This document provides an overview of an English 102 college writing course, including information about the instructor, course description and goals, assignments, grading, policies, and textbook. The course will focus on developing skills in persuasive and expository writing by thinking about trends in the changing world. Students will complete 5 major assignments including essays, a research paper, video presentation, and a final assignment reflecting on their future. The course aims to improve students' abilities to write for different audiences, comprehend and analyze various texts, conduct research, and give/receive peer feedback.

1. English 102-30, College Writing and Rhetoric
TLC 148 11:30-12:20 MWF
Joseph Perreault
Jperreault@uidaho.edu
Office: Brink 101
Office Hours: M(10:25-11:25), W(10:25-11:25), F(10:25-11:25) and by appointment
“I became interested in long-term trends because an invention has to make
sense in the world in which it is finished, not the world in which it is started.”
—Ray Kurzweil
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Welcome to English 102. Over the course of this semester, we will be thinking and writing about
the ever more-rapidly shifting world of which we are a part. This will involve retrospection on
moments we became aware of a changing landscape. It will involve evaluation of our current
world. And we’ll spend most of our time developing strategies for educated prospection of
future trends in an area of interest or an area of possible future employment. In other words, in
this class, we’ll be thinking about ways to think about the world we’ll graduate into before it
materializes. We’ll begin to build strategies for positioning ourselves as competitive people in
emerging new fields and changing old ones.
COURSE GOALS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES:
English 102 is an introductory composition course, designed to improve your skills in
persuasive, expository writing, the sort you will be doing in other courses in college and in
many jobs. Sometimes this kind of writing is called transactional writing; it is used to transact
something—persuade and inform a reasonably well-educated audience, conduct business,
evaluate, review, or explain a complex process, procedure, or event.
By the end of the course, a successful student should be able to...
• Accurately assess and effectively respond to a wide variety of audiences and
rhetorical situations.
• Comprehend college-level and professional prose and analyze how authors
present their ideas in view of their probable purposes, audiences, and occasions.
• Present ideas as related to, but clearly distinguished from, the ideas of others
(including the ability to paraphrase, summarize, and correctly cite and document
borrowed material).
• Focus on, articulate, and sustain a purpose that meets the needs of specific writing
situations.

2. • Explicitly articulate why they are writing, who they are writing for, and what they
are saying.
• Write critical analyses and syntheses of college-level and professional prose.
• Be able to make the connection between questions and problems in your life both
within and outside of college.
• Gather and evaluate information and use it for a rhetorical purpose in writing a
research paper.
• Attend to and productively incorporate a variety of perspectives.
• Develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading.
• Understand writing as an open process that permits writers to use later invention
and re-thinking to revise their work.
• Give and receive constructive feedback from peers.
• Use conventions of format and structure appropriate to the rhetorical situation
and practice appropriate means of documenting their work.
• Locate, evaluate, organize, and use research material collected from electronic
sources, including scholarly library databases; other official databases (e.g., federal
government databases); and informal electronic networks and internet sources.
DEADLINES:
Administrative Deadlines
The university has certain deadlines of which you need to be aware if you want to drop the
course at some point during the term.
January 18th – Last day to add the course WITH a late fee.
January 24th – Last day to drop the course without a grade of W.
February 16th– Last day to drop the course with a grade of W.
Class Deadlines
Will be posted on the course BBLearn site and on weekly schedules in the sections for major
assignments on BBlearn. Do not rely on the semester outline: refer to the weekly schedules.
*Deadlines are fixed, but I am more than willing to be flexible if you ask for an extension early.
This does not mean the night before it is due—at least 2 days’ notice.
TEXTBOOK (Provided)
• Jodie Nicotra, Becoming Rhetorical, Available in the Vandal Store.
COURSE WEBSITE:
All assignments (save for in-class assignments) and drafts will be submitted through the course
BbLearn site. All assignment sheets and other course materials will also be posted in the

3. BbLearn site. Log on into BbLearn (http://bblearn.uidaho.edu) using your University of Idaho
NetID and password, and locate English 102.
OTHER READINGS (ON BBLEARN)
TBA
ATTENDANCE:
Attendance and participation in English 102 is expected and has direct effects on your
performance in the class. I expect you to be present and actively engaged in the class. Therefore,
it makes up a portion of your grade. You are allowed three unexcused absences without penalty
this semester, but you will not fail the course on the basis of absence alone. If you miss more
than three classes, it will begin to negatively affect your grade. Ten points will be deducted from
your overall grade for each absence after three unexcused misses. Late assignments will be
accepted and marked at a deduction of 10%.
The course requires 5 projects and is based on a possible score of 800 pts.
Reasonable accommodations will be made for extenuating circumstances, serious illnesses, and
proper notification of inability to adhere to class policy from Disability Support Services or the
office of the Dean of Students. Also, I may be flexible regarding reasons for excusing an absence
or a late assignment. If you have a prior commitment or other reason you cannot attend class or
turn in an assignment, email me. I will not, however, excuse an absence retroactively, which
means you must email me Before the time of the missed class or assignment. Ultimately it’s
about taking the work seriously and mutual respect between student and instructor.
Communication is key.
University of Idaho Classroom Learning Civility Clause:
In any environment in which people gather to learn, it is essential that all members feel as free
and safe as possible in their participation. To this end, it is expected that everyone in this course
will be treated with mutual respect and civility, with an understanding that all of us (students,
instructors, professors, guests, and teaching assistants) will be respectful and civil to one
another in discussion, in action, in teaching, and in learning.
Should you feel our classroom interactions do not reflect an environment of civility and respect,
you are encouraged to meet with your instructor during office hours to discuss your concern.
Additional resources for expression of concern or requesting support include the Dean of
Students office and staff (885-6757), the UI Counseling & Testing Center’s confidential services
(885-6716), or the UI Office of Human Rights, Access & Inclusion (885-4285).

