Jaclyn M.

Wells

Course Policies
1Office: Heavilon 308D
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 12:30-2:00
Telephone: 496-1645

English 106: Introductory Composition

Email: [email protected]
Course Blog: http://english106spring2009.blogspot.com/

1Introduction to the Course

I would like to welcome you to English 106 at Purdue University. The purpose of this
course is to help
you develop an effective writing process and to develop your writing skills for use in a
variety of contexts
and for a variety of purposes. Learning the value of writing, as well as how to use it as a
means of
discovery and of effective communication, will be extremely valuable to you throughout
your academic
and professional career. You will learn how to analyze and critique your own writing for
the purpose of improving your writing skills and to articulate ideas concerning your
writing. Additionally, you will learn
how to analyze and critique others’ writing to further your understanding of writing
conventions and
how to think critically and respond to the rhetorical world around you.

1Course Texts and Materials

You will need to purchase the two following texts as soon as possible. Both are available
at Border’s.

Columbo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts
for Critical
Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. ISBN-13: 978-
0312447045

Spring 2009
Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Ruszkiewicz, and Keith Walters. Everything’s an Argument.
4th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0312447496

Because I will often communicate with you via email, you need to have a reliable email
account.
Additionally, it is your responsibility to carefully save your work for class–I only accept
computer-related problems as an excuse for missing or late work in very extreme
circumstances. For this reason, it’s a
good idea to buy a flash drive to back up all of your work.

1Coursework
The work for this class is broken down as follows.

 Daily Writing Assignments and Participation (15% of final class grade): We

will read from
the textbooks and other sources for almost every class. I will often ask you to
respond to these
 readings with short in-class or at-home writing assignments. You will not be able to
turn in any
of these assignments late or make them up if you should miss class. In addition to
completing all
short writing assignments, you will also be responsible for actively participating in

Course Policies
the class
discussions and activities each day. Even though this section is formally only worth
10% of your

English 106: Introductory Composition

final grade, it is assumed you will do the day-to-day work and participation of the
course. Failing
to do so will drastically diminish what you get out of the class and reduce your
success within it.
 Major Writing Assignments (70% of final class grade): You will have a total of
three
writing projects throughout the semester. Each of these three projects will include
multiple
steps, specifically, a short paper, a longer, more formal paper, and sometimes a
new media assignment. Additionally, each paper will include multiple steps,
including drafts and peer

Jaclyn M. Wells

reviews. To receive full credit for each project, you must fulfill all steps of the
project and
complete each stage of the writing process, including invention, drafting, peer
review,
conferencing, and revision.
 1Final Portfolio (15% of final class grade): Your final portfolio, which we will work
on during
the final unit of the course, will give you the opportunity to revise two of your three
papers and
put them together, along with reflection on your writing, into a polished product.
You will have
ample opportunity to receive feedback from me and your classmates in improving
these papers

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before forming your portfolio. The portfolios will be graded on the quality of the
two final
paper drafts, the improvement you have made throughout the semester, and the
thoughtfulness
of your reflection on your semester-long growth as a writer.

1Grading

I understand that grades are a very important part of a student’s life. To help you
understand what

different grades I assign mean, here are some general guidelines about the grading scale
I use. Reading
these explanations will likely help you work toward the grade you desire in the course by
understanding

my expectations. All of your major projects will be graded formally with letter grades,
while your daily assignments will be graded less formally with check grades.

Letter grades*:

 A (100-90): Work completes all of the requirements of the assignment in an original

and creative manner. Work at this level goes beyond the basic guidelines of the
assignment, showing the

student took extra initiative in originally and creatively forming content,

organization, and style.

 B (89-80): Work completes all of the requirements of the assignment. Work at this
level is

successful in terms of content, organization, and style, and requires little revision,
though it

perhaps reveals less of the author’s original thought and creativity than A-level
work.

 C (79-70): Work completes all of the requirements of the assignment. Though the
content, organization, and style are logical and coherent, they may require some
revision and may not

reflect a high level of originality and creativity on the part of the author.

 D (69-60): Work either does not complete the requirements of the assignment, or
meets them

quite inadequately. Work at this level requires a good deal of revision, and is
largely unsuccessful

in content, organization, and style.

 F (Below 60): Work does not complete the requirements of the assignment. In
general, students

who put forth genuine effort will not receive an F. If you receive an F on any
assignment

(particularly if you feel you have given adequate effort), you should speak with me
personally.
*Please note that I do use plusses and minuses when grading your work and when
assigning final course grades. A plus or minus indicates that your work is on the high or
low spectrum of the descriptions here.

