2. Welcome!
English Composition II is a continuation of English I
that emphasizes writing, research, and analytical
reading. This class has several purposes. You will
learn:
to express ideas clearly and logically in writing;
to employ a writing process that results in a
polished final draft;
to evaluate your own writing and that of your
classmates;
to find, evaluate, integrate and document credible
sources;
to consider context and differing points of view in
reading assignments; and to read with
comprehension and think critically and
3. Course Overview
This is a 12-week course, so we will be moving
faster than we might in a 16-week course, and
the information will be more compressed. It will
be important that you keep up.
As this is an online course, you will need to
navigate our Blackboard Site--see Blackboard
Tips and Tricks located in the Course
Information folder on the left if you need help.
You should click through the links on the menu
bar on the left to get an idea of how the course is
structured.
4. Course Site Orginization
Calendar--key dates for the course and
college
Announcements--posted Mondays or for
news
Contacts--how to reach me and staff at the
college Information—Blackboard tips and
Course
tricks, syllabus, assignment schedule and
other documents
Assignments--weekly lessons, major and
weekly assignments, weekly task checklists
Discussion Board--organized by week
Tools--handy items like Blackboard IM
Test/Quiz--all our quizzes
Student Resources--helpful services like
tutoring
Useful Links-- our textbook resources,
online dictionaries, Google Scholar and
Hartness Library
5. Course Site
Announcements—main screen when you log in
to Blackboard
A New Announcement will be posted each
Monday; you will be emailed a copy; the letter will
outline our week
Additional Announcements will be posted as
needed; any important changes will be announced
and sent out via email.
Course Information—key documents are here
Blackboard Tips and Tricks
Syllabus
Assignment Schedule
Plagiarism Policy
6. Course Site
Discussions –there is a new forum each week,
with multiple threads related to the week’s topic.
Please refer to the instructions on each thread
and follow them.
Good faith efforts will receive full credit (7 points).
7. Assignments
This is a very important location!
Weekly assignment folders will contain lessons,
handouts, a task checklist for the week (see next
slide), the writing exercise assignment sheet, and
Turnitindropbox for upload
Major assignment folders will contain the
assignment sheet, grading rubric, any handouts
related to the document, and the Turnitindropbox
for each assignment.
8.
9. Course Site
Tests/quizzes link contains our quizzes
Tools link contains handy items such as
Blackboard IM
Student Resourceslink takes you to college
services like tutoring and the library
Useful Links include writing and research aids
from around the web such as dictionaries, OWL
at Purdue, Hartness Library training videos and
more
10. Major Assignments
The major focus of this course will be a 7-12 page
Argumentative Research Essay
This essay is worth 400 points, or 40% of your
grade
All our assignments will be based on this essay
Four weeks of our schedule will be spent writing
this essay
We’ll end the semester with informal
presentations about your research project
11. Major Assignments
Our other major assignments will be related to the
research essay
1. Topic Proposal Essay in which you choose
your topic for the research essay--worth 50
points or 5% of your grade
2. Annotated Bibliography which will help you
find and evaluate sources for the research
essay--worth 250 points or 20% of your grade
3. Peer Review of a draft of the research essay—
worth 48 points or ~5% of your grade
12. Major Assignments
Together, your major assignments will comprise
75% of your grade
Topic
Proposal
50 pts
Annotated
Bibliography
250 pts
Peer Review
48 Weeks
Argumentativ
e Research
Essay
400 pts
You must turn in all four major assignments to
pass the course
13. Weekly Assignments
In addition to our major assignments, we will also
have weekly assignments, worth 25% of your
grade, 21 points per week
They are comparable to the activities we would
do in the classroom and include:
Quizzes on course content and writing conventions
Discussion forums—there will be multiple threads
each week to talk about and practice elements from
our lesson
Writing Exercises—these short assignments will
allow you to practice key skills and elements of
major assignments
14. Weekly Schedule
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Weekly
Reading
Discussion
Announcement
Quiz on
Posts due;
; Lessons
main
worth 7
posted; New lesson due; points for all
Assignments
Worth 3.5
threads
posted
points
Language
and Writing
Convention
Quiz Due;
worth3.5
points
Writing
Exercise
Due; worth 7
pts
Major assignments will usually be due on Saturday; Days and point values
may vary occasionally; see Assignment Schedule for details
Even though these weekly assignments aren’t worth as many points as
your major assignments, over time, they add up to 25% of your grade
15. Reading
Most of our reading will be
in our textbook, The
Norton Field Guide to
Writing, with Readings and
Handbook by Richard
Bullock, Maureen Daly
Goggin and Francine
Weinberg (3nd Edition),
ISBN-10: 0393919595
16. Reading
You MUST have the book
We’ll be reading
extensively from it every
week
You’ll need it for reference
when doing research
We will be using the
Handbook frequently
You can get it from the
bookstore, or rent it from
Amazon for about $29.00
17. Reading Quizzes: Due on
Tuesdays
Every Tuesday, we’ll have a quiz on the reading
for the week’s main lesson
Quizzes will vary in format, but expect questions
that require you to show that you comprehend
what you’ve read (you can obviously take the quiz
with the book in front of you)
Pay special attention to sample essays
Our first quiz will include the syllabus and course
documents (each quiz is worth 3.5 points)
Our reading is listed on the Assignment
Schedule
I’ll also post it in our weekly lesson
18. Discussions: Due on Wednesday
Each week, we’ll have discussions on our main
lesson
There will be clear instructions for posting on
each thread
Your posts will be due on Wednesdays
You are encouraged to check back in and
respond to your classmates’ posts
Our discussions will function as a class
discussion would in a seated classroom
They are intended to help you understand the
week’s lessons, and may include practice
exercises
It will be important to stay on topic, or at least
19. Discussions—your behavior
Appropriate Student Behavior: One of WWCC’s Goals
for Student Success is that each of you is able to ―see
issues from multiple perspectives.‖ Our discussions are
intended to accomplish this, and I hope that a range of
views is represented in them. You may disagree with views
presented in reading or on our discussion board, and you
are encouraged to explain why in a respectful manner.
