University of Houston Downtown 
Dr. Merrilee Cunningham, PhD. 
Cunninghamm@uhd.edu. 

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 11:00 - 11:50
N412 and the Computer Lab to be announced
Home page (This syllabus can be accessed from the web): http://www.uhd.edu/~cunningm

Office:1038S
Office Hours: Almost all the time, but certainly an hour before and after class.
Office Phone: 713-221-8107 
Office Fax : 713-226-5205

Andrea A. Lunsford; John J. Ruszkiewicz and Keith Walters, Everything's An Argument, with 2001 APA update. St. Martin's Press.

Web-based Hand-Book St. Martin's Press on line

The Intensive Computer Writing Environment: English 1301 is not, in itself, a computer course. Therefore, no one will be required to use the computer even though the student is writing in front of this machine. However, because we will be writing in a computerized classroom, you will have the opportunity to hone your papers as well as your writing skills using electronic technology for every in-class writing assignment. Your essay does not have to be word-processed. If you have no experience on words processing equipment, do not worry. You must simply write in front of your computer. Since we can access sources on the internet while working on our essay, there will also be extensive lists of library sources available for each assignment.

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of ideas (whether paraphrased, summarized or quoted by a writer who seeks to pass of those ideas as his or her original thought. If you fail to document or attribute a source of an idea, even if you restate another writer's ideas, you have plagiarized. A serious university offence, plagiarism may be punished by failure or expulsion. Students who plagiarize on the research paper or buy a paper from some slick but traceable cyber location will receive an F for the course. You will fail the course if you plagiarize.
To avoid plagiarism, you must document your papers using the MLA citation format. We will cover this format in class. I will take you personally through the system.
"Mine honor is my life; both grow in one; / Take honor from me, and my life is done."
King Richard II, William Shakespeare

Attendance: The first rule of success is "Be There" While being there is not everything, it is the right beginning. I take personal offence when students are not in class. You are cheating yourself. I believe that Freshman students particularly need to be in class. Attendance is mandatory and you must keep up with the work, not only because your grades will suffer with late papers, but because you will not be able to finish the requirements of the course if you fall behind schedule. You must try to come to class on time, but it is far better to be in class even if you are late than to be altogether absent.

Rough Drafts and Peer Reviews: Rough drafts are due without exception on the day indicated for peer review workshops. You will write a peer review, which will be part of your homework grade. If you do not produce a rough draft for your workshop, you cannot do a peer review. Failure to produce a rough draft and a peer review will cause 5 points to be taken off your final course grade. Rough drafts are essential to your success in this course.

1. Develop critical writing and analytic skills.
   
   
2. Improve construction of sentence, paragraph and essay.
   
   
3. Advance rhetorical abilities.
   
   
4. Improve written analytic skills using the conventions of the university academic community.
   
   
5. Learn how to write a cogent, extended interpretation incorporating critical sources acquired through web searches and library research and documented correctly and adequately using the MLA style of documentation.
   
   
6. Edit and revise using the draft system and our improved understanding of grammar and mechanics.

^Back to Top

Criteria:

1. Appropriateness of response to the topic
   
   
2. Appropriateness and strength of proofs.
   
   
3. Originality of essay.
   
   
4. Grammatical correctness.
   
   
5. Detailed textual evidence used in essay.
   
   
6. Clarity and rhetorical level of writing.
   
   
7. Conceptual sophistication of essay.
   
   
8. Adherence to the conventions of academic writing, including thesis, organization, proofs, structure.
   
   
9. Use of correct documentation of secondary sources.

Grading Scale & Grades:
900-1000 - A = Excellent college-level work
800-900 - B = Good college-level work
700-799 - C = Adequate college-level work
659-699 - D = Poor college-level work
0-649 - F - Failing college-level work
No work submitted = 0

The Draft
Revision and the revision process are integral parts of the workshopping environment in this course and are essential to the writing process. You are required to submit a draft on the date that the essay is due. However, you will be allowed substantial time to revise your essay from the first draft. You must arrive in class prepared to polish your draft. Should we be workshopping a paper, you are required to have a complete first draft ready for the workshop and your team will lose points if you do not have a draft available to other teams.

The Revision
A revision differs from a draft in that it has been extensively edited. A substantive revision may be very different from an original draft, may have different warrants and proofs, may reassess the original arguments and counter-arguments, and should illustrate strengthened development and tighter organization. Redone, thoughtful, careful, extensive revision should cause your grade to improve. However, when you revise your paper, you are not guaranteed the higher grade. Papers that are not revised when I have clearly marked "revise" on them fail.