Composing Through Literature
English 106, Fall 2009
CRN: 19303
Instructor: Katie Connor
Email: kconnor@purdue.edu
Meeting Time: 7:30-8:20am
Classrooms: Monday – WTHR 214 / Tuesday – HEAV 104 / Thursday – HEAV 104
Conferences: Wednesday or Friday HEAV 225
Office: HEAV 442
Office Hours: 8:30-9:30am Tuesdays, or by appointment
Course Objectives:
In this course, you will gain critical insight into some of the major social inequalities of the United States and abroad. We will read creative and journalistic approaches to the issues of race, ethnicity, and class, ranging from a comic book on Nazi Germany to a novel on Apartheid South Africa to a documentary on Hurricane Katrina. You will have the opportunity to examine the ways in which these problems have been created, historically addressed, and explore possible solutions.
Through interviews, library research, documentary filmmaking, and course readings, the assignments will challenge you to define your own written voice and form a well-researched, successful argument. These will prepare you not only for the types of writing, reading, research, and organizational skills that you will be expected to accomplish in your college classes, but also prepare you to engage in social discourse beyond Purdue.
You will be expected to draft and revise each assignment before it is due, and bring and discuss these revisions in both class and conferences. You will also be expected to participate actively in class discussions and peer reviews. Active and meaningful participation requires completion of all readings by the day they are to be discussed, including those given in addition to the required texts, including photocopies, PDFs or web sites. For your assignments, you will also be expected to do research and provide a works cited page where appropriate. Above all, you are encouraged to delve into this course with a eagerness to think critically and voice thoughtful opinions on a series of complex social issues.
Required Texts: Note that it is very important to bring these specific editions to class, so that we can all refer to the same page numbers in class.
All texts are available at Von’s, 317 W State St, West Lafayette, IN 47906 (765) 743-1974
2. utopian research essay, 20% including:1) Prospectus (5%) Due Monday, Sept. 8th; 2) Rough Draft (5%) Due Friday, Sept. 18th; 3) Final Draft (10%) Due Monday, Sept. 28th
3. Outsider Paper: 1) Rough Draft (5%) Due Tuesday, Nov. 10th (upload to blogs); 2) Final Draft (15%) Due Monday, Nov. 23rd in class.
4. Documentary: 20% Due Monday, Dec. 7th in class.
5. Final Reflective Paper and QTPC portfolio: 20% Due Friday, Dec. 18th outside my office.
*For the purpose of flexibility, all dates and percentage values subject to change.
Course Requirements*
1. Participation: 20% In order to achieve a high participation grade, you must be prepared for class and conferences, arrive on time, and actively engage in discussion. Please note the days in which there is a “QTPC” written on the calendar. On those days, you are expected to post your QTPC to your blog before class, and bring a copy/notes in order to share with the class. Your comments in class, whether part of QTPC or general discussion, should be thoughtful and make connections to the reading. A final QTPC reflective paper is due. On days when there is no QTPC assigned, there may be a quiz, which also counts towards your participation grade.
2. Research Paper, 20% including: Prospectus: 5% Due September Rough Draft: 5% Due September Final Draft: 10% Due September
3. “Other” Paper: 15% Due
4. Documentary: 15% Due
5. “Muckraking” Research Narrative: 15% Due
6. Final Reflective Paper and QTPC portfolio: 15% Due
*For the purpose of flexibility, all dates and percentage values subject to change.
Grade Criteria: 90-100 (A) The student completed the assignment at a very high level of quality, which reflects originality, creativity and research. Work in this range goes the extra mile to be well organized, complete, and original or creative in content, approach and style.
80-89 (B) The student completed the assignment at a high level of quality. Work in this range is complete, well organized and demonstrates both effective style and research. Minor revisions may be needed.
70-79 (C) The student completed the assignment in a complete and well organized manner. Work in this range may need revision and/or more depth. The style, verbal and visual, is clear and straightforward, but unremarkable.
60-69 (D) The student completed the assignment at a low level of quality, or did not complete the assignment, but shows some level of quality. Work in this range needs significant revision, is often missing content or lacking organization. Style is often chaotic.
0-59 (F) The student did not turn in the assignment, or made no or almost no effort to complete the assignment. This grade is usually reserved for those who don’t come to class/conferences, or don’t do the work. If you feel you gave an assignment your best effort and still received an F, you might consider dropping this class.
Grade Scale: Letter Grade Percentage Grade Point
A 93-100% 4.0
A- 90-92% 3.7
B+ 87-89% 3.3
B 83-86% 3.0
B- 80-82% 2.7
C+ 77-79% 2.3
C 73-76% 2.0
C- 70-72% 1.7
D+ 67-69% 1.3
D 63-66% 1.0
Attendance and Participation: During many class meetings you will complete work for credit that will demonstrate your understanding of the concepts discussed in class. Each of these tasks, be it a QTPC, a quiz, writing exercise, or group assignment, will count toward your final daily work grade. Because this work will be tied to daily lessons that will build on each other, it will be impossible for you to keep up with course work if you are absent from class, or if you are frequently arriving late to class. However, I understand that occasionally illness, family emergencies, or other personal situations arise, making attendance and punctuality impossible. To leave room for these contingencies, I allow four absences (I make no distinctions between excused and unexcused) before dropping your grade one letter for each absence. A missed conference counts as an absence.
