Course

English Composition I (ENC1101)

Instructor

Information

Arnold Wood

FCCJ

11901 Beach Blvd.

Jacksonville, Florida 32246 

Office Phone: (904) 646-2341

Fax: (904) 646-2396

Email:  awood@fccj.edu

FCCJ Catalog Description

Prerequisite: satisfactory score on reading and writing placement tests. This course embodies the fundamentals of effective expression with emphasis on the various forms of expository writing, logical and imaginative thinking, and reading for under standing. The course provides instruction in sentence structure, diction, organization of short essays and correct usage of standard American English. This course includes CLAST writing competencies and serves to meet the Gordon Rule writing requirement. Three contact hours. (CBE) A.A., A.S., A.A.S.

Required Textbooks

• Wyrick, Jean. Steps to Writing Well, 9^th ed. (w/MLA Updates). Boston: Thomson-Heinle, 2002.

• Brown, Harryette.  Telecourse Study Guide for A Writer’s Exchange.  Addison Wesley Longman, 2001.  This is an optional text only. You must find it (go online) and buy it yourself.

• Glenn, Cheryl et al. Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook, Latest edition.  Boston: Thomson-Wadsworth, latest copyright.

Required Supplies

• Computer processed journals, assignments and essays are strongly preferred or,
• Notebook for Journals
• Notebook for Class Assignments (or a notebook with sections for both journals and class assignments)
• Writing paper and pen for essays

Suggested Books

College Dictionary and Thesaurus

ENC 1101 Information

ENC 1101 is a writing course which fulfills part of the Gordon Rule writing requirement. This means you must compose at least 6,000 words of prose during the semester. We will reach this requirement through various writing exercises, essays, and journals.  This particular ENC 1101 course has been designed for stand-alone delivery for distance learners using the CD material titled, A Writer’s Exchange.  The course will be completed according to the learner’s schedule, though a suggested timeline is provided.  Because there will likely be no interactivity between student and teacher, a portfolio approach will be used to maintain writing and offer a chance for weaker papers to be “dropped” at the student’s discretion.

Class Basics

This course has been specifically designed for self-paced delivery.  To fulfill the class requirements, the learner will view lessons on CD, read chapters from the required textbook, keep a journal and class notebook, and maintain a portfolio of writing assignments.   The course outline is presented in modules for self-paced delivery.  However, one or more modules per week is the suggestion for course duration.  By completing approximately one module per week, students will complete the course with fairly consistent work-load from week to week.  The class is, however, designed with students in mind that must work at a pace consistent with their own schedule.  The ability to follow directions and remain organized will be critical to the success of each student as he or she moves through the course.

Reading & Video Assignments

The nature of this course assumes that you are mature enough to succeed without weekly instructor supervision in a classroom setting. If you wish to understand the writing assignments and succeed in this class, you must keep up with the weekly readings and video lessons. Hodges’ Harbrace Handbook is your grammar handbook. The study guide will direct you to chapters/sections in the book for reference: you are expected to understand the material and use it in your essays. Of your three textbooks, however, Steps to Writing Well is the most important for giving you writing instruction in general and on the various forms (with student models) in particular, so make sure you read the Wyrick sections indicated in each of the following modules very carefully.

Course Requirements

1. Complete all reading assignments.
2. View all assigned video lessons.  Please note that Windows Media Player is required to view CD-ROM lessons.  To download, go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia.
3. Maintain a class journal as prescribed in the course outline.
4. Maintain a class notebook (separate from the journal) for class exercises and miscellaneous assignments.
5. Complete all assigned essays and papers.
6. Maintain and submit a thorough portfolio of all essays and papers.
7. Complete a proctored, timed mid-term and final exam essay.

8.  Please note that all coursework must be completed and returned to me within one year of your registration in the course.  If you do not complete the course by the end of the A-16 term (April 30), you will receive an “I” (Incomplete) grade.  However, you still have a year to complete the course.

Assessment Procedures

If you are a military student, your ESO should have already agreed to serve as your proctor.  Please confirm this with your ESO. 

