ENG 102: The College at Brockport

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Course Objectives

Course Description

ENG 102 Fundamentals of College Compostion. For students who need practice in expository writing skills. Provides intesive work in writing standard, edited English as preparation for entering ENG 112.

Objective 1

Students will become comfortable using a process approach to writing college papers.

Invention

Students will use prewriting strategies such as brainstorming, clustering, free-writing, and journalistic questions to generate ideas, topics, and information.

Drafting

When producing preliminary drafts both in and out of class, students will be able to

identify a purpose (e.g., expressive, expository, persuasive) for writing;
generate clear and limited thesis statements;
generate supporting details by elaborating on ideas identified in prewriting;
identify relationships among ideas and supporting details;
develop a working plan to organize their materials; and
write introductions and conclusions.

Revision

In response to peer and instructor feedback, students will be able to evaluate and revise their drafts in order to ensure that they have

developed a clear, narrowly defined thesis;
employed enough specific details to support general impressions (for descriptions) and main ideas (for exposition); and
ordered their ideas in a logical, functional manner

Editing

Through focused proofreading, students will correct errors of grammar, usage, and mechanics so that their papers adhere to the conventions of standard, written English. (see Objective 2).

Objective 2

Students will accurately employ the conventions of standard, written English.

Students will

identify most of the grammar, usage, and mechanical errors in their own papers;
accurately correct errors such as comma splices, fused sentences, fragments, misplaced modifiers, faulty parallelism, and problems with agreement, punctuation, and spelling; and
rewrite sentences that lack clarity or are wordy.

Objective 3

Students will read college-level texts critically

Students will be able to

summarize and paraphrase passages from an assigned text and
provide critical commentary and analysis for an assigned text

Objective 4

Students will accurately assess the social context in which they write.

Students will

identify the audience in each writing situation;
be sensitive to ways in which the audience’s attitudes, beliefs, and values are formed by the social environment;
employ particular strategies to communicate with their intended audience; and
develop awareness of how their own beliefs and ideas are formed by social context.

Attendance

Your composition course will be conducted like a writing workshop. Because peer revision experiences and other group activities cannot be replicated outside the classroom, much of the work done in class cannot be “made up.”

Composition instructors take the matter of class attendance seriously. At the first class meeting, instructors will distribute copies of their attendance policy, which is in compliance with The College at Brockport’s attendance policy passed by the Faculty Senate and approved by the College President http://www.brockport.edu/policies/docs/attendance_policy.pdf. This policy states that students are responsible for all a ssigned work for any class regardless of whether their absences are legitimate (excused) or not; unexcused absences can result in a lowered grade or outright failure of the course, regardless of whether or not the assigned work was completed.

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is essential for all members of a college community as they engage in intellectual inquiry together and write about the results of their research and thinking. It is always assumed by your professors that the papers you produce and the projects you complete are yours alone. If you have had assistance with your written work, or have referred to outside sources for ideas for a paper or project, you must give these sources full credit for their contributions to your finished work. Crediting your use of outside sources both establishes your own intellectual honesty and makes clear which ideas in your papers are your own original ideas.

Because the college community cannot function as a respected institution for teaching and inquiry if academic honesty is not maintained, the punishments for academic dishonesty are severe. The College’s full policy on academic dishonesty can be found here http://www.brockport.edu/policies/docs/policy_on_student_academic_dishonesty.pdf. Below is a summary of the main points of this policy. In addition, your instructor will provide information on the course syllabus regarding the plagiarism policy in your specific composition course. This plagiarism policy is in effect along with the broader College at Brockport policy.

THE COLLEGE AT BROCKPORT

THE POLICY ON STUDENT ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Academic dishonesty is a serious breach of that trust which exists between a student, one's fellow students and the instructor. Academic dishonesty is a major violation of College policy, which can result in the failure of a course, as well as in a range of disciplinary actions, from an official warning to suspension or dismissal from the College. Any student suspected of such a violation will be subject to charges. Violations of academic honesty include, but are not limited to, the actions described in Section I. Published divisional unit and/or individual policies will address additional circumstances unique to specific academic area(s).

I. Definitions of Academic Dishonesty

A. Plagiarism is presenting as one's own, the words, ideas, or products of another without providing a standard form of documentation, such as footnotes, endnotes, or bibliographic documentation.

B. Fabricating facts, statistics, or other forms of evidence in papers, laboratory experiments, or other assignments.

C. Presenting someone else's paper, computer work, or other material as one's own work.

D. Writing, or attempting to write, an examination, paper, computer work, or other material for another student; allowing someone else to take one's examination.

E. Buying and selling of examinations; possession of examinations or answers to examinations without the instructor's permission.

F. Using "cheat sheets," looking onto another's paper, or talking to someone other than the instructor or proctor during an examination, without the instructor's permission.

G. Failing to follow the rules of conduct for taking an examination as stipulated by the instructor prior to the examination or as stated by him or her in a written course syllabus.

H. Presenting work for which credit has been received or will be received in another course without the consent of the instructor(s).

II. Policies

A. Range of Sanctions (sanctions may be given alone or in combination.)

Assigning an E grade for the particular test or assignment in which the offense occurred.
Assigning an E for the entire course for which the offense occurred.
Official Warning: written notice that further academic dishonesty may be cause for more severe disciplinary action.
Conduct Probation: status of the student is probationary during a set period of time and further academic dishonesty may warrant suspension or dismissal from the College.
Conduct Suspension: the student's status in the College is terminated temporarily for a specified period of time.
Dismissal: the student's status in the College is terminated and he/she is permanently separated from the College. He/she is restricted from access to campus premises, except by the written permission of the Vice President for Student Affairs.

