ENGL 1301 047—English Composition I, FCF
Course Syllabus: Fall 2021

“Northeast Texas Community College exists to provide personal, dynamic learning experiences empowering students to succeed.”

Instructor: Lori Shaw
Office: Pewitt High School, Room 109 and email
Phone: (903)884-2293
Email: Lshaw@ntcc.edu
Office 
Hours	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Online	
	10:22-11:07	10:22-11:07	10:22-11:07	10:22-11:07	10:22-11:07	email	

This syllabus serves as the documentation for all course policies and requirements, assignments, and instructor/student responsibilities.

Information relative to the delivery of the content contained in this syllabus is subject to change. Should that happen, the student will be notified.

Course Description: 3 hour Lecture/Lab/Clinical
Intensive study of and practice in writing processes, from invention and researching to drafting, revising, and editing, both individually and collaboratively. Emphasis on effective rhetorical choices, including audience, purpose, arrangement, and style. Focus on writing the academic essay as a vehicle for learning, communicating, and critical analysis.

Prerequisite(s): English Composition I is the prerequisite for all 2000 level literature courses. 

Student Learning Outcomes: 
Upon successful completion of this course, students will: 
1.	Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes.
2.	Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution.
3.	Write in a style appropriate for audience and purpose.
4.	Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts.
5.	Use Edited American English in academic essays.

Evaluation/Grading Policy:

Conscientious and timely completion of assignments is essential for success in this English course. All final copy essays must be typed in MLA format, 12 font, Times New Roman or Courier New, saved as a word document or a Google Doc and submitted on or before the due date. Essays should be double spaced. Essays will be 750-1500 words in length.  Pay close attention to spelling, grammar and punctuation. 

Assignments include:
	Rough drafts
	Typed essays (5-6 in all)
	Vocabulary
	Peer editing
	Grammar practice

 ALL DUE DATES ARE POSTED ON BELOW.

Your assignments will be evaluated using the following point values: 
	Classwork 	 				40%
	6 essays (10% each)				 60%
	Total						100%

Rubric for Writing Assignments
Grade 	Criteria 	
90-100	The essay provides a well-organized response to the topic and maintains a central focus. The ideas are expressed in appropriate language. A sense of pattern of development is present from beginning to end. The writer supports assertions with explanation or illustration, and the vocabulary is well suited to an academic paper. Sentences and phrases within sentences reflect a command of standard written English, including what constitutes a complete sentence. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are almost always correct.	
80-89	The essay provides an organized response to the topic. The ideas are expressed in clear language most of the time. The writer develops ideas and generally signals relationships within and between the  paragraphs. The writer uses vocabulary that is appropriate for the essay topic and avoids oversimplifications or distortions. Sentences generally are complete and also grammatically correct, although some grammatical errors may be present when sentence structure is particularly complex. With few exceptions, punctuation, and spelling are correct.	
70-79	The essay shows a basic understanding of the demands of essay organization, although there might be occasional digressions. The development of ideas is sometimes incomplete or superficial, but basic logical structure can be discerned. Vocabulary generally is appropriate for the essay topic but at times is oversimplified. Sentences reflect a sufficient command of standard written English to ensure reasonable clarity of expression. Sentence fragments, fusions, and comma splices may be present. Grammar is usually, although not always, correct. Common words are spelled correctly but more difficult words may be misspelled.	
60-69	The essay provides a response to the topic but generally has no overall pattern of organization OR begins with a response to the topic but does not develop the response. Some paragraphs have adequate structure, but ideas are often undeveloped or are repeated and/or seem to be presented randomly. The writer generally does not signal relationships within or between paragraphs. The writer uses informal language frequently and writes in a conversational style when appropriate academic prose is needed. Vocabulary seems limited and words may be misused. Sentences are often simplistic and lacking in variety. Sentence phrasing obscures rather than enhances clarity of expression. The essay has recurrent grammatical problems or has occasional problems only because of the narrow range of sentence and language variety. Fragments, fusions, and comma splices are common. Punctuation and spelling errors occur often.	
50-59	The essay suffers from general incoherence and has no discernible pattern of organization. It displays a high frequency of errors in the regular features of standard written English. Lapses in punctuation, spelling and grammar often frustrate the reader OR the essay is so brief that any reasonably accurate judgment of the writer’s competence is impossible. 	

Required Instructional Materials: None

Optional Instructional Materials: None

Minimum Technology Requirements: None

Required Computer Literacy Skills: None

Course Structure and Overview: 
The goal of this class is to help students grow as thinkers and writers. Higher order skills acquired in thinking and writing help students process information in a rapidly changing world and reflect on the deeper meanings of print and visual media. Students who utilize rhetorical tools and strategies achieve a level of sophistication in writing that invites audiences to join them in examining issues from multiple layers of meaning. In the process, students begin to take a more disciplined approach to writing and develop their voices through every day and argumentative writing. 

