The student will master the writing process, including strategies for invention, organization, revision, and editing. The student will develop critical skills in reading, thinking and writing. Writing assignments will emphasize analysis and argument and the student will master research writing and documentation. All formal essays will require research. AAS: Communications elective.
Course Alignment
General Education Outcomes are the knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and behaviors that students are expected to develop as a result of their overall experiences with any aspect of the college, including courses, programs, and student services, both inside and outside of the classroom. The General Education Outcomes specifically learned in this course are:
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Responsibility
N/A
Faculty Contact Information
By appointment only, please email: jkirchner@kcc.edu
Jan Kirchner is a multi-genre indie author whose writing explores the emotional terrain between light and shadow. Drawing inspiration from lyrical storytelling and emotionally rich narratives, she crafts poetry, romance, suspense, and contemporary fiction that delve into themes of mental health, identity, longing, resilience, and the quiet power of everyday survival.
A lifelong writer and storyteller, Jan holds a Master's degree in English and Creative Writing and teaches college writing. Her love of language is deeply influenced by songwriters who blend narrative and emotion, particularly Taylor Swift. Jan's favorite creative era is *Folklore*, whose atmospheric storytelling, introspection, and focus on the beauty of ordinary moments continue to inspire her own work.
Whether she's writing poetry that captures emotional truth, heartfelt romance, or stories filled with mystery and unexpected turns, Jan is passionate about creating characters and experiences that resonate with readers long after the final page. Her goal is simple: to tell honest stories that remind people they are not alone.
Course Information
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Use invention, drafting, revising, and editing strategies to write academic papers
- Write claims that are appropriate for assignment requirements
- Effectively organize paragraphs to suit the rhetorical situation
- Support claims and generalizations with adequate and relevant details, examples, explanation, and evidence
- Analyze and evaluate the use of rhetorical appeals in a variety of nonfiction texts
- Apply the principles of rhetoric in student writing assignments
- Correctly integrate and document outside sources through signal phrases, parenthetical citations, and a works cited page
- Apply self- and peer- review strategies for revision and improvement
- Create and share a multimodal project
- Utilize standard grammar, spelling, and mechanics for clarity, tone, and style
- Rhetoric: Style, strategies, devices, tools, and appeals; relationship to audience
- Research: Credibility, integration, citation and documentation, research as inquiry, types of sources, role of research librarian
- Composition: Focus, coherence, development, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions
- Reading: Engagement with texts: annotation, outlining, vocabulary; critical analysis of texts including non-fiction, academic writing
- Criticality: Intellectual empathy, originality in thought, context of social and cultural contexts, diverse viewpoints
- Multimodality: Integration of visual, textual, and oral elements; methods of engaging audience; rhetorical awareness
No Textbook required. You will need access to a computer and a reliable internet connection to turn in assignments via Canvas.
- Canvas Assignments/ In-class participation: 20%
- Rhetorical Analysis Essay: 20%
- Synthesis-based Annotated Bibliography: 6-7 sources, 5+ pages 20%
- Argument: 6-7 sources (plus one counterargument), 6+ pages 20%
- A multimodal project (in-person presentation of your Argument paper) 20%
Total: 100%
Course Writing Assignments for English I: ENGL 1613
Students will complete, at minimum, 3 major writing assignments and a multimodal project. This will help hone skills of observing, reflecting, making and supporting claims, and finding research for evidence/support. Source material should not overwhelm the student’s own voice.
- Rhetorical Analysis: 2-4 sources, 4+ pages
- Argument: 4-6 sources, 6+ pages
- Synthesis-based Annotated Bibliography: 6-8 sources, 5+ pages
- A multimodal project
Assignments may be given in any order.
Liberal Arts & Sciences
Dean, Jennifer Huggins; 815-802-8484; R310; jhuggins@kcc.edu; Division Office- W102; 815-802-8700
We will use the standard College grading scale where 100% is an A, and anything less than a 60% is considered an F. Please see your KCC handbook for more information.