If you are a local student, you should contact the Distance Learning Assessment Center by calling 904-633-5020 or emailing assessme@fccj.edu.  Local students do NOT need to complete the assessment form.

If you are a non-military student and live over 75 miles from the College, please use the Proctor Approval Form to identify and secure approval for your proctor.  Note that your selected test site should be a college or university assessment center.  High schools, libraries, workplaces, or personal friends are NOT acceptable proctors.  You can find a list of acceptable sites at The National Consortium of College Testing Centers web site http://testing.byu.edu/NCTA/Consortium/. 

You can also contact the Open Campus Assessment Center for assistance in locating an authorized testing site.

See the Distance Learning website at www.distancelearning.org for more information on testing.

Once you locate an acceptable site, please present the Proctor Approval Form to your selected proctor for signature.  Your proctor must read, sign, make a copy for his/her records and return the original form to FCCJ, Open Campus Assessment Center within two weeks of receiving your course packet: 

 

Carl Jowers
Open Campus Assessment Center 
Florida Community College at Jacksonville

601 W. State St.

Jacksonville, FL 32202

Office: 904.632.5020
Fax:  904.633.8445

email: cjowers@fccj.edu

You will be responsible for the payment of any testing fees at the time of your scheduled testing. 

         
Upon receiving the Proctor Approval Form, the Open Campus Assessment contact will notify your instructor of your approved test location, and mail your proctor an exam package with instructions, deadlines and postage-paid envelopes.  As you move through the syllabus, you will coordinate with your proctor to take exams according to the module outline.

Best Practices

• For the best results, follow the order of the assignments as they are written in each module.  They are placed in such an order to facilitate your learning.  Additionally, complete each module in order, 1 – 14.

• Look ahead to assignments for the module before viewing the video lesson or reading the text.  Some of the assignments will come from the video or book, so it will benefit you to know this ahead of time.

• Review the module assignments and study guide so that you can schedule your time accordingly.  For example, knowing that an assigned reading is 20 pages as opposed to 45 pages will determine what you might be able to undertake in one sitting.

• Get in the habit of taking notes as you watch the video lessons.  Record whatever strikes you as important to your own learning; the instructor will not grade your notes.

• Assignments that call for journals are considered informal and need not be perfect.  Journals are for your own benefit, though they will be submitted for review and a completion grade.

• When an assignment calls for an essay (narrative, descriptive, explanatory, etc.), you should conduct prewriting, drafting, polishing, and editing before considering a paper complete and moving on to the next module.

• Don’t try to complete too many modules at once.  Aim for completing one module per week.

• To earn the best score possible on your portfolio, write each paper as if you will choose it for one of your graded essays.  Revise and polish each paper within the module that it is assigned, not just during the final module of portfolio ranking.  This kind of procrastination is usually evident to the instructor.

• As an option, the modules will refer you to the study guide for assignments; as mentioned previously, read the Wyrick text.  If you are assigned certain pages in the study guide, you should view the video lessons, read the textbook material, refer to the handbook, and review the material outlined in the assigned study guide pages.  However, unless specifically assigned, the questions in the study guide are for your benefit only (see page xi in the study guide). Other than those assigned for your class assignments notebook, the questions and answers will not be collected or graded.

• ENC 1101 is a freshmen level course charged with teaching all college freshmen to write well.  The skills learned here will largely determine how well you write for future classes.  History, psychology, humanities, sociology, foreign language, computer, and yes, even some math classes will require you to write papers and essays of various types.  Approach this course maturely, with intent to learn everything you can about writing.  The result, beyond the letter grade you earn, will be a more rewarding and successful college career.

Policies

• Your essays will be compiled in a writing portfolio.  This means that all prewriting, drafts, edits, and the final copy of every essay you write will be submitted to the instructor as part of your portfolio of work for the class.  Once you have completed all the modules, you will choose which essays you want to be counted for a grade.  This is to your benefit, obviously, but don’t take advantage of this practice.  If it is obvious to the professor that you did little to no work on the ungraded papers, points will be deducted from the final portfolio grade.
   
• All essays should be stapled or clipped together with all prewriting, drafts, and revisions (place final copy on top).  All six essays should be submitted in a folder as directed in module 13.

• Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the use of someone else's work as your own. Whether intentional or accidental, plagiarism is a serious offense. Any student found guilty of plagiarism will receive a zero on the assignment in question and face possible failure for the course. This class follows the Academic Dishonesty and Discipline Procedures set forth by the college. You should refer to the college handbook for the specifics of the college honor policy. See pages 409-411 of the 2005-02 college catalog...don't cheat. Make your work your own!

• Journal entries should fill at least one page of lined paper if handwritten (double space if college-ruled paper) or half a page if computer processed (double spaced, size 12 font).

• Clearly label ALL WORK in your journal, class notebook, and writing portfolio.  Your name, the module number, and the assignment should be on all completed work.

• The mid-term and final exam will be graded based on content, grammar, maturity of thought, and attention to subject.  You should aim for five, well-developed paragraphs.  Word processing is preferred (double spaced), but if your essay must be hand-written, give special attention to neat, clear handwriting (skip lines).  You may bring and use a dictionary & thesaurus.

• The narrative, descriptive, explanatory, analytical, and thesis/support or problem/solution essays written within each module should be no fewer than 500 words each. 

Grade Percentages

• Journal Notebook – 10 points (1 pt. per entry)
• Assignments Notebook – 10 points (1 pt. per question/activity)
• Portfolio of Essays – 60 points (20 pts. per essay)
• Midterm – 10 points
• Final – 10 points

Grading Scale:  A = 90 – 100 points

                         B = 80 – 89 points

                         C = 70 – 79 points

                         D = 60 – 69 points

                         F =   0 – 59 points

Withdrawal from Courses

Drop deadline for B-12 with refund – Monday, October 3, 2005

Final date to withdraw from Session B-12 with grade of “W” – Wednesday, November 16, 2005

You must officially withdraw to receive a grade of "W" for any class.

Course Outline

Before beginning Module 1, study the syllabus, familiarize yourself with the textbook, and scan the contents of the entire course outline.  Get a notebook appropriate for your journal entries and an additional notebook for your class assignments (or one notebook with clearly marked sections).  Once you feel comfortable with the course layout and content, begin module 1.

Module 1

·        The Harbrace Handbook (hereafter abbreviated as HH) covers and grammar and mechanics in chapters 1-17 (3-265); HH examines the elements of good sentence writing in chapters 23-30 (326-81). Pages 477-496 in Steps to Writing Well (hereafter abbreviated to SWW) covers grammar and mechanics; SWW covers sentence construction, logic, etc. in chapters 7-9 (141-271) as well. Pages  xxiii-xv in SWW discusses why you should learn to write well. Optional:  Option: Read pages 1-10 in your study guide (and watch the assigned video lessons on the cd) in A Writer’s Repertoire (hereafter abbreviated as WR) chapter readings.
 

·        Using your journal, record the four aims of writing.  What are some examples of each?  Can you think of examples of the aims of writing that you might encounter in college?  Be sure to clearly label the journal entry at the top of the page.
 

·        As a second journal entry, write about the external and internal influences that you might encounter while writing.  Which of the tips offered by the expert in the video might work for you?  Be sure to clearly label the journal entry at the top of the page.

Module 2

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on cd. HH covers prewriting and drafting in chapter 32 (404-444. Read chapter 1 (3-29) on prewriting in SWW. Option: Complete pages 11-15 in your WR study guide.

·        In your journal notebook, record a journal entry about your perceived “starting point” as a writer.  What attributes do you bring to the table as a writer?  What might be a barrier to your writing?
 

·        In your class assignments notebook, following the instructions given, do any 2 (two) of the 10 (ten) in both Practice A and B in SWW on page 18. Next, on pages 39-40 of SWW do any 2 (two) of the 10 (ten) items listed for practice in writing a thesis statement. Finally, on pages 42-43 of SWW, do any 2 (two) of the 10 (ten) items on mapping a thesis statement.

Module 3

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on cd. HH covers paragraph writing in chapter 31 (382-403). Read chapter 3 (47-78) in SWW on body paragraphs. Option: Read pages 17 - 21 in your WR study guide.
 

·        Using what you have learned thus far about prewriting, topic sentences/thesis statements, and paragraph development, write 3 (three) well-developed paragraphs, choosing your topics from those paragraph topics listed at the end of the syllabus.  Be sure to clearly label all work, and place the prewriting, drafts, and final, revised copy in your writing portfolio.
 

·        Record a journal entry about why you are attending college.  Has anyone in particular influenced you to earn your degree?  Has anyone in particular been a great supporter?

Module 4

·       HH does not address process analysis per se. Especially, read chapter 4 (79-87) in SWW on introduction paragraphs and concluding paragraphs. Also, for your first essay, read chapter 9, strategy 2 on process analysis in SWW (193-211. Option: Read pages 23-27 in your WR study guide; watch the accompanying video lessons on cd.
 

·        Write a process essay on one of the topics listed for process found in SWW on pages 196-197.  Be sure to clearly label all work, and place the prewriting, drafts, and final, revised copy in your writing portfolio.
 

·        Record a journal entry explaining why you chose your topic for the process essay.  While the essay itself focused mostly on explaining what must be done to complete the process, give more details in your journal about why the your process topic has significance.

Module 5

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on cd. Read chapter 9, strategy 5 on division/classification analysis in SWW on pages 245-258. Option: Read pages 33-41 in your WR study guide.
 

·        Record in your class notebook a brainstorm that you might use for your division/classification topic. Choose a topic from the list on page 264.  Be sure to clearly label the assignment at the top of the page.
 

·        Write a division/classification essay on your chosen topic (your second essay) (suggestions on pages 247-248). After you have drafted your essay, use the brainstorm exercise to make revisions to your essay. As always, be sure to clearly label the assignment at the top of the page.
 

·        Complete a journal entry about how you might have better discovered, organized, and arranged ideas for your first two essays.

NOW: Send your three paragraphs and two essays to your instructor (see instructor address above). The instructor will evaluate (without grade) how well you are developing your writing skills at this point. The instructor will return your marked work to you as quickly as possible so that you may correct/revise the assignment(s) you choose for your final portfolio.

Module 6

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on cd. Read chapter 9, strategy 6 on causal analysis (i.e., causes or effects) in SWW on pages 259-271. Read pages 43-53 in your WR study guide.
 

·        Using what you learned in this module’s lesson and readings, write an essay of causes or and essay of effects using one of the topics listed on page 262 of SWW (your third essay). Make sure you use all the prewriting techniques you have learned as you plan and draft this essay. Be sure to clearly label all work, and place the prewriting, drafts, and final revised copy of your essay in your writing portfolio.
 

·        In your class assignments notebook, answer questions #3 and 8 on page 45 in the study guide.

Module 7 – Midterm

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on CD. Read chapter 9, strategy 3 on comparison and contrast analysis in SWW on pages 211-232. Option: Skip ahead to pages 73-78 and read them in your WR study guide.
 

·        Write an essay of comparisons or contrasts using one of the topics listed on page 215-216 of SWW (your fourth essay). Make sure you use all the prewriting techniques you have learned as you plan and draft this essay. Be sure to clearly label all work, and place the prewriting, drafts, and final revised copy of your essay in your writing portfolio.

·        Take a proctored, timed (one hour) writing exam.  An approved proctor in a secure, approved environment must administer the exam.  Details of the proctored exam are included in your original course packet.

Module 8

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on cd. Read chapter 9, strategy 4 on definition analysis in SWW on pages 233-245. Option: Read pages 55-69 in your WR study guide.
 

·        Write an essay of definition (your fifth essay) on one the topics listed on pages 236-237. Make sure you use all the prewriting techniques you have learned as you plan and draft this essay.  Be sure to label all work, and place the prewriting, drafts, and final, revised copy in your writing portfolio.

