ENG101 Requirements, Summer 2009

ENG 101 Requirements
Summer II 2009

On this Page:

1. Attendance
2. Computer Use
3. Writing
---Formal
---Informal
4. Reading
5. Research
6. Deadlines

1. Attendance and Participation:
This class requires interaction and participation that includes writing in class, individually or collaboratively, as well as face-to-face discussion and peer response to one another's writing. What happens in class is a large part of the learning experience of the course, and it cannot be "made up" through reading or copying someone's notes. Please make every effort to be here for every class, on time and prepared.

See the English Department's Standards.

2. The Workshop Approach in a Computer Environment:
We will usually meet in a computer lab. "Workshop" means that you'll actually be working on your writing in class a fair proportion of the time--planning or drafting or giving and receiving feedback or revising. It is important to your success that you stay on task and pay attention in class, rather than attempting to multitask by checking your email or sports stats or Facebook. Also, many students report that one of the biggest adjustments they must make in this class is remembering to check the online syllabus and take responsibility for being prepared for class. You should plan to check the online syllabus regularly, since I update it as needed throughout the semester.

3. Writing:
Expect to do a lot of writing, both informal and formal, and expect to do a lot of revising.

a. "Formal writing" for your final portfolio will include reflective portfolio cover essays and three well-developed reading-based essays, representing each of the three disciplinary areas: the humanities, the sciences, and the social sciences. I will ask to see evidence of revision in your portfolio, in accord with the English Department's Standards.

b. "Informal writing" will consist of biweekly the notes you take on your reading and some in-class and out-of-class activities (like the Inventory of Writing Experience, peer responses/critiques, and writing exercises). I'll ask you to keep these pieces of writing in a folder or binder as your Writer's Notebook.

4. Reading:
We will read all of Into the Wild and portions of Deep Survival and The Omnivore's Dilemma. We will practice critical reading, keeping notes and observations on the reading, and reading as writers (noting writers' techniques). Writing topics will be based on the books.

5. Research:
You will incorporate some research into at least one of your formal essays. We will spend some time in Alexander Mack Memorial Library and will use databases that our library subscribes to. There will be instruction in making ethical use of others' writing in your papers through accurate quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, as well as through appropriately documenting sources, and we will review Bridgewater College's Plagiarism Policy and Honor Code, as it applies to writing from sources. We will also use some class time for evaluating Web and print sources.

6. Meeting Deadlines and Doing Your Best Work
Most of your grade will be based on your final portfolio. Sometimes students have interpreted this deferred grading to mean that "nothing counts" until the portfolio is turned in, or that what they were turning in was "just a draft" and did not have to be their best work. Please try to make each piece of writing as good as you can before you turn it in.

There's a good reason for doing your best. Students who do not do their best work may receive instructor comments that tell them to make revisions that they already know they need to make. When that happens, the instructor's time is wasted in making those comments, and the student's time is wasted in reading those comments. The student misses out on suggestions for better writing quality that the instructor might have made if those more glaring matters had been addressed sooner.

When you turn in your best work, and then you carefully consider and respond to the comments on your writing as you revise, you will improve as a writer.

Return to the ENG101 Welcome page.

Updated by Dr. Trupe June 19, 2009