Mr. Patrick F. Neville
English Department
847-392-4050 x331
pneville@saintviator.com
Availability: After school, Period 1 and by appointment
Syllabus: College Writing 2011 – 2012
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to allow students to pursue a myriad of writing assignments which parallel the types of writing assignments they are likely to receive during their Freshman year at most premiere Universities. The course begins with an emphasis on standard essay formulation, grammatical constructions, stylistic sensibilites, and syntax usages. Grammar, structures, parallelisms, format options, thesis clarity, paragraph connectivities, culminating procedures, and holistic style are all examined/practiced in specific essay assignments. The course then proceeds to allow students to create essays in sundry topic areas of both the Arts and the Sciences. Both texts offer a plethora of academic writings, literary analyses of these writngs by recognized artists, and suggestions for student responses to these textual writings. Students may formulate essays of Narration, Description, Exposition, Illustration, Comparison/Contrsat, Process Analysis, Definition, Argumentation, Persuasion, Literary Analysis, Literary Narration, Literacy Narration, Memoirs, Profiles, Proposals, Reflections, Scholarly Review, Resumes, and Letters of Application.
I. COURSE REQUIREMENTS
A. Texts: Buscemi, Santi V., A Reader for College Writers
Graff, Berkenstein, and Durst, They Say, I Say
II. COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STUDENT OUTCOMES:
A. Students will achieve mastery in the writing skills mandated for successful college writing.
B. Students will effectively integrate their grammatical skills with stylistic creativity to formulate well-structured and well-written essays.
C. Students will comprehend/understand the various formats for and genres of college writing through their textual readings of model essays and the resultant textual analyses of these essays.
D. Students will learn the processes of critical reading, structural analysis, textual evaluation, and literary criticism.
E. Students will compose essays inclusive of structural analysis, textual evaluation, and literary criticism for all the genres of college writing presented in their texts.
III. COURSE EXPECTATIONS
A. Required Material: notebooks, vocabulary pads…
B. Classroom policy: Promptness is required. Class begins at the bell.
Three tardies result in a detention. Avoid all unneeded absences.
C. Homework Policy:
• Neat, complete, accurate work presented at the start of class on due date.
• Assignments can be nightly or over several days.
• Late homework is graded in accordance with English Department guidelines for 2011-12.
• Upon missing a third assignment in a quarter, student can receive an “F” for that quarter.
• All work should be computer-typed.
D. Evaluation and Grading Policy:
• Tests/Homework/Essays . . . are graded on a 100% scale. Grades are determined as predicated in the Agenda.
• Essays are graded for content and structure, i.e. academic content, grammatical structure, stylistic creativity, and thematic insight. Essay work is the primary determinant for assigned grades.
• Points are assigned to quizzes, tests, homework, essays, and discussion. Grades are determined by dividing earned points by the total points possible for the marking period.
• Semester grades are a combination of each quarter percentage (40%) and a cumulative semester exam (20%).
English Department Late Work Policy
• If you are in the building the day an assignment is due, you must turn it in by the start of class, regardless of whether you attend class.
• Late work will be scored according to the following scale:
• Up to 1 day late: 25% deduction
• 2 days late: 50% deduction
• More than 2 days late: no credit
F. Assignments:
• Quizzes: Review of previous day’s classwork and of previous night’s homework.
• Tests: Synthesis of daily quizzes plus individual tests on sundry works read in our texts.
• Mid-Term Test: Compilation of quarter’s work plus any extraneous assignments added during the quarter.
• Semester Exam: Comprehensive overview of the semester’s work . . . objective and essay format.
• Daily Student Report: Varying research and sundry biographical information presented to the class by selected students on tangential concepts as they emerge through classroom discussions and reviews.
• Essays: Approximately two per month: Essay work is the primary determinant of the students’ grades. These essays can be those on tests, on in-class prompts, and on assigned 250-550 word out-of-class analyses.
F. Participation:
• Discussion grade is integral to course success and a significant part of the overall grade.
• A discussion grade is assigned once per quarter.
G. Attendance and absence
• Since so much of the class dynamic and so much of the academic progress is determined by our classroom work, discussions, and interactions, absences can predicate a loss of consistency of topic understanding and thematic grasp; hence, all absences are significant. See Course Expectations, classroom policy bullet.
I Student/Teacher Communication
• When sending me an email please cc your parents.
• I will respond within one school day to your email.
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