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Contact/Course Information
The best times to reach me in my PRC office by phone or in person are during my M or
Tu scheduled office hours. Otherwise, please contact me by email.
Office Hours
Virtual Office Hours: I will respond to emails and voice mails as quickly as possible. If
you do not receive a response from me within 24 hours during the work week (M-F),
please send another email or call my office phone again.
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Bensen -2- Fall 2018
Print and read assigned digital texts before reading through all items in each weekly lecture
folder. You may also read texts electronically, but it is helpful to read print copies to make
notes while fully engaging with the texts.
Recommended Textbook:
• Hacker, Diane. A Writer’s Reference. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014.
https://wordpress.com/
(You will find further instructions in Week 3’s content folder in Blackboard)
• Required: Since this is a distance learning course, you will need to purchase a thumb drive,
flash drive or other plug-in device for saving documents regularly. In addition to saving to
your hard drives, it is important that you develop a habit of saving to plug-in devices as well
(or use iCloud, digital drop box, Google Drive, etc.).
• Required: Reliable Internet connectivity outside of the college.
• Required: Reliable access to Microsoft Office 2010 or equivalent software.
• Recommended: A collegiate dictionary and thesaurus.
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Bensen -3- Fall 2018
• Recommended: 3-ring binder or 2-pocket folder to file class handouts. Or begin creating
electronic folders for each of your classes and for each assignment. Electronic folders for
English 111 might appear in this way:
Save all assignments, lectures, and supporting handouts/documents that pertain to each
assignment in the designated folder.
Course Description
Prerequisites: To register for this course, students must have a placement recommendation for
ENG 111 or placement recommendation for co-requisites ENG 111 and ENF 3. ENG 111 is a
prerequisite for ENG 112.
ENG 111 introduces students to critical thinking and the fundamentals of academic writing.
Through the writing process, students refine topics; develop and support ideas; investigate,
evaluate, and incorporate appropriate resources; edit for effective style and usage; and determine
appropriate approaches for a variety of contexts, audiences, and purposes.
Writing activities will include exposition and argumentation with at least one researched essay.
ENG 111 has been designated as a "writing intensive" course according to standards developed
by the English department.
ENG 111 prepares students for academic and professional communication. Students will produce
texts that reflect critical thinking and knowledge of writing processes, rhetoric, and digital
technologies. ENG 111 will also introduce students to research processes.
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Bensen -4- Fall 2018
Rhetorical Knowledge:
• Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating.
• Produce a variety of expository texts to include but not limited to narration, reflection,
evaluation, summary, and argumentation.
• Review a variety of resources to investigate, evaluate, and incorporate into academic forms
of writing.
Writing Process:
• Employ effective writing processes to include pre-writing, peer-reviewing drafts, and revising.
• Produce at least 4500 words (approximately 15 pages) of informal and 3600 words
(approximately 12 pages) of formal writing
Digital Technologies:
• Use electronic environments for drafting, reviewing, revising, editing, and/or sharing texts.
• Disseminate and produce texts in both print and digital forms (may include written, aural,
and visual modes).
Course Requirements
This course is NOT self-paced. You will be responsible for weekly readings, postings,
and assignments in Blackboard or your WordPress blog site. You will also be responsible
for completing several writing assignments, all with specific due dates. Please see the
course schedule below and the Due Dates button on the Course Menu in Blackboard for
additional details.
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Bensen -5- Fall 2018
Technology Requirements: To be successful in this class, you must have access to a computer,
which is connected to the Internet. Required readings will come from digital/online sources
linked in the course schedule and/or Blackboard’s weekly content folders. Additionally, all
assignments will be available only through the Internet; more specifically, you will need access
to Blackboard, the online course management platform in use by Reynolds to remain abreast of
assignments, deadlines, etc. (See below for more information about Blackboard.) I will be
uploading some reading assignments in Adobe.pdf; please ensure you have the ability to read
and print documents using Adobe Reader.
Additional details for Reynolds Online students may be found at the following URL:
http://www.reynolds.edu/get_started/reynolds-online/academic_support.aspx.
If you do not have Adobe installed on your computer, download a free program from the
Free Student Software page. Scroll down and click on Adobe Acrobat Reader to access
and download the free program.
You are not required to use MS Office products; however, do keep in mind that
compatibility issues may arise, especially for Mac users.
If you are using a word processing program other than MS Word, please save your word
processed documents in .docx, .doc, or .rtf (Rich Text Format). Click on the following
link for instructions on saving documents in RTF:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2133238_save-rich-text-format-rtf.html
Please note that saving in file extensions other than .docx, .doc, or .rtf might result in a
grade of zero if I am not able to open documents.