A student who is dismissed for academic or disciplinary reasons prior to the end of the academic term shall be liable for all tuition and fees due for that term.

B. Student's Rights When Charged with Academic Dishonesty

The right to be given written notice of the nature of the charges and to be informed of one's rights prior to any hearing.
The right to continue in a course until the hearing process is completed.
The right to receive, upon request, a list of the witnesses that will appear in the hearing in support of the charges. The provision of such a list of witnesses shall not preclude the testimony of witnesses who were unknown at the time of such a request.
The right to deny the charge made by the instructor and to request an administrative hearing before the dean of the school in which the alleged offense occurred.
The right to bring witnesses and/or an advocate to the hearing. Only members of the College community may be selected to be the accused student's advocate, but such persons may not participate in the hearing, e.g., by presenting the student's case or examining witnesses. Postponement of a scheduled hearing may be allowed by the dean, on the basis of unavailability of important witnesses, but only if sufficient cause for said unavailability is shown.
The right to question witnesses and the person making the charge.
The right to produce witnesses and documentary evidence in his or her own behalf.
The right to appeal his/her case to the Vice President of Academic Affairs, if a sanction has been imposed.

Withdrawal

DROPPING OR WITHDRAWING

FROM A COLLEGE COMPOSITION COURSE

College Composition (ENG 112), completed with a grade of C or better, is required for graduation from The College at Brockport. Therefore students should not drop or withdraw from the course except under highly unusual circumstances. Students may drop a course during the first four weeks of a semester, withdraw during weeks five through ten, and—under extraordinary circumstances—request a late withdrawal during the remainder of the semester. Late withdrawals are very rarely granted.

weeks 1-4 drop
weeks 5-10 withdraw
weeks 11-15 late withdrawal

If a student drops during the first four weeks, the course is completely removed from the academic record. However, if a student withdraws, the course will appear on the transcript as a “W” grade.

Students may not drop or withdraw without obtaining the permission and signature of the Composition Coordinator. If you wish to make such a request, see Mr. Robert Baker in Hartwell 101

Students seeking to withdraw from a course after the tenth week in the semester must fill out a Late Withdrawal form documenting extraordinary circumstances. These are likely to be denied unless the reasons are clearly significant and verifiable or are supported by an objective source. Documentation from a health care or other such professional attesting to illness or inability to complete course requirements must accompany such requests.

Students allowed to withdraw are charged $20, and they are responsible for submitting the withdrawal form to the registrar.

Grades

C or better required

Students must complete ENG 102 with a grade of C or higher in order to move on to ENG 112. In order to fulfill the general education composition requirement, students must complete ENG 112 with a grade of C or higher.

In order to do so, it is expected that students

attend regularly and are prepared for classes.
participate actively and regularly in the writing process, which includes prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading activities.
meet course deadlines for completing stages of the writing process as well as those for submitting essays and other assignments.

By the end of the course, students will

tighten control of the thesis and develop/defend it in expository essays,
write C-level essays without continuing instructor intervention,
in ENG 112, use and successfully document secondary sources, and
demonstrate control over most elements of Standard Written English.

General Standards for Grades

Students are often surprised to find that grading practices in college differ from those in high school. It is not unusual for them to tell their instructors: “But I always got A’s in English!” While your instructors will provide you with their own formulas for calculating grades, the following Standards for Grading generally characterize the kinds of skills, work habits, and attitudes that constitute particular grades.

A and A-

These grades refer to work that is:

consistently superior and includes serious revision of drafted materials, clear expression of original ideas, sophisticated analysis of texts, and the use of highly relevant details and examples to support points.
grammatically correct and written using a strong voice and vivid language. Papers exhibit careful attention to editing and proofreading.

Students earning these grades invariably have excellent attendance and participation records, and are consistently prepared for class. They complete necessary preliminary assignments and bring appropriate materials to each class session.

B+, B, and B-

These grades refer to work that is:

above average and includes successful revision of drafted materials. This writing consistently focuses on a central topic and progresses logically. It displays in-depth analysis of texts and ideas, and employs numerous details to support points.
written with few grammatical or mechanical errors.

Students earning these grades typically have very good attendance and participation records and are generally well-prepared for class. They complete necessary preliminary assignments and bring appropriate materials to each class session.

C+ and C

These grades refer to work that is:

competent and appropriate for the college level but is not exceptional or noteworthy. The writer is able to stay focused on a thesis and understands how to formulate an idea, organize supporting material and present a logical argument. Sufficient revision is evident. The work may need further focus and refinement. Details are generally clear but predictable or may need further explanation.
free from serious grammatical errors or usage problems. Although there are some errors, they are sporadic and infrequent.

Students earning these grades tend to attend class regularly and participate in class discussions. They almost always complete necessary preliminary assignments and bring appropriate materials to each class session.

C- and D+

These grades refer to work that:

does not quite meet standards expected at the college level. Writing may be vague and lack a clear, controlling thesis. Details are inadequately explained and may seem irrelevant. Attempts at revision are few or unsuccessful.
is characterized by frequent errors in syntax, grammar, and punctuation that interfere with the clear communication of ideas.

Students earning grades of C- and D+ often find that attendance problems and failing to come to class adequately prepared have had a negative impact on their writing development.

D and D-

These grades refer to work that is:

clearly below the standard college level. Students often have trouble articulating a thesis and developing ideas in detail. Attempts at revision are inadequate.
filled with basic errors in grammar, sentence structure, usage, and even spelling.

Students earning these grades typically attend class sporadically and are frequently unprepared when they do attend.

This grade refers to work that: