Syllabus

Instructor: Joshua A Ware

Phone: (303) 556-6716
Email: joshua.ware@cudenver.edu
Office: 1015 9th Street Park, Room 201
Office Hours: M: 11:45am-1:30pm

Welcome to ENGL 2030: Core Composition II, Section 01 for the Summer semester of 2007. This blog will be your information hub for the entirity of the semester. In addition to regular announcements, you will also be able to find the guidelines for all of your assignments. Please, check this site regularly, as you will be held responsible for all the information located here. You can access all data files (i.e. syllabus & readings) on Blackboard.

Your first assignment will be to create a blog of your own; you are required to post all of your assignments on-line. I WILL NOT BE COLLECTING PAPER COPIES OR ACCEPTING EMAILED ASSIGNMENTS.* Please, follow the guidelines below to construct your blog:

Go to the Blogspot home page & follow the directions. If possible, use your first & last name as your URL. Your address should end up looking something like this: http//johndoe.blogspot.com. Once you create your account, your second assignment will be to send me an email at joshua.ware@cudenver.edu that contains the URL to your account. The subject of your email should read: "Blog URL: ENGL 2030, Section 01." The body of your email should contain nothing more than your full name & the URL of your blog.

If you already have a Blogspot account, log-in & access your Dashboard. Once there, click on "Create a Blog" & follow the instructions.

Finally, you will need to create an account to store image files. I recommend using Photobucket, since this is the service I will being utilizing (in case you need help trouble-shooting); but, you are certainly able to use any hosting service you feel comfortable navigating.

*Research Logs will be the exception to this rule. You will turn in a complete log with a Table of Contents in hard copy form on the approporiate due date. Please, click "Research Log" link for more information.

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-SYLLABUS-

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ENGL 2030 focuses on academic and other types of research-based writing & builds on the work completed in ENGL 1020. The course concentrates on critical thinking, reading, & writing as well as working with primary and secondary source materials to produce a variety of research-based essays. There is an emphasis on using both print-based & electronic-based information. ENGL 1020 is a prerequisite for this course. You must receive a grade of C or better to pass ENGL 2030.

You will choose the primary source which you will write on for the entire semester. A good idea is to decide upon a primary source that you feel strongly about, as you will be researching & writing on the subject matter for sixteen weeks. Primary sources related to the following topics are off-limits:

Abortion
Capital punishment
Cloning
Stem cell research
Alcohol & Marijuana
Euthanasia
Evolution vs. Intelligent Design

These topics are overdone and, for a short research paper, entirely too broad.

You must complete all four projects or you will fail the class. Information for these projects can be found on this blog. Work must be submitted on time, usually at the beginning of class on the due date. NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED, but they still must be turned in so that I may see that you have completed the work & are on the right track. You are responsible for keeping a back-up copy of all assignments you submit.

Please keep in mind that ENGL 2030 is not a grammar class. While I do except papers to be written in a grammatically proficient manner, I will not make line-item corrections regarding grammar (but proper usage will factor into your grade). If you need help in this area, take advantage of the Writing Center (CN 206) or see me during my Office Hours. Also, all relevant assignments must be in proper MLA format.

INCOMPLETE GRADES (IW & IF) WILL NOT BE GRANTED FOR THIS CLASS.

Regular attendance is required. In writing class, you do much of the important brainstorming & revision work in the classroom. While a small portion of class will be dedicated to short lectures, the majority of the time will involve intense, usually collaborative, class participation & workshops. Therefore, you are permitted to miss up to three class periods with no effect on your final grade. After three absences, you will receive an F in the class. I will take attendance daily, so use these absences wisely. It is your responsibility to find out what you missed & be prepared for the next class. Regular tardiness will also effect you class performance & may effect your attendance record. If tardiness becomes a distraction, I reserve the right to bar admittance to the classroom after class begins.

You must do your own original work in this course—& appropriately identify that portion of your work which is collaborative with others, or borrowed form others, or which is your own work from other contexts. Whenever you quote passages or use ideas from others, you are legally & ethically obliged to acknowledge that use, following appropriate conventions for documenting sources. If you have doubts about whether or not you are using your own or others’ writing ethically & legally, ask me. Follow this primary principle: Be up front and honest about what you are doing & about what you have contributed to a project. If I suspect plagiarism, I will discuss the incident privately with the student before issuing any penalties. Penalties for plagiarism will depend on the nature of the assignment.

According to the UCD Course Catalog:

Plagiarism is the use of another person’s distinctive ideas or words without acknowledgement. The incorporation of another person’s work into one’s own requires appropriate identification and acknowledgement, regardless of the means of appropriation. The following are considered to be forms of plagiarism when the sources are not noted:

1. Word-for-word copying of another person’s ideas or words.
2. The mosaic (the interspersing of one’s own words here and there while, in essence, copying another’s work).
3. The paraphrase (the rewriting of another’s work, yet still using their fundamental idea or theory).
4. Fabrication (inventing or counterfeiting sources).
5. Submission of another’s work as one’s own.
6. Neglecting quotation marks on material that is otherwise acknowledged.

Acknowledgement is not necessary when the material used is common knowledge.

All members of the course must commit to creating a place of study where everyone is treated with respect & courtesy. Everyone must share in the commitment to protect the integrity, rights, & personal safety of each member of the class community. This includes helpful, yet courteous, discussion of individual & group writing projects. Additionally, make sure cell phones, pagers, & any other similar electronic instruments are turned off when in class. These devices are not conducive to a learning environment and will be treated as such. Furthermore, refrain from using external sites (i.e. MySpace & Youtube) during class time unless they are relevant to the given assignment.

I can make accommodations for in-class work or due dates for students who register with CU-Denver’s Disability Services Office, AR 117P (303-556-8387). The accommodations will depend upon the disability & nature of the assignment.