This course will learn and use MLA (Modern Language Association) style formatting for all essays. You will submit work that will consist of the following:
- Header's that will include Student Name, Professor Name, Course Code, and Date (Day Month Year), along with a page-number header with your last name.
- The document will be formatted as 1-inch margins, double-spacing, and at times using Section Headers.
- You will use 12-point font size, and Font type such as Times New Roman or Calibri. (Please use a clear, and readable font type)
- You will always have a Works Cited page listing all your Sources in alphabetical order with hanging indentation.
- All Essays will strive to meet the required word count of the assignment. (Headers and titles do not count towards overall word count)
Late Work: Your Professor will assign a due date towards the end of the term where you can turn in all late work (work graded as a zero or missing in the Canvas gradebook) for partial credit.
Technology Issues: If you are having issues connecting your device to the KCC internet or cannot login to your MYKCC account, please contact the IT dept via helpdesk@kcc.edu or call 815-802-8900. Their office is located on the Third floor of the L-building.
Class Attendance is heavily encouraged as it is taken in Canvas everyday and is weighted against your course grade. Unexcused absences or tardiness beyond the 5-minute grace period can lower your overall grade.
Scrolling/Texting during class is discouraged, and if there is an emergency, you are always welcome to step outside of the classroom to handle it.
Please refrain from using CHAT GPT or other AI tools in your research, drafting, and writing of all papers and assignments for this class. Also, Wikipedia is never an appropriate source to use for your research.
Lastly, changing or altering the font and formatting of your written assignments is considered academic dishonesty.
***Thanksgiving Break: Thurs-Sun Nov. 26-30 (Campus Closed)- We will NOT have class on Tuesday, Nov. 24th. (Enjoy your break!)
Week One
- Introduction to Course/Canvas
- MLA Formatting Activity
- Review Rhetorical Analysis Topic/Assignment
Week Two
- Intervention Strategies: Drafting Thesis Statements and Review of Rhetorical Appeals
Week Three
- Researching tools and where to find Scholarly Sources
Week Four
- Importance of Citations and integrating Sources
Week Five
- Optional Rough Draft Help for Rhetorical Analysis
Week Six
- Final Draft Due for Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Week Seven
- Introduction to Annotated Bibliography (Research)
- Review Argument Synthesis Topic Proposal
Week Eight
- Review Research Strategies via KCC Databases and Google Scholar
Week Nine
- Getting Ready to finish Annotated Bibliography
- Thesis Drafting for Argument Synthesis
Week Ten
- Importance of Citations and integrating Sources
- Further Review of MLA formatting via Purdue OWL Resources
Week Eleven
- Peer Review Writing Chunks of Argument Synthesis
Week Twelve
- Why to include a Counterargument?
Week Thirteen
- More Work on Argument Paper
Week Fourteen
- Optional Rough Draft Help- Take advantage of getting feedback before final polishing.
- Presenting your Argument: Start working on Multimodal Presentations.
Week Fifteen
- Final Draft of Essay is due on Friday, December 4th @ 11:59pm CST in Canvas.
***Finals Week
- Multimodal Presentations
- Last Chance to turn in semester late work for credit: Due by Friday, Dec. 11th.
College Policies, Resources and Supports
For information related to the Student Code of Conduct Policy, Withdrawal Policy, Email Policy, and Non- Attendance/Non-Participation Policy, please review the college’s Code of Campus Affairs and Regulations webpage, which can be found at catalog.kcc.edu under the Academic Regulations & Conduct Guide.
KCC offers various academic and personal resources for all students. Many services are offered virtually, as well as in person. Please visit Student Resources - Kankakee Community College to access student resources services such as:
- Clubs and organizations
- Counseling and referral services
- Office of disability services
- Student complaint policy
- Transfer services
- Tutoring services, etc.
The materials on this course are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course. Further information regarding KCC's copyright policy is available at https://kcc.libguides.com/copyright.
|Course syllabus/calendar is subject to change.