Department of English Language and Literature

ENGL 1130 1140 1150 Common Syllabus

Common Syllabus for ENGL 1130 (Academic Discourses and Disciplines), ENGL 1140 (Writing the Community), and ENGL 1150 (Language and Identity) Composition II

 

Contact Information:

Instructor's Name:                                                      

Office:                                     Office Hours:                          Office Phone: 530-

E-mail address:

 

General Education Statement:

This course fulfills a General Education and Core Curriculum requirement at the University of Toledo.

Course Prerequisite:

Students are eligible for ENGL 1130, 1140, or 1150 after successfully completing ENGL 1100: College Composition with Workshop or ENGL 1110: College Composition I or through obtaining Composition I credit via test score, portfolio, or transfer

 

Course Description:

English 1130: Academic Discourse and Disciplines

In Academic Discourses and Disciplines, we study the written practices of various professions and disciplines to see how those discourse communities construct the problems and objects they study, how those written practices then produce consensus among members of that community, and allow that group to make claims to knowledge. Assignments are likely to include examinations of how discourse communities use varying writing strategies to produce different kinds of agreements and understandings, learning to work within those disciplines as ways of understanding the world.

English 1140: Writing the Community

In Writing the Community, we investigate the ways communities are mandated, preserved, developed, disrupted, explored and theorized through writing practices and the written word. The common goal is to figure out how humans write about their lived experiences by taking the topic of community as a theme. Instructors will bring their own particular scholarly expertise to shaping each class, so assignments and focus will vary class to class, but assignments are likely to include examinations of historical communities organized around a particular ethnicity or cultural system, contemporary communities organized around shared work or social experiences, as well as examinations of what makes a group of people a community rather than a collection of individuals.

English 1150: Language and Identity

In this class, we consider the ways languages construct identities through interactions of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, and religion, among other things. Assignments are likely to include considerations of how we are named and who names us helps us make sense of who we are and where we fit in the world. For example, if someone names us as friend, it places us in a reciprocal and caring relationship with that person. If, on the other hand, someone in a position of power calls us by a hate-inflected racial epithet, it places us in a relationship of subordination and cruelty. The class will also consider the way common language is gendered—just what does it mean to throw like a girl, take it like a man—as well as how different groups of people use language differently, through conversational conventions, dialects, voice, and other practices.

 

Our primary purpose in these courses is to explore how and why we write for an audience. Though not every assignment will ask you to write a traditional academic essay, the skills you will be refining in your writing can be applied to such a task. To that end, you will be expanding on the things you worked on in Composition I (focus, rhetorical sensitivity, essay development, argumentation, research, citation, and revision) expanding your capabilities in academic writing.

 

Course Requirements:

 

Students will produce a minimum of 7,000 words in final draft form over the course of the semester. This will mean roughly 20-24 finished pages. At least one paper will be a documented essay using either MLA or A format and incorporating a number of sources with a sustained discussion that results in a paper of at least 8 pages.

 

Core Competency Statement:

 

ENGL 1130, 1140, and 1150 are mapped to the Communication Core Competencies of A) Context and B) Content and the Information Literacy Core Competency of C) Organization. Core Competencies will be evaluated via a pre-and post-test analysis of first and final writing samples and instructor and program analysis of final student portfolios.

Composition II Learning Outcomes

First, students in Composition II courses will be expected to continually build upon and strengthen the learning outcomes from Composition I (ENGL 1110); the following are the learning outcomes for Composition I:

 

