This document provides an overview of an English 1102 online composition course at Valdosta State University. It includes the instructor contact information, course description, required text, grading policies, assignments and due dates. The major assignments are 4 papers of varying point values, discussion posts, and research logs. Papers will be drafted and peer reviewed. Late work is subject to point deductions. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. Campus resources for tutoring, counseling, disability services and Title IX issues are also outlined. Course goals and learning outcomes are presented in alignment with the university's first-year writing program.

1. II. INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Laura Retersdorf -- [email protected]
Office hours: by appointment via email or Skype.
*(All VSU-related correspondence should be conducted through
VSU email or BlazeVIEW)
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I. Basic Information
• Section PO2
• CRN 20711
• Credits: 3hrs.
• Online
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Course Description:
Prerequisite: ENGL 1101 or
ENGL 1101H. A composition
course focusing on writing
skills beyond the levels of

2. proficiency required by
ENGL1101 that emphasizes
interpretation and evaluation
and that incorporates a variety
of more advanced research
skills. Students will learn to
organize and present ideas and
information effectively in
research essays.
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Required Text
Lunsford, Andrea A. The St.
Martin’s Handbook, 8th edition.
This text is available at the
VSU Bookstore. You may
choose to purchase a license
for the digital version of this
text (Writer’s Help 2.0). If you
choose this option, you will
purchase the license through
our BlazeVIEW site (see
instructions in a following file
in this module).
English 1102 (SmartPath Core): composition II
Valdosta state university, college of arts and sciences
Lorem Ipsum

3. General descriptions Of each grade:
III. GRADING POLICIES AND INFORMATION
An important note: Students must earn
a course grade of C or better in
ENGL1102 to pass; students earning a
grade of D or lower in ENGL1102 must
repeat the course. Furthermore, while
final grades may be raised or lowered by
your performance in online and in-class
work, in order to pass the course you
must average at least a D on the formal
writing assignments described below
(Assignments 1-4) to earn a C for the
course.
Grades will be based on the following
kinds of criteria:
∗ Ideas (subject, purpose,
main/central idea, focus, thesis,
and audience awareness)
∗ Development (details, examples,
points, reasons, evidence,
arguments, critical/logical
thinking, and tone)
∗ Organization (structure,
paragraphing, coherence, unity,
plan, and transitions)
∗ Style (sentence structure, word

4. choice, diction, and vocabulary)
∗ Grammar (usage, mechanics,
editing, punctuation, spelling,
conventions, and Standard English)
∗ Format (presentation, Modern
Language Association [MLA] style,
and documentation)
Writing that earns an A is distinguished by clear, thoughtful,
and significant ideas
expressed with an awareness of audience; logical, detailed, and
relevant
development; coherent and effective organization that supports
the development;
sophisticated style (varied, readable, and skillfully constructed
sentences, as well
as diction that is fresh, precise, economical, and idiomatic);
correct grammar; and
correct format.
Writing that earns a B is distinguished by most of the qualities
listed above.
However, it may be distinguished by somewhat less insightful
ideas and
occasionally less pertinent and detailed development for an
audience; some
paragraphing and transitions that may not aid the audience as
they might; style
that is competent but not distinctive; generally correct grammar;
and generally
correct format.
Writing that earns a C is characterized by generally clear but
conventional ideas;

5. overly general development; clear but mechanical organization;
unremarkable
style (restricted vocabulary and sentences that lack variety);
occasional problems
in grammar that hinder the writer's purpose; and minimal
adherence to correct
format.
Writing that earns a D is characterized by ideas that are
sometimes unfocused and
confused; development that is sometimes irrelevant or
altogether lacking;
organization that sometimes lacks order or paragraphing;
sometimes incoherent
sentence structure and inappropriate word choice; grammatical
mistakes that
often distract the audience; and major deviations from correct
format.
Writing that earns an F is characterized by unfocused ideas
expressed with
seemingly no concern for the audience; little or no
development; little or no
organization; frequent incoherent sentence structure and
inappropriate word
choice; frequent grammatical errors that make the writer's
purpose impossible to
achieve; and little or no adherence to correct format.
The activities in this course total 1500 points; letter grade
equivalents for
total points earned are as follows:
A: 1343-1500 | B: 11093-1342 | C: 1043-1192 | D: 893-1042 |

6. F:0-892
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IV. Assignments
Papers: Individual assignments are explained in more detail on
assignment sheets posted in BlazeVIEW. All essays (unless
the assignment sheet says differently) must be typed, double-
spaced, and submitted in the appropriate assignment on
BlazeVIEW with a self-assessment (submitted as a separate
file). Each paper builds upon skills practiced in prior essays,
and all class work prepares you to succeed. Thus, all work for
this class is cumulative. The first paper asks you to
summarize and analyze two articles discussing social uses of the
Internet. The second paper asks you to define, explain,
justify, and begin researching your research project. The third
paper asks you to compile an annotated bibliography
summarizing your research and predicting how you will use
sources. The final assignment asks you to create a researched
argument via a traditional research paper, a Ted Talk, or a
series of related blog posts.
Discussions: You will interact with classmates on BlazeVIEW
by posting at regular and frequent intervals to discussion
boards and then responding to two classmates’ posts as listed on
the schedule. Your initial posts must follow the
instructions for each discussion board carefully and completely.
Because the discussion boards typically ask you to
create portions of the paper currently in process, your first posts
will often be several hundred words long. Responses to
other students’ posts must follow the instructions for the
relevant discussion board carefully and completely. Often, the

