Course Syllabus

English 1000Fall 2009Instructor: Mr. Bill Devinebdevine@taft.org661-763-7883Office: Mod G, 5B

This class has no prerequisite, but the successful completion of English 55 is recommended.

Learning College: This course is designed to emphasize student learning. It will help students get their ideas down on paper, develop their own voice as a writer, and define the world as they see it. The main emphasis is to improve student’s writing skills in preparation for the Composition course, English 1A. The writing and grammar assignments are opportunities for students to improve and show their abilities. The instructor’s role is to facilitate this learning process in a positive classroom environment, so each student can reach the next level of written communication and become more successful in all of their college classes.

Course Description: This is a college preparatory course for those students whose placement test scores indicate a need for a review of the mechanics of written composition: sentence structure, punctuation, vocabulary, and spelling. This course includes intensive training in paragraph and essay writing, reading for understanding, and learning the grammatical aspects of the English language. Students must pass this course to graduate from Taft College. For this reason, it represents the writing standards for the college, and students who pass this class must be expected to have achieved a minimum level of competency in writing.

Textbook and Required Materials:Sentences, Paragraphs, and Beyond, 5th edition, written by Lee Brandon and Kelly Brandon (available in the TC bookstore).

Students must have access to a computer for writing assignments required outside of class.

Suggested Texts and MaterialsRoget’s Thesaurus (available on the Internet) is an enriching source for finding the right word.A dictionary (available on the Internet) can be helpful to verify the meanings of words and to check spelling if a spell-checker is not an option or if the spell-checker’s ability to nuance the correct word is in doubt.A computer disk is useful for storing work done on computers (available in the student bookstore).

Grading System:The in-class essays, the out of class essays, and the tests, quizzes, and assignments for submission will have points allotted to them. There will be some points earned through group work in class. The points you earn will be divided by the points possible to arrive at a percentage score, which is converted to a standard letter grade.

Attendance: Since your grade depends mostly on writing, tests, and work done in class, it would be wise to attend every class. I reserve the right to drop students after the third no-show of the semester. Communicate your situation with me if you have a problem, but don’t let attendance get in the way of your being successful in college. As for me, I will be missing certain days this semester due to conferences and seminars, but there will be substitutes to facilitate class on those days. No, students cannot provide substitutes for themselves.

Plagiarism:Every year students try to cheat, and every year they get caught. All your work must be your own. Turning in work you did not create from your own intellect, or that you did not credit to the person who wrote it, is cheating, and it is also called plagiarism. If you ever want to use the words of someone else within your own paper, just put quotes around those words and put their name in parentheses after the quote with the page number you “copied it from” (Devine 2). Plagiarism results in zero points for that assignment, even if you just plagiarized some of the essay or assignment from someone else. I have the option of reporting cheating to the Dean of Instruction.

Practical Information:All out of class essays must be double-spaced, size 12 font, with Ariel or

Times New Roman type. Make sure I know which topic you are writing on (even if I didn’t give you a choice) and do remember to put your name and my name on the work, so it can be recovered if misplaced, and there will be no mistakes in recording grades.

Disabilities:I worked with people with disabilities as a full-time job for ten years in Student Support Services. I was a learning disability technician, testing students for most of those ten years. I am enthusiastic in regard to making the recommended accommodations for people with physical disabilities and learning disabilities to create a level playing field and an optimum learning experience for all people. Please don’t hesitate to inform me if you have a card from Student Support Services that allows you certain accommodations. I will gladly make every reasonable effort to meet your needs.

Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 11-12 and 5-6.

I’m looking forward to a great semester with all of

you!

Bill Devine