  • Establish      a purpose and create a thesis in their own writing and be able to identify      purpose and thesis in the writing of others (TAG: 1) Rhetorical      Knowledge);
  • Demonstrate      the knowledge of how genres influence reading and writing by producing      writing in multiple genres and by incorporating various tools of      arrangement, including the successful use of organizational patterns,      transitional and topic sentences, and audience awareness (TAG: 1) Rhetorical Knowledge);
  • Develop      arguments and perspectives through the successful incorporation of      research, examples, details, rhetorical appeals, and counter-arguments (TAG: 1) Rhetorical Knowledge and 2)      Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing);
  • Demonstrate      effective revision skills (global revision, editing, and proofreading)      that leads to clear, concise and error-free prose (TAG: 3) Knowledge of the Composing Process and 5) Knowledge of      Conventions);
  • Develop      critical reading skills, including the ability to locate rhetorical      features in a text, identify the audience for a given text, and identify      strengths and weaknesses in an author’s arguments and reasoning; (TAG: 1) Rhetorical Knowledge and 2)      Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing)
  • Locate      credible scholarly sources, evaluate the reliability of those sources, and      effectively use those sources within a text, including the ability to cite      sources in-text and develop a works cited page (TAG: 1) Rhetorical Knowledge and 5) Knowledge of Conventions);     
  • Use      electronic environments for the drafting, reviewing, revising, editing,      and submitting of texts (TAG: 3)      Knowledge of the Composing Process and 6) Composing in Electronic      Environments); and
  • Demonstrate      the ability to critique their own and peers’ writing by understanding the      collaborative and social aspects of the writing process (TAG: 3) Knowledge of the Composing      Process and 4) Collaboration).

 

 

In addition, students who successfully complete ENGL 1130, 1140, or 1150 will also be able to:

 

  • Display ability to      recognize context, audience and purpose by understanding the writing      assignment and creating a thesis that establishes claims for both a main      argument and intermediate arguments that support it (TAG: 1) Rhetorical Knowledge).
  • Display a strong      understanding of how task, content and genre work together in developing      ideas in a text (TAG: 1) Rhetorical      Knowledge and 3) Knowledge of the Composing Process).
  • Be able to      distinguish between background, primary, and secondary research sources,      and use those sources appropriate for the genre in which they are writing      and the audience for whom they are writing (TAG: 1) Rhetorical Knowledge and 2) Critical Thinking, Reading,      and Writing).
  • Use at least two      different citation styles, and identify the disciplines for which they are      appropriate. Display ability to use      correct citation, footnotes, endnotes, and other documentation tools (TAG: 5) Knowledge of Conventions).
  • Demonstrate the      ability to work with advanced writing skills, such as synthesis, analysis,      and summary while incorporating appropriate organizational structures (TAG: 1) Rhetorical Knowledge).

 

Texts: Subject to change! The instructor of your section will provide you with a list of required materials.

 

Attendance (Also see the attached University of Toledo Missed Class Policy):

Your active participation in this writing class will help you to achieve the goals of this course and accomplish your personal academic goals. Therefore, your regular attendance and informed and active participation are expected. We will be writing in this class frequently and in-class writing activities may not be made up outside of class unless you have an excused absence. Missing these assignments may lower your class evaluation and course grade.

           

In the event that you must miss class, you are to notify me by voice mail or in writing. However, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and to complete all work.

 

Late Work:

Assignments are due on the day specified. Late work will be subject to a lowered grade although the penalty may be waived if the instructor determines that the absence was an excused absence.

 

Plagiarism:

Representing the work of another as your own, whether through direct copying, unattributed paraphrasing, or inadequate citation practices constitutes plagiarism. If you do not know how to give credit where credit is due—and that is a legitimate concern—see me and we will review the process. A paper that is plagiarized in whole or in part will receive an F, the student producing it will receive an F, and the paper will be turned over to the administrative supervisors to determine further action. Plagiarism is grounds for dismissal from the University. The policy on plagiarism can be found in detail on pages 25 and 26 of The University of Toledo catalog.

 

Submission of Work:

It is expected that all student work submitted for a grade will be typed in a standard 12-point font, double spaced, and with one-inch margins.

 

Evaluation:

Your writing this semester will be evaluated primarily for its rhetorical effectiveness. Does it adequately consider the audience to whom it is addressed? Is it convincing, captivating, inventive? It will also be evaluated for classroom values that demonstrate your preparation for the tasks at hand, your participation in class conversation and collaboration, and engagement in the common texts and tasks. A third measure will be made of the academic value of your text. Does it speak, when it is supposed to, to an audience of scholars? Does it contribute to the production and dissemination of new knowledge? Your will be given the chance to revise your work for inclusion in a final portfolio.

 

Grading:

In order to pass this course, your final grade must be a C or above. Grades below a C are recorded as No Credit (NC). Although an NC will not affect your GPA, Composition I will have to be repeated until a grade of C or better is achieved. A student earning an NC in Composition I With Workshop should not repeat Composition I With Workshop but instead should enroll in Composition I.

 

 

 

Last Updated: 6/27/22