TEACHERS SAMPLE ENGL1101 SYLLABUS
FALL 2005
TUESDAY/THURSDAY
8/3/05
Required Course Materials:
Motives for Writing, 5th ed., Miller (MW)
The St. Martin’s Handbook, 5th ed., ed. Lunsford and
Connors (SMH)
First-year Composition at UGA, 2005-2006
Goals: In English 1101 students will learn to write
papers in and out of class using processes that include
discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that
material, and revising, editing, and polishing the
finished paper; think critically so that they can
recognize the difference between opinion and
evidence and so that they can support an intelligent,
challenging thesis; address papers to a range of
audiences; understand the collaborative and social
aspects of the writing process and demonstrate an
ability to critique the writing of themselves and
others; develop a sense of voice appropriate to the
subject, the writer's purpose, the context, and the
reader's expectations; understand how genres shape
reading and writing and produce writing in several
genres; compose unified, coherent paragraphs that
develop topic sentences with detailed support; follow
the conventions of standard edited English and MLA
documentation.
Course Requirements: Students will write a
minimum of four essays (approximately 1,000-1,500
words). Teachers may choose to substitute for one
out-of-class essay an in-class essay of approximately
500-1,000 words long. In addition to writing papers
and doing other work, all students will create a Final
Writing Portfolio that counts approximately as onethird of their final grade. The Portfolio will include:
• a biography of the portfolio author and, if
desired, a picture of the writer or other
relevant image;
• an Introductory Reflective Essay that
presents a significant "thesis" to be
supported by the individual writing exhibits;
• two of the four essays written for the class -revised, edited, and polished as final
products for the portfolio;
• one example of writing that demonstrates
and discusses the student's revision process;
• one example that demonstrates and discusses
the student's contribution to peer review;
• one "wild card" submission chosen by the
student.
Specific Course Requirements. Other requirements
for grading purposes will vary according to instructor.
Grading Policy: The portfolio will count as 30% of
the final grade. Papers 1-4 will count for a minimum
of 50% of the final grade. The weight given to
individual papers and other assignments will vary
according to instructor.
Absence Policy: Because writing skills develop
slowly over time, students’ regular attendance is
essential in First-year Composition. As stated in
First-year Composition at UGA, on the fifth absence
(MWF classes) or the fourth absence (TTH classes),
no matter what the reason, students can expect to be
dropped either with a W or a WF before the midpoint
of the semester and with a WF after midpoint.
Make-up Policy: Policy regarding late drafts, papers,
or other work and policy regarding make-up quizzes
and exams vary according to instructor.
Writing Center (Park Hall 66) and the <emma>
Computer Lab (Park Hall 117): All First-year
Composition students are eligible for free tutorial
services in the Writing Center. All First-year
Composition students are also eligible to use the
<emma> Computer Lab during all open hours.
Academic Honesty: The policy regarding Academic
Honesty in First-year Composition can be found in
First-year Composition at UGA. Further information
about the “UGA Academic Honesty Policy” can be
found at the web site of the Office of the Vice
President for Instruction: <http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/>
Access Policy: Students with special needs are
invited and encouraged to discuss them with the
instructor.
DAILY SYLLABUS
WEEK 1
Aug 18 Introduction to the course
DIAGNOSTIC ESSAY (twenty minute in-class
writing to double check placement). Please use the
writing prompt and instructions provided by the Firstyear Composition Office.
Student Questionnaires
Student Interviews
Tonight:
Read: First-year Composition at UGA. MW (1-7) &
(47-54), “Levi’s” (55-59), “Count Me Out of the
Hard Labor, Please” (77-79), and “I Dated Rick
Marin” (79-81).
Write: A one-paragraph introduction to your
interview partner from today. Students will read this
paragraph to the class tomorrow and introduce their
partners. They will also turn in this paragraph to the
instructor (Journal 1). Describe the context of
Schiel’s essay. What is the climate of the essay–that
is, what is happening in the world of the writer and
her audience? What might be the relevant “political,
economic, and social events taking place” (Miller 6)
in the era that may have had an impact on the way
Schiel wrote the essay? (Journal 2)
Read/Review: SMH Chapter 40, “Sentence
Fragments” (678-82)
WEEK 2
PORTFOLIO WORK: Students should upload an
initial draft of their biographies and an image to
<emma> during Week 2
Aug 23 Introduction to the Portfolio (handout).
