Professional Documents
Culture Documents
English Composition I
Course Section: M, Th 9:30 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
Instructor: Ms. Ashbourne
Office: Raritan Hall Rm. _____
Email: karenea0138@portal.middlesexcc.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Course Description: Through a variety of writing projects requiring description, characterization, narration,
illustration, process analysis, comparison and contrast, and definition, as well as through a documented essay,
students develop competence writing clear, correct, effective English prose. Extensive reading materials serve
as structural models and as the bases for discussion and for the writing of essays involving response, analysis,
and synthesis. During the course, the student will write between 7,000 and 10,000 words, including drafts and
revisions.
Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of ENG 121, the student should be able to:
Compose coherent, developed and grammatical essays that demonstrate the students ability to
paraphrase, summarize and respond to texts.
Compose a documented essay demonstrating the ability to locate, evaluate and integrate source material
and cite this information correctly.
Read critically and apply inferential and critical skills to college-level readings.
Comprehend and use college-level language.
Demonstrate mastery of the writing process.
Synthesize and organize facts, ideas and opinions in a clear and well-developed manner using various
methods of development.
Required Textbooks:
What It Takes: Academic Writing in College. 2nd ed.
ENG 121 LibGuide (ENG 121 Readings)- Students can print these readings for free in the library or computer
labs. The link is: (http://middlesexcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=586484&sid=4834259)
The Little Seagull Handbook. 2nd ed. w/Exercises
Student Disabilities:
The College has various support systems for students with learning disabilities. Please make use of them if you
feel you may require some of these services. A particular program is called Project Connections. Project
Connections is an academic and counseling support program for students with learning disabilities. It is a
competitive admission program and not all students with learning disabilities will be accepted. Although many
disabilities may impact learning, only students with a diagnosis of a specific learning disability are eligible. For
further information visit: www.middlesexcc.edu/projcon/control.cfm
Our Classroom:
The classroom offers us this great opportunity for discovering ideas together and learning from one another. I
am a learner too, and I value our 160 minutes that the College weekly affords us for productive conversation
and other intellectual activity. My responsibilities for this endeavor are:
Articulating course goals and expectations, and helping you to meet them
Providing and maintaining focus and structure for discussions and assignments
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8. Cheating is not tolerated. If a student cheats by copying another persons work, that student will fail that
assignment. If there is more than one offense, the student will be put out of class.
9. Any disturbance during class will not be tolerated. Disruptions of the learning process for other students
include unnecessary talking, cell phone noise etc.
Electronic Communication
Treat e-mail as you would any other communication: with courtesy and clarity. Include an accurate subject
heading, and check your e-mail for my response. You should use your campus cruiser e-mail because the
College sends you important information by this means, and it simplifies my contacting you. If you use an
email account other than your campus cruiser account, I will not respond to that email. So make sure you
use you college e-mail. Write in complete sentences and complete words, and re-read and edit e-mails before
sending them.
Timeliness
Deadlines matter: they help us to manage our time, and they remind us that we live and work with other people
who have their own timelines to manage. I expect you honor deadlines in this course, and not assume that you
can deliver papers and assignments whenever you get around to finishing them. Deadlines also help us structure
our writing process. We all know that starting an assignment at the last minute compromises its quality, and this
course actively discourages just-in-time writing habits. All writing assignments are included in the syllabus
(so you know the arc of the course and can plan ahead), and peer response and drafting are built into the course.
Please take your assignments seriously.
Academic Honesty
All students are expected to do their own original work. If a writer uses someone elses words or ideas and does
not give the author proper credit, it is plagiarism. The deliberate attempt to pass off someone elses hard work as
your own is equivalent to that of stealing. Even if you paraphrase, that is, rephrasing or rewording the quote
altogether, without giving proper credit to the author is considered plagiarism. Plagiarized papers are given
automatic Fs, with no opportunity to make up the assignment, and may result in failing the course. It will also
be reported to the Academic Dean. I take this very seriously, so if there are any doubts, it is always best to cite
and then come talk to me about it.
Grading Policy:
There will be no make-up for missed tests and quizzes. Students may come and see me in the event of
an emergency.
In order to pass English 121, students must attain a grade of C using the following criteria:
Journals & Quizzes:
15%
(Note: students must be present to complete quizzes and many of the journal activities; students may not be able
to make up missed in-class work.)
Out-of-class essays:
(Note: essay 1 = 10%; essay 2 = 15%; essay 3 = 20%; essay 4 = 20%)
65%
20%
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***(students should print out readings from the LibGuide ahead of time and bring those readings to class on
both the midterm and final exam days)
NOTE: As a matter of department policy, no one will receive a grade of C or better for the course
unless he or she completes all the assignments and unless his or her in-class writing and final exam
average C or better.
NOTE: Some steps in the writing process for each paper will be done in class and credit given upon their
completion. Failure to complete steps in the writing process may impact the final paper grade by up to
one letter grade at the instructors discretion.
Please keep in mind that there is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 that protects
the privacy of education records. By federal law, access to grades and other college records belongs to the
student. So the choice of whether or not to share your grades and personal information with others is all yours.
Therefore, I will not be audibly giving out grades in class. Students will individually receive their returned
assignments with their grades accordingly. For further information on FERPA visit:
www2.middlesexcc.edu/services-and-support/registrar/policies-and-procedures/ferpa.html
Assessment Statement: With the goal of continuing to improve the quality of educational services offered to
students, Middlesex County College conducts assessments of student achievement of course, program, and
institutional learning outcomes. Student work may be used anonymously for assessment purposes so that we
may be able to improve the quality of our courses.
9/8
9/11
9/18
Paper #1 due
What It Takes Reading due: pgs. 8-16
LibGuide Reading due: Health law Urged to Combat Comics and American Superheroes and
the Politics of Good and Evil
Journal Entry
9/22
9/25
9/29
LibGuide Reading due: Teens Using Social Media Show Savvy about Privacy even as They
Share More and Some Privacy, Please? Facebook, under Pressure, Gets the Message
10/2
10/6
Paper #2 due
LibGuide Reading due: Teens and Privacy
What It Takes Reading due: pgs. 70-79; 136-140
5
Journal Entry
10/9
LibGuide Reading due: Here Comes the Sun and Why the Gasoline Engine Isn't Going Away
Anytime Soon
Journal Entry
10/13
10/16
LibGuide Reading due: Why I Still Support Nuclear Power, Even after Fukushima and The
Future of Nukes, and of Japan
*500-word Journal Entry due
10/20
10/23
MIDTERM (this paper will be the rough draft for paper #3); JOURNALS COLLECTED
AND GRADED
10/27
10/30
11/3
11/6
Paper #3 due
Paper #4 Assignment is given out (1000-1250 words)
Little Seagull Reading due: pgs. 324-354
Journal Entry
11/10
11/13
LibGuide Reading due: Degrees and Dollars and College Students Bypassing Degrees on
Purpose
Journal Entry
11/17
11/20
LibGuide Reading due: The New College Credential The Newest College Credential
Journal Entry
11/24
Paper #4 due
LibGuide Reading due: The New Underclass
Journal Entry
11/27
12/1
LibGuide Reading due: The Watercooler Effect and A Lie Races on Twitter before the Truth
Can Boot Up
*500-word Journal Entry due
12/4
LibGuide Reading due: A Lie Races on Twitter before the Truth Can Boot up and On
Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can be Done
JOURNALS COLLECTED
12/8
12/11
FINAL EXAM