Fall 2015

CCBC, Catonsville Campus

English 101, College Composition

Schedule: Tue, Thu 12:45 am 2:05 pm

School of Liberal Arts
Section Designation (91596)

Description
ENGL 101 3 Credits - College Composition I provides instruction in a writing process that
enables students to develop a topic, organize their ideas, write a draft, revise, edit, and proofread;
to access, evaluate, incorporate, and document outside material as a means to develop a topic;
and to continue to improve the use of grammar and language.
3 credits
Prerequisites: placement is based on assessment and/or successful completion of (ENGL 052,
ACLT 052, or LVE 2) and (RDNG 052 or LVR 2) or ESOL 052.
Overall Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. employ a recursive writing process that includes invention, planning, drafting, revising,
proofreading, and editing;
2. work collaboratively with peers to plan, develop, and carry out writing projects and
provide constructive feedback;
3. write organized essays, each with a clear thesis;
4. support the thesis with details, examples, reasons, and other logical evidence;
5. develop and apply the critical thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation for a
variety of texts;
6. demonstrate an awareness of historical, social, and/or political contexts through multiple
writing assignments;
7. employ rhetorical strategies to express complex ideas;
8. vary sentence structure and length as appropriate;
9. employ strategies in a manner appropriate to a given audience;
10. utilize technology to solve problems in real-life situations;
11. conduct research; access and choose appropriate academic sources;
12. evaluate sources by examining authority, currency, validity, and reliability;
13. incorporate appropriate academic sources into essays by summarizing, quoting, and
paraphrasing correctly and effectively;
14. demonstrate, through source-based writing assignments, an understanding of the logic of
multiple methods of documentation and citation;
15. develop and apply an understanding of Western standards of academic integrity and
changing attitudes toward intellectual property through research-based assignments;
16. conform to the grammar, punctuation, and spelling rules of edited American English with
a minimum of errors; and
17. examine a variety of complex texts from diverse perspectives and authorship.
Major Topics

Page |2

I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.

Audience awareness, including an awareness of historical, social, and/or political

contexts
Writing as a recursive process: invention, planning, drafting, revising, proofreading,
and editing
Essay organization and development
Unity, coherence, and clarity in written language
Rhetorical strategies
Sentence variety
Grammar, punctuation, and usage
Accessing and evaluating sources
Summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting
Documenting and citing sources
Academic integrity and intellectual property
The place of writing in a changing communicative setting, including multimedia and
social media.

Course Requirements
Individual writing assignments will be determined by the instructor and will be described in the
syllabus for each section. However, all students will:
1. Participate actively in class discussions and in class activities, including at least two of
the following activities: peer review of written work or similar types of writing
workshops; collaborative writing assignments; small group discussions; and formal or
informal group presentations;
2. Write at least four essays, employing all of the process steps; at least three of the four
essays must include multiple and varied academically appropriate sources.
3. Multiple assignments must infuse CCBC General Education Program objectives, and at
least one assignment worth a minimum 10% of the total course grade must allow students
to demonstrate at least the following General Education Program outcomes: Written
Communication; Critical Analysis and Reasoning; Technological Competence;
Information Literacy; and Local and Global Diversity.
4. Graded course writing must exceed a minimum of 4000 words, and a minimum of 80%
of the final grade will be based on written works, graded either cumulatively or in an endof-the-course portfolio.
Other Course Information
Students will utilize learning management systems and other technology as appropriate to the
academic environment.
This course is an approved General Education course in the English Composition category.
Please refer to the current CCBC Catalog for General Education course criteria and outcomes.
Required Text and Materials
Kennedy, X. J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Marcia F. Muth. The Bedford Guide for College
Writers: with Reader, Research Manual, and Handbook. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's,
2011.

