Policies

Please read each of the following requirements carefully. Your success in the class depends on our compliance with these terms.

Course Objectives: This course is designed to help you become a successful critical thinker and writer, equipped for the rigors of academic discourse. You will achieve these goals by cultivating active reading skills, developing effective writing habits, and learning to understand and use the many rhetorical techniques available to writers. A broader goal of the course is to prepare you to effectively communicate with those outside of the academy. By the end of the semester, you should be able to

• Read texts critically, noting how a text’s style, structure, and context contribute to its meanings and implications.
• Write well organized, clearly written argumentative essays that are supported by strong evidence and clear explanation, and which employ a rhetoric and tone appropriate to the broader academic audience.
• Research—and integrate—credible and relevant sources that support the thesis of your research project.
• Apply effective drafting and revision techniques to your essays, including improved proofreading skills.
• Format your papers according to Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines.



Required Text:
What’s Language Got to Do with It?, by Keith Walters and Michael Brody
A Writer’s Reference; Sixth Edition, by Diana Hacker

Attendance Policy:
Attendance will be taken at each class meeting. Regular attendance is expected and necessary for success in a skills-based class like English 110A. Make a commitment now to attend class regularly and on time. If you miss six (6) classes you may be dropped from the class. Every two 15-minute tardies will equal one absence. Students who choose to drop must do so officially with Admissions and Records. The last date to drop is Friday, October 24th. Please talk to me if you run into any serious problems that may affect your attendance.

Late Paper Policy:
Papers are due on the due date. Because emergencies happen, you may turn in ONE essay up to one week past the due date without penalty. But any late papers after that will receive a 10% reduction in the grade. Any papers more than a week late will not be graded.



Rewrite Policy:
You may rewrite one essay. The rewrite will be due one week after you receive your grade for the paper. In order to receive credit you must highlight in bold lettering the changes you make in your new draft AND attach the original graded draft to the new draft.

Extra Credit Policy:
There will be opportunities for extra credit: volunteers for the rough draft workshops will receive 5 extra credit points (only once for each volunteer); you may also receive up to 5 extra credit points doing certain assignments at the Writing Center (Rm 213 of Sutherland Hall). You may only receive a total of 10 extra credit points for the semester.

Paper Submission and Typing Policy:
Essays and assignments prepared outside of the class must be neatly typed according to MLA standards (see below for basic guidelines). The essays must also be proofread and edited.

In addition to the final draft of the paper you are turning in, please attach a copy of your rough draft, your first draft of the paper, when the rough draft has been assigned. Without a copy of your rough draft, 10 points will automatically be deducted from the final grade of the paper.

Please keep a copy of all your work and all of your graded work for the semester in case any questions arise. This offers a safety net for both me and you.

Special Accommodations:
If you have an officially recognized disability and need special accommodations, please alert me to any such disability. I will work with you and the Office of Student Disability Services so that you have an equal opportunity to perform in this class.