Student Learning Objectives
Guidelines & Student Learning Outcomes
Policies
Email Policy
NO EMAILED ASSIGNMENTS ACCEPTED without instuctor's prior permission. If you ignore this, email will be deleted unread!
Whenever possible, please communicate with me personally during class or office hours.
- to alert me when you will be absent from class and that you will turn in assignment EARLY as late work is not accepted
- to alert me that you are confused about a concept and would like me to discuss it at the next class session
- to communicate a personal concern
Email should NOT be used to ask me:
- to accept late assignments/homework since none is accepted (if sent will be deleted unread)
- to write you a summary of a class session you missed
- to re-teach a concept online
- to give you a due date that can be found in our syllabus
Attendance
ABSENCES:
We will work on reading, discussing, and/or writing in every class. If you miss class, you miss important work that cannot be made up. Because of this your grade will be lowered after:
- Three X/week classes: six absences.
- Two X/week classes: four absences.
- Night classes: two absences.
You will automatically risk failing after:
- Three X/week classes: nine absences.
- Two X/week classes: six absences.
- Night classes: three absences.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING as an excused or unexcused absence; there are only explained and unexplained absences. For example, let's say you miss class because your car breaks down. Then you missed class for a good reason. But you still missed class and it counts as an absence. Students who miss class have said that they come back completely disoriented because so much has occurred while they were gone.
It is up to you to contact me before an absence or as soon as possible after an absence. Do not, however, ask me to "tell you what you've missed;" it is not my job to take time to update you for classes you have chosen, for whatever reason, to be absent from. It is up to you to get notes and copies of handouts from peers. I would suggest that you make friends with someone before you leave class today and trade phone numbers and email addresses so you can keep apprised of what's going on in your absence.
TARDIES
Be on time. DOOR WILL BE LOCKED the hour, minute, second that class begins. NO LATE ENTRY PERMITTED. It is disrespectful both to me and to your fellow students to interrupt the flow of the class by coming in late. Two tardies of more than ten (10) minutes late counts as an absence. Allow plenty of time for traffic jams and to find a parking space. Be on time!
Be In Class and On Time.
You will find that the collaborative model helps to create a friendly and encouraging classroom environment and we will benefit tremendously from each other's contributions. But as you can see from the above list of projects, attendance is essential. There is no way you can make up the in-class exercises, discussions, short-paper workshops, or missed presentations, and any absences may seriously harm your grade. One day, for example, we might be reworking a paper we wrote the previous class session; if you weren't at the previous class session you will have nothing to work with and, essentially, will be missing grades for two classes.
If something is due a particular class session and you haven't done it, don't compound the problem by skipping class.
Class Accommodations
Written documentation of jury duty attendance, court appearances, hospitalization, and genuine medical emergencies will be handled with compassion and flexibility determined in large part by your demonstrated responsibility in the course to date (i.e., work is turned in on time, active participation, etc.).
If you need special course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you have special medical information to share, or if you need special arrangements in case the building has to be evacuated, please speak to me immediately after the first or second class session.
Students with disabilities must register with the Center on Disabilities and complete a services agreement each semester. Staff within the Center will verify the existence of a disability based on the documentation provided and approve accommodations. Students who are approved for test taking accommodations must provide a proctor form to their faculty member signed by a counselor in the Center on Disabilities prior to making testing arrangements.
- Center On Disabilities
- National Center On Deafness
Plagiarism Policy
Please familiarize yourself with this link. Plagiarism: What It is "&" How to Recognize It
DON'T DO IT! Plagiarism is "Intentionally or knowingly representing the words, ideas, or work of another as one's own in any academic exercise." (CSUN Catalog.) "Cheating or plagiarism in connection with an academic program . . . (is) an offense for which a student may be expelled, suspended, or given a less severe disciplinary sanction." (CSUN Catalog.)
All work submitted for this course must be your own and be written exclusively for this course. The use of all sources (other people's ideas, quotations and paraphrases from published work, including the textbook and the Internet) must be properly documented. Students should be familiar with the concepts of active and passive plagiarism:
- Active Plagiarism:
The deliberate use of words or ideas from a published source without crediting the author. It is an attempt to deceive readers.
- Passive Plagiarism:
The assumption that the use of words or ideas from a published source without crediting the author is acceptable as long as the course paper is not going to be published in itself. Passive plagiarism is often the result of a naive belief that selecting ideas and words from various sources and arranging them into a new order for a paper is "research" and therefore "original." The result, however, is simply a pastiche of other people's ideas and words and not original thinking by the student writing the paper in question.
Course Information Overview
Course Description
This course is designed to prepare you for English 155
with the study and practice of college-level writing. A major part of the writing
process is having something to say, so you will also practice analytical thinking
and the transfer of those thoughts to the written word in the form of essays.
At the end of the semester you will enclose three essays and all of their rough
drafts, along with one in-class essay, in a folder. This portfolio will then
be submitted to a team of instructors who will read them and decide if your
writing is ready for English 155.
First-time freshmen are required to complete all developmental writing and math courses within the first year of enrollment. The university's "Basic Subjects" Policy further requires that as soon as any needed developmental courses are completed, students must enroll in the General Education Basic Subjects (Section A) classes in writing, critical reasoning, oral communication, and math. Enrollment must be continuous until section A is completed.
Course Philosophy:
Overall, this is a writing-intensive course and we will be writing, writing, writing every day in class and plenty of nights, too. Furthermore, critical thinking is quite simply…difficult. It requires training, commitment, and a lot of patience. This course is designed to help you develop many of the critical thinking and writing skills needed to be successful in academia and beyond. We will work together to develop these skills, using them as building blocks that will lead you to produce clear, thought provoking, and meaningful writing. We will also learn to academically investigate and analyze many important issues in today's society.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Essays
If you miss turning in even ONE out-of-class essay, your portfolio will not be accepted and you risk failing the course! NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED! ONLY TYPED, STAPLED WORK ACCEPTED.
- You will be required to complete three essays and at least two to three in-class essays. In Class Essays cannot be revised.
- Each out-of-class essay will be developed from a written prompt and will undergo at least two rough drafts. To receive credit the essay must show substantial revision in the final version. Each rough draft must be workshopped with your peers. All Essays MUST BE turned in and graded in order for you to submit a portfolio, and in order to receive Credit you must pass BOTH the classroom portion of the course AND the portfolio evaluation
- All essays must be typewritten, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and in MLA format. In-class essays are written once, in the classroom, without prior prompting and cannot be madeup.
- The Learning Resource Writing Center You are required to visit the LRC for each major essay this semester. The lab is located in SB408 and student tutors are available to assist you with various steps in the writing process such as brainstorming, revising and editing. You may call for an appointment: (818) 677-2033. You can also attend on a walk-in basis. For more information about the writing lab visit: CSUN Learning Resource Center http://www.csun.edu/lrc/writing.html
- Many projects are online as pdf files. To view these files, you must have Acrobat Reader, a free program, installed on your computer. Campus computers already have Acrobat Reader installed, and the program will automatically open when you click on a link to a pdf file.
- Final Portfolio-see Projects link above.
Participation
- Do Not throw any papers away until after semester ends!
- The reading responses/novel study questions are to be done by the day/date due. Each reading journal should be posted as directed with the specific title, author of the reading, your name and date of your response. You are required to participate in the discussions and you cannot do so if you have not read the assignment. Unannounced quizzes on the reading assignments will be given at regular intervals. On-line tasks such as postings on our class bulletin board or listserve assignments on email are to be completed as assigned
- All written projects are to be completed by the day they are due. Essay rough drafts are to be workshopped with your group, so you must bring enough copies for the group.
- No Whaaaaaaaaahh Clause everyday, people struggle to maintain employment and make their lives work. Everyday students jump seemingly impossible hurdles to succeed in their classes. I have seen students face devastating personal crisis and still be in class with their assignments prepared. You know the course policies and you know what is expected of you. Please do not come to me with excuses why you were absent and didn't get your work in on time. If a personal crisis arises, talk with me and let me know what is going on before you jeopardize your success in the course. Do not, however, ask me to "tell you " what you've missed; it is not my job to take time to update you for classes you have chosen, for whatever reason, to be absent from. It is up to you to get the notes and copies of handouts from peers. You are responsible for all assignments (on the schedule or assigned in class).
- I suggest that you make friends with someone before you leave class today and trade phone numbers and email addreses, and take note of our class listserve email address so you can keep apprised of what's going on in your absence. Being absent is not an acceptable excuse for incomplete work.
Classwork Grade Distribution
| Out-of-class Essays (20% each) |
60% |
Grammar Presentations |
4% |
| In-class Essays |
10% |
Class Participation/Electronic or otherwise |
10% |
| Reflective Journals/ Reading Responses, Freewrites, Pop Quizzes |
6% |
Novel Study Questions |
10% |
