Materials/General Information

In this course, you will learn how to develop good, academic essays. You will practice expressing your ideas in writing. As a class we will proceed together through the writing process of brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, and re-writing. You will receive feedback from peer reviews and from your teacher--in an individual student/teacher conference and from comments on drafts of your essays.

We will study the following skills:

	pre-writing;
	formatting an essay on a computer;
	capitalization, punctuation, spelling;
	using transitions;
	writing a thesis statement and topic sentences;
	writing introductory and concluding paragraphs;
	revising, using correction symbols;
	rhetorical patterns: cause/effect and argumentation;
	using a "hook" to get the reader interested;
	paragraph unity, coherence, and supporting details;
	using examples to support essay;
	giving and using feedback;
	differentiating fact from opinion;
	writing under pressure (timed, in-class writing)

Class Objectives

By the end of the term, you should be able to:

	write a well-developed essay of at least two typed pages;
	observe the rules of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and formatting expected in academic writing;
	write effect introductory (including a hook) and concluding (including a summary) paragraphs;
	use correction suggestions from peers and instructor to revise essays;
	use transitions and coordinating/subordinating words to produce cohesive and coherent essays;
	use a computer to produce typed final drafts for each essay;
	use Nicenet discussions to express yourself in writing via public journals;
	use Level 3 grammatical structures correctly in written assignments.

Grades

Grades will be based on participation/performance in the following areas:

	In-class and out-of-class essays 2 out-of-class essays [25%] 3 in-class essays [25%]
	Assignments/Participation [20%]

	PARTICIPATION: This means coming to class on time, asking questions if you don't understand something, listening, participating in class discussions, and giving feedback to peers.
	HOMEWORK: You will have various homework assignments which are due at the beginning of the next class.
	LATE OR MISSED ASSIGNMENTS: I do not accept late homework. If you miss a quiz or an in-class writing, you cannot make it up. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to ask a classmate about the work you missed; you will still be responsible for the information you missed if it appears on an exam or a later assignment.

	Public journals [10%]
	Final exam [20%]
	Attendance

	If you are more than 10 minutes late, you will be marked absent. However, please come to class even if you are late.
	There are no excused absences.
	Missing 3 classes will result in your final grade being lowered 10 percentage points.
	Missing 6 classes may result in your failing the course.
	If you miss class, you are responsible for all the information covered in class. Please get the telephone number or e-mail address of a classmate who is dependable. You will have to rely on him/her to give you information if you are absent.

Note: No student can pass this course without getting a passing grade on both organization and grammar appropriate to this level on an in-class essay.

This class is graded A - F.

Percent	Letter Grade
97-100%	A +	PASSING
93-96%	A
90-92%	A -
87-89%	B +
83-86%	B
80-82%	B -
77-79%	C +
73-76%	C
70-72%	C -
67-69%	D+	NOT PASSING
63-66%	D
60-62%	D -
0-59%	F

 

Send mail to davisg@pdx.edu with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2003 Gregry M. Davis Last modified: June 27, 2001