Beginning the first week of the term, the instructor will assume that students are well acquainted
with the Blackboard environment and have become proficient at the following:
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Bensen -6- Fall 2018
By the end of the first week of the term, all students should have resolved all technical issues
with the Reynolds Student Helpdesk and be ready to fulfill the requirements of the course. You
may contact the Reynolds Student Helpdesk by phone at 804.371.3000, by email at
helpdesk@reynolds.edu or at the following link:
http://www.reynolds.edu/register_for_classes/technology_support/default.aspx .
You may also find additional details at the Reynolds Online Web site:
http://www.reynolds.edu/get_started/reynolds-online/default.aspx
Attendance Policy: Attendance is included in your class participation grade, which is worth 5%
of your semester grade. I do not calculate your attendance grade until the end of the semester.
Although this is a Distance Learning course, I will be monitoring your contributions to
Blackboard's weekly discussions/assignments and will consider your participation in
weekly discussions/assignments as attending class (see details about Blackboard below). As a
conscientious student and as a student involved in a community of learners, you are required to
participate regularly. I will check attendance in this online course weekly and will base your
attendance on the timely submission or posting of assignments due for the week or by your
logging onto the Blackboard site. Simply logging into Blackboard does not constitute
attending class; you must also complete assignments and participate in weekly discussions.
Per Reynold’s College Attendance Policy 1-3, you will be involuntarily withdrawn from the
course to receive a full refund for failure to attend class by the 15% attendance drop deadline (7
Sep 2018) if you have not participated in class activities at least once prior to this date. You will
also be involuntarily withdrawn and receive a grade of W if you stop attending class for a period
of two weeks by the final 60% attendance drop deadline (30 Oct 2018). If applicable, these
actions could impact your financial aid. Should you need to miss an inordinate number of
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Bensen -7- Fall 2018
classes, you might consider withdrawing from the course or risk receiving a failing grade at the
end of the semester.
In order to be counted present for one week, submit at least one written assignment due that
week. If you have not submitted any written assignments in two consecutive weeks, you will be
reported for withdrawal from the class.
Withdrawal Policy: Before withdrawing from the course, please contact me to discuss your
academic standing in the class. Also, prior to withdrawing, contact a financial aid specialist to
discuss any potential impact a withdrawal may have on your eligibility for financial aid.
Withdrawals also count as an “attempt” and may therefore impact your ability to repeat a course
(see Repeated Course Policy below).
After the add/drop period, a student may withdraw without academic penalty, and receive a
grade of "W," if withdrawal is officially completed prior to the “last date to withdraw” listed on
Course Schedule and in the Course Syllabus. Please refer to Policy 1-10 Student Initiated
Withdrawal for withdrawal procedures and specifics.
Important: If you decide not to complete the course you must officially withdraw by following
the stated procedures in the College Catalogue. After the “last date to withdraw,” I will consider
extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis. However, you must contact me within one
week of circumstances.
Repeated Course Policy: “Students are normally limited to two (2) enrollments in the same
course. Prior to registering to take a course for a third time, students must submit a completed
Repeat Class Request Form with all required approvals, and documentation of extenuating
circumstances to a campus Enrollment Services Center. Repeat approval is not required for
certain exempted courses, and all attempted hours and grade points for these courses will be
calculated in the GPA” (College Catalogue).
Students with Disabilities: Per Reynolds’ college policy 1-15, Eligibility of Students with
Disabilities to Receive Accommodations (also found in the Student Handbook), special
services/accommodations are provided to assist students in accessing programs and activities
offered by the college. Should you require special needs, please register with the Office of
Student Accommodations (Downtown Campus 804.523.5628, or Parham Road Campus and
Western Campus 804.523.5290). Please provide documentation of your disability.
Student Conduct Policy: In order to achieve the best learning environment possible for this
class, Reynolds administrators, faculty, and staff expect students to adhere to the highest
behavioral standards. All forms of disruptive behavior will not be tolerated in this course.
Disruptive behavior can be defined as behavior that interferes with the teaching and learning
process. As such, any disruptive behavior will be addressed by the instructor and/or reported to
the Dean of Students for judicial processing.
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Bensen -8- Fall 2018
In addition, please note that three (3) incidents of disruptive behavior may result in a zero for
participation in your overall grade. Single incidents that are severe will result in the loss of
participation credit for the course (i.e. earning a failing grade). Should your behavior become
disruptive, I reserve the right to file a Behavior Intervention Referral Form in the Office
of Student Affairs. Please review Student Conduct Policy 1-35 for further details.
If you have any questions regarding the Reynolds Student Conduct policy (Policy 1-35),
please refer to the Student Handbook online, or contact the Office of Student Affairs at
804.523.5296.
Students who plagiarize will either receive a failing grade on the assignment or fail the
course; should a violation occur, students will be reported to the Dean of Students in the
Office of Student Affairs for disciplinary action and for the possible filing of a Behavior
Intervention Referral Form.
