collected (36); The Opposing Voice; CS, 72-74
October 13: The Opposing Voice/Midterm Essay Draft due; Notebooks collected (43); Two Voices;
Sample Essays, Paragraphs, Sentences discussed
October 20: CS, 75-79; Two Voices Essay Draft due; Notebooks collected (50); Grammar, Mechanics,
Paragraph Rhetoric Examination 1
October 27: Hindsight; CS, 80-83; Notebooks collected (57); Sample Essays, Paragraphs, Sentences
discussed
November 3: Hindsight Essay Draft due; Notebooks collected (64); Sample Essays, Paragraphs,
Sentences discussed; Foresight Essay
November 10: CS, 110-117; Sample Essays, Paragraphs, Sentences discussed; Foresight Essay; Notebooks
collected (71); Small groups discussed and constructed; Commentary discussed; Drafts assigned
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November 17: Foresight Essay Draft due; Sample Essays, Paragraphs, Sentences discussed; Drafts
assigned; Small-group discussion; Notebooks collected (78)
December 1: Sample Essays, Paragraphs, Sentences discussed; Small-group discussion; Notebooks
collected from everyone (92); Portfolios discussed
December 8: Grammar, Mechanics, and Paragraph Rhetoric Examination 2; Portfolios discussed
Portfolio due by 5:30 December 15 in Porreco 7.
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Appendix
Commentary
As you hand-write commentary on drafts in preparation for small-group discussions, consider these
questions and concerns. Please don’t think you have to “cover” every one, but do think seriously
about the extent to which the following matters apply.
1. How does the writer go about gaining your interest and your trust at the beginning of the essay?
What other rhetorical techniques do you think might be useful? Why?
2. In ten words or less, tell the writer what his or her essay says.
3. To what extent do the writer’s assertions interconnect? That is, does every statement of “This is
true” possess a clear connection to every other statement of “This is true”? Pick out two or three
assertions and say exactly how one leads to or from the others.
4. To what extent is the writer’s evidence concrete? That is, how does the writer go about “proving”
the validity of his or her assertions? Does this proof consist of substantial “real-world” examples?
Does it consist of logical or emotional appeals? A mixture of these? Make suggestions about kinds
of evidence that may make the writer’s case even more convincing.
5. Is everything clear? Make suggestions (or guesses) that would clarify anything murky.
6. Provide editing suggestions covering a paragraph or two, or address yourself to one editing
concern covering the whole essay.
This is not an exclusive list. Feel free to attend to matters of importance not mentioned here.
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Workshop Procedures
We’ll discuss between three and five drafts during each small-group discussion. For each of these sessions,
selected class members will type and copy for the rest of us a sample of their ongoing work. Each time we
have a workshop session, we’ll act according to the following scheme:
1. I’ll set the order of discussion.
2. Selected authors must remain silent while we discuss their work. This will sharpen all of our
perceptions of what actually exists on the page. Alert listening offers a powerful means of
discovering ways of making the draft more substantial and satisfying.
3. Discussion will begin with a recitation of all or part of the draft.
4. Discussion will be grounded in plentiful observation of what exists on the page: how the essay
operates, the reasons why it operates that way, the techniques employed and how those
techniques give rise to material that coheres or doesn’t cohere or something in between.
5. We’ll learn over and over again that honesty does not preclude compassion, and vice-versa.
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Portfolio Assignment Sheet
Between the end of our final class session and 5:30 p.m. on December 15, submit in a two-pocket
folder revised versions of five essays; a final essay not more than two pages long accounting for your
experience in the course: what you did, how you did it, what you thought and felt about it, what you
will or won’t do now because of it; a blank Portfolio Evaluation Sheet; and, if you’d like me to
return the graded Portfolio, a self-addressed, stamped envelope of appropriate size.
Note
Each of the “five essays” you submit must total at least three full pages of properly
formatted prose. If any of the five falls short, I will record a grade of “F” for the Portfolio.
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