Mrs. Kelley Mahoney
Office 226 Liberal Arts Building
E-Mail: kmahoney@em.daltonstate.edu
Office Phone: 272-2593 Division Phone: 272-4403 or 1-800-829-4436
Office Hours: M, W, F 8:30-9:30 a.m.
M, W 10:30-11:30 a.m., 6:45-7:15 p.m. at Catoosa County Center
T, Th 8:25-8:55 a.m., 10:25 - 1:55 p.m.
[Other times may be arranged by appointment.]
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
Whitten Horner, and Webb. Hodge's Harbrace College Handbook, 12th
edition, revised. Forth Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1998.
Langan, John. College Writing Skills with Readings, 4th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.
A college dictionary. The American Heritage Dictionary, 3rd ed. hardbound or paperbound edition is particularly recommended. You may also use an electronic dictionary if desired.
Freshman theme paper.
Freshman theme folders (1 plain and 1 Harbrace).
Ink pens (blue or black, green).
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Prerequisite: English 0098 unless exempt.
Co-Requisite: Reading 0098 unless exempt. Students scoring below
the acceptable minimum on the diagnostic reading examination must
successfully complete Reading 096-098 before receiving credit
for English 1101.
The emphasis in 101 is placed primarily on planning, outlining, writing, and revising essays. Stress is placed upon exposition and argumentation; emphasis is also given to grammar, sentence structure, organization, and diction. Students who discover the need for more intensive grammatical preparation or for more writing experiences before competing successfully in English 1101 are allowed and encouraged, with the advice of their professors, to drop 1101 and pick up the appropriate English 0098 by the end of the fourth week of the semester. However, English 0098 is a four-hour course, and English 1101 is a three-hour course; therefore, unless a student is full-time, he will have to pay the extra one-hour tuition.
COURSE OBJECTIVE:
English 1101 is a composition course designed to enable the student
to outline, write, correct, and revise essays based on a variety
of organizational patterns with emphasis on exposition and argumentation.
I. The outline and essays will include the following:
A. Title
B. Thesis Sentence
C. Outline
D. Introductory or organizational paragraph
E. Three or more supporting paragraphs with topic sentences
F. Evidence of transitions
G. A concluding or summarizing paragraph
II. On the essays, the student will demonstrate a mastery of conventional English as measured by the following standards:
A. The essays will contain NONE of the Type I errors.
(fragment, run-on, comma splices, subject verb disagreements)
B. The essays will contain no more than TWO of the Type II errors.
C. The essays will contain no more than EIGHT of the Type III
errors.
III. In addition, the essays must demonstrate adequate development as evidenced by body paragraphs with a minimum of six sentences each, an introduction with a minimum of five sentences, and a conclusion with a minimum of three sentences. Each body paragraph must have three concrete examples and specific details with appropriate transitions.
ASSESSMENT GOALS:
1. The student should be able to outline, write, correct, and
revise essays of at least five paragraphs in a specified format
on a variety of organizational patterns and topics with emphasis
on exposition and argumentation. Students should able to meet
specified divisional standards in conventional English usage as
well as content.
2. Successful students will achieve an average of 70% or better on all course work.
3. After completing the course, students should be able to pass the state Regents' Testing Program Essay Exam.
CLASS ACTIVITIES:
The student will participate in the following learning activities:
1. Planning, writing, and revising a minimum of seven expository
essays:
2. Doing various readings and exercises, taking quizzes and tests
to help learn grammar points needed to eliminate grammatical errors
in writing:
3. Writing various paragraphs and paragraph exercises, along with
freewriting exercises;
4. Writing practice RTP essays;
5. Discussing, prior to revising, errors in current essay requirements;
6. Discussing various social/political/economic issues as relevant
to paper topics.
EVALUATION:
Grade percentage will be as follows:
1. Seven or more essays = 70% of the course average. It is the
policy of this Division to write both outline and essay in class.
