Syllabus

Instructor: Jaimie Gusman, jaimieg@hawaii.edu

Mentor: Lisa Chow, lisachow@hawaii.edu 

Office Hours: KUY 222, 12-2pm T/TH

Class time: T/TH 10:30am-11:45am

Room: KUY 308

Course Blog: http://eng100atuhm.blogspot.com/

ENG100 (33) Composition Writing: Writing in the World

Welcome to ENG100! In this course we will focus on two major aspects of communicative writing: (1) writing in and for “academia” and (2) writing in and for the world outside of the academic institution. While the major focus of this course will be refining your writing in both grammar and style, your assignments are designed to help you as a first year writing student at the university, but also as a participant in the larger community.

This is a writing intensive course. Writing assignments will include: (1) Rhetorical Analysis, (2) Response to film, (3) Literature Review, (4) Argumentative Paper with Research, (5) Letter for Change and, (6) Cover letter and Resume. Other in-class work includes small writing assignments, peer workshopping, and class discussion.

BREAKDOWN OF GRADES:
100 A+            69 D+
99-95 A           68-65 D
94-90 A-          64-60 D-
89 B+              59 & below F
88-85 B
84-80 B-
79 C+ 
78-75 C
74-70 C-

Required texts:

-GMAIL.COM: You will need a gmail.com email address. Your UH email will not work. In order for our class blog to be private, you will need to sign up for a gmail account or have an existing gmail.com email address. When you have a gmail.com email, please send it to me at jaimie.gusman@gmail.com

-Generous internet access: You will be asked to read texts available on the internet, work on a class blog (which means posting on a regular basis, checking updates to the course schedule, and accessing assignments), and check your email daily.

-Access to printing: I do not accept emailed assignments, printed copies only. I will also ask you to print course materials at times, as there will be no textbooks you will need to buy for this course.

*Your reading list will be available through Laulima, posted on the class blog, emailed to you, or through other Internet sources.

COURSE WORK
Participation (15%): This includes class attendance, participation in class discussions and workshops, as well as in-class writing assignments.

Rhetorical Analysis Presentation (5%): You will do an in-class presentation on an advertisement of your choice.                         

Film Response (15%): You will write a response essay, 2-3 pages, to one film during the course.

Literature Review (15%): Your literature review will be a 2-3 page essay analyzing one piece of literary work discussed in class.

Letter for Change (10%): You will write a 1 page letter to a political figure on a current social/cultural issue.

Argumentative Paper  (20%): 6-8 pages.

Cover Letter & Resume (10%): You will “apply” to an actual job or internship and construct a resume and 1 page cover letter.

Grammar Quizzes (10%): These quizzes will be distributed throughout the course and will generally be unannounced.

*All essays will follow current MLA standards. Late work is NOT accepted unless you contact me for an extension prior to the due date. Even then, it is under the instructor’s discretion whether or not an extension will be granted.

ATTENDANCE POLICY
Considering that class meets a mere two times a week, for 75 minutes, I expect you to attend every class. However, I will accept five unexcused absences because people occasionally get sick, have emergencies, sleep in, have rough nights, and so on. Because this class relies on your participation, if you know you will be absent, please notify me at least 24hrs in advance when possible. If you miss more than 5 classes, you will receive an “F”. This is nonnegotiable. BUT if you have a personal problem, do not hesitate to contact me. DON'T WAIT!

DO NOT BE LATE. If you are over 15 minutes late for a class, it will act as an absence. If you are using your cells phone, ipod, ipad, laptop, etc. and not participating in class, your presence will act as an absence.

MENTOR CONFERENCES
This section is lucky to have Lisa as a mentor for ENG100 students. Lisa will be available for you to discuss issues inside and outside of class. If you need help with a paper, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE to contact Lisa. She is not your personal paper writer or reviser. She has her own busy schedule, so please respect her and treat her as though he were an instructor in this class. This means don't miss a conference will her, but if you must, give her at least 24 hours notice. You will be required to see her for an intake interview during the first week of class. Intake interviews are mandatory and should be conducted as soon as possible. I am also requiring that you meet with Lisa for a conference 2 additional times during the semester (required), and more if you’d like (optional). 

PLAGIARISM /INTEGRITY
Cheating and Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this classroom. The integrity of a university depends upon academic honesty, which consists of independent learning and research. Academic dishonesty includes cheating and plagiarism. The following are examples of violations of the Student Conduct Code that may result in suspension or expulsion from UH Manoa. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, giving unauthorized help during an examination, obtaining unauthorized information about an examination before it is administered, using inappropriate sources of information during an examination, altering the record of any grade, altering an answer after an examination has been submitted, falsifying any official UH Manoa record, and misrepresenting the facts in order to obtain exemptions from course requirements. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, submitting, to satisfy an academic requirement, any document that has been copied in whole or in part from another individual’s work without identifying that individual; neglecting to identify as a quotation a documented idea that has not been assimilated into the student’s language and style; paraphrasing a passage so closely that the reader is misled as to the source; submitting the same written or oral material in more than one course without obtaining authorization from the instructors involved; and “dry-labbing,” which includes obtaining and using experimental data from other students without the express consent of the instructor, utilizing experimental data and laboratory write-ups from other sections of the course or from previous terms, and fabricating data to fit the expected results

KOKUA
If you have or suspect that you may have a disability and related need for confidential access services, you are encouraged to contact the KOKUA Program at 808-956-7511 (V/T), to email kokua@hawaii.edu, to visit KOKUA in Room 013 Queen Lili‘oukalani Student Services Center, and to visit the KOKUA web site at www.hawaii.edu/kokua for further information.