1. hobbies and interests
2. reading

ENGLISH 1101 - COMPOSITION ONE SP14
THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT
MWF 11-12 UNIVERSITY 234
Dr. Jared Hegwood
[email protected] / ALLGOOD E245
706-667-4429
OFFICE HOURS BY APPOINTMENT
Required Materials: Rules for Writers, Diana Hacker ed.
Various Writings made available through KNIT website
Various episodes of the HBO series THE WIRE
Course Description: This particular section of Composition 1 is a KNIT course and, therefore, is structured
with somewhat different goals and texts than you may expect. This course should not be seen as remedial
or designed to help weaker students. This course is meant to integrate with other cross-curriculum KNIT
sections so that students have a richer, broader educational experience. Information about the KNIT
initiative can be found here: http://www.gru.edu/knit/
This particular semester of KNIT is focused on writings from the formation of our country, written
by both the Founders and those that influenced them. We will consider from multiple vantages what their
ideas were, what they hoped this country would be, and then we will assess how much of what they
wanted has come to fruition. Because of the nature of this topic, we will—like the Founders themselves—
disagree. This is perfectly acceptable so long as disagreement is civil. This class emphasizes the art of
argumentation. Any idea that you propose or disagree with will be held to the same expectations for your
papers.
In short: be prepared to disagree, disagree nicely, and disagree with a well-formulated answer.
“It’s just my opinion” may be an acceptable response for the holiday dinner table, but it would be
unreasonable to expect the rest of the world to give you any of their time, money or respect if you cannot
fully express your ideas.
Course Goals and Objectives:
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Variety of writing. By the end of College Composition I, students should be able to produce
successful writing projects in a variety of genres.
Use of sources. By the end of College Composition I, students should be able to summarize,
paraphrase, synthesize and directly quote from a variety of appropriate sources, integrating
them effectively into their writing.
Academic honesty. By the end of College Composition I, students should be able to use sources
ethically, avoiding plagiarism.
Argument. By the end of College Composition I, students should be able to articulate and
support an argument while addressing possible counterarguments and objections.
Style. By the end of College Composition I, students should be able to write in a style and tone
appropriate to the subject, purpose, and audience of their writing projects.
Conventions. By the end of College Composition I, students should be able to demonstrate their
control over the conventions of academic writing, including but not limited to appropriate
grammar, punctuation, and documentation format.
Course Requirements:
Assigned readings in the textbook and other homework assignments. Your work in a Final
Portfolio collected at the end of the semester.
Process writing projects with a combined final draft length totaling 4800 words (approximately
18 pages double-spaced) or more. This will be achieved through two-page various writing
assignments, of which 6 pages can be revised for the portfolio, an expository argument with a 4
page minimum due around the midterm and a research paper scheduled toward the end of the
semester with an 8-page minimum.
Class Participation: You must come to class prepared, ready to contribute substantially to class
discussion, group work, etc.
Teaching Philosophy: FUN and LEARNING and AWESOME because READING
Class Schedule:
Schedules should always be seen as fluid and ever-changing. While what's listed below is meant to better
help you prepare for each class, it doesn't mean that if you're absent that you shouldn't email me for
clarification as to what homework is and/or where we may be on a given day.
This schedule is a place holder and will not reflect the actual course schedule which will be available on
the first day of class.
Week 1: Course Introduction
8/20: Class introduction, Discussion on
8/22: Discussion: (EBH 202-207): Immanuel Kant “What is Enlightenment?”