Per the current Reynolds’ College Catalog, “Reynolds subscribes to the notion of academic
honesty and integrity as it relates to students’ behavior within the classroom or with assignments
and examinations” (54). Please consult policy number 2-7 (Academic Honesty) for complete
details and definitions of academic honesty.
Email Policy: Per Reynolds Policy 1-8, email is the official method of communication. All
faculty must communicate with their students using their college email accounts. Please develop
a habit of checking your college accounts often, as I will communicate with you using only your
college email addresses. Your email accounts became active when you were assigned a user
name and password. Go to My Reynolds Log-in for access to your email account, Blackboard,
etc.
Blackboard: Blackboard is the online course management platform in use at Reynolds that will
supplement Eng 111. In addition to accessing the course syllabus and assignments, you will
write in-class and out-of-class responses to reading assignments in assigned textbooks, to
handouts, to electronic reading assignments, etc. Responses may be in the form of freewriting
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Bensen -9- Fall 2018
sessions, journal topics, and out-of-class writing assignments in Blackboard. You will be able to
access copies of assignments and supporting documents/resources in the Weekly Content button
on the Course Menu or by clicking on Blackboard’s Course Documents button also on the
Course Menu. Check Blackboard often for updates and changes to the schedule or to
assignments.
General Classroom Guidelines: Eng 111 is a course that requires A LOT of writing and
reading. Incorporate ample time into your schedules to complete assignments in a timely
manner. Since this course is labor intensive, missed assignments will be difficult to make up.
Please carefully track due dates on the course schedule, in the Due Dates button on the Course
Menu, and on assignment sheets. Should you find you are falling behind or are having problems,
please contact me as soon as possible. Monitor your progress regularly to avoid any possible
downfalls.
Class Climate Survey: Reynolds uses Class Climate to collect student evaluations of faculty.
Toward the end of the semester, expect an e-mail message in your VCCS e-mail account from
sender name "Class Climate Survey" inviting you to participate in an online survey to evaluate
the effectiveness of your class. You will receive a separate e-mail message for each course
section in which you are enrolled. Each e-mail message contains a password-protected link to the
online survey. By clicking this link, your password is automatically recognized, and you are able
to respond anonymously to the survey. After completing the survey, you will receive a
confirmation message, via e-mail.
Emergency Preparedness: (Program the numbers below into your cell phone)
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY DIAL 5911 (College Police Dispatcher) The 5911 number can
be dialed directly from the College’s IP phone system.
Grading/Assignments
Posting of Grades to Blackboard’s Gradebook: I usually take two weeks to grade a batch of
papers. I will post grades, commented papers, grading videos, and rubrics (when required) when
I complete grading an entire classes’ worth of an assignment.
Click on the following URL for a video tutorial of how to access and navigate through
MyGrades:
http://ondemand.blackboard.com/r91/movies/bb91_student_checking_grades.htm
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Bensen -10- Fall 2018
Familiarize yourself with Blackboard’s grading icons to avoid not receiving/earning a grade on
an assignment. Below are a few icons of which you should be aware:
If you do not see the yellow exclamation point your assignment did not submit
successfully. Resubmit. If Blackboard does not allow you to resubmit, contact your
instructor by email ASAP.
If you see the red exclamation point, an error occurred. Contact your instructor by email
ASAP. If the problem persists, contact the Student Help Desk at 804.371.3000.
During this course, you will write six graded essays ranging from 300 to 1800 words/three (3) to
six (6) pages: Space & Place Blog Post, Space & Place Essay, Summary Blog Post, Critical
Evaluation Essay, Pitch Blog Post, and Modest Proposal Essay. Your final assignment will
be a portfolio in your WordPress blog and in which you include the following:
• A reflective essay in which you discuss your writing experiences and how they relate to
course learning outcomes and the rhetorical situation;
• a representation of your works for the semester;
• all previously submitted blog posts;
• new pages to post your Space & Place Essay, Critical Evaluation, and Modest Proposal.
Unless otherwise stated, all assignments will be due by midnight in your blog site or in
Blackboard on assigned due dates.
To ensure preparedness for each assignment and for your final portfolio, it will be helpful
for you to create a folder on your flash drives or hard drives for each assignment. Save all
documents pertaining to each assignment in their respective folders for easy access when
submitting final portfolios.
In addition to writing formal essays, there will be several informal writing assignments, journal
entries, quizzes on assigned readings, and worksheets (all completed in online discussions).
Unless otherwise noted, all assignments will count toward your final grade.
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Bensen -11- Fall 2018
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Bensen -12- Fall 2018
Late Assignment Policy: Unless otherwise noted, assignments are due in Blackboard or in your
blog sites by midnight on the assigned due date. I will not accept a late paper if you turn it in
after I have returned graded papers. I usually take two weeks to grade a batch of papers.
You are allowed ONE late assignment without penalty during the semester; otherwise, I
do not accept late assignments. Use this policy wisely.
