ENGLISH 102: COMPOSITION II

Syllabus, Winter Quarter 2015

11:45-12:50 | Room 1605
Cara N. Stoddard
carast@bigbend.edu | Office # 1618
Office Hours: 1:00-3:00 Mon-Thurs, or by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an advanced composition course designed to improve your critical thinking, reading, and written
communication skills. Via an immersion into poetry, drama, fiction, and creative nonfiction, this course aims to teach
the terminology of literary devices, strategies for close reading, and habits of independent research in order to prepare
you to write formal and informal literary analyses. This course will also review the conventions of MLA citation and
grammar and usage as time allows.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of the course, you should be very good at doing the following:
1. Comprehending college-level literature and defining the themes presented using textual, critical, social and/or
historical analysis
2. Identifying literary devices in both prose and poetry and analyzing their effect on readers
3. Developing a central claim (thesis) in response to a literary text and supporting/illustrating your central claim
(thesis) clearly and logically
4. Assessing and interpreting multiple possible solutions to a problem posed by a literary text
5. Gathering and evaluating information using library resources
6. Situating your ideas as related to, but clearly distinguished from, the ideas of others (including the ability to
paraphrase, summarize, and correctly cite and document borrowed material) and recognizing your place as a
participant in an academic conversation about a particular text.
7. Accurately proofreading your own work in order to produce writing that maintains the conventions of published
English
8. Giving and receiving constructive feedback during peer review
9. Developing and improving habits of lifetime literacy
Of course, I expect that you are able to carry out some of these tasks already.

REQUIRED BOOKS:
A Streetcar Named Desire, 2004
By: Tennessee Williams
(intro by Arthur Miller)

A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia

Revised and Updated, 2012
By: Blaine Harden

ISBN # 978-0811216029

ISBN # 978-0393342567

DEADLINES FOR MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS:

Thursday, January 8
Tuesday, January 27
Monday, February 23
Tuesday, March 3
Thursday, March 5
Thursday, March 19

LAST DAY TO ADD A CLASS

Essay 1 Final Draft Due** (at the start of class)
Essay 2 (Podcast + Reflection) Final Draft Due** (at the start of class)
LAST DAY TO DROP A CLASS
Essay 3 Final Draft Due** (at the start of class)
Essay 4 Final Draft Due (at 11:45AM)

**All writing assignments are to be typed and correctly formatted according to MLA standards (see the Purdue OWL website for details).

Week 1

Mon Jan 5Intros

Tues Jan 6A Streetcar Named Desire scenes 2 & 3
Wed Jan 7A Streetcar Named Desire scene 4 (meet in computer lab 1802)
Thurs Jan 8A Streetcar Named Desire scenes 5 & 6

Week 2

Mon Jan 12A Streetcar Named Desire scenes 7 & 8

Tues Jan 13A Streetcar Named Desire scenes 9, 10, & 11
Wed Jan 14The World I Live In (meet in 1801)
Thurs Jan 15Blue Jasmine

Week 3

Mon Jan 19No School, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tues Jan 20Blue Jasmine
Wed Jan 21Blue Jasmine
Thurs Jan 22Research Blue Jasmine movie critiques (meet in 1801)

Week 4

Mon Jan 26Peer Review

Tues Jan 27 Essay 1 due, Grand Coulee Dam PBS video
Wed Jan 28A River Lost Ch. 1 Slackwater
Thurs Jan 29A River Lost Ch. 2 Better Off Underwater

Week 5

Mon Feb 2A River Lost Ch. 3 Machine River

Tues Feb 3A River Lost Ch. 4 The Biggest Thing on Earth
Wed Feb 4A River Lost Ch. 5 The Flood (meet in 1801)
Thurs Feb 5A River Lost Ch. 6 Ditches from Heaven (meet in 1801)

Week 6

Mon Feb 9A River Lost Ch. 8 Wild and Scenic Atomic River & Ch. 9 Born with No Hips
Tues Feb 10A River Lost Ch. 10 Slackwater II
Wed Feb 11A River Lost Ch. 11 The River Game
Thurs Feb 12Intro to Audacity (meet in 1801)

Week 7

Mon Feb 16No School, Presidents Day

Tues Feb 17Podcasting (meet in 1801)
Wed Feb 18Podcasting (meet in 1801)
Thurs Feb 19Podcast Peer Review (meet in 1801)

Week 8

COURSE TRAJECTORY:

Mon Feb 23Podcast + Reflection due, review for Midterm Exam

Tues Feb 24Intro Poetry Vocab, Free Verse Poems (Todd Boss, T.R. Hummer)
Wed Feb 25Free Verse Poems (Elizabeth Austen, Brian Turner, Kathleen Flenniken)
Thurs Feb 26Free Verse Poems (Robert Wrigley, Bruce A. Jacobs, Sharon Olds, Mark Doty, Anthony Walton)

Week 9

Mon March 2Formal Poems (Alexandra Teague, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, David Lehman, Matthew Hittinger)
Tues March 3Textual Analysis Workshop (meet in 1801)
Wed March 4Peer Review
Thurs March 5Essay 3 due, Hills Like White Elephants (read in class)

Week 10

Mon March 9Jhumpa Lahiris Mrs. Sens

Tues March 10Jhumpa Lahiris Mrs. Sens
Wed March 11George Saunders Victory Lap
Thurs March 12George Saunders Victory Lap

Week 11

Mon March 16Research Day (meet in 1801)

Tues March 17Research Day (meet in 1801)
Wed March 18Peer Review
Thurs March 19No class, Essay 4 due (by 11:45AM)

ATTENDANCE:
Attendance in English 102 is mandatory. More than eight absences (two weeks) from class is grounds for failing the
course. After 5 absences, your grade will be negatively affected. Anywhere from 6-8 absences will result in a 10%
deduction from your overall score in the class. 9 or more absences equals an F (0.0) in the course. Thus, plan for
unforeseen illnesses or travel plans later in the quarter. Only absences for bereavement, hospitalization, or previously
scheduled college Sponsored Events or Activities (see Student Handbook for definition) are considered excused
absences. Whenever possible, please notify me before the excused absence to be sure to get any handouts you might
miss in class. Every other kind of absence including car trouble, illnesses and doctors appointments, and being called
into cover a co-workers shift at work is considered unexcused and counts toward your eight allowed absences.

In the case of bad roads, we will still have class unless the college is closed (you will receive a notification through BBCC
Campus Alerts if campus is closed). However, I recognize that many of you commute long distances to school and that
icy roads around Grant County can be very dangerous. If you plan to miss class, you must send me an email through
Canvas before 11:45AM on the day you are going to miss in order for your absence to be excused. More importantly,
you are responsible for working from home to stay caught up with the class. You should follow along on Canvas with the
days lesson and assignments and return the following day with all the work assigned on the day you missed
completedbe in touch via email or phone if you have questions.
In the case of a personal or family emergency, please be in contact with me via email about the situation, and I will do
my best to accommodate you. In the case of bereavement leave or a mental/physical health emergency for you or one
of your dependents requiring you miss more than one day in a row, you will be expected to keep up with your
coursework via Canvas. Arrangements will be made on a case-by-case basis.
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Being in attendance means being physically present, awake, coherent, and fully prepared for class with the readings
completed. If you do not meet all of these conditions you will be marked absent for the day and, in some cases, will be
asked to leave. Coming in more than 10 minutes late, leaving early, and inappropriate use of cell phones, laptops, or
tablets in class will result in an unexcused absence. You are responsible for making up all of the work that you missed
during an absence. Please see me during office hours or schedule an appointment before the next scheduled class.

LATE WORK:
Homework and essays are due at the beginning of class. I do not accept late homework. You will receive a zero on the
assignment if you do not have it with you or submitted on Canvas by the time class starts on the day it is due. The one
exception to this no late work policy is when using your Stuff Happens coupon distributed on the first day of class. You
may only use this coupon once per quarter, and it is only applicable on homework assignments (not on essay drafts or
in-class quizzes). This coupon allows you to turn in the assignment one class period late; however, you still must
complete the assignment in order to get the points. For the four major essays in this course, I strongly discourage you
from submitting them late.

In the case of a late 1st Draft:

If you are absent or do not have a complete essay (a completed essay has an intro, body paragraphs, and a
conclusion and meets the minimum word count) with you in class on the day of Peer Review, you will receive a
0/10 on Peer Review
A late final draft will be graded as follows:
Within 24 hours = 10% point reduction
2 days late = 20% reduction
3 or more days late = 30% reduction
Note: Because of the extensive and time-consuming nature of the comments I make on each student essay I read, I
usually take 2 weeks (8 class periods) to grade and return essays. So thank you in advance for your patience. If you
have questions on a draft while you wait for formal feedback, dont hesitate to come by my office during office hours (or
email me a time) and we can look through your essay together. Due to grade deadlines, I cannot accept your Essay 4
Final Draft after Thursday, March 19 at midnight. Anything submitted after Thursday, March 19 at midnight will receive a
zero.