7. instructions for replies ask you to use your word processor’s
commenting tool to respond in depth to your classmate’s
draft, and you should budget substantial time for your replies.
There is no maximum word count for posts or responses.
The writing in your first posts should be thoughtful and
relatively polished; spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness
writing will not suffice. Posts and responses are due as stated
on the calendar. Discussion threads will stay up all
semester, but posts and responses added more than 24 hours
after the posted due date will earn no credit, and late posts
and replies will receive only partial credit. Grading rubrics,
which show what I’m looking for as I grade, are attached to
each discussion board.
Short Assignments: You will submit five shorter writing
assignments to specified assignment destinations during the
course. Each of these assignments has a specific, focused
purpose. Often, you will need to do some reading in Writer’s
Help 2.0 before you can complete the assignment.
Research Logs: At four intervals in your research, you will
submit research logs, which have several purposes. First, they
encourage you to research steadily and incrementally,
responding to the sources you find as you encounter them,
rather
than waiting for the last moment to do your research (a method
that almost guarantees inadequate research and a low
grade for the resulting paper). Second, these records of your
research help you recognize what you’ve already done and
what you need to do next, which makes your research more
efficient; for example, keeping a careful log of your research
prevents you from repeating searches you’ve already tried that
didn’t work. Finally, the logs help the instructor and the
embedded librarian recognize concrete ways we can help you by
suggesting specific strategies tailored to your research
needs. Each of the research log assignments has specific

8. instructions that you will need to read carefully. As I read and
grade these logs, I will be concerned more with their content
than with their language.
Paper 1 200
Paper 2 300
Paper 3 300
Paper 4 (Research Project) 400
Discussion – 7 @ 10 pts. & 4 @ 20 pts. 150
Short Assignments – 5 @ 10 pts. 50
Research Logs – 4 @ 25 pts. 100
Total 1500
Paper 1
Paper 2
Paper 3
Paper 4
Discussion
Short Assignments
Research Logs

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ATTENDANCE:
I strongly recommend that you visit the class BlazeVIEW
site regularly—at least every other day. While I will not
tax your patience by cramming daily announcements into
the Announcement tool, I will post additional materials in
response to class work, either as text files or as short
videos. You must log in regularly to meet the deadlines at
intervals throughout the week. You will probably perform
better in the class if you log in daily and tackle one task at
a time rather than trying to minimize time online or cram
right before deadlines. Find a system that works for you.
ONLINE CIVILITY
This is a professional environment, one in which
participants must treat each other with respect. In the
discussions and in email, please carefully
consider your language. Misinterpretations occur
frequently when we don’t have access to verbal tone and
body language. If you find yourself offended, take a breath

10. and ask for clarification before assuming the worst (I
promise that I’ll do the same). If someone misinterprets
your words, explain your meaning clearly and calmly
instead of aggravating the situation with an angry
response.
V. Other specific course policies
PLAGIARISM
Turning in someone else’s work as your own or copying
online work and presenting it as your own is plagiarism.
Plagiarism will earn you an F for the course, and I will
notify the VSU Student Conduct Office of your academic
misconduct. Other forms of plagiarism include: failure to
provide citations or to provide correct citations, failure to
distinguish between paraphrase and citation, overuse of
quoted, summarized, or paraphrased material (even if
cited appropriately), and/or re-use of a student’s own
original work.
DRAFT AND PEER REVIEW POLICIES
All major papers/assignments will involve peer review.
This requires you to carefully read and respond to one of
your classmate’s drafts as they respond to yours. Peer
review will help you learn how to offer useful critique of
others’ work in progress. As you note problems and their
solution in your classmates’ writing, you’re likely to
notice similar problems and their potential solutions in
your own writing. If you fail to attend a peer review
session, you must make arrangements with a classmate for
peer review outside of class.
LATE POLICIES

11. Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 (revised, graded versions): you
lose 10 points for every day (24 hours) it is late.
Paper 4 Research Project: I can’t grant extensions for this final
submission. You will fail the class if you don’t submit
your project on time.
Discussion Boards: As noted above, you may submit posts and
replies late (within 24 hours) for partial credit. Messages
and replies posted more than 24 hours late receive no credit.
Writing Assignments and Research Logs: These are due as
noted on the calendar and on each writing task through the
designated assignment. The assignment tool will not accept late
submissions, and I won’t accept late submissions
submitted through email or in any other way.
You must use BlazeVIEW to submit your work; furthermore,
you must submit the work through the BlazeVIEW
tool in which the work was assigned. BlazeVIEW deadlines are
firm; you may not submit work after the deadline
passes. You are responsible for making sure your computer is
compatible with BlazeVIEW; in the event that it isn’t,
use a campus computer until you can resolve the problem. If
you go away for the weekend when an assignment is due,
think ahead: if you won’t have Internet access or a reliable
computer, complete the work in advance.
Note that all BlazeVIEW assignments are posted well in
advance in the corresponding paper modules, and the detailed