I will not accept a late paper if you turn it in after I have returned graded papers.
While I understand problems that occur when using technology, it is your responsibility to
complete assignments well in advance of due dates to avoid last minute issues like crashing
computers or loss of Internet connections that might prevent turning in assignments in a timely
fashion. Save your work on multiple devices OFTEN: hard drive, flash drive, iCloud,
digital drop box, etc. Compose weekly discussion posts and blog posts in a Word document
first and then copy and paste to the online platform in use. Save these Word documents to
maintain a history of your work outside of Blackboard and your blog sites. Should your home
computers fail, you have access to the college computer labs on all three campuses.
Follow the Schedule of Assignments carefully, and check Blackboard often for announcements
of changes or adjustments to assignments to ensure adequate preparation for all class
assignments. In addition to printing hard copies of the syllabus and assignments and saving these
in a binder or folder, it is probably a good idea to keep all graded and ungraded assignments in
an electronic folder on your desktop and on your plug-in device, as you will refer to returned
assignments over the semester.
Peer Reviews/Workshops Policy: I have scheduled three online peer review workshops to
improve your editing and proofreading skills. Failure to participate on scheduled peer review
days/weeks will result in a zero for the day’s/week’s assignment, and a decrease of one letter
grade on your final paper grade (equivalent to 10% of your final paper grade). You will be
uploading COMPLETED DRAFTS through Blackboard in assigned groups; uploading an
incomplete draft will result in a zero for the peer review assignment, and a decrease of one letter
grade on your final paper grade. Unless otherwise stated, peer reviews may not be accomplished
outside of Blackboard.
If you have a legitimate, documented reason for not attending a peer review session or
workshop, I will gladly make other arrangements to assist you with making up your missed
participation. However, you must notify me at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled
peer review workshop date. An accepted substitution procedure is for you to attend a
documented
Incomplete and scheduled
Policy: tutoring
I will consider sessionincomplete
assigning in one of the
(I) Academic Supporthave
grades if students Centers at the
a legitimate,
Parham Road, Downtown, or Western campuses. Schedule and attend a tutoring session
documented reason. I will assign an incomplete (I) if students have fewer than three absences at
andthe location
have most convenient
completed at least 75%forof
you.
the course work. If needed, determination of I grades will
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Bensen -13- Fall 2018
A grade of "I" (incomplete) bears no credit. An instructor may award the "I" grade for
documented, unavoidable reasons and only when the student is passing the course and has
completed a significant portion of the course requirements (75% of assignments for this
course). Since the incomplete extends enrollment in the course, requirements for satisfactory
completion shall be established through student/faculty consultation. The grade of “I” will revert
to grade earned in the course. The student is expected to complete course work as agreed upon
with the instructor. See Incomplete Grade policy 1-7 for more details.
Revision Policy: If you earned below a C and turned in essays on the assigned due date, you
may revise any of the first three major essays (Space and Place, Critical Evaluation, A Modest
Proposal). Revision due dates occur two weeks after posting of the initial graded essay. Unless
otherwise stated, submit revised essays as email attachments. I will average the two grades; if
you earn a 75% on the first essay and an 85% on the revision, your final essay grade will be an
80%.
Simply correcting errors I have pointed out in your essay does not count.
For example, if I have highlighted and commented on problems with fragments, don’t assume
that I have highlighted all fragments. Try to find similar errors and correct them. Or, if you have
problems developing your ideas, make note of my comments, make revisions based on those
comments, and look for additional ideas that might need development. Also, do not hesitate to
talk to me about revisions. I am more than happy to schedule an appointment to meet with you
to clarify my comments or provide assistance with grammar, development of ideas, etc. Avoid
waiting until the last two weeks of the semester to try to complete revisions. I will not accept
revisions if the due date has passed and waiting until the final weeks of the semester is not an
effective means to improve your writing skills and your grade. Take advantage of this revision
policy early in the semester.
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Bensen -14- Fall 2018
Calendar/Schedule of Assignments
(This schedule is subject to change.)
All reading assignments are due in the weeks they are listed on the schedule below. You
are responsible for completing all assigned readings prior to listening to or reading lectures
and prior to participating in weekly discussions/assignments. Each reading assignment is
identified in the “Readings” column.
Also note that assignment due dates are in the “Assignments” column.
Linked titles = electronic readings. Click on links to access and read articles.
Important Dates
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Bensen -15- Fall 2018
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Bensen -16- Fall 2018
Week 13: 12 Read: Heskamp, “15 Words You Should Eliminate 12 Nov: Week 12 DB
Nov from Your Vocabulary to Sound Smarter responses to at least
Review: “Document Review Guidelines” (click on link two classmates
to access and read article) 14 Nov: Complete
draft of Modest
Proposal for Peer
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Bensen -17- Fall 2018
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