COURSE

SYLLABUS

ENGL 101: COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC

SYLLABUS FALL 2017

COURSE INFORMATION
ENGL 100 or Placement by IELTS,
CREDITS 3 PREREQUISITES
TOEFL, or Accuplacer

DAYS AND TIMES Section I: M/W 11-12:15 LOCATION C407

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
NAME Kristin Rozzell Murray E-MAIL kmurray@aud.edu PHONE 04-3183466
U/T/R: 10-11:00
U/T: 1-2:30
OFFICE
OFFICE C444 M/W: 10-11:00
HOURS
M/W: 12:30-1:30

DESCRIPTION
This course develops students ability to write unified, cohesive and coherent essays. The rhetorical
modes focused on in depth are Comparison-and-Contrast, and Cause-and-Effect. Because English
101 focuses on the revision stage of the writing process, students will engage in thoughtful analysis
of their own as well as others writing. Students will explore the Reading/Writing connection and
develop those reading skills which will be required throughout their academic and professional
careers. Four essays are required in the course.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of this course students will be able to:
1. Develop and support ideas in various tasks by using appropriate examples from the real
world
2. Apply topic specific vocabulary and ideas to all reading, writing and discussion tasks
3. Apply all appropriate reading strategies based on the desired outcomes of reading tasks
4. Apply all phases of the writing process to produce short out-of-class papers and short in-
class writings in various assigned organizational structures
5. Demonstrate fluent command of language structures, vocabulary, and discourse structures
at an appropriate academic level with consistent accuracy in all written tasks

Arts and Sciences p1

 TEXTBOOKS AND ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

1. Collection of Readings provided by instructor (available on Blackboard or in the copy shop)

Troyka, L. Q. Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Prentice
2.
Hall, 2009. (ISBN 13: 978-13-602860-4)
A supply of A4 lined paper for class. Smaller paper used for in-class assignments will NOT be
accepted.
Access to a word processor and printer
3.
Portable Storage Device to store writing assignments.
A supply of plastic folders for essays that are handed in for grading.
Additional readings and other handouts will be posted on Blackboard when appropriate

TEACHING METHODOLOGY
Lecture; discussion; individual, pair and group work

STUDENT EVALUATION PLAN

Students will be evaluated based on the following components:
Essay 1: Reading Response 15%
Essay 2: Rhetorical Analysis (900 words) 25%
Essay 3: Opinion Essay (900 words) 25%
Quizzes, Participation, Blackboard Writing 15%
Final Retrospective Essay 20%

Late assignments: For graded assignments, if a student misses the specified deadline, the assignment is
automatically reduced by 15%. The student then has until the next class meeting to submit the assignment
without any further penalty. If the student does not, the assignment receives a grade of zero. Late drafts will
be read and/or commented on at the discretion of the instructor but will incur a 10% penalty.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Examinations: Exams will be given during regular class periods and will cover material from the lecture and
textbook. If a student has a legitimate excuse for missing an exam, he/she must notify the instructor in
advance. The final will be given during exam week and will be comprehensive.
Quizzes: Quizzes will be given at the discretion of the instructor. There are NO make-up quizzes. A quiz can
be given at the beginning, middle, or end of a class period. In addition, a quiz can be given both at the
beginning and end of a class. Students should always arrive to class prepared to experience a quiz on reading
assignments and current class content.
Homework: Homework will be assigned periodically and must be handed in at the beginning of the lecture
period. Late assignments will not be accepted. Homework must be neatly written and logically organized.
Essays: Students will be required to write essays on a topic related to some aspect of the course material. It
could be based on the readings or the class discussion. The instructor will provide the criteria and emphasis
for evaluating the papers at the beginning of the semester, but can present the topic for the assignment
whenever it is appropriate.

Arts and Sciences p2

Blogs: Students will be required to write a personal Blog. The purpose of the Blog is to provide students
with the opportunity to practice writing in English in a less formal style. Each student will be required to post
a minimum of 3 entries to their Blog. Students must comment on the Blogs of their peers.
Discussion Board: Students will be required respond to a variety of writing prompts that will be related to
reading assignments or reflective of class of class content. Each student will be required to post a minimum
of 3 Discussion Board entries and respond to entries posted by their peers.