DIAGNOSTIC GRAMMAR QUIZ (optional)
Student interviews presented to class. Quiz on Firstyear Composition at UGA
Discuss MW readings and share journal responses
Tonight:
Read: MW “Grub” (60-65) and SMH “Considering
the processes of reading” (35-38) and “Focusing on
your audience” (49-53)
Write: Describe Sanders’s implied audience in
“Grub.” What sort of person is this essay meant to
appeal to? What words, phrases, ideas, or
observations in Sanders’s essay lead you to your
conclusions about his intended audience? (Journal 3)
Read/Review: SMH Chapter 34, “Subject-Verb
Agreement” (636-44)
Aug 25 Discuss readings and share journals.
Tonight:
Read: MW and “Lavender”(87-95) and “The
Meanings of a Word” (66-70) “Living Like Weasels”
(82-86) and SMH “Deciding on your purposes” (4647)
Write: Describe Aciman or Naylor’s purpose. What
is the author trying to convince, persuade, or inform
readers about? (Journal 4)Using any writing or
pictorial technology, from pencil to Photoshop, create
a visual emblem of Dillard’s idea of nature. (Journal
5)
Read/Review: SMH Chapter 39, “Comma
Splices/Fused Sentences” (671-77), Chapter 35,
“Pronoun Antecedent Agreement” (645-49).
WEEK 3
PLAGIARISM INFORMATION: Students
should complete the “Plagiarism Tutorial” on the
SMH Website and be quizzed over the results
during Week 3.
Aug 30 Discuss readings and share journals.
In-class writing: have students exchange printed out
or original images and write the “text” for one
another’s visual emblems.
Distribute first paper topics.
Tonight:
Read: MW “If You Are What you Eat, Then What
Am I?” (640-649) and “The Learning Curve” (58493)
Write: (Journal 6)
Read/Review: SMH Chapter 51, “Apostrophes” (76570)
Sep 1 Discuss readings. In-class writing.
Tonight:
Read: MW “Preparing to Write” (7-21), “Drafting”
(22-27), and SMH “Considering the processes of
writing” (32-34) and “Exploring a Topic” (58-62),
Chapter 2, “Considering Rhetorical Situation” (4356), Chapter 3, “Exploring, Planning, and Drafting”
(62-82).
Write: Answer the first six questions in the bulleted
list on page 34 in the SMH (Journal 7); prewriting/free-writing for Paper 1 (Journal 8) Draft
Paper 1 <emma>
WEEK 4
Sep 5 - LABOR DAY HOLIDAY
Sep 6 Draft 1 of Paper 1 due (teacher should
check these)
Discuss “Peer Reviewing”— workshop theses
Tonight:
Read: MW “Revising” and “Peer Review” (27-37),
SMH “Developing Paragraphs Fully” (128-129) and
Chapter 11, “Thinking Critically” (236-55)
Write: Draft/revise Paper 1 + Peer Review. <emma>
Sep 8
Draft 2 of Paper 1 due
Peer Revision Exercises <emma>
Tonight:
Read: MW “Editing” (30-31), SMH Chapter 4
“Reviewing, Revising, and Editing”
Write: Draft/revise Paper 1
WEEK 5
Sep 13 PAPER 1 DUE (have 5 or 6 students read
papers). First Reflective Post-write on Paper #1
Composing/Revision Workshop on One Journal
Entry.
Tonight:
Read: MW “Writing to Report Information” (97-106)
and “As Freezing Persons Recollect the Snow” (107-
116)
Write: Because Stark does not provide footnotes or
cite sources within his essay, we have no easy way to
trace or check the accuracy of his information. The
information seems believable, but should we trust
him? Imagine that you are a fact checker for the
magazine where this article was originally published
(Outside); where would you find sources for this kind
of information? Identify two factual statements in
Stark’s essay and attempt to corroborate the
information. Report your findings and sources as if
you were a fact checker reporting in to your editor.
(Journal 9)
Sep 15 Discuss readings and share journals
Tonight:
Read: MW “Jefferson and the Environment” (117124), MW “The Best Job in Town” (155-172) and
“Unchartered Territory” (136-147) and SMH
“Incorporating logical appeals” (272-279),
“Organizing verbal and visual information” (65-70),
and “Using visuals in an argument” (283-286),
“Understanding different kinds of sources” (318321).