Check grades:

 Check: You completed the requirements of the assignment successfully.

 Check plus: You completed the requirements of the assignment with extra
originality, thought,
and creativity.
 Check minus: You did not complete the requirements of the assignment, or
completed them inadequately.
 Zero: You did not complete the assignment.
Jaclyn M. Wells

Course Policies
Conferences
One of the four days you are scheduled for this course is set aside for conferences (this
may be listed as “Recitation” on your course schedule). These individual conferences are

English 106: Introductory Composition

extremely important to your
success in the class because they provide you the opportunity to talk to me one-on-one
about your
writing. Although you can decide what we discuss in conference based on what you most
need,
conferences are not a time to discuss your grade or what you dislike about the course.
Instead, you
should come prepared to talk about your drafts, reading assignments, or class topics
you’re struggling
with. Please note that the conference requirement does not involve simply showing up
for your time,
but also includes coming to conference with something you’d like to talk with me about
(again, other
than your grade or complaints about the course). The conference rooms are equipped
with computers,
so feel free to bring along drafts on disk, flash drive, or email.

You are required by the University and the English Department to attend a minimum of
eight individual conferences with me throughout the semester. I will pass around a sign-
up sheet every week with a
total of 10 conference times. If you know you have something important to discuss with
me that week,
sign up. It is entirely your responsibility to keep track of how many conferences you’ve
been to and to
make sure you get all eight of your conferences in; failure to do so will affect your grade.
Please note
first of all, that I will not have more than 10 conferences per week and that second of all,
meeting with

Spring 2009
me during office hours does not “count” as a conference (although I do strongly
recommend that you
come to office hours any time you need to extra help). Do not put off all eight of your
conferences until
the end of the course; I will not attend more than 10 conferences per week, even if you
need to fulfill
your conference requirements for the sake of your grade. Finally, I realize that some
weeks, like when
you have a major paper due, will be more “hot times” for conferencing. I understand that
it might feel
unfair for the people who sign up to conference with me during those weeks. You can get
around this
by planning ahead of time to make sure you are able to talk with me about your draft
even if you
cannot get a conference for those weeks.

Attendance and Tardy Policy

Because this course is based on a lot of in-class writing, discussion, activities, and
lectures, it is essential
that you attend all class meetings. You are allowed to miss a total of five classes (one
week) during the semester for any reason; for each missed class over five, your final
class grade will be lowered by one

Course Policies
letter grade. This does include conferences. A student who misses nine or more classes
will
automatically fail the course. I make no exception to this rule. Absences are excused only

English 106: Introductory Composition

for religious holidays, officially organized and documented university events, or
documented illness or family
emergency. Absences are excused only when you inform me of them before the class
period, either in
person, over the phone, or in an email. Whether excused or unexcused, anyone who
misses class is
liable for any missed work or work not turned in on time. Those who are unexcused may
not make up
any in-class writing; those who are excused can make it up and turn it in ahead of time.
1Being late to
class is a distraction. Don’t be late. If you are more than ten minutes late, you will be
counted as absent
for the day.

1Paper Submission and Late Paper Policy

Sometimes I will ask you to print responses to the reading and submit them in hard copy
so that you
can refer to them in class during discussion. However, you will turn in most written work
completed
outside of class via email as an attachment. Turning the majority of your papers in
through email will
not only save you paper and printing costs, but will also allow me to grade your papers
on the computer
Jaclyn M. Wells

and return them to you as an attachment. Papers are due before the beginning of class
on the day that
they are due. Because of this, it is never good idea to wait until half an hour before class

Spring 2009
to email me
your paper. Be sure to leave yourself plenty of time in case of computer and email-
related emergencies;
as I said above, I very rarely accept these as excuses for missing or late work.
Assignments that are not
in my email inbox before class on the day they are due will be considered late. All
assignments will be
graded down one letter grade for each day they are late, including weekend days.

Though you will submit many papers via email and I will respond to them through email,
our class time
is still very important. For this reason, you must be present (and on time) in class the
day a paper is
due. If you email me the assignment on time but do not come to class that day, your
paper will be
considered late and graded accordingly.

1Grammar and Spelling Problems

As a college student, you are expected to have mastered spelling and basic grammar
rules. Submitting

papers that are relatively error-free as far as sentence-level concerns is expected; failure
to do so will negatively affect your paper grades and ultimately, your grade in the class.
Because this is not a course

on grammar, we will not often be dealing with grammatical issues during class time. If
you need extra

help with grammar and spelling, I strongly encourage you to discuss your issues with me.

The Writing Lab

The Writing Lab, located in Heavilon 226, is an excellent place to get extra help with
nearly any writing
issue you can imagine. They can help you from the beginning stages of the writing
process to revising complete drafts. Though the Writing Lab will not proofread your
writing, it is a great place to go for
every kind of writing help, including grammar, because your tutor can give you
individualized,
one-on-one attention. Even if you are confident in your writing skills, the professionals at
the Writing
Lab can give you a fresh perspective on your work and can help you improve your
writing even further.
The services are completely free to Purdue students. Additionally, the Online Writing Lab
(OWL) is a
great place to get free handouts, advice, and even worksheets dealing with almost any
writing issue
you can think of.

Classroom Conduct

Allowing everyone a safe, respectful, and nurturing learning environment is of extreme

importance to

me; therefore, any behavior that detracts from this environment will be taken very
seriously. You are expected to exercise appropriate behavior at all times during class.
This includes, but is not limited to, showing respect to your classmates and to me at all
times, listening actively when all others are

speaking, and avoiding any language or behavior that could be taken as degrading or
inappropriate to
anyone else in the class. Additionally, you are to avoid anything that could cause
distractions.

Specifically, cell phones, Ipods, and other electronic gadgets should be turned off and
put 1away during

Course Policies
class. Students should avoid any activities that the whole class is not involved in, like
reading

English 106: Introductory Composition

newspapers or magazines.

Additionally, because this class meets in a computer classroom once a week, I want to
lay out some

specific guidelines for classroom conduct in the computer lab. I know that having a
computer in front

of you that is equipped with games, the Internet, messaging systems, etc. can be very
tempting, but it is important that you stay focused on what we are doing. Feel free to
settle in and check your email in the

few minutes before class begins. Once class begins, though, I don’t want to see anyone
doing anything
Jaclyn M. Wells

on the computer other than what the entire class is doing. I don’t care if the class is
boring to you, I
don’t care if we are having a little down time, I don’t care if you desperately need to
return an email to
your grandmother. I don’t want you checking email, instant messaging, or playing games
during any
time during our actual class time.

Those who cause classroom distractions, are involved in activities other than what we

Spring 2009
are doing as a
class, or show disrespect to myself or to other students will suffer the consequences. A
student who
violates the rules the first time will receive a verbal warning; subsequent violations will
result in the
student’s being asked to leave the classroom, an immediate deduction in his or her
participation grade,
or even failure of the class.

1Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Plagiarism, using the work of others, or cheating on exams are all serious offenses.
Essentially,
plagiarism is the use of someone else’s words or ideas as your own without giving the
appropriate
credit or without that person’s consent to use his or her words or ideas without
acknowledgment. In
the professional world, plagiarism can result in legal action. In this course, students who
plagiarize, use others’ work, or cheat on exams or quizzes will fail the assignment, may
fail the course (depending on the severity of the case), and will be reported to the Dean

Course Policies
of Students.

Statement about Disabilities

English 106: Introductory Composition

Students with disabilities must be registered with Adaptive Programs in the Office of the
Dean of

Students before classroom accommodations can be provided. If you are eligible for
academic accommodations because you have a documented disability that will impact
your work in this class,

please schedule an appointment with me as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

Open Door Policy

For most of you, college is a relatively new experience. One major key to success is
getting help when
you need it. Conferences throughout the semester will help us touch base every now
and then to
discuss your progress. I encourage you, though, to come to me at any time that you
have questions or concerns about your writing or what is going on in the class. Send me
an email, drop by my office
during my office hours, or talk to me after class at any point that you need to ask a
question, get some direction, or just talk about anything related to the class or to your
writing in general. I am here to help
you, and it is your responsibility to let me know if you need anything from me. This is
going to be a fun, interesting class. Let’s work together for a great semester.

Spring 2009

Jaclyn M. Wells

Calendar of Major Due Dates

Please note that you will have reading and short writing assignments nearly every day of
the class. This calendar only includes due dates for the major assignments and portfolio.
Project 1

Part A: Friday, January 23

Part B, rough draft (for peer review): Wednesday, February 4

Part B, final draft: Monday, February 9

Project 2

Part A: Wednesday, February 18

Part B, rough draft (for peer review): Wednesday, March 4

Part B, final draft: Monday, March 9

Project 3

Part A: Wednesday, March 25

Part B, rough draft (for peer review): Wednesday, April 8

Part B, final draft: Monday, April 13

Portfolio: Friday, May 1