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EWRT 1A: Green Sheet
Kim Palmore, PhD Cell Phone: 408-674-3005
Email: Palmorekim@fhda.edu Office: F1-11
Goals: English 1A is a transfer level course in reading and composition that prepares students to analyze college texts and
to write college papers. In particular, you should learn to
1. Read and analyze a wide variety of types of writing.
2. Generate ideas and topics for essays.
3. Formulate and support theses.
4. Integrate and organize ideas.
5. Develop a personal style and voice appropriate to purpose and audience.
6. Practice writing as a multi-step process.
7. Compose essays with varying purposes, audiences, and rhetorical strategies.
Requirements:
1. Active participation in class discussions and regular attendance.
2. Active participation in the online portion (50%) of the class.
3. Keeping up-to-date on the assignments and reading.
4. Four formal papers, one of which will be written in class.
5. A series of posts to the class website .
Texts and Required Materials/Tools:
v Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper, The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing 8th
Edition
v Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games.
Hybrid Class:
v A hybrid class meets both in the classroom and electronically. For this course, it means that we will meet twice a
week for 2 hours and 15 minutes, and that you will complete the remaining four hours and thirty minutes of this
five unit course on your own, via presentations on the website. We will not meet together; rather, you will simply
go to the online presentations and work through them on your own. I will answer questions by email.
v This work must be completed and posted on our class website before our next live class.
Website:
Our class website is https://palmoreewrt1as.wordpress.com/. In order to do the homework, you must establish
an account. To make your own FREE Word Press account, go to wordpress.com. The system will walk you through the
steps to signup for a username or to set up your own user-friendly Word Press blog. Alternatively, you can sign into our
website through Facebook.
If you prefer not to use your own name, you may use a pseudonym. Just make sure you sign in with YOUR Word
Press username before you post on our class page so you get credit for your work. Please email me your username once
you have established which account you shall use for the quarter.
If you cannot establish your website and username, please come to my office hours as soon as possible, and I will
help you with the process. Much of our work will take place online, so establishing this connection is mandatory.
Please bring the St Martin’s Guide (SMG) to every class meeting; bring The Hunger Games on the days we will discuss it.
Bring your laptop and draft copies on the days we write in class.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Students will be assessed on their ability to
1) Practice writing as a multi-step process including planning and revising with attention to varying purposes,
audiences, and rhetorical strategies.
2) Read and analyze rhetorically and culturally diverse narrative and expository texts from a variety of
perspectives.
3) Write cogent, well-developed arguments that clearly articulate a thesis supported by textual evidence.
4) Document sources (print, electronic, and other) in MLA style.
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GRADING:
Grades for this course will be based on a 850-point scale divided as follows:
Assignment My Score Point
Value
Assignment My
Score
Point
Value
Essay #1 (in-class) 2-3 pages 75 Website Posts 150
Essay #2 (out of class) 3-5 pages 150 Participation/Quizzes/Activities/
writing workshops
125
Essay #3 (out of class) 3-5 pages 150
Essay # 4 (out of class) 4-6 pages 200
Total 850 points
I will assign traditional + and - grades
Grade Points Required Grade Points Required
A 765-850 D 510-594
B 680-764 F 509 and below
C 595-679
CLASS POLICIES:
Essay Submission:
All out of class essays are to be submitted to me electronically before the class period in which they are due.
1. Kaizena allows me to respond to your essay with both voice and written comments and to insert helpful links.
2. Create your account. Go to Kaizena.com or simply use the link on our class website home page. Click “Sign up.”
Choose “Student.” Enter your group code (you can find this on the right side of the website or in the slideshow
directions for how to use Kaizena.
3. Files are added to Conversations in Kaizena. To add a file to a conversation, click the "Add File" button.
4. Next, choose to add a file from Google Drive or to upload a file from your computer. Use the box that pops up to
find your file. When you find your file, click it; next, click "Select" (for a Google Docs file) or open (for an
uploaded file). The file will be added to your conversation.
5. If you experience formatting errors when you upload a Word file, try saving the file as a PDF, and uploading it
again.
6. Once I have graded your paper, you can access it by going to the “conversations” link in Kaizena.
7. Click on the highlighted sections of the paper to find both audio and written comments concerning your essay or
links to materials that will help you improve your writing.
Academic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism includes quoting or paraphrasing material without documentation and copying from other students or professionals.
Intentional plagiarism is a grave offense; the resulting response will be distasteful. Depending upon the severity, instances of
plagiarism may result in a failing grade for the paper or the course and possible administrative action. All assignments will be
scanned and scrutinized for academic dishonesty. Please refer to your handbook for more information regarding
plagiarism.
Attendance:
Attendance is a significant part of this course, and success in this course depends on regular attendance and active
participation. Participation points will be part of our daily activities. If you are not in class, you cannot earn these points.
You should save absences for emergencies.
It is your responsibility to talk to me your absences or other conflicts. Work done in class cannot be made up. Also, please
arrive on time, as you will not be able to make up work completed before you arrive, including quizzes and vocabulary
exams.
Conduct, Courtesy, and Electronic Devices:
In this class, we will regularly engage in the discussion of topics that may stir passionate debates. Please speak freely and
candidly; however, while your thoughts and ideas are important to me and to the dynamics of the class, you must also
respect others and their opinions. Courtesy will allow each person to have the opportunity to express his or her ideas in a
comfortable environment.
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Courtesy includes but is not limited to politely listening to others when they contribute to class discussions or while they
give presentations, not slamming the classroom door or walking in front of classmates giving presentations if you do arrive
late, and maintaining a positive learning environment for your fellow classmates. To help maintain a positive learning
environment, please focus on the work assigned, and do not text-message in class. If your behavior becomes disruptive to
the learning environment of the class, you may be asked to leave and/or be marked absent.
Participation:
Participation includes doing all work asked of you inside and outside of class, maintaining a positive learning environment
for your classmates, and contributing to class discussion. Participation points are accrued based on both your in-class and
online participation.
Workshops:
In this class, we will have workshops in conjunction with each take-home essay assignment. Please be prepared by bringing the
appropriate number of copies of your rough draft (see course outline) on workshop days. All drafts for out-of-class essays must be
typed and printed though using recycled paper is acceptable. If you come to class without the proper number of copies required for
that day’s lesson, I will excuse you from class to either make copies or work on your essay. You will not receive participation points
for the workshop.
Quizzes:
I may decide to include pop quizzes from time to time to ensure you are completing all readings in a timely fashion. There
are no make up opportunities for quizzes.
Late Work:
I do not accept late work. You may receive an extension if you have an unavoidable and excusable reason, with
documentation from a medical professional or another legal authority. Because of the short summer schedule, you
cannot afford to get behind.
Appointments:
You can see me before or after class.
Adding and Dropping:
Adding and dropping this class is the responsibility of the student. Please observe all deadlines regarding the same should
you wish to add or drop this class.
Educational Use of Student Papers:
Occasionally, I retain copies of written work to share with this class or future sections of the course; selections of student
work used in these ways will be anonymous. However, if you absolutely object to the use of your work in these ways,
please let me know now, so that I can respect your preference.