GRADING SCALE
LETTER PERCENTAGE LETTER PERCENTAGE
CODE CODE
A 90-100 C 70-73
A- 8789 C- 67-69
B+ 84-86 D+ 64-66
B 80-83 D 60-63
B- 77-79 F < 60
C+ 74-76 W n/a

Note: To obtain a W grade, students must withdraw from the course prior to October 31. After
this date, it is not possible to withdraw from the course.

ACADEMIC POLICIES
Academic Integrity
Academic honesty is of utmost importance at AUD, as described in the Student Handbook. Students are
expected to demonstrate academic integrity by completing their own work, assignments and other
assessment exercises. Submission of work from another person, whether it is from printed sources or
someone other than the student; previously graded papers; papers submitted without proper citations; or
submitting the same paper to multiple courses without the knowledge of all instructors involved can result in
a failing grade. Incidents involving academic dishonesty will be reported to university officials for appropriate
sanctions.

Furthermore, students must always submit work that represents their original words or ideas. If any words
or ideas used in a class posting or assignment submission do not represent the students original words or
ideas, all relevant sources must be cited along with the extent to which such sources were used. Words or
ideas that require citation include, but are not limited to, all hard copy or electronic publications, whether
copyrighted or not, and all verbal or visual communication when the content of such communication clearly
originates from an identifiable source.

Attendance
Due to the nature of the course, attendance and class participation are both important aspects of the
learning experience. For this reason, students are expected to arrive to class on-time, to attend all classes,
and actively participate in class discussions. Students are required to abide by the university policy on
attendance published in the Undergraduate Catalog and the Student Handbook. While in attendance, please do
not use your phone in any way. In particular, do not try to show me your writing on your phone.

Make-up
Scheduled class meetings that do not take place because of declared holidays, instructor illness or any
unforeseen circumstances will be rescheduled by the University or the instructor. These make up class
session will be scheduled during the Study/Make-up period allotted at the end of the semester or by
arrangement with the instructor. Any class activity (lecture, exam, class presentation, etc.) that cannot be

Arts and Sciences p3

performed because of such class cancellations will take place during the first class meeting held after
reconvening, in order to preserve the order of the class schedule as much as possible.

Burden of Proof
As a student of The American University in Dubai, I pledge that all tests taken by me
and that all work submitted by me will be original and solely the results of my own
efforts.

Sometimes during a semester, an instructor may question whether an assigned piece of writing is, in
fact, the result of a students sole and independent efforts. This most often occurs when the
language of the assignment in question is significantly better than the language the student has
demonstrated in class and/or in other writing assignments.

In order to prove that the student in question did, indeed, produce the work, that student may
be asked to do one of the following:

1) Produce the various stages of the assignment (outline, draft, etc.) which the student produced as
the foundation for the final version, or

2) Sit for a 20 30 minute writing assignment on a topic of the instructors choosing and produce a
piece of writing which demonstrates the same (or nearly the same) level of sophistication as the
writing in question, or

3) Another reasonable task of the instructors choosing and produce a piece of writing which
demonstrates the same (or nearly the same) level of sophistication as the writing in question.

Should the student fail to complete any of these options within the specified amount of time, the
writing in question will be determined not to be solely the efforts of the student, and further
disciplinary steps will be initiated to address the violation of AUDs Honor Code.

TURNITIN.COM
Turnitin.com helps both instructors and students to maintain academic honesty and integrity in the
classroom. Please carefully read the following statement, as we will utilize turnitin.com throughout
this course:

In its commitment to academic honesty and accurate assessment of student work, The American
University in Dubai uses Turnitin.com to prevent and detect plagiarism.

The instructor reserves the right to submit student assignments to Turnitin.com to check for
similarities between student submissions and the Internet, various research databases, and the
Turnitin.com database of previous student submissions. Furthermore, the instructor may also submit
essays to other instructors seeking plagiarism matches.

You will be required to electronically submit your written work to Turnitin.com in addition to the
instructor, and by taking this course; you agree that all assignments are subject to plagiarism
detection processes and plagiarism penalties.

Assignments submitted to Turnitin.com by the student or instructor will become part of their
database and will be used for plagiarism prevention and detection. The papers you write, however,
will remain your intellectual property. .

Arts and Sciences p4