Assignment: Reflective Essay: Educational History
Week 2: Argumentative/Research Essay
8/27: Reading Response: (50 129-135) Frederick Douglass “Learning to Read and Write”
Lecture: Thesis statements and the focus of an argumentative paper
8/29: Discussion: (SBH 70-83): Rene Descartes “Discourse on Method”
Assignment: Winning vs. Learning
Week 3: Argumentative/Research Essay
9/3: Reading Response: (E-text) Stephen Jay Gould “Women’s Brains”
Lecture: Types of Evidence. Common knowledge v. Cited information
9/5: Solo Reading: (RW 469-479)
Lecture: Rhetorical Strategies
Week 4: Argumentative/Research Essay
9/10: Discussion: (50 387-395) Jonathan Swift “A Modest Proposal”
Assignment: Dispassion vs. Passion
9/12: Lecture: Abstracts and Outlining
Assignment: Research Paper
Week 5: Argumentative/Research Essay – Getting Started
9/17: Discussion: (E-text) Shitty First Drafts, (50 187-188, 191-192)
Lecture: Declaration of Independence, Introductory Tone
9/19: In-Class workshop of Introduction and First Major Point (around 2-2 ½ pages)
Due: Introduction and First Major Point (bring four copies)
Week 6: Argumentative/Research Essay – Writing
9/24: In-Class Writing Day
9/26: In-Class workshop of first Full Draft
Due: Full Draft 01 (full page count, bring two copies, graded for completion)
Week 7: Argumentative/Research Essay - Workshop
10/1: Lecture: Counter-Argumentation – The Toulmin Method
10/3: Solo Reading (RW 479-522)
Lecture: Introduction to MLA Style Format Writing
Week 8: Argumentative/Research Essay
10/8: In-Class Writing
Due: Full Draft 02 for instructor (graded for quality of argument)
10/10: One-on-one meetings with instructor (for those considering dropping)
MIDTERM – 10/14 LAST DAY TO DROP
Week 9: Argumentative/Research Essay
10/15: One-on-one meetings cont.
10/17: No Class, Papers will be dropped off in professor’s office
Due: Final Full Draft (graded for all aspects of paper)
Week 10: Expository Essay
10/22: Discussion: (50 15-19) Sherman Alexie “The Joy of Reading,”
Assignment: Reflective Essay Draft 02
10/24: Reading Response: (E-text) Bill Bryson “How You Became You”
Lecture: Three Modes of Expository Writing
Week 11: Expository Essay
10/29: Discussion: (EBH 159-159) Denis Diderot “Supplement to Bouganville’s Voyage”
Assignment: The Wal-Mart Essay
10/31: Reading Response: MLK “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
Lecture: Narrative Writing
Assignment: That Time I Was Wrong
Week 12: Exit Essay
11/5: Discussion: (EBH 177-201) Jean-Jacques Rousseau “The Social Contract”
Assignment: That Time I Did Nothing
11/7: Reading Response: (E-text) Roland Barthes “Toys”
Lecture: Evaluative Writing
Assignment: Expository Paper
Week 13: Exit Essay
11/12: In-Class Writing
11/14: In-class workshop (bring four copies)
Due: Full Draft 01
Week 14:
11/19: In-Class Writing
Due: Full Draft 02
11/21: One-on-one meetings with professor
Week 15: Expository Essay
11/26: One-on-one meetings cont.
11/28: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Week 16: Expository Essay
12/3: Discussion: (E-text) Annie Dillard “The Death of the Moth”
Assignment: Reflective Essay Final Draft
Due: Final Full Draft
12/5: No Class
Week 17: Exam Week
12/10: Papers AND Portfolios will be dropped off at class
Revision: For the purposes of this course, a process writing project is defined as any piece of writing that
students may revise after receiving feedback (and, ideally, a tentative grade) on a rough draft. Students
have the opportunity to revise their process writing projects after receiving feedback (though they are not
required uire them to revise any essay)
Essays must be typewritten and stapled before you turn them in. Essays must be about the assigned
topic. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation all count. If this is a surprise to you, you might consider finding
another instructor.
If an essay assignment calls for 5 pages, this does not mean 4 and ½ pages. Any essay with less than the
full count will drop a full-letter grade. Essays will be written in 12 pt. Times New Roman with normal
margins. Page-length may seem unnecessary and arbitrary, but it is a requirement which asks that you
fully consider the text that you’re reading, rather than giving a cursory, skin-deep analysis of it.
Hard copies of drafts will be brought to class the day they are due. No later. Electronic copies will also be
emailed to the instructor on that day.
By taking this course, you accept the amount of work assigned in this syllabus. Complaining about the
work you have to do in a class when you’re fully aware of that work at the beginning of the semester is
unbecoming to those who wish to be good students.