Please be aware that I will absolutely not tolerate
racist/sexist/homophobic language or any other form of
hate speech in our discussions or in papers, and I will
expect you to refrain from such use. College policy 5420A
states that ―the College can immediately suspend or
dismiss a student for disciplinary reasons if the college
considers the student’s actions detrimental to its
educational purposes.‖ As a representative of WWCC, I
strongly believe that a failure to meet the expectations
above is indeed detrimental, and will proceed accordingly if
a student repeatedly fails to do so.
20. Language and Writing Conventions:
quiz on Thursday
Each week, we’ll cover a section of the Handbook
(in our textbook) to discuss the way language,
word choice, syntax, grammar and mechanics are
typically used in academic writing
We’ll begin with language, then move to sentence
grammar (syntax), other grammar, and finally
mechanics (punctuation and other formatting)
On Thursdays, we’ll have our quiz on this topic;
there will also be a discussion board to talk about
it (each quiz is worth 3.5 points)
21. Writing Exercises: due on Fridays
These will be due on Fridays
They willrelate to the week’s lesson and allow to
practice important skills
Often, they will be a part of our major
assignments in progress
Doing these exercises will allow me to guide you
during the writing process of our major
assignments
22. Course Requirements
(see Syllabus in course documents)
To pass the course, you must complete all major
assignments
You must have the book
You will need to upload .doc or .docx files. They
will be uploaded as Turnitinassignments.
You will need a way of backing up your work
(flash drive, Google drive, Dropbox, emailing
yourself). I recommend coming up with an
electronic filing system and naming conventions
to help you keep track of your work and drafts
23. Course Requirements/Best Practices
You should check in to the Blackboard site and
your WWCC email at least once per day
Be respectful of me and each other—again, I will
absolutely not tolerate racist/sexist/homophobic
language or any other form of hate speech in our
discussions or in papers, and I will expect you to
refrain from such use.
Keep up! We’re moving fast in this class, and you
may not be able to catch up if you fall behind.
Keep in mind that each lesson and each week’s
work might normally be spread over three class
periods and 16 weeks.
24. Course Requirements/Best Practices
Expect to spend 5-10 hours per week on this
class, although your own reading and writing
speed will impact how much time you need to do
the work. If you struggle with writing, reading
comprehension, grammar or technology, you will
need to put in additional time.
While I understand that you many of you are
juggling multiple responsibilities, I cannot waive
requirements because you are busy.
25. Key Requirements/Best Practices
Get help if you need it
Smarthinking—WWCC’s online peer tutoring
service, available through Mustang Cruiser
Peer Tutor Center: Rock Springs Campus, room
2006, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3
p.m
Me: Email me-MichelleZuppa@wwcc.mailcruiser.com or chat with
me during office hours: Sundays 12:00 – 1:00 PM;
Wednesdays 7:00 – 8:00 PM; Thursdays 9:00 10:00 AM
Be sure to install Blackboard IM from the tools menu
26. Course Requirements/Best Practices
Additional Resources
Library—The library is accessible either on-campus in
Rock Springs or via online through Mustang
Cruiser. Librarians are always helpful, especially
when you are working on a research project
Learning Center—Learning Centers are located on
both the Rock Springs and Green River campuses,
and offer a wide variety of college-prep and college
level courses in an atmosphere of individualized
instruction. ABE, GED, and ESL courses and services
are also available through the Learning Center.
Under Useful Links on the course menu, there is a
collection of web resources including writing and
research aids
27. Grading
Your final grade will be determined as follows:
Assignment/Activity
Points Possible
Proposal Essay
50
Annotated Bibliography
250
Argumentative Research Essay
400
Peer Review
48
Participation, quizzes and exercises
252
Total
1000
28. Grading Scale
In determining your final grade for the course, the
following grading scale will be used:
90-100% of total points earned = A
80-89% of total points earned = B
70-79% of total points earned = C
60-69% of total points earned = D
59% of total points earned and below = F
Grades will be rounded as follows: .5 or greater will
round up; lower than .5 will not be rounded. So,
89.5 will round up to 90; 89.4 will remain an 89.
29. Late Work
Assignments are due as scheduled
Major assignments will be docked one letter
grade for each day late unless prior
arrangements have been approved
Except Peer Review—if this is late, you will receive
a0
Weekly assignments will be docked one point per
day late until they hit zero
30. Plagiarism
Please read the Plagiarism and Academic
Honesty Policy document found in course
information very carefully. This is the quick
version.
Plagiarism is the use of other people’s ideas
without giving proper credit.
It can result in failing the course or failing the
assignment, depending on the severity of the
offense.
Blatant cheating or a second offense will result
in failing the course.
31. Plagiarism
Plagiarism happens for many reasons
Laziness or not wanting to spend the needed time
to complete an assignment
Lack of planning
Fear of failure or its consequences
Carelessness in research and documentation
Ignorance of the rules of citation and
documentation
32. Avoiding Plagiarism
Plagiarism can be avoided:
Start assignments early
Ask for help if you need it
Keep track of sources
Take care to cite material from outside sources
properly
Be aware:
I, and most teachers, are good at catching
plagiarism
Our software, Turnitin, helps us
