ENG 112: College Composition II, 3 Credits

Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENG 111

Michele A. Marits, Assistant Professor of English/Humanities, mmarits@email.vccs.edu 757.822.7050

Faculty Home Page: http://faculty.tcc.edu/MMarits/index.htm

Course Description: English 112 continues to develop college writing with increased emphasis on critical essays, argumentation, and research, developing these competencies through the examination of a range of texts about the human experience. Requires students to locate, evaluate, integrate, and document sources and effectively edit for style and usage.

This course is an synchronous, online course; students may access the course from any location (including home) where Internet access is available. Therefore, reliable Internet/computer access is a requirement of this course. All official correspondence will be conducted using TCC Gmail email accounts. Students are required to adhere to posted due dates.

Spring 2022: Synchronous Online Sections: Two English 112 sections are combined in the Canvas site since they are both 15-week synchronous online courses. For class participation and grading purposes,you will be one class, and each of you will be assigned to one of the three Writing Groups for online participation and collaboration.

This class has two components, one is the synchronous (scheduled Zoom meetings) and the other is online. Zoom meetings have been scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays at the respective class times: 12:30-1:50 p.m. or 2:00-3:20 p.m. Both classes have the same Meeting ID and
Password--only with different times. I expect students will attend the Zoom meetings for the class they enrolled in; however, students are welcomed to attend either one as both will have the same agenda. The Zoom Meeting ID and Password will be the same for both sections.

Since the prerequisite for English 112 is the successful completion of English 111, students should have acquired the following writing, revision, and documentation skills: knowledge of the writing process for multi-paragraph essays to include drafting, composing, revising, and editing; the ability to recognize and avoid incorrect and ineffective usage and sentence construction and errors in grammar, mechanics, and spelling; an awareness of intended audience and the ability to address it purposefully and effectively; and the ability to locate, evaluate, and utilize valid scholarly sources to support writing assignments, and document sources using MLA style.

Canvas Zoom: Students access Zoom for sychronous class meetings and may schedule synchronous conferences on agreed datys/times with the professor.  

Phone Conferences: Students may schedule phone conferences with the instructor.

NO REQUIRED TEXT: FREE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ARE USED FOR THIS COURSE.

Rhetoric and Composition--Wikibooks (free text): https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Rhetoric_and_Composition
Writing Commons (free text): http://writingcommons.org/open-text
University of Richmond: http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html
Purdue Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/625/01/
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant: http://www.powa.org/index.php/convince/arguing-in-context

College Attendance, Disability Concerns, and Writing Policies

Attendance

 

Students are required to engage in all online activities and to complete all required assignments as detailed on the weekly schedule. If students are not present online for two weeks and have not contacted the instructor, they may be withdrawn from the course.

 

Disability Concerns

 

All students will be treated with respect to their individual needs. If you are receiving services related to a disability or medical condition or feel you might need services, please make an appointment to talk with me. Any information about your disability or medical condition we discuss is confidential and will not be shared with anyone. For additional assistance, please contact your disability services counselor or the District Coordinator at 757.822.1213 and/or visit the web site at http://www.tcc.edu/students/specialized/disabilityservices/index.htm.

 

Writing

Plagiarism is the accidental or intentional misrepresentation of the words or ideas of another as one's own and includes uncredited as well as improperly credited use of an author's words or ideas. Plagiarism may result in the student's failure.

Students are responsible for being aware of the policies, procedures, and student responsibilities contained within the current edition of the Tidewater Community College Student Handbook.

Course Objectives

Students will learn how to do the following:

  • Strengthen understanding of rhetorical situations and persuasive discourse;
  • Develop and refine writing skills throughout all stages of the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and reflecting);
  • Formulate adequate theses to express reasoned, well-developed judgments on meaningful topics;
  • Abstract, summarize, and synthesize information from a variety of disciplines and across a range of differing positions demonstrating global awareness;
  • Apply methods of academic research, using a variety of investigative techniques, including personal, primary, and secondary print, electronic, and real-life sources;
  • Effectively incorporate information from source material and properly document sources into their own written works;
  • Apply the conventions of appropriate academic formatting, style, and mechanics;
  • Compose a variety of graded and un-graded assignments and will produce at least 5,000 words of finished, graded text;
  • Write one or more documented argument papers.

Course Content

Rhetorical Strategies

Analyzing and evaluating arguments
The rhetorical situation: writer, subject, purpose, audience, tone
Rhetorical appeals: logos, ethos, and pathos
The Toulmin Method: claims, warrants, and reasons
Rogerian Argument: negotiation and mediation

Research processes

Locating print and electronic source material
Conducting observations, interviews, and surveys
Analyzing and evaluating sources and evidence
Synthesizing sources: summary, paraphrase, and quotation
Documenting and incorporating sources

Writing processes: Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing, and Reflecting

Description of Assignments/Grades

  • Letter to Class Members (1), 5 points
  • Rhetorical Analysis Essay (1): TEDTALK, up to 15 points
  • Position or Causal Multimodal Argument Individual Presentation: 15points; Peer Review: 3 points, for a total of 18 points
  • Group Discussions (3): 5 points each, for a total of 15 points
  • Library Research Assignment, 5 points
  • Golden Record Assignment & Presentation (collaborative): 15 points for the researched article (written portion); 5 points for the Presentation, for a total of 20 points;
  • Partner Assignments (3): 5 points each, for a total of 15 points
  • Self and Peer Assessment: 4.5 points and 2.5 points, for a total of 7 points 

Extra Credit, 3 points total, 3 points for one of the assignments

Total Possible Points: 103

Grading Scale: 90-100 points=A; 80-92=B; 70-79=C; 60-69=D; 59 and below=F

Note: For an "A" final course grade, students must complete the Rhetorical Analysis Essay, the Individual Presentation, and the Collaborative Presentation.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional use of another person’s ideas without proper documentation. Plagiarized assignments may result in a student’s failure. Documentation is required on papers turned in that are not original. MLA or APA Documentation Styles is acceptable. The Individual and Collaborative Writing Presentations, will be uploaded to Turnitin, a plagiarism checker.

Updated: 12/5/21