SYLLABUS FOR ENGLISH 099
Developmental Writing
Summer 2005, Reneau 106, M-F 11 -- 11:55 a.m.

Instructor: Todd M. Bunnell
Phone: 241-6235
Office: 411 Reneau
E-mail/Web site:
tbunnell@muw.edu; <www2.muw.edu/~tbunnell>

Texts and Materials:
*Evergreen (with Readings), 7th ed.
*One (or more) 3.5 inch floppy disk
*Pocket folder

Course Content:
Developmental Writing stresses basic writing skills and effective presentation in organized and structured paragraphs through the limitation of topics and on the development of a thesis statement in a unified, coherent piece of writing. Students will get a chance to write a series of paragraphs and will work on editing and revising each paragraph.

Goals:
To help students develop stronger grammatical skills
To help students limit topics and to develop a limited thesis statement
To help students organize and structure thoughts in writing
To help students produce coherent and unified paragraphs
To develop editing skills
To develop basic word processing skills
To prepare students for Basic Writing

Course Requirements:
Each student will be required to write five original paragraphs that will be graded, given back to be revised, and then regraded. I will keep the revised copy, so it's very important to save the last revision of an essay on disk (or even print out another hard copy). At the end of the term, each student will select three writing samples -- totaling at least 500 words -- to be submitted in a pocket folder portfolio to be graded for course evaluation. Each writing assignment must be typed and double-spaced. Late writing assignments will be docked one letter grade for EACH DAY I have not received them. Also, students will be expected to complete in-class assignments and quizzes regarding grammar and writing exercises.

Method of Evaluation:

Grading breakdown:

Five writing assignments . . . . . . . . . 30%
Portfolio (3 samples) . . . . . . . . . . . . 30%
Final exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25%
Lab (quizzes and in-class work) . . . 15%
____________________________________________

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100%

Note: This percentage is for my grade for the class, which will count for 50% of

your entire course grade. The other 50% of the course grade, as mandated by state regulations, will come from a statewide exit exam.

Attendance:
More than three (3) absences will automatically result in a failing grade for this class.

Disabilities:
It is the responsibility of students who have professionally diagnosed disabilities to notify the instructor so that necessary and appropriate modifications can be made to meet any special learning needs.

Cell Phones
Please be considerate of your classmates and of the instructor by turning off all cell phones before entering class. If there is a special circumstance, please notify me in advance.

Important Dates:
June 10 – Last day to drop a course without receiving a grade of WP/WF
July 8 – Last day a course may be dropped
July 29 – Last day to withdraw from the university

 

SYLLABUS FOR ENGLISH 099

WEEK 1 (June 1-3) -- Introduction to the course. Diagnostics. Ch.1, Exploring the Writing Process. Ch. 2, Generating Ideas. Computer instruction.

WEEK 2 (June 6-10) -- Ch. 3, The Process of Writing Paragraphs. Ch. 4, Achieving Coherence.

*Writing Assignment #1 (Expository).

WEEK 3 (June 13-17) -- Ch. 6, Narration. Ch. 24, The Simple Sentence. Ch. 25, Coordination and Subordination. Ch. 26, Avoiding Sentence Errors.

*Writing Assignment #2 (Narration).

WEEK 4 (June 20-24) -- Ch. 7, Description. Ch. 27, Present Tense (Agreement). Ch. 30, Nouns. Ch. 28, Past Tense. Ch. 29, The Past Participle. Ch. 35, The Comma.

*Writing Assignment #3 (Description).

WEEK 5 (June 27 - 30) -- Ch. 10, Comparison and Contrast. Ch. 20, Revising for Consistency and Parallelism.Ch. 21, Revising for Sentence Variety. Ch. 22, Revising for Language Awareness.

WEEK 6 (July 5-8) -- Ch. 9, Definition. Ch. 33, Adjectives and Adverbs. Ch. 34, The Apostrophe.

*Writing Assignment #4 (Definition or Comparison and Contrast).

WEEK 7 (July 11-15) -- Expository paragraph work.

*Writing Assignment #5 (Expository).

WEEK 8 (July 18-22) -- Portfolio Preparation.

WEEK 9 (July 25-28) -- Review. Final exam.

Friday, July 29 -- Exit exam.