Purpose: This course will provide you with practice in effective writing and clear thinking at the levels of the sentence, paragraph, and essay. You will learn to formulate the purpose of a piece of writing, to identify your audience, to select material, and to use specific methods of development in your arguments with the objective of writing clear, concise, and well-balanced prose.

Students should expect to be able to
· Formulate and support a thesis
· Inform, argue, and persuade
· Address a range of audiences effectively
· Employ advanced conceptual skills of analysis, synthesis, evaluation and formulation
· Support claims with adequate and pertinent evidence
· Support generalizations with legitimate specifics

Class1

The Writing Process (See Chapter 1)
Keeping a Journal (See Chapter 2)
Homework: Read Chapters 1 and 2 as soon as possible

Class 2

The Writing Process continued:  pages 488 - 498
Writing autobiography (Strategy One: Narration, page 413)
Outlines and drafting
HW:  Autobiographical Piece

Class 3

Chapter 3: Drafting
Strategy Three:  Comparison, page 434
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PIECE DUE (ungraded but required)
HW: first draft of Assignment 1

Class 4

Chapter 4: Revising
Effective Writing; Sentences & Paragraphs  499 - 513
Compare and discuss drafts of Assignment 1.

Class 5

Chapter 5: Argument;
Autobiographical piece returned, discussed, revised.
ASSIGNMENT 1 DUE
Begin work on Assignment 2.
HW: first draft of Assignment 2

Class 6

Strategy Seven - Argument  468 - 482
Assignment 1 returned, discussed, and revision begins.
Compare and discuss drafts of Assignment 2 in groups
HW: Final draft of Assignment 2

Class 7

Citation & Sources  Chapter 13
ASSIGNMENT 2 DUE
Begin work on Assignment 3: read passages and discuss in small groups
HW: Outline and first draft of Assignment 3

Class 8

Chapter 8: Sentence patterns
Strategy Two: Process Analysis (page 424)
Assignment 2 returned and discussed
Compare and discuss drafts of Assignment 3
HW: Final draft of Assignment 2

Class 9

ASSIGNMENT 3 DUE
Chapter Nine
Strategy 6  - Causal Analysis - page 459
Journal notes and discussion
HW: Draft of Assignment 4.

Class 10

Chapter 10
Assignment 3 returned and discussed
Work on draft of Assignment 4

Class11

Strategy Four: Division & Classification.  page 440
Begin Assignment 5

Class 12
Strategy Five :  Definition (page 449)
Workshop

Class13

ASSIGNMENT 4 DUE
Workshop

Class 14

Chapter 11: The Exam Essay
Workshop

Class 15

ASSIGNMENT 5 DUE
JOURNAL DUE

Class 16

FINAL IN-CLASS  EXAM
Return of all material from journals, and Assignment 5
Last class for submitting revisions.
 

class 1 Chapter 1; pp. 486 - 487;  pp. 488 - 498
class 2 Chapter 2; Strategy 1 - Narration & Description - pp. 413 - 424
class 3 Chapter 3; strategy 3 - Comparison & Contrast - pp. 434 - 444
class 4 Chapter 4; pp. 499 - 513
class 5 Chapter 5;  Chapter 7
class 6 Chapter 6; strategy 7 - Argument - pp. 468 - 482
class 7 Chapter 13; pp. 372 - 397
class 8 Chapter 8; strategy 2 - Process Analysis - pp. 424 - 434
class 9 Chapter 9; strategy 6 - Causal Analysis - pp. 459 - 468
class 10 Chapter 10; pp. 531 - 539
class 11  strategy 4 - Division & Classification - pp. 440 - 448
class 12  strategy 5 - Definition - pp. 449 - 454
class 13
class 14 Chapter 11;
class 15 no reading
class 16 EXAM

3 Writing Assignments:  40% (one 10%, two assignments x 15%)
Research Essay:20%

Writing Assignments. There will be four assignments during the course.
 

Final Essay: It will be completed in class with a time limit of two hours. By the end of the course, your writing skills should be such that you are capable of planning and writing a clear, concise, grammatically-correct essay under exam conditions. In other courses – History, Sociology, Government & Politics– you will be expected to write exam essays, and you do not get opportunities for revision and rewriting over time.

Final Grade: Please refer to the University Catalog. An A grade is for "outstanding scholarship", a B is for "good scholarship", and a C is for "satisfactory" work. Many people can improve their assignment grades over time - over three or four drafts, I would hope that they do - but students MUST consider, in terms of the course grade, whether their assignments really amount to "outstanding scholarship" if they include numerous run-on sentences, fragments, spelling errors and organizational problems in early drafts before their work reaches acceptable levels.
 