12. schedule for each unit advises you of all due dates; furthermore,
all assignment due dates will appear in your
BlazeVIEW calendar. Please see the Getting Started module for
more information on how to use BlazeVIEW.
By taking this course, you agree that all required coursework
may be subject to submission for textual similarity review
to Turnitin, a tool within BlazeVIEW. For more information on
the use of Turnitin at VSU, see the Turnitin For
The Student Success Center (333-5370) is located in Langdale
Hall. Undergraduate peer tutors in this free and
valuable service can assist you in many subjects and disciplines,
and they can also help you manage workloads and improve your
study skills. For tutoring related to this class, I suggest that you
go twice during each paper unit—once as you’re drafting the
paper
and again as you revise.
The Counseling Center (333-5940), located on the second floor
of Powell East Hall, can help you manage the
stress attendant to personal and family problems. In addition to
individual counseling sessions, it sponsors workshops
addressing
typical student issues (test anxiety, time management, etc.). Just
as with all counseling services, meetings are confidential.
The Dean of Students Office (245-6481), located on the third
floor of the Student Union (Suite 3106), is
“dedicated to student development both inside and outside the
classroom.” If you have a catastrophic illness or a family
trauma
necessitating multiple absences from classes, talk to people here
about your options.
The Access Office for Students with Disabilities (245-2498),

13. Farber Hall: Students requesting
classroom modifications or modifications because of a
documented disability must contact this office, located in Farbar
Hall. The
TTY number is 219-1348.
The Data Warehouse was created by VSU partially as a way to
intervene when students run into academic difficulties,
especially in their first year. If you miss too many days or if
your grades are in the D-F range, I’ll activate one of your
lifelines, the
Data Warehouse. Once I do that, other campus agents such as
the Student Success Office will reach out to you and make sure
you
recognize available campus resources.
Title IX Statement Valdosta State University (VSU) is
committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work and learning
environment free from discrimination and harassment. VSU is
dedicated to creating an environment where all campus
community
members feel valued, respected, and included. Valdosta State
University prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color,
ethnicity, national origin, sex (including pregnancy status,
sexual harassment and sexual violence), sexual orientation,
gender
identity, religion, age, national origin, disability, genetic
information, or veteran status, in the University's programs and
activities
as required by applicable laws and regulations such as Title IX.
The individual designated with responsibility for
coordination of
compliance efforts and receipt of inquiries concerning
nondiscrimination policies is the University's Title IX
Coordinator: Maggie
Viverette, Director of the Office of Social Equity,

14. [email protected], 1208 N. Patterson St., Valdosta State
University,
Valdosta, Georgia 31608, 229-333-5463.
ViI. Resources and information
VI. Blazeview and turnitin
ViII. First-year-writing program outcomes
This section describes the goals of the first-year writing
program at VSU, which govern the purpose and activities of all
English 1101 and English 1102 classes taught at VSU. These
outcomes provide a context for all the work we will do
this semester. Therefore, please look closely at the outcomes
listed below.
Rhetorical Knowledge
By the end of first year composition, students should be able to:
· Focus on a purpose.
· Respond to the needs of different audiences.
· Respond appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical
situations.
· Adopt appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality.
· Read and write in several genres.
Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing
By the end of first year composition, students should be able to:

15. · Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and
communicating.
· Complete writing assignments by approaching them as a
series of tasks, including finding, evaluating,
analyzing, and synthesizing appropriate primary and
secondary sources.
· Integrate their own ideas with those of others.
· Demonstrate an awareness of the relationships among
language, knowledge, and power.
Processes
By the end of first year composition, students should be able to:
· Employ flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing,
and proofreading.
· Draft, review, revise, edit, and share texts in electronic
environments.
· Demonstrate an understanding of the collaborative and social
aspects of writing processes.
· Critique their own and others’ works.
· Exploit the affordances offered by and rhetorical strategies
available in a variety of technologies to address a
range of audiences.
· Locate, evaluate, organize, and use research material
collected from electronic sources, including scholarly
library databases, other official databases (e.g., federal
government databases), and electronic networks and
internet sources.
Knowledge of Conventions
By the end of first year composition, students should be able to:
· Practice appropriate means of formatting and documenting

16. their work.
· Control such surface features as syntax, grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.
The text book is THE AFRICAN AMERICAN ODYSSEY VOL
2 6TH EDITION CHAPTER 14 AND 15
250 words
Use your Textbook to answer the Following Prompt. Do NOT
rely on websites as these can lead to inconsistencies, over
generalizations and potential plagiarism. Always consult your
textbook first and foremost for all of these Forum assignments.
How successful was Reconstruction? Define the 13th, 14th, and
15th Amendments and discuss their significance? How well
were these Amendments enforced? What loopholes and/or
strategies did White White supremacy utilize to resist these
measures?
(REMEMBER TO CITE YOUR WORK )! NO PLAGIARISM