COURSE ETIQUETTE:
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Classroom citizenship. The classroom is a learning community. Any behavior that disrupts this community will not be
tolerated. This includes speaking to other students while I am talking, sleeping in class, passing notes, being rude or
belligerent to me or other students, etc. This is a discussion-based course, and I expect you to treat each other with
dignity and respect. We may be discussing sensitive topics and reading each others personal writing in this course.
Please be considerate of others ideas and beliefs and do not discuss the content of others papers with students outside
of this class. In accordance with Big Bends Discrimination Policy, disrespect or discrimination towards students based on
race, color, national origin, ethnicity, citizen status, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or chosen gender,
veteran status, age, or religion will not be tolerated. If you feel your well-being is being jeopardized or you have
observed someone else being treated disrespectfully, please come speak to me about it privately after class or during
my office hours.
Readings. In accordance with Big Bends mission statement to encourage multiculturalism, this class has been
intentionally designed to include contemporary literature that represents a diverse set of cultures and peoples. In this
class we may discuss, read, write about, or view texts that you disagree with or find offensive. Such texts are not
necessarily condoned, but rather used to prompt discussion and explore ideas that may be outside of our individual
preferences and comfort levels. In this college classroom you are required to engage maturely and academically with all
texts, regardless of their content or rating. Please email or see me privately during office hours if you have any
questions about this policy.

Technology. In order to promote habits and skill-sets unique to scholars of the 21st century, this course has a heavy
emphasis on the use of technology. You will be expected to check our Canvas page every day for a detailed description
of the homework, and you will be submitting your homework and essays on Canvas and receiving important margin
notes and feedback on your writing from your instructor on Canvas. It is my expectation that you purchase and use
Microsoft Word for all typed assignments in this class. If you cannot get Word on your personal or home computer, you
will need to schedule at least an hour per day and several hours over the weekends to spend on campus using the
computers in the library.
For the Unit 2 podcast project in response to Blaine Hardens A River Lost, you will each be interviewing a member of
your community and writing and recording a podcast (audio recording) using Audacity. There will be some direct
instruction on using this open-source program during class time, but if you find you are struggling with the technology
component of the coursework, please do not hesitate to seek help. I am available during office hours or by appointment
to help with tech support, or you can be in contact with the e-learning librarians Zach Wellhouse (zachw@bigbend.edu)
or Tim Fuhrman (timf@bigbend.edu) in the library for additional support.
Having said that, more often than not, during class time, technological devices serve as distractions to you and the
people around you, so please silence and put away your phones at the start of class. There will certainly be exceptions
to this rule, when I will allow you, even encourage you, to use your smart phone or device in class, but I will notify you
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when it is appropriate to take out your phone. Texting, taking calls, and checking the time on your cell phone is not
permitted in class. Unless you have been given explicit permission to use your laptop in class, all laptops should be shut
and stowed away. Any use of technology in class, including receiving audible texts or calls, will result in an unexcused
absence for that day.

PLAGIARISM:
I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that you will do honest work and that you will work with me
on improving writing that is your own. But plagiarism is a serious matter, and incidents of it have been on the rise both
at Big Bend and nationally. So I feel that it is important to explain what the consequences are.
The two basic kinds of plagiarism:
1. Malicious or intentional. This is the most serious kind of academic theft. It involves using someone elses work
as your own, directly copying from a source without using quotation marks or citations, rephrasing and
summarizing without citations, submitting someone elses paper as your own, or re-submitting your own work
from a different quarter or different course.
2. Plagia-phrasing or mosaic plagiarism. This is when you use quotation marks around large chunks of text from
a source that you wanted to quote or when you use a paraphrase that has too many of the same words as the
original text. Even if you cite these texts as a general sources at the end of the essay in a Works Cited, this is still
considered plagiarism because, in the act of trying to use a quote sandwich or re-word the passage into your
own words, you ended up relying too heavily on someone elses ideas and wording. This kind of plagiarism also
involves integrating source material (as a quote or paraphrase) without citing your source in the sentences /
paragraphs themselves (in other words you are missing the in-text citation). Even if several different sources
were copied or combined, it is still plagiarism.