Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30-10:45 am
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
Faculty Contact Information
Tuesday/Thursday 8:30-9:30 + online Wednesdays 10 am - 12 pm + by appointment
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
N/A
Evaluation
A - 90-100 %
B - 80-89 %
C - 70-79%
D - 60-69%
F - 0-59%
Course Requirements: during this 10 weeks, you will complete 3 papers with credible research and 1 multimodal virtual presentation as your final.
- Paper 1 - Rhetorical Analysis: 1200 words minimum, typed and double-spaced in Times New Roman 12-pt font, using 2 credible sources in MLA style (15% of overall grade) - revision optional
- Paper 2 - Annotated Bibliography: no word count min., typed and double-spaced in Times New Roman 12-pt font, using 5 credible sources in MLA style (20% of overall grade) - revision optional
- Paper 3 – Academic Argument: 1500 words min., typed and double-spaced in Times New Roman 12-pt font, using 5 credible sources in MLA style (25% of overall grade) - no revision possible
- Final – Multimodal Presentation: prewrite pages as assigned, no word count requirement, 3 credible sources in MLA style, 3-4 min. webcam video recording (25% of overall grade) – no revisions possible
- 15% of your grade relies on practice activities, in-class group work, discussions, and reflections
Please, no odt, or Pages files for paper submissions. My preference is Microsoft Word or Google docs (which you need to give me permission to access ahead of time.)
For your convenience, I suggest downloading KCC IT’s free version of Microsoft 365 for students if you don’t already have a current word processing program.
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
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism: Academic dishonesty is not going to be tolerated, and students are expected to fulfill academic requirements in an ethical and honest manner. This expectation pertains to use and acknowledgement of the ideas and work of others, sharing of work with other students, adjusting format, font, or line spacing to make papers appear longer, and submitting recycled work from another course. If a student commits academic dishonesty, according to the professor’s judgment, the student will receive a “0” for the assignment on the first offense; the student will be removed from the class with an F for the second offense.
Furthermore, there is NO place for plagiarism in a college course. Students who do not properly incorporate or document sources will receive, at the very least, a “0” on that assignment with no opportunity for revision. Plagiarism is defined in section 16.2 of the Code of Conduct: “Representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own. Plagiarism includes claiming credit for assignments completed by someone else.” All instances of intentional plagiarism on any major assignment for this course will lead to the immediate failure of the course with no opportunity for the student to withdraw. The first instance of plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Student Development. If the student is able to continue in the course and has a second instance of plagiarism reported to the Dean of Student Development, the student may be suspended from the institution.
Let me be super clear here: generative AI use will not be welcome or allowed in this course. All submissions, sadly, will be run through my computer’s Similarity Check and will reflect both direct plagiarism and close paraphrasing. Evidence of AI usage will result in a zero on the assignment and a corrective meeting with me; the second instance will result in a zero in the course. I have already asked you to sign an agreement that you understand this rule when you were in 1422, and that agreement will apply to the entire semester.
If you have any questions at all about properly citing sources or about plagiarism in general, please contact me, a librarian, or the Writing Studio online. We are happy to help prevent you from failing out of class because you weren’t sure.
Technology: instead of textbooks, you will need a laptop and/or a cell phone that can download the Canvas Student, TED, and YouTube app’s.
In an online setting, crashes and glitches will happen, so adjust your time accordingly.
Technology problems or inabilities are not accepted in college as an excuse for missing or late assignments. You are expected to have access to a reliable internet connection and possess some computer proficiency in order to complete your college assignments. Lost or erased files, computer crashes, interrupted phone service, faulty email, etc. are never valid reasons for turning in homework or papers late. Therefore, please adopt a proactive attitude toward resolving computer glitches to avoid failing this fast-paced class due to bad luck or bad circumstances.
I don’t fix computers for a living and we are all very lucky for it. For computer issues, such as how to log in, change your password, or any technical issues, please contact the ITS department of KCC: 815-802-8900.
Attendance and Late Work: Your presence and engagement are so important to me because class will not function the same without you. Here are your responsibilities, which form the basis for your attendance grade.
- Come to class on Tuesdays and Thursdays (if you’re online, watch my weekly video posted on Mondays)
- Participate in and submit practice activities on time
- Submit assignments to their designated Canvas drop boxes Mondays before midnight, as detailed in the Course Calendar below
- Communicate with me: keep me in the loop whenever something is going on that may impact your success in my class; I am here to advocate for you
Every teacher has their thing, right? I am not lenient about late or incomplete work, especially in an 10-week window of intense grading and strict deadlines of my own. All of your due dates are previewed in BOLD in the attached Course Calendar. Keep on top of these dates because there is very little room for error or leeway during these next several weeks.