Rev. Oct 30, 2014

Page |3

Media for use as personal storage device (such as a flash drive)

Class Policies
Attendance Policy
Attendance for Fall and Spring Semesters: A student enrolled in a class that meets three times a
week is permitted four absences. After the fourth absence, the student may fail the course. A
student that meets twice a week is permitted two absences and may fail after the second absence.
A student enrolled in a class that meets once a week is permitted one absence and may fail after
the first absence. The English, Reading, and English as a Second Language Department makes
no distinction between excused and unexcused absences. The Departments concern is the
number of absences, not the reasons for absences. At the faculty members discretion, absence
from the class may be the basis for academic failure.
A student who is absent from a class, for whatever reason, is responsible for obtaining material
covered in class as well as completing in-class and out-of-class assignments and turning them in
on time. Please make all reasonable efforts to inform the instructor when you are going to be
absent, late, or have to leave early.
Cell Phone Use Policy
The use of cell phones, smart phones, or other mobile communication devices is disruptive, and
is therefore prohibited from class. If you have an emergency, please excuse yourself from the
class so that the class is disrupted. If you are on the phone during class (texting, social media,
etc), you will be asked to leave class. Repeated violations (more than three) of this policy may
result in a letter grade drop for the course.
Classroom Behavior Policy
I will conduct this class in an atmosphere of mutual respect. I encourage your active participation
in class discussions. Each of us may have strongly differing opinions on the various topics of
class discussions. The conflict of ideas is encouraged and welcome. The orderly questioning of
the ideas of others, including mine, is similarly welcome. However, I will exercise my
responsibility to manage the discussions so that ideas and argument can proceed in an orderly
fashion. You should expect that if your conduct during class discussions seriously disrupts the
atmosphere of mutual respect I expect in this class, you will not be permitted to participate
further.
Computer Use Policy
Students are permitted to use computers for class note taking and other class related work only.
Those using computers for class work not related to the class may be asked to leave the class.
Repeated violations (more than three) of this policy may result in a letter grade drop for the
course.
Late Assignment Policy
Due dates are fixed. Late papers will lose ten points for each day of lateness (and will not be
accepted after five days from the due date) for your final papers. No late rough drafts will be
accepted. You must be in class, with your complete, typed essay within ten minutes of the start

Rev. Oct 30, 2014

Page |4

of class or you will not receive any points. If you do not have your complete essay during peer
review days, you will not earn any points for that essays peer review process.
Plagiarism Policy
1. Students who are determined by their English instructors to have plagiarized will:
a. First offense:
1. Fail the assignment and receive no credit for it or in extreme cases, such as lifting
large quantities of text from a source or another individual, fail the course;
2. Meet with the department chair so that they can:
a. Appeal the decision if they wish;
b. Be advised of the consequences if they are caught plagiarizing a second time;
or
c. Be advised where to get help so that they can avoid plagiarizing in the future.
b. Second offense:
1. Fail the writing course in which they are enrolled whether it is the same course as
their first offense or another writing course;
2. Meet with the department chair and the division dean so that they can:
a. Appeal the decision if they wish;
b. Be advised of the consequences if they are caught plagiarizing again; and
c. Be advised where to get help so that they can avoid plagiarizing in the future.
c. Third offense:
1. Be recommended for expulsion from CCBC.
2. At the meeting to discuss a students first offense, the department chair will open a file to
maintain a record of the students plagiarism.
3. Plagiarism is representing as ones own material words or ideas taken from other sources.
Plagiarism includes failure to place in quotation marks and cite researched material from
sources as well as buying or copying papers from another person or from the Internet.
Religious Holidays Policy
Students not attending class because they are observing major religious holidays will be given
the opportunity, whenever possible, to make up, within a reasonable amount of time, any
academic work or tests they miss. Students must make arrangements with the professor in
advance of the religious holiday.

Reading and Essay Assignment Schedule

Remember, critical to writing good essays is learning how to think critically and imaginatively
via, not just writing, but reading, analyzing, and discussing. We will spend a good portion of the
semester learning how to:

Analyze subjects;
Take a position;

Rev. Oct 30, 2014

Page |5

Recognize where positions come from or where preconceived notions originate from and
why we all have them; and
Recognize how our preconceived notions can keep us from having an open mind and why
it is important to truly evaluate where others are coming from.

This is an important part of the class and constitutes part of your grade completion of readings,
participation in student-led class discussions, and completion of writing assignments. Students
will lead class discussions. Each student will be assigned a chapter and come to class with 3-5
critical, thoughtful, questions that incite debate. Get others to think about the controversies and
contradictions that make these issues so important, to think about issues in ways not commonly
defined by media or other large groups that influence culture. Reading and discussion
assignments are not intended to get you to agree with everyone else, that includes me, the
instructor. They are intended to raise more questions.