Write: Argument Markup exercise. <emma>
Find and identify at least three examples of
information/evidence used by Ling and three
examples of information/evidence used by Kolbert.
Do the authors cite their sources? Is the information
accurate, relevant, and complete? Which type of
evidence is most convincing to you? Why? (Journal
10). What purpose to the visuals serve in Boo’s
argument? What kinds of appeals do they make? Are
they effective? Would Boo’s argument be as effective
without the visuals? Why or why not (Journal 11)
Second Reflective Post write on Paper #1. <emma>
WEEK 6
Sep 20 Discuss readings and share journals. Discuss
argument markup exercise. Discuss use of visuals and
Reflective post-write.
Tonight:
MW “The American Flavor Industry” (125-135) and
“Establishing credibility” (269-272)
Write: Discuss the ways in which Schlosser, Kolbert,
and or Boo establish their ethos or credibility. Can
the audience trust them? Are they believable?
Explain. (Journal 12)
Sep 22 Discuss readings and share journals. In-class
writing: Sketch of authorial ethos for one of the
readings. Distribute topics for Paper 2.
Tonight:
Read: SMH Chapter 5, “Constructing Paragraphs”
(113-28)
Read/review: SMH Chapter 3, “Exploring, Drafting,
and Planning” (57-82) and Chapter 63,
“Understanding Disciplinary Discourse” (860-70)
Write: Pre-writing for Paper 2 <emma>. Finish first
draft of Paper 2. <emma> peer review.
WEEK 7
Sep 27 Draft 1 of Paper 2 due
Discuss peer revision. Discuss peer comments and
workshop Paper #2 <emma>
Tonight:
Write: Revise Paper 2
Reflective writing on First draft of Paper #2 and the
peer review. <emma>
Read: SMH Chapter 5 (128-146)
Write: Finish revision of Paper 2
Sep 30 PAPER TWO DUE (have two or three
students read papers)
Workshop on developing a Peer Review or
Composing/Revision Exhibit for the Portfolio.
Tonight:
Read: MW “Writing to Explain Information” (173180), and “Photo Exorcism” (181-186)
Write: According to the introduction to Chapter 3,
“The principal difference between interpreting and
explaining is the difference between knowing
something and understanding it” (174). Answer
Questions for Discussion #1 and 2 on page 185.
(Journal 13)
WEEK 8
PORTFOLIO WORK: Before or during Weeks 8
& 9 students should begin revising and uploading
either Paper 1 and/or 2 to their <emma> portfolio.
They may also post a peer review exhibit at this
time.
Oct 4 Discuss readings and share journals. In-class
writing: Exchange Journal entries and write a
dialogue response to your partner.
Tonight:
Read: MW “Bet On It” (201-213) and “Women’s
Brains” (230-236) and SMH, “Considering Diction”
(317-29)
Write: Discussion question #1 & 6 on page 212 and
Discussion question #3 on page 219 (Journal 14)
Oct 6 Discuss readings and share journals
In-class writing.
Tonight:
Read: MW “In Japan, Nice Guys (and Girls) Finish
Together” (187-91) and “What Happened to the
Anasazi? (192-200)
Write: Question for Discussion #2 and 3 on page 190
OR #2 and 4 on page 199. (Journal 15)
WEEK 9
(October 11 is midpoint - October 14 is
withdrawal deadline date)
Oct 11 CONFERENCES: REVISING Paper #1 or 2
for the PORTFOLIO
Tonight:
Read: SMH Chapter 1 (1-27)
Write: Revision work on Paper 1 or 2
Oct 13 CONFERENCES: REVISING Paper 1 or 2
for the PORTFOLIO
Tonight: Peer Review on Revision of Paper 1 or 2
Read: MW “Writing to Analyze Images” (303-312)
and “Conveying Atrocity in Image” (359-371).
Write: Any Discussion question on page 369 (Journal
16).
WEEK 10
Revision of Paper 1 or 2 + Exhibit of peer review
must be uploaded to <emma>.
Oct 18 Discuss readings and share journals
Tonight:
Read: MW “Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body”
(329-348)
Write: Discussion question #3, 4, OR 5, on page 346.
(Journal 17) Bring a distinctive image of any kind
(logos, ads, art, graphics) to share in class.