Course Expectations
To complete this course successfully, you will: 
•	Participate in the course activities.
•	Apply a variety of invention strategies that generate topics and ideas suitable for writing at the analytic level.
•	Apply a variety of organizational strategies that use critical thinking skills to develop a logical progression of ideas and supporting evidence.
•	Participate actively and meaningfully in all discussions.
•	Apply a variety of revision strategies that clarify and enhance the writer’s approach to the topic. 

Communications: Students can expect a fairly short turn-around time in response to emails—usually within hours, but please allow up to 24. 

Institutional/Course Policy: 
Attendance and participation is expected for this course. While you are in college, it is your job as a student to come to class ON TIME prepared for the work of the day. Plan ahead. An absence on a due dates does not constitute an excuse for being late with an assignment. Since assignments will be submitted electronically, no submission on the due date = the assignment is late. Come to class prepared, having read the assignment, with computer in hand. There will be no makeup tests. If a test is missed, then the other tests will weigh more. Late assignments will be penalized by 20 points the first day it is late. More than one day late, an assignment will not receive more than a 50. 

Withdrawal Policy/Date
Once a student attends class, s/he is considered in attendance. The instructor will certify each student is a part of the class. If a student decides s/he cannot complete the course, it is the student’s responsibility to drop or withdraw with the registrar’s office at the college. Failure to do so will result in receiving a poor grade, usually an “F”.

A student may DROP the class prior to the official reporting day (12th class day). In this case, the class will not appear anywhere on the student’s transcript. After the reporting date but before the last posted date of withdrawal, a student may withdraw from the course, but a “W” will appear on the transcript. The instructor will not withdraw a student from the course, even if the student is not actively participating or completing assignments. 

CELL PHONES: In keeping with Pewitt’s policy, no cell phones are permitted during class. 

Alternate Operations During Campus Closure and/or Alternate Course Delivery Requirements
In the event of an emergency or announced campus closure due to a natural disaster or pandemic, it may be
necessary for Northeast Texas Community College to move to altered operations. During this time, Northeast Texas Community College may opt to continue delivery of instruction through methods that include, but are not limited to, online through the Blackboard Learning Management System, online conferencing, email messaging, and/or an alternate schedule.  It is the responsibility of the student to monitor NTCC’s website (http://www.ntcc.edu/) for instructions about continuing courses remotely, Blackboard for each class for course-specific communication, and NTCC email for important general information.

Additionally, there may be instances where a course may not be able to be continued in the same delivery format as it originates (face-to-face, fully online, live remote, or hybrid).  Should this be the case, every effort will be made to continue instruction in an alternative delivery format.  Students will be informed of any changes of this nature through email messaging and/or the Blackboard course site.

NTCC Academic Honesty/Ethics Statement:
NTCC upholds the highest standards of academic integrity. The college expects all students to engage in their academic pursuits in an honest manner that is beyond reproach using their intellect and resources designated as allowable by the course instructor. Students are responsible for addressing questions about allowable resources with the course instructor. Academic dishonesty such as cheating, plagiarism, and collusion is unacceptable and may result in disciplinary action. This course will follow the NTCC Academic Honesty and Academic Ethics policies stated in the Student Handbook.  Refer to the student handbook for more information on these subjects.

ADA Statement:
It is the policy of NTCC to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals who are students with disabilities. This College will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to request accommodations. An appointment can be made with the Academic Advisor/Coordinator of Special Populations located in Student Services and can be reached at 903-434-8264. For more information and to obtain a copy of the Request for Accommodations, please refer to the special populations page on the NTCC website.  

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA):
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children’s educational records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are considered “eligible students.” In essence, a parent has no legal right to obtain information concerning the child’s college records without the written consent of the student. In compliance with FERPA, information classified as “directory information” may be released to the general public without the written consent of the student unless the student makes a request in writing. Directory information is defined as: the student’s name, permanent address and/or local address, telephone listing, dates of attendance, most recent previous education institution attended, other information including major, field of study, degrees, awards received, and participation in officially recognized activities/sports.

Tentative Course Timeline (*note* instructor reserves the right to make adjustments to this timeline at any point in the term): 

August 23rd first day for N.T.C.C.
	Course introduction and citing sources
	Write to Express and Reflect 
September 8	Last day for Drop without W
September 9 #1 Reflective Essay  
	 Write to Inform and Explain
September 30 2nd Informative Essay Due
	Write to Evaluate and Judge 
October 21 3rd Evaluation Essay Due
	Write to Inquire and Explore
November 11 4th Inquiry Essay Due 
Write to take a stand/propose a solution 
November 16 Last Day for withdrawal with W
November 18 5th Stance Essay Due  
	 Write to analyze and interpret 	
December 2 6th Analysis Essay Due 
December 9 End of Semester
*Daily in class assignments will be used to teach and reinforce each style of writing.