English 0310

Course Policies and Syllabus

UTEP Fall 2009 English 0310 Syllabus

Instructor:_________________________________       Office phone #: ____________________

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Class Member: _______________________Phone #: ___________ E-mail: _________________

TEXTS AND MATERIALS

Reading Across The Disciplines custom edition by Kathleen T. McWhorter

Novel

Dictionary (recent copyright)

8 ½” X 11” (or 10 ½”) standard ruled notebook paper

Additional Materials:

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            ________________________________________________________________________

COURSE DESCRIPTION

ENGLISH 0310 will introduce students to effective reading habits for meaningful application to a variety of texts.  The reading habits for success in college level course work will be strongly stressed.  The course emphasizes the development of vocabulary, comprehension techniques, critical analysis, and written responses to various types of reading materials.

1. Working with a variety of texts, students will learn to apply effective reading strategies at all levels of the reading process.  Moreover, students will learn to recognize and apply appropriate reading techniques for reading across the disciplines as well as nonacademic reading.   

2.   Using the various stages of the writing process—prewriting, drafting, revising, editing,

and proofreading—students will compose paragraphs, summaries and essays to understand how to construct meaning in a text.

      3.   Students will respond to readings and practice expressive writing through journal entries.

COURSE POLICIES

1.  Computers

      A.  All major papers written outside of class must be word-processed.

      B.  Students must get a UTEP e-mail account.

      2.  Attendance

A.      Satisfactory attendance is a course requirement.  For the purpose of this course, satisfactory and unsatisfactory are respectively defined:

      * The student must come to class prepared.  Assigned texts should be brought to             class and out-of-class assignments should already be prepared.  In class, students         are expected be alert, attentive, and focused on the subject at hand.  If a student’s       preparation is unsatisfactory, his/her attendance will be considered unsatisfactory. 

* The student must be present in the classroom throughout the entire class period.  Excessive tardiness or leaving the classroom early will be considered unsatisfactory attendance.                 

B.     In a MWF class, a student is allowed five absences, and in a TR or MW class, a student is allowed three absences.  When a student has accumulated six instances of unsatisfactory attendance in a MWF class or four in a TR or MW class, he/she will be dropped with a “W’ if the infractions occur prior to the official drop deadline   (October 30).  However, if the unsatisfactory attendance instances happen after October 30, the student will fail the course.     

3.  Deadlines

A.      All assignments are due at the beginning of the class period.  All major papers and exams completed late will be penalized a letter grade for each class day the exam or assignment is late.  Instructors are not obliged to accept late daily work. 

B.     Students who are unable to attend class are responsible for acquiring class notes and completing make-up assignments prior to the next class meeting. 

            4.  Academic Integrity

A.      Plagiarism (stealing someone else’s ideas or writing) or any other type of academic

dishonesty will not be tolerated. 

B.   Cases of plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Students.

5.  Please observe classroom etiquette

A.      Turn off cell phones. 

B.     Arrive to class on time in order to prevent class disruption.

C.     Do not talk when someone else is speaking.

6.  Grading

A.      The student’s final grade will be determined by his/her performance in the following areas:

            10%       One Summary Paragraph

            10%       One Reading Analysis Paragraph

            10%       Novel Assignment (Evaluation is at the discretion of the instructor)

20%       Reader Response Essay

10%       Reflection Journals

10%       Reading Journals

            20%       Daily work (journal, exercises, quizzes)

            10%       Final Examination

1.  To earn a passing grade (“A,” “B,” or “C”) students must have completed all

exams, paragraphs, and essays and achieved an average of 70% or better for the course.

2.  Students who have not met the course requirements or have not earned an                        average of 70% or better for the complete course will need to retake ENGL

      0310.

IMPORTANT DATES

August 24                First day of classes

September 7           Labor Day - NO CLASSES

September 9           Census Day-Classes dropped by this day are deleted from record

October 14              Freshman midterm grades e-mailed to Freshman students

October 30              Course Drop Deadline, last day to drop a class with an automatic “W”

November 26 - 27   Thanksgiving Holiday – NO CLASSES

December 3            Last day of classes

December 4            Dead Day – NO CLASSES

December 7 - 11     FINAL EXAMS

December 8            English 0310 Final Exam, 7:00 am to 9:45 am

DISABILITY STATEMENT

            If a student has or suspects a disability and needs an accommodation, he/she should contact the Disabled Student Services Office (DSSO) at 747-5148 or at dss@utep.edu or go to Room 106 Union East Building.  The student is responsible for presenting to the instructor any DSS accommodation letters and instructions.

DESCRIPTION OF MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS AND JOURNALS

1.  Summary

It is fundamental to academic experience to be able to summarize information.  Students may be asked to summarize a lab report, a movie, an article, or a chapter.  Summarizing consists of two important skills: (1) identifying the important material in the text and (2) restating the text in the reader's own words.  Since writing a summary consists of omitting minor information, it will always be shorter than the original text. 

2.  Reading Analysis

Also important for academic success is the ability to identify and classify specific information from a text. In reading analysis paragraphs, students will be asked to extract information from a text and paraphrase it in a well-developed paragraph.

3.  Reader Response

A reader response asks the reader to examine, explain, and defend her/his personal reaction to a reading.  Students will be asked to explore why they like or dislike the reading, explain whether they agree or disagree with the author, identify the reading’s purpose, and critique the text.  There is no right or wrong answer to a reader response.  Nonetheless, it is important that students demonstrate an understanding of the reading and clearly explain and support their reactions.

4.  Journal Entries

Keeping a journal helps clarify ideas and improve the fluency of writing.  Though different teachers will have their own grading standards, in most cases, they do not edit spelling or grammar errors when evaluating journals.  Instead, a student’s journal entry will be evaluated on dedication and engagement.  Journal entries can consist of reflections, summaries, analyses, responses, reflections, syntheses, or refutations.

Calendar

Instructor reserves the right to modify calendar to meet the needs of the class or learning community.

OW 8/09

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