No work on an essay except thinking is to be done out of class.
We will write one optional essay so that your lowest essay grade
may be dropped. Any essay after midterm with two or more Type
I errors will receive an F.
2. 20% of the course average will be based upon grades for homework, quizzes, and practice Regent's Test essays.
3. 10% of the course average will be based on homework and class participation grades.
4. The 70% and 30% requirements constitute the class average, which counts for 50% of the students' final course grade.
5. Block #2 = 50% of the course grade:
Students whose average is less than 70 may not attempt final exam
and will receive an F for the course grade. The end-of-term essay,
which all English 1101 students who have a 70 class average write,
will count 50% of the final course grade. Division faculty will
grade these essays pass/fail. When instructors get the rated essays
for their classes, they will assign grades of A (90-100), B (80-89),
C (70-79) for passing essay or F (50) for failing ones. A student
who fails the end-of-term essay can have a retest with a class
average of 80.
6. Final grades in English 1101 will be passing A (90-100),
B (80-89), C (70-79) or failing F (50). There is no D grade in
English 1101.
Further, in order to receive credit for the course each student
must have all graded tests and papers--originals and revisions--placed
in the permanent folder, which becomes the property of the Division
and will be retained for two semesters by the professor by policy
of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
Students normally get their course average during the class period before the end-of-term essay. Students receive their end-of-term essay grade at a pre-arranged time with the instructor.
ESSAY EVALUATION:
I. The essays will receive letter grades which translate
to the following numerical grades:
A+ 98 C+ 78
A 95 C 75
A- 92 C- 72
B+ 88 D+ 68
B 85 D 65
B- 82 D- 62
F 50
II. The essays will be graded holistically based on organization, development, and grammar; however, certain requirements must be met for a satisfactory essay. Points will be deducted if these requirements are not met.
A. Ten points will be deducted for each paragraph not having the stated number of required minimum sentences.
B. Twenty-five points will be deducted for each Type I error in the essay.
C. Numerous (over ten) Type II and/or Type III error in a paper could also result in an F; however, these errors will be marked and evaluated holistically with the rest of the essay.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
A copy of the Division of Humanities Attendance Policy is attached;
a copy must be signed by each student and returned to the instructor.
Tardies and early departures count as one-third of an absence.
LATE WORK AND/OR MAKE-UP POLICY
As a rule, late work will not be accepted. Late work is defined
as any work which is turned in at any time after the class meets.
In the case of an excused absence (illness or emergency) late
work must be completed within two day's time with approval of
the instructor. For unexcused absences, late work for daily grades
may not be made up, and essays may be made up with a letter grade
penalty for each day late. In-class essays must be made up on
campus at a prearranged time with the instructor within two days
of returning to class and will be penalized one letter grade for
each day late.
CHEATING AND POOR CONDUCT:
Anyone proven of any form of cheating, including plagiarism, will
automatically receive an F on the assignment and will be referred
to the Academic Dean for appropriate action. Any student whose
conduct disrupts the class will be warned once and then will be
referred to the Dean of Students for dismissal from the class.
DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES:
Students with disabilities or special needs of any type should
contact Disability Support Services in the ACE Center to request
reasonable accommodations for academic programs and other activities
of Dalton State College. Students must personally register with
Disability Support Services by providing adequate documentation
to verify the disability and/or need. A minimum of five to ten
business days is needed for approved accommodations to be arranged.
The ACE Center is located on the lower level of Pope Student Center.