Oct 20
Discuss readings and share pictures
Distribute topics for Paper 3. Pre-writing
Tonight:
Read: MW “Please, please, You’re Driving Me Wild”
(313-328) and SMH Chapter 43, "Constructing
Effective Sentences” (698-704), Chapter 46,
“Varying Sentence Structure” (719-26) and Chapter
47, “Creating Memorable Prose” (727-35)
Write: SMH Exercises 43.1, 46.1, 46.2, 47.1, 47.2,
47.3, 47.4, and/or 47.5 Do Collaborative sentence
exercise, SMH 703. Choose a paragraph from any
essay or journal and do the exercise- “Thinking
About your Own Sentences” SMH 704.
WEEK 11
Oct 25 Discuss Essays. Go over completed SMH
exercises in class. Share results.
Tonight:
Write: Draft 1 of Paper 3. Peer review in <emma>
SMH exercises 5.2, 5.4 &5.5. Peer Revision for
topic sentences, sentence coherence and transitions in
<emma>
October 27 and 28 - FALL BREAK
WEEK 12
Nov 1 Draft 1 of Paper 3 Due
Discuss peer revision for sentence structure and
emphasis.
Tonight:
Read: Peer Comments on your Draft; SMH 115-128
Write: Continue drafting and revising Paper 3,
Nov 3 Draft 2 of Paper 3 Due
Discuss peer revision comments and SMH exercises.
Tonight:
Read: Peer Comments from today’s Peer Review
Workshop.
Write: Continue drafting and revising Paper 3
WEEK 13
Nov 8 PAPER 3 DUE (have 2 or 3 students read
papers)
IN-CLASS Writing- Post-write for Paper #3.
<emma>
Distribute Topics for Paper 4.
[N. B.—At this point, teachers may decide whether
they would like to introduce Ch. 4 (“Writing to Evaluate”), Ch. 6
(“Writing to Analyze Texts”), Ch. 7(“Writing to Persuade
Others”), Ch. 8 (Writing to Inspire Others”), or to return to one
of the “motives” from earlier chapters. Teachers may select 2-4
more essays from any chapter to support the “motive” they have
decided to cover in the remaining 3+ weeks of the course. In the
sample unit, below, we’ve used material from MW chapters 6
&.7.]
Read: MW “Writing to Analyze Texts” (381-393)
and “Writing to Persuade” (451-465). Also read
either “The Bill of Rights” and the Stevens & Thomas
responses (431-450) AND/OR “Majoring in Debt”
(466-470), “Flunking the NCAA” (471-475) and
“Racial Profiling: The Liberals Are Right” (476-480)
Write: Selected Discussion Questions (Journal 21)
Nov 10 Discuss readings
Tonight:
Read: Logical Fallacies (MW 456-458)
Write: Identify Logical Fallacies in Handout or in
MW article.
Write: Draft #1 of Paper 4. Peer edit in <emma>.
WEEK 14
Nov 14
Peer Review Workshop for Paper 4: Unity, Thesis,
Topics, Evidence, Logic, and Development
Tonight:
Read: Review SMH Chapters 34 and 35
Nov 16
Peer Review Workshop for Paper 4: Sentence Level
Edit Coherence and Sentence Structure, Diction
Tonight:
Read: Review SMH Chapters 39, 40, and 51
Write: Final Draft of Paper 4
WEEK 15
Nov 22 PAPER 4 DUE
Read 2 or 3 papers aloud.
In-Class post-writing and reflection on Paper 4.
<emma>
Tonight:
Read: Your papers in <emma>.
Write: Journal 22: Do you think paper 3 or 4 would
work best in your Portfolio? Explain why.
Nov 23-25 - THANKSGIVING BREAK
WEEK 16—Course Evaluations ongoing.
Nov 29 MANDATORY GROUP WORK ON
PORTFOLIOS: INTRODUCTORY REFLECTIVE
ESSAY
Dec 1 MANDATORY GROUP WORK ON
PORTFOLIOS: COMPOSING/REVISION
PROCESS EXHIBIT & PEER REVIEW EXHIBIT
WEEK 17
***Dec 6 PORTFOLIOS DUE No class meeting
Dec 8 Last T/TH Class (see below) and Portfolio
Exhibit
**MWF classes will meet on Monday, Tuesday,
and Wednesday, during the last week of fall
semester. Thursday Dec. 8 is the last class meeting
for Tuesday/ Thursday classes
This course syllabus is a general plan for the course:
deviations announced to the class in advance by the
instructor may be necessary.