3 Writing Assignments:  40% (one 10%, two assignments x 15%)
Research Essay:20%
Classwork: 10%
Mid Term Exam 10%
Final Exam essay 20%

Final Essay: It will be completed in class with a time limit of two hours. By the end of the course, your writing skills should be such that you are capable of planning and writing a clear, concise, grammatically-correct essay under exam conditions. In other courses – History, Sociology, Government & Politics– you will be expected to write exam essays, and you do not get opportunities for revision and rewriting over time.

Final Grade: Please refer to the University Catalog. An A grade is for "outstanding scholarship", a B is for "good scholarship", and a C is for "satisfactory" work. Many people can improve their assignment grades over time - over three or four drafts, I would hope that they do - but students MUST consider, in terms of the course grade, whether their assignments really amount to "outstanding scholarship" if they include numerous run-on sentences, fragments, spelling errors and organizational problems in early drafts before their work reaches acceptable levels.

Classwork. Preparedness (reading, other assignments), participation, asking questions (NOT necessarily knowing the answers), willingness to try new ideas and express them, and to show your colleagues samples of your work.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Plagiarism is the intentional copying of others' work, in whole or in part, and submitting it as your own. Any plagiarized work will receive an automatic F. No appeal. I gave an F grade on a course (3 98/99) to a student who copied a paper directly from the Internet. Copying work is easy. So is recognizing it. Do not do it.

Please read and heed UMUC Policy 150.25, Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism.

Essay grading

Since the quality of your written work will be one of the most important factors determining your grade, you should be aware of the points on which your work will be evaluated:

1. The significance of the purpose or controlling idea.
2. The amount and relevance of your supporting material.
3. The plan, proportion and transitions.
4. Sentence structure.
5. Vocabulary.
6. Mechanics (grammar, punctuation, spelling, layout).

An A paper excels in most or all of these ways:

1. The treatment of the subject shows good critical intelligence, careful thought, and originality.
2. The organization is so clear that the reader knows at all times what the purpose is and how the writer intends to accomplish it.
3. Paragraphs are coherent - they hang together - and are developed as fully as their function demands.
4. Sentences are clear in meaning and so constructed that they contribute precisely and effectively to the writer's purpose.
5. Choice of words is exact, appropriate, and sensitive to connotation and nuance.
6. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation conform to accepted usage.

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A B paper is good.

1. The treatment of the subject shows some originality and better than average ability to relate ideas.
2. Organization is clear, though lacking the full clarity and tight coherence of A work. It is appropriate to the subject and purpose.
3. Economical paragraphs, but still loose development and transition.
Sentences are generally fluent and clear, and are sufficiently varied to make for an easy style.
5. Words are used precisely and with some attention to stylistic appropriateness.
6. Grammar, spelling and punctuation conform to accepted usage.

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A C paper is satisfactory, but routine in its overall effect.

1. Treatment of subject is acceptable but lacks distinction or originality.
2. Organization is fairly clear; a central idea is systematically treated.
3. Paragraph structure and development show some coherence but tend to be loose and uneconomical.
4. Sentences are generally correct and sufficiently linked to assure continuity. However, the style is flat, and the meaning is not always clear.
5. Choice of words is usually appropriate, but shows little attention to effect or precision.
6. There are few major errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

1. Treatment of the subject tends to be trite, thin, or vague.
2. Organization is neither clear nor effective.
3. Paragraphs tend to be incoherent and poorly developed.
4. Sentences are often awkward or overly simple and show little awareness of style. Their meaning is frequently unclear.
5. Choice of words is often inappropriate, and range of vocabulary limited.
6. There are many errors of grammar, spelling and punctuation.

F means that a paper falls below the minimum requirements.

1. Treatment of the subject is thin, vague and trite.
2. The paper lacks a beginning, a middle and an end.
3. Paragraphs obviously lack unity and are poorly developed.
4. Sentences are awkward or are constructed in primer style. Many are incomplete or not clear.
5. Choice of words is frequently inept or inexact.
6. Grammar, spelling and punctuation are faulty.

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In short:

An A paper has a significant thesis, supported by excellent evidence. It is well-planned and well-proportioned, with effective transitions. Its sentences are varied and appropriate, and its diction accurate and imaginative. It is free of mechanical errors.

A B paper presents a significant point with adequate supporting material. Its arrangement, proportion and transitions are very good. Its sentences are competent and its diction precise. It is virtually free of mechanical errors.

A C paper expresses a fairly obvious point with relevant supporting material. Its plan, proportion and coherence are adequate. Its sentences are generally mechanically correct and its diction conventional. Mechanical errors occur infrequently.

A D paper presents an obvious, insignificant idea with inadequate, often irrelevant evidence. Its plan, proportion and transitions are weak. It has monotonous, sometimes faulty sentences. Its diction is vague and colorless. It has many mechanical errors.

An F paper has a trivial thesis and lacks supporting material, a plan, proportion, and transitions. Its sentences are frequently incorrect, its diction inadequate, and its mechanics illiterate.