Mrs. Sarah Kiewitz, Associate Professor
Fall 2005

Office Hours:  2-3 PM daily and by appointment
Office Number: 1-337

E-mail:  sarah.kiewitz@sinclair.edu
Phone:  937-512-2591

Syllabus

English Composition I—Honors with Service Learning

Course Description

English 111 is an introductory, university-parallel writing course. This course emphasizes the writing process, which includes prewriting, drafting, revision, editing, and audience awareness. Students will control theme and thesis development through reflective, informational, and argumentative writing based primarily on their own experience. Critical reading skills are also emphasized.

Course Objectives
The overall objective of English 111 is to empower students with the confidence to: write effectively and correctly for a variety of audiences; experience writing as a way of thinking and as a way of producing new knowledge; understand writing as a process of rewriting and revising; and use the basic vocabulary of critical thinking. 

More specifically, it develops a student’s ability to:

1.  Use a variety of invention strategies to develop a final draft through a series of working drafts.

2.  Perform “deep revision” on drafts, not merely recopy or correct surface errors.

3.  Generate a controlling idea, support it with convincing evidence, and arrange the evidence so it is  logical, coherent, and persuasive.

Required Course Text

Alxelrod & Cooper.  The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, 7^th ed.

            Boston:  Bedford/St. Martin’s.  2004. 

Please bring the text to each class meeting.  Bring loose-leaf paper for in-class writing, paper preparation work, materials of your choice for note taking, and a blue book for the final exam. 

English Department Grading Scale

A   =   93 –100                                   D   =   68 – 74

B   =   86 – 92                                    F   =    67 and below

C   =   75 – 85

Course Theme:  Making a Difference

Lately, the political climate has encouraged a focus on differences, with polarized sides— Environmentalists, Liberals, Evangelicals, Gays and Lesbians, Conservatives, Muslims, etc.— consuming different news and entertainment and often living in different regions.  Lack of experience with other groups may amplify perceived differences and the strength of in-group opinions.

The most obvious question that emerges from these divisions is which groups are right? This course is NOT concerned with who is right.  This question concerns people most of the time, they already feel they have the answer, and convincing others is difficult (if not impossible) because they think they have it too. Instead, the question is about difference itself.  Are the various groups really as different as we think they are?

To answer this question, we need exposure to difference—different people, different products, different places.  Each of the assignments listed below require that exposure, and service learning makes sure we experience it beyond the everyday difference around us at work and school.

Service is also often done across the lines of difference—differences of class, age, health, race, opinions, and more.  We may further define our differences by the people we encounter in service and other situations.  We may also discover commonalities that transcend these differences.  Service will help us answer the question of difference as well as the question of making a difference.  Do we? For whom? What kind?

Essay Overview

Essay #1—Personal Narration Essay—East and West Dayton

Length:  2-3 pages

Weight:  15%

Chapter:  SM (2) 25-82

Description:  For this essay, you will use material from your life experiences with African-American, Latino, and Appalachian cultures and observations you have traveling down East and West Third St. by bus or car. You may also compare what you see with images of Dayton in the past and images and ideas of where you live in the Dayton area.  Do you consider yourself a Daytonian?  What do you think of Dayton? Does what you see affect your opinion?

Essay #2—Profile

Length: 3 pages

Weight:  15%

Chapters:  SM (3) 83-136

Description:  Choose a person who is substantially different from you (age, race, sex, religion, class, etc.) who you do not know well and compare your life experiences.  It is best to choose a person who is different from you in several ways and that you choose an era or common experience to center your discussions (for example, reactions to 911, or childhood school memories, etc.). The bulk of the paper should profile the person, but your thesis/conclusion may reference your similarities and differences. 

Essay #3—Evaluation

Length: 3 pages

Weight: 25%

Chapter:  SM (8) 391-448

Description:  Choose a something to review (a book, movie, restaurant, sporting event, etc.) but you must not be the target audience for the product (NASCAR, Ebony Magazine, Playboy, a different denomination’s church service, etc.). Decide on an overarching thesis that captures your judgment for the item as a whole and topics which cause that evaluation. For example, a movie can be broken down into several topics:  lighting, acting, cinematography, script, special effects, etc.  While each part may be better or worse than the others, you may give in an overall positive or negative evaluation as a thesis. One part you must consider is the intended audience for the product and explore both the product’s, and your own assumptions about that group.  

Essay #4—Position

Length: 3 pages

Weight: 25%

Chapter:  SM (6) 261-328

Description:  Choose an issue that relates to your service learning project and the course theme of exploring differences (urban sprawl, service, education, child poverty, etc.)  Avoid national or international issues about which you would need too much research to support your point well.  Decide on a should statement which will serve as your working thesis—an opinion you have about how something could be handled better with regard to your issue. Devise a series of reasons or because statements for why you feel the way you do, and then find evidence from the world around you (required content:  your service learning experience) to support your case.  You will also need two sources, though the majority of the paper needs to come from your own experiences/ideas. You must also address opposing views.

Presentation/In-class Essay/Debate
Content TBA depending on class preferences

Course Policies

All students must complete 8-10 hours of service learning as a course requirement.  Service learning must occur in a community different from your own or with a population served that is different from your background. Most students will do after-school tutoring, but other options are available for students with special skills (doing web site maintenance for a community center, for example.) or who do not want to take a required background check. (Additional information about service learning given in class). 

All essays must be typed, double-spaced, in a normal (10-12 characters per inch) font, and 1 inch margins following MLA paper format. 

All essays are due on the announced due date. Essays turned in after that point will be considered late.  Late essays will lose 1/3 letter grade per day. 

If you know in advance that you will have difficulty completing an essay on time, see me by the class period before the due date and we will arrange an extension for you. Violating the agreed upon extension will also result in a late paper penalty (see above).

No more than 4 absences are permitted during the quarter. Students with 5 absences may receive a grade reduction in addition to the participation points lost.  If you have any difficulties attending during the quarter, please keep in contact with me.  

You may choose to revise your papers.  Revisions are due on or before the next essay’s due date.  You must use Track Changes in MS Word and re-submit the first, marked essay for credit on a revision.

Rough drafts may be handwritten, but first drafts should be typed for easier reading for others, to gauge appropriate length, and to demonstrate further progress toward the final draft.

Week 1

T 9/6   Course & Theme Overview

R 9/8   Learn about Service Learning Project; Read/Writing Process                                       SM 25-49

Week 2

T 9/13 Tutoring Training (my.sinclair writing process/invention assignment)                             SM 569-581

R 9/15 Tutoring Training (my.sinclair thesis statement assignment)

Week 3

T 9/20 Rough Draft Essay #1 Due; Organizing Personal Narration Essays

R 9/22 First Draft of Essay #1 Due

Remaining Day-to-day Syllabus TBA