Please do not explain why you are absent – that is your business – but any absences exceeding four will not be excused from the policy unless you receive a note from your Dean. Please do not ask me what you missed in class – this is what your buddy is for. If you are late to class three times (more than five minutes late), I will count your tardiness as an absence.
If you anticipate an absence in advance, please see me and work with your buddy so you can plan ahead to make up the work that you will miss. Know that I frequently see a direct correlation between attendance and participation and students’ final grades in this course.
Attendance Extra Credit: If you have no absences or tardies for the entire semester, including conferences, you will receive extra credit of 2.5%.
Late Papers: First off, I will not remind you to turn in late papers, nor will I chase them down from you. A paper is late if it is not handed in by the time listed on the assignment sheet. If it is not, the paper immediately loses one letter grade. For each 24 hour period after that, the paper will automatically lose one further letter grade. I will not accept a paper more than 3 days after it is due. For example: Paper ‘X’ is due on Monday the 3rd. By the start of class on Tuesday the 4th, the highest grade the paper can receive is an 89. Wednesday the 5th, 79, Thursday the 6th, 69. By Friday the 7th, the paper will no longer be accepted, and you will receive a 0 for that assignment.
Grammar and Spelling: This is not a grammar class, but you are expected to know basic rules of grammar. You will be marked down for grammar and spelling mistakes in your papers. Being a “bad speller” or “bad at grammar” are not acceptable excuses. If you feel you need help with your grammar, please arrange to meet with me during office hours and/or go to the Purdue Writing Lab for help.
Disabilities: Students with disabilities must be registered with Disability Resource Center in the Office of the Dean of Students before classroom accommodations can be provided. If you are eligible for academic accommodations because you have a documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please schedule an appointment with me as soon as possible to discuss your needs.
Please check this website (http://106teach.wordpress.com), Blackboard, email me at kconnor@purdue.edu to get information about changes in this course.
Professionalism in the Classroom: You are expected to act professionally at all times. I will not tolerate harassing, threatening or belittling behavior in the classroom. While we may at times engage in spirited discussions, I ask that you keep it civil and respectfully listen to the views of everyone. All cell phones, iPods, and other MP3 players should be off and inside a bag when class starts. You shouldn’t be reading newspapers, books for other classes (or even last night’s readings for this class) during the class period. Above all, you are expected to listen while your peers and instructor are speaking. You will get one warning, and after that, be asked to leave the room. If a recurring problem develops, you may be asked to leave the class entirely or failed. On technology days, or if you plan to use a computer to take notes, please remember that this is not a time to email, IM, or check your facebook page. You will have work to do and be expected to participate in class, and any distractions will negatively impact your Participation grade.
No Pshhawing: In order to maintain the classroom as a safe space, where everyone feels comfortable expressing his or her ideas, opinions, and body of knowledge, it is important not to dismiss anyone with comments, snickering, or pshhawing.
Academic Ethics
The Office of the Dean of Students provides the following information on plagiarism:
Plagiarism is a special kind of academic dishonesty in which one person steals another person’s ideas or words and falsely presents them as the plagiarist’s own product. This is most likely to occur in the following ways:
- using the exact language of someone else without the use of quotation marks and without giving proper credit to the author
- presenting the sequence of ideas or arranging the material of someone else even though such is expressed in one’s own words, without giving appropriate acknowledgment
- submitting a document written by someone else but representing it as one’s own
In order that I may accurately assess your work, it is essential that you carefully avoid plagiarism. We will spend a great deal of time in this course learning to find, use and cite sources. If you are ever uncertain about the proper use or citation or another writer’s words or ideas, please seek clarification from me or a tutor in the Writing Lab. Plagiarism may result in failure of an assignment, the entire course, or disciplinary action from the Dean of Students.
Campus Emergency: In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines and grading percentages are subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances. Here are ways to get information about changes in this course: the course website http://www.106teach.purdue.edu and email address kconnor@purdue.edu.
Resources
Purdue Writing Lab, Heav 226 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Purdue University Libraries http://www.lib.purdue.edu/
The Digital Learning Collaboratory http://dlc.purdue.edu/
Office of the Dean of Students http://www.purdue.edu/ODOS/
Counseling and Psychological Services http://www.purdue.edu/CAPS/
Quote of the Day: On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when we have our traditional classroom, you will be given a Quote of the Day.
Final Notes: This will be a stimulating yet demanding, and at times, difficult class. There will be a heavy reading load and frequent assignments. In addition to the above resources, please remember that I am here to help you during class, conferences, office hours, by appointment and over email. Include ENGL 106 in the subject line of all emails, and don’t expect a response in less than 12 hours. Also remember to check your email for updates and the course website for readings.