·        Write a journal entry about your thoughts on your progress thus far.  What have you learned about yourself as a writer?

NOW: At this point, send essays three through five to your instructor for evaluation. The instructor will mark/comment on your essays and return them to you so that you may select from them and correct/revise for possible inclusion in your final portfolio.

Module 9

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on cd. Read chapter 10 on argumentation and chapter 14 on research writing in SWW on pages 273-305 and pages 355-406. The HH explains argument writing in chapter 36, pages 516-545; HH explains research writing in chapters 37-40, pages 546-694 (see especially the student models; carefully note and avoid plagiarism –39e, pages 597+). Option: Read pages 65-71 in your WR study guide.

·        Write an essay of argumentation using up to three sources of information (you may use information from the web/internet if they are up to date and from credible/reliable sources). For your convenience and to assure source quality, you should use the Academic Search Premier from FCCJ’s Online Library. Print any article that you use for direct quote or paraphrase in your essay; highlight the passage that you used for evidence and cited in the text (as covered in SWW; refer also chapter 40 in HH)) following the MLA research and in-text citation technique. Your essay must also end with a Works Cited page. Choose an argument topic from those listed on pages 329-330 of SWW.

·        Using what you have learned about revising, editing, and polishing, further polish and revise one of your explanatory essays.  Keep both copies (the original essay and the new, revised copy in your portfolio.  Clearly label the new paper.
 

·        Record in your journal the changes you make to the essay.  Why do the changes made help the paper?  Do you think the time away from the paper allowed you to see it with a fresh mind and sharper eye?

Module 10

·        Watch the accompanying lessons on cd. Option: Read pages 79-89 and pages 95-99 in your WR study guide.
 

·        In your class assignments notebook, answer this question: What mind-set must one cultivate to do well in a distance learning class such as this?

 

·        In your class assignments notebook, answer this question: How important does experience (we call it prior knowledge) in writing on a given topic? Or: where does imagination fit into writing information/expository essay?
 

·        Using what you have learned about revising, editing, and polishing your writing, further polish and revise three of your original essays. Be sure to clearly label all work, and place all the prewriting, drafts, final polishing, and the latest revised essay(s) in your writing portfolio.

 

Module 11

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on the cd. Option: Read pages 107 - 117 in your WR study guide.

·        In your class assignments notebook, answer this question: Is going to college about learning to learning or learning to know...or both?

·        Using what you have learned about revising, editing, and polishing your writing, continue to polish your three chosen essays. Be sure to clearly label all work, and place all the prewriting, drafts, final polishing, and this final revised essay(s) in your writing portfolio.

Module 12

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on cd. Option: Read pages 119 - 129 in you WR study guide.
 

·        Write a journal entry on what you learned about the doing and the value of doing research. What did you discover? How did your attitude change?

Module 13

·        Watch the accompanying video lessons on cd. Option: Read pages 135 - 139 in your WR study guide.
 

·        Review the three “polished” final essays that you have completed this term (other than the mid-term and upcoming final exam essays).  In what ways can you further revise and polish them?
 

·        Further revise and polish the three selected essays, and place them in your portfolio, clearly labeled as your three essays for grading.  Rank them #1, #2, #3, depending on which paper you think is the best of all.  Then, rank the remaining papers, 4 – 6, with the #6 paper being the one you feel is the weakest.
 

·        Record a final, reflective journal entry on your efforts and achievements in the class.  What have you learned about yourself as a writer?  What changes do you see in your writing since back when you started module 1?  Why did you choose your #1-3 papers as the best?  This entry will count as two journals, so adjust the length to two hand-written pages or one full typed page. 

Module 14 -

Final Exam

·        If necessary, review the video lesson, “Writing Under Pressure.” Read HH chapter 34, pages 480-491 and SWW chapter 15, pages 407-419 as necessary.
 

·        Take a proctored, timed (one hour) writing exam.  An approved proctor in a secure, approved  environment must administer the exam.  Details of the proctored exam are included in your original course packet.