358

Description
English 358, Intermediate Composition, is a writing course whose purpose is to provide you with opportunities to practice a range of writing tasks that are used to disseminate research in English Studies. You will write a lot in this class, and be given opportunities to revise your work after feedback from your peers and me. This section of 358 requires you to read some poetry and drama and to think about how those literary forms are produced and consumed in our culture, the value our culture places upon them, and what they may mean in your life and the lives of those around you.

Objectives
Specific, measurable outcomes:
Students will:

show improved ability to read and accurately summarize academic prose.
demonstrate increased level of confidence in their own academic writing.
develop skills in organizing academic essays and research projects through forecasting information and employing transitions.

Learning goals:
Students will have the opportunity to:

practice writing in several genres commonly used in English Studies.
begin writing and thinking critically and constructively about the role of literature and teaching literature in our culture.
develop (6-15 pages) research projects of their own design.
begin to effectively edit and revise their own work.
work closely with other students developing the ability to collaborate meaningfully.
be responsible for the quality and quantity of their own learning.

Evaluation
Each assignment includes an evaluation rubric so that you know what areas I will be grading you on. These are generally: content, organization, expression, and correctness. See site on evaluation for specifics.

Attendance
So much of the learning we do in this class is collaborative that you must be here. We are counting on you to be here, to be prepared for class, and to meet regularly with your group for your group projects. In small discussion sections, absenteeism is distracting and makes it hard for the class to develop the trust necessary for meaningful learning to take place. Because I will do all I can to make this course interesting and engaging, I am very unsympathetic to students who do not come to class. Each person has one personal day and one sick day per semester. After that, any missed classes will hurt your grade—I will be ruthless about this. Try not to be late—most important information about the class itself is conveyed in the first ten minutes of class.

Preparation
This course assumes a high level of preparation for college level reading, writing, and research. Although I want the classroom to provide a supportive atmosphere for all learners (me included), we will move through covering/summarizing material quickly and spend class time working in groups, making connections among texts, synthesizing ideas, and discussing application of the reading material to our research and projects. I assume that for every hour you spend in class, you will be doing 2-3 hours work and preparation outside of class. If you do not have time to devote to this class outside of class, I strongly suggest you drop. Because this is a collaborative class, the course will not work if you have not prepared by reading the assigned texts, writing your responses, and completing your assigned research tasks—if you can’t do this on your own, I will give quizzes to reward the people who are prepared.

The projects require substantial research, and the writing tasks presuppose a process of drafting and revising. Here’s the hard part—you need to take responsibility for the quality and quantity of you own learning. If you can do these things, you can expect to be very successful in this class—regardless of your present skills as a writer. Even if you are a wonderful writer, you will not be successful if you are unable to attend class, prepare your work outside of class, and play well with others.

Due Dates/Revision
The due dates on your assignment sheets are for your protection, to help you balance your major work across the semester and receive feedback from me quickly (within a week) so that you can revise your work. Although you will not be penalized for late work, if you turn in work after the date it is due, I do not guarantee timely feedback; therefore, you may forfeit the opportunity to revise. As with all professional writing, I hope you will revise your work after input from colleagues, fellow students, other professionals whose advice you seek, and me. Please turn in projects in class and not into my mailbox, or under my door, or anyplace else where they might be misplaced.

You may revise any written work—with the exception of problems, tests, or in-class assignments—at any time throughout the semester. Your grade on the revised work will be the grade you receive for that assignment (no averaging, etc.), so I encourage you to revise! But make sure you revise and don’t just edit if you want an improved grade. You must turn in the original graded paper and rubric with your revision.

Academic Honesty
The work you turn in must be yours/your group’s, must respect the intellectual property rights of others, and must cite secondary sources. This policy is consistent with NDSU University Senate policy, Section 335: Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct. For more details see: http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/policy/335.htm.

Special Needs
If you have any disabilities or special needs, or need special accommodations in this course, please share your concerns/requests with me as soon as possible.

Calendar

This is where you'll find the daily calendar with links to readings, assignments, daily activities.

Links to handouts:

About interviewing:
Interview guide
Interview questions
Undertaking interviews

Conference Sign-up sheet:

Conference calendar (e-mail me to get a date and time)

PBL (Problem-based Learning)
(Some information about teaching practices.)

Basics

Outside sources