IEP 401 Composition

Summer 2014

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Instructor Name:
Email:
Office hours:

Jennifer McSpadden
jemcspadden@ucdavis.edu
by appointment

COURSE INFORMATION
Class Dates:
July 1st- September 4th, 2014
Class Days/Times: Monday-Friday 10:40-11:30 a.m.
Location:
Spruce Lab

COURSE OVERVIEW
Course Description:
This class will focus on writing excellent paragraphs for a variety of purposes. The
paragraph is the basic element for all compositions. Students will study the features of
strong paragraphs of different styles. This course will focus on developing a paragraph
around a controlling idea. Students will develop the skills of planning, composing,
revising, and editing.
Goals and Objectives:
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Write using a unified organizational structure, including topic sentences,
controlling idea, supporting details, and relationship of ideas, using appropriate
connectors.
Compose simple, some compound and complex sentences, and recognizes and
identifies position and function of sentence elements in the different tenses.
Organize and develop longer/more sophisticated paragraphs using the following
rhetorical modes: process, opinion, cause-effect, compare/contrast, and
classification or definition.
Show increased ability to proofread compositions for punctuation, spelling,
capitalization, parallelism, and key grammar points.
Outline a paragraph as part of the planning process.

McSpadden Last Updated: 12/31/2016

Required Materials:
Longman Academic Writing Series 3rd edition, Book 2
by Ann Hogue. Pearson (2014)

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Recommended Materials:
Class notebook
A highlighter
A USB storage device
Important Dates:
July 4th Independence Day (No Classes)
July 9th Last day to register for the midterm TOEFL exam!
August 6th Last day to register for the final TOEFL and TOEIC exams!
August 29th Last day to register and pay for Fall Quarter 2014!
September 1st Labor Day Holiday (No Classes)

COURSE POLICIES

Policy for Make-Up Exams & Homework:

Late homework will be accepted one class after it is due. However, it will be
marked down by half points. After that no late homework will be accepted.
Criteria

All essays must be 150-200 words/8-10 sentances

Students must attain a 74% or higher in this course to be promoted to the next level!

Daily Homework: 10%

Weekly Journals: 10%
In class timed writing: 10%
Paragraph 1: 10%
Paragraph 2: 10%
Paragraph 3: 10%
Paragraph 4: 10%
Paragraph 5: 10%
Final: 20%

Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the act of turning in someone elses work as ones own, turning in a
paper/work from the Internet, or not giving credit for information obtained from
source material. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. If a student plagiarizes,
that student will receive no credit (0 points) for that assignment. To avoid
plagiarism, students must clearly acknowledge the source of any borrowed
language or ideas that they in their papers. Please see the following website for
more information: http://cai.ucdavis.edu/plagiarism.html

McSpadden Last Updated: 12/31/2016

Attendance Policy:
Come to class prepared and on time every day.
Students are absent if they
miss class,
miss 15 minutes or more of class
Three (3) tardies (being late) will count as one (1) absence.
If you a student has more than 7 absences, that student will receive an NP (No
Pass) for this course. Additionally, students cannot exceed 28 absences in the
program.

Class Rules:
Please turn off all cell phones and electronic devices.
No electronic dictionaries (for in class assignments).
Be polite when editing or helping other students.
Please do not talk while other students are talking or when I am talking. Wait for
your turn.
Please respect the opinions of other students, even when you disagree with them.

Tentative Course Schedule:

Week 1- Introduction / Chapter 1
Week 2- Chapter 1, cont. / Chapter 2
Week 3- Chapter 2, cont. / Chapter 4
Week 4- Chapter 4, cont. / Chapter 5
Week 5- Chapter 5, cont. / Chapter 6
Week 6- Chapter 6
Week 7- Catch-up
Week 8- Narrative
Week 9- Review and Writing Practice
Week 10- Review and Writing Practice

McSpadden Last Updated: 12/31/2016