Syllabus IV

SYLLABUS

ENC 1101: Writing and Rhetoric I

Instructor: Semester: Section:
Time/Room: Office Hours:
Office and Tel: Email:

WELCOME!
Welcome to ENC 1101 Writing and Rhetoric, a course designed to improve your writing skills and to help you more skillfully apply effective rhetorical strategies in various communicative contexts. The course introduces you to rhetorical concepts and practices that you can apply throughout your college and professional writing career. Regardless of your major or career path, writing will be a part of your job. Studies have shown that the more effectively you can write, the more successful you’ll be—academically and professionally. It’s possible right now that you are hesitant about the time you have to spend in front of a keyboard or a notebook. That’s OK. This course will provide you with a set of tools—including a flexible writing process— that will help you get your thoughts on paper. And, because effective writing requires careful and critical thinking, we will emphasize a revision process indicative of analytical and reflective thought.

Course Outcomes:
By the end of the course, you will be able to produce documents that do the following:
• Generate relevant and timely writing topics that are appropriate for their chosen audience and
the assignment;
• Develop their ideas through an effective and recursive process of writing, revision, and
editing;
• Indicate their ability to write in various genres including peer review, prewriting,
narrative, thesis-driven essays, and researched writing;
• Respond to various rhetorical purposes and address the needs of various audiences;
• Display genre-appropriate format, structure and stylistic choices, understanding differences
in open and closed form prose;
• Develop an effective thesis and support it with reasons and evidence;
• Exhibit appropriate syntax, punctuation, and spelling;
• Produce documents that incorporate primary and secondary resources which are documented using
MLA or similar style manual;
• Develop a rhetorical vocabulary for talking about writing.

Web-Assisted Course
This is a web-assisted course. Course materials are located in Moodle. Follow these directions to log in:
• Go to http://ecampus.fiu.edu
• Click the Login button
• User ID and password
o User ID = Your My Accounts user ID
o Password = Your My Accounts password
• For login help, call 305-348-2284.
• If you need to look up your My Accounts user ID or reset your My Accounts password, go to
http://myaccounts.fiu.edu and follow the instructions.

We will also use turnitin.com for peer-editing, grading, and plagiarism checking.

If at any point during the semester, you become confused about assignments, and how and when they should be done, please contact me immediately.

Teaching Methods
Frequently assigned writing, critical reading, discussion, peer review and workshops, lecture.

Texts and Supporting Materials
• Lunsford, Andrea. The Everyday Writer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 4th edition, 2009.
Customized for Florida International University.

Companion Website: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/everydaywriter4e/default.asp#t_11472____

• Ramage, John, John Bean and June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. New York:
Pearson, 2010. Customized for Florida International University. Fourth Edition.
Companion Website: http://www.pearsoncustom.com/fl/fiu_english/

Plagiarism
Please review the Writing Program web page on plagiarism, and be aware of the disciplinary sanctions resulting from academic misconduct. As your acknowledgment of understanding, please tear out the Plagiarism agreement in the Everyday Writer, sign it, and return to me by the end of the second week of classes. Link: http://casgroup.fiu.edu/english/pages.php?id=469

Attendance
Because the work we do in class will be directly connected to work online (and vice versa), attendance is crucial, and will be a significant part of your participation grade. You must attend 80% of face-to-face meetings in order to pass this class.

Grading
You must receive a “C” grade or higher to pass ENC 1101. Grading weights are shown below.
Portfolio 70%
· Writing Project 1—Literacy Narrative 15%
· Writing Project 2—Writing to Inform 20%
· Writing Project 3—Writing to Persuade 25%
· Timed Writing Project 10%
· Participation/Homework Assignments 30%

Portfolios and Revisions
For each of the three major essay assignments during the semester, you will write multiple drafts, all of which should be turned in as a portfolio at the beginning of class on the due date. Portfolios should include all invention work, drafts, notes, and peer reviews involved in the creation of the final product. I will hand back portfolios with my comments and a letter grade. You will be able to revise one graded writing project. If the revision shows significant improvement, you’ll receive a higher grade which will replace the original grade. We’ll discuss revision throughout the semester.

Late Writing Project Submissions
All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. The letter grade will be reduced ½ grade for every day the writing project is late, and the reduced grade will carry over to revisions. For example, if you turn in an A paper a day late, it will be reduced to a B+, and can not be revised to an A. If you turn in the paper on the due date, but after class has ended, it will be considered a day late. If you do not hand in all three major writing projects, you will fail the course.

Reading and Participation
I assume that college students will complete the assigned readings. Coming to class having read the material, will allow you to participate in class discussions and group work. The readings are directly connected to the prewriting and drafting process of the writing projects, so your writing will be strengthened by critically thinking about the rhetoric discussed in the text. If something you read is unclear, ask and we can discuss it in class. In addition, you’ll earn points for participation based on your contribution to discussion.

Homework
I teach writing as a process, and I will guide you through the writing of each essay by working with you every step of the way. If you do all the homework, there’s a high likelihood that you’ll do well in the class. If you don’t do the homework, you won’t do well, and you may fail the course. Late homework is not accepted, however. And missed class work cannot be made up. I will drop one homework/class work grade at the end of term when I average your grades.

Format: Unless specified otherwise, all assignments must be typed, double spaced, Times New Roman 12. Use MLA format for all four major writing projects.

Grievances
If at any point in the semester you have any questions or concerns about your grade or your standing in the class, please come see me. Addressing your questions and concerns is part of my job. You may also contact Dr. Kimberly Harrison (harrisok@fiu.edu), Director of FIU’s Writing and Rhetoric Program, Associate Director Robert Saba (robert.saba@fiu.edu) at MMC, Associate Director Michael Creeden
(creedenm@fiu.edu) at MMC, or Associate Director Cindy Chinelly (chinelly@fiu.edu) at BBC.