4. Technology. Use of technology in the classroom is not prohibited, provided you are using
devices for engaging with the course in a way that is not distracting to yourself or your
colleagues. One exception: when class starts, earbuds come out.
Email etiquette. I welcome your emails and questions – if you have questions about the course,
your work, meeting times, etc., please contact me at the address listed above or on the BbLearn
home page. When you contact me, please treat it as a professional correspondence—your
message should have a greeting, be written in complete sentences, and signed with your name
at the bottom. Generally, you can expect a response during regular business hours (Monday-
Friday, 8-5 PM)
OFFICE HOURS:
My office hours and office number are listed above and on the BbLearn home page. I enjoy
talking to students outside of class, and welcome you to stop by to discuss your work, questions
about the course, etc. Please do not hesitate to email a request for an appointment time if you
cannot make it to regular office hours.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: 5 Major Assignments.
Frame Shift: (100)
•Frame shift essay: 100
Annotated Bibliography: (200)
•Project Proposal: 50
•Annotated Bibliography 1st entry: 10
•Library Research Log: 30
•Information Formats (library quiz): 10
•Evaluation of Sources (library quiz): 10
•Annotated Bibliography: 90
Research Paper: (250)
•Rough Outline: 10
•Sample Body Paragraph: 15
•Revised Body Paragraph: 15
•Full Outline: 10
•Rough Draft: 50
•Final Draft Research Essay: 150
Video Presentation: (150)
•Draft of Script: 50

5. •VideoPresentation: 100
Writing Your Future: (100)
•4 X 25pts. Each
GRADING:
If you withdraw from this course on or before Friday, January 24th, nothing will appear on
your transcript. If you stay registered for the course after that date, you will receive one of the
following grades. Only an A, B, or C are passing grades.
A
Represents achievement superior relative to the level necessary to meet the requirements of
the course. (720-800 points)
B
Represents achievement above the level necessary to meet the requirements of the
course. (640-719 points)
C
Represents achievement that meets the basic requirements in every respect. It signifies that the
work is average, but nothing more. (560-639 points)
W
Stands for Withdrawal. This is the grade you will receive if you withdraw from the course
after January 19th but on or before January 25th. A W has no effect on your GPA, but you
can have only 20 W credits during your time as an undergraduate at UI (about six courses).
After January 25th, you can no longer withdraw from the course.
N
Stands for No Credit. A grade of N has no effect on your GPA, but it does mean that you
need to take the course again. You will earn a grade of N if your grade is an N and you have
done all the work for the course. You also must have made a good faith effort to complete all
the assignments. Handing in just any piece of writing just to avoid getting an F will not
work.
F
Stands for Failure. A grade of F has a negative effect on your GPA. If you fail to hand in any
major writing assignment or do not make a good-faith effort to succeed at a major
assignment, you will automatically earn an F. If your average grade is an N but you did not
complete one of the major components of the course (one of the major papers of all of the
homework assignments or drafts), you will automatically earn an F in the course. There is
no reason for receiving an F in this course, unless you simply fail to submit the required
work. (559 points or below)
I
Stands for incomplete. Under very unusual circumstances you could be assigned an
Incomplete in the course if something happened to you within the last two weeks of the
semester that made it impossible to complete the course (a serious accident or illness that
left you hospitalized and very significant personal tragedy, etc.
POLICY ON PLAGIARISM IN ENGLISH 102:

6. At the University of Idaho, we assume you will do your own work and that you will work with
your instructor on improving writing that is your own. Plagiarism—using someone else’s ideas
or words as your own without proper attribution--is a serious matter.
The consequences of plagiarism:
If I find that you have plagiarized willfully, you will receive an F for the assignment, which
could result in a failing grade for the course.
When you need to use words or ideas from another person—whether an idea, a picture, a
powerful statement, a set of facts, or an explanation—cite your source!
CENTER FOR DISABILITY ACCESS AND RESOURCES REASONABLE
ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT:
Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have documented temporary or
permanent disabilities. All accommodations must be approved through the Center for Disability
Access and Resources located in the Bruce M. Pitman Center, Suite 127 in order to notify your
instructor(s) as soon as possible regarding accommodation(s) needed for the course.
Phone: 208-885‐ 6307
Email: cdar@uidaho.edu
Website: www.uidaho.edu/current-students/cdar