Speaking of… Silly Little Rules that Make Me Feel Better.
1. I do not automatically read and comment upon drafts of your essay. If you do want critique,
please schedule time with me and I’ll be happy to talk with you about any number of things. I
absolutely will not comment on incomplete, illegible, or obviously unsatisfactory drafts.
2. If a draft is due in class and you have not prepared one, you will be marked absent for the class.
Consider Murphy’s Law: traffic will be bad, you will forget to pack your essay if you wait til after
breakfast and technology will always fail you at the last minute. Prepare for these eventualities
and take steps to circumvent them.
3. Grading essays for nearly 30 students for one class takes longer than it takes for you to write
them. When you consider that I’ll be grading for at least two other classes other than your own
that are on the exact schedule you are, then you see where grading might take some time. I will
do my best to stick to the schedule, but, in order to do so, ancillary grades: in-class writing,
quizzes, etc. may take some time getting back to you. Your flexibility in this allows me to give full
consideration to your papers without having to rush through them unfairly. If you cannot be
flexible in this, I suggest finding another instructor. That said, your grades will always be available
to you.
Attendance is required. Because participation in workshops, discussions and other activities is crucial,
attendance is important. If you don’t participate, class will be boring and frustrating—for all of us. If I get
bored, I do things that make the class more interesting for me that might not be so interesting for you.
According to university policy, you can be automatically withdrawn from the course if you miss—
for any reason—more than 10% of class meetings. We have forty-six scheduled hours of class, so you can
be withdrawn if you miss as few as five hours. To be counted as present for an hour you must be present
for at least 80% of that hour.
Every time you miss, I will email you for my records. If you miss four class meetings, I will
withdraw you, and I will not warn you in advance. You are responsible for keeping track of your absences.
A withdrawal before mid-term will result in a grade of “W”; after the mid-term the grade will be a “WF”
unless there is a medical reason for your missing class. It is your responsibility to inform me of medical
emergencies.
Late papers. Late papers will not be accepted.
Grades will be calculated as follows:
Expository Paper – 30%
Research Paper – 40 % total
 Abstract - 5%
 Annotated Bibliography - 5%
 Final Draft - 30%
Shorter Writings – 20%
Participation – 10%
90-100: A
80-89: B
70-79: C
60-69: D
0-60: F
Plagiarism will result in automatic failure of this course. Plagiarism is the act of using language and ideas
from other sources in your writing and claiming them as your own. This includes lifting material from
published sources (cutting and pasting) or buying or copying material off the Internet. Work generated
for a class other than this one or that you wrote for a former class may not be turned in for credit in this
class. See your student handbook for policies on Academic Honesty.
All final drafts of essays must include, at the top of the first page, your acknowledgment that you are in
compliance with university Academic Honesty and plagiarism policies (see section below). You must
include this statement to have your essay graded:
"I have read, understand, and am in compliance with the Academic Honesty policy. In particular, I have
not committed any kind of plagiarism. There are no unattributed direct or indirect quotations or
paraphrases from printed materials, websites, other students' papers, or any other sources in my essay."
Essays without this statement will receive zero points.
If you plagiarize, you will fail the course, and you may be subject to further sanctions under the Code of
Student Conduct. Plagiarism can ruin your academic career. Don't do it.
Cell phones and laptops. Turn your cell phones off before entering the classroom. Do not send or read
text messages during class. (Your phone should not be out.) You may not use laptops in class. Breaking
this rule more than once is grounds for the instructor asking you to leave for the day and marking you
absent for the class.
The Writing Center is a free program available to all student writers. It offers one-on-one help with any
kind of writing project, at any stage in the writing process. In addition to the tutorial service it provides,
The Writing Center also houses resources such as reference guides. You can get information about the
Writing Center from their website (http://www.aug.edu/writing_center/writing_center.htm).
Accommodations for Students With Special Needs: If you think you have a disability that qualifies under
the Americans with Disabilities Act and requires accommodations, you should contact the Office of
Testing and Disabilities for information on appropriate policies and procedures at Tel. 706-737-1469; Fax.
706-729-2298; [email protected].