TENTATIVE 101 SCHEDULE
Winter 1998/Mahoney
Week 1
Mar 31 - Apr. 3 Course Syllabus, Writing Sample, HH Chapters 2
and 3
Week 2
Apr. 6-10 HH Chapters 6 and 33, Type I Error Test
Week 3
Apr. 13-17 Chapters 31 and 32, Essay-1 (Example)
Week 4
Apr. 20-24 HH Chapters 12, 13, and 14, Essay-2 (Definition)
Week 5
Apr. 27 - May 1 HH Chapters 15 and 28, Essay -3 (Comparison/Contrast)
Week 6
May 4-8 HH Chapters 19, 20, and 21, Essay-4 (Division/Classification)
May 5 Thursday Midterm Last day to drop with a W
Week 7
May 11-15 Chapters 23 and 24, Mock RTP, Essay-5 (Persuasive)
Week 8
May 18-22 HH Chapters 29 and 30, Mock RTP, Essay 6 (Persuasive)
Week 9
May 25-29 HH Chapters 27 and 31, Mock RTP, Essay 7 (Persuasive)
Week 10
June 1-5 Review, Optional Essay
Thursday June 4 Write end-of-term essay in classroom
Friday June 5 Grading Day
Monday June 8 Retests: 9:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday June 9 Class will learn retest results.
This schedule is tentative. Due to time constraints and other factors, I may be forced to change some assignments. Always check with me concerning assignments if you miss class. GRADING CRITERIA (GUIDELINES) FOR ENGLISH 1101 ESSAYS
PASSING ESSAY
1. A passing essay meets only the basic grading criteria, and those in a minimal way.
2. The essay has a thesis statement with a central idea related directly to the assigned topic and presented with sufficient clarity that the reader is aware of the writer's purpose.
3. Subtopics or supporting points are developed from the thesis statement.
4. The organization of the essay's paragraphs is clear enough for the reader to perceive the writer's plan.
5. The paragraphs coherently present some evidence of concrete examples and specific details to develop substantially the thesis' subtopics or supporting points.
6. Generalizations are supported by a variety of concrete examples and specific details of acceptable quality.
7. The writer used ordinary, everyday words accurately and idiomatically, generally avoiding both monotony created by a series of choppy, simple sentences and the incoherence caused by long, tangled sentences.
8. The essay has an adequate variety of clear, coherent, complex sentences.
9. The writer maintains a consistent voice and appropriate tone for the context of the essay's topic and for the writer's purpose.
10. Although the essay may contain one type I error and a few type II or type III errors, they are not of sufficient severity or frequency to obscure the writer's intended meaning.
FAILING ESSAY
A failing essay has any one of the following problems to an extraordinary degree, or it has several to a limited degree.
1. The essay lacks a thesis statement with a central idea.
2. The essay does not relate directly to the assigned topic.
3. The essay's paragraphs lack a clear organizational plan.
4. It does not develop its supporting points (subtopics) or develops them in a repetitious, redundant, incoherent or illogical way. There is a lack of concrete examples and specific details for support of generalizations.
5. The essay contains at least two (2) type I errors, an automatic failure.
6. The essay contains numerous type II or type III errors.
7. Ordinary, everyday words are used inaccurately and unidiomatically.
8. The essay contains a limited vocabulary so that the words chosen frequently do not serve the writer's purpose.
9. Sentence structure is frequently rudimentary, monotonous or tangled.
10. The essay lacks a consistent voice and an appropriate tone for the context of the essay's topic and for the writer's purpose.
11. The essay is so brief that the rater cannot make an
accurate judgment of the writer's ability.
Name (print)
English 1101
Spring 2000
Kelley Mahoney
I have received, read, had explained this syllabus, and have had chances to ask questions about anything I did not understand. I do understand the syllabus and agree to abide by its provisions. I especially understand that the end-of-term essay counts 50% of my total grade. I also understand that I must have a 70 class average to write the end-of-the term essay.
Signature:
Date:
Students with disabilities or special needs of any type should contact Disability Support Services in the ACE Center to request reasonable accommodations for academic programs and other activities of Dalton State College. Students must personally register with Disability Support Services by providing adequate documentation to verify the disability and/or need. A minimum of five to ten business days is needed for approved accommodations to be arranged. The ACE Center is located on the lower level of Pope Student Center.