Failure Policy: essays that are short of minimum word count or research requirements, disregard the nature of the assignment, demonstrate proven plagiarism, are turned in late, have oversized font or margins, or are formatted with extra line spacing to extend the length of the essay will not be accepted for grading. If you are at all in doubt of any of these points, please consult me before submitting. I’m happy to help you prevent these mishaps.
*All of this being said, I do have compassion for the pressures and mishaps of your life - I believe in learning from mistakes and you can count on the fact that I’m going to mess up too - and for that reason everyone will be granted ONE Free Pass, good for one 72-hour extension on the due date of any assignment. Please e-mail me when you need to use it and choose wisely, Jedis.
Code of Conduct
Students are expected to adhere to the Code of Conduct located in the college catalog, but in general, your courtesy and patience with this process is much appreciated, as frustrations and misunderstandings do arise often in the educational environment. Let’s work through those together.
Expectations for Classroom and Online Behavior
Trusting each other is the most important aspect of my class. To ensure an enjoyable, inclusive, and engaging learning environment, you are expected to openly share your ideas and express your opinions; respect the opinions, values, and identities of your classmates, instructors, and authors; and honor the open environment of the class by respecting confidentiality when appropriate.
You are expected to do your best, meet assignment deadlines, engage regularly in class communications and activities, and treat other members of the class with courtesy and respect. Also, however, I want to know if any situation ever arises that makes you feel disrespected or wounded. It is important to me that every single one of you feels safe in my classroom.
*There is absolutely no need for you to notify me in the event that you must miss a class. We can work things out when you get back.
The Course Calendar – Your Best Friend
Do not rely on Canvas or the app to organize your due dates for you. This is the place to be for most questions you will have for the remainder of this semester.
UNIT ONE – Preparing for the Rhetorical Analysis (aka, learning the game)
Week 7 (Sept. 28-Oct. 4) – drafting the Rhetorical Analysis; MLA review
Week 8 (Oct. 5-11) – Peer review of Rhetorical Analysis + breaking the ice on your next paper, the Annotated Bibliography.
The final draft of your peer reviewed Rhetorical Analysis is due Monday, Oct. 12 , by 11:59 pm in the designated Canvas drop box.
UNIT TWO – Preparing for the Annotated Bibliography (aka, halftime)
Week 9 (Oct. 12-18) – Learning the Annotated Bibliography + drawing larger conclusions + practice synthesizing sources.
Synthesis practice assignment due by 11:59 pm Monday, Oct. 19 in the designated Canvas drop box.
Week 10 (Oct. 19-Oct. 25) - Locating meaningful research; polishing MLA; detecting plagiarism. Workshopping Paper 2 prewrite.
PREWRITE ONLY for the Annotated Bibliography due by 11:59 Monday, Oct. 26 in the designated Canvas drop box.
Week 11 (Oct. 26-Nov. 1) – fitting together the pieces of the Annotated Bibliography; peer review.
The Annotated Bibliography Paper 2 will be due on Monday, Nov. 2 before midnight in the designated Canvas drop box.
UNIT THREE – Preparing for the Academic Argument (aka, bringing on the ubuntu)
Week 12 (Nov. 2-8) – Academic argumentation, choosing an arguable topic, inarguable topics; tying together Papers 2 and 3.
Argumentation practice assignment due by 11:59 pm Monday, Nov. 9 in the designated Canvas drop box.
Week 13 (Nov. 9-15) – Watching Flint Town; workshopping Paper 3 prewrite in class.
Academic Argument Prewrite due Monday, Nov. 16 by 11:59 pm in the designated Canvas drop box.
Week 14 (Nov. 16-22) – workshopping Paper 3 Academic Argument in class; peer review.
The Academic Argument Paper 3 due Monday, Nov. 23 by 11:59 in the designated Canvas drop box.
UNIT FOUR – Preparing for the Multimodal Presentation Final (aka, the home stretch)
Week 15 (Nov. 23-24) – Introduction to the multimodal final; examples of multimodal writing; visual arguments. No class this week Wednesday-Friday.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY FAVORITE TURKEYS!!!!
Week 16 (Nov. 30-Dec. 6) – semester in review; workshopping the Multimodal final.
Your Multimodal Final virtual presentation will be due Monday, Dec. 7 by 11:59 pm in the designated drop box in Canvas. I will miss being your teacher, and no, you may not have an extension on the final.
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.