Course Requirements and Due Dates

NOTE: These dates are subject to change. Any change will be announced in class. Tentative
Calendar, Fall 2015
Module 1: Families
Week:
1: August 31,
2015

2: September 7,
2015

3: September 14,
2015

Assigned Reading:
- Writing Processes
- Reading Processes
- Critical Thinking Processes
- Writing and Presenting Under Pressure
- Strategies for Generating Ideas
- Citation Basics on the CCBC Library
Website
(http://libraryguides.ccbcmd.edu/Citations)
- How My Illiterate Grandmother Raised an
Educated Black Man
- Evans Two Moms
- Public and Private Language
- Strategies for Stating a Thesis and
Planning
- Strategies for Drafting
- Strategies for Developing
- Recalling an Experience
- Only Daughter
- Mi Mommy
- Mother Tongue
- Strategies for Revising and Editing
- Grammatical Sentences
- Effective Sentences

Assignment Due:
Diagnostic Writing
Sample
Quiz/Participation

Group Project

Individual
Assignment

Rev. Oct 30, 2014

Page |6

Word Choice
Punctuation
Mechanics
Correction Symbols/Proofreading
Symbols (scan these chapters)
Module 2: Men and Women
4: September 21,
2015

Observing a Scene
Interviewing a Subject
Black Men and Public Spaces
Whats Love Got to Do with It?
He Said, She Said (Find on the CCBC
library database)
5: September 28,
- Writing and Presenting Under Pressure
2015
- A Man. A Woman. Just Friends?
- I Want a Wife
- The High Cost of Manliness
6: October 5,
- MLA Style for Documenting Sources
2015
- Guys Suffer from Oppressive Gender
Roles Too
Module 3: Popular Culture

Quiz/Participation

7: October 12,
2015

Quiz/Participation

8: October 19,
2015
9: October 26,
2015
Module 4: Digital Living
10: November 2,
2015

Comparing and Contrasting

As Attitudes Shift on PTSD, Media Slow to
Remove Stigma
Americas War on the Overweight
Explaining Causes and Effects
The Hunger Games Feral Feminism
Why We Crave Horror Movies
Violent Media Is Good for Kids

Taking a Stand
Seeking
Hyperconnected
Computers Cannot Teach Children Basic
Skills
11: November 9,
- Planning Your Research Project
2015
- Working With Sources
- The New Literacy
- Grief in the Age of Facebook
Is Facebook Making Us Sad?
12: November
- Finding Sources
16, 2015
- Evaluating Sources
- Integrating Sources
Module 5: Explorations on Living Well

Group Project

Individual
Assignment

Group Project
Individual
Assignment:

Quiz/Participation

Group Project

Individual
Assignment

Rev. Oct 30, 2014

Page |7

13: November
23, 2015

Proposing a Solution
Evaluating and Reviewing
Writing Your Research Paper

14: November
30, 2015

Evaluating and Reviewing

Supporting a Position with Sources

15: December 7,
2015
Final Exam: Thursday, December 17, 2015, 12:00 pm 2:00 pm

Quiz/Participation

Individual
Assignment

Assignment Grades
Module 1
Quiz/Class Participation
25 points
Group Project
25 points
Individual Assignment
50 points
(10 points rough draft; 5 points peer review; 35 points final assignment)
Module 2
Quiz/Class Participation
25 points
Group Project
25 points
Individual Assignment
50 points
(10 points rough draft; 5 points peer review; 35 points final assignment)
Module 3
Quiz/Class Participation
25 points
Group Project
25 points
Individual Assignment
50 points
(10 points rough draft; 5 points peer review; 35 points final assignment)
Module 4
Quiz/Class Participation
25 points
Group Project
25 points
Individual Assignment
50 points
(10 points rough draft; 5 points peer review; 35 points final assignment)

Module 5
Quiz/Class Participation
25 points
Individual Assignment
75 points
(15 points rough draft; 10 points peer review; 50 points final assignment)
Total
500 points

Rev. Oct 30, 2014

Page |8

Final Grades May Be Earned as Follows:

450 500 points
A
400 449 points
B
350 399 points
C
300 349 points
D
Below 300 points
F

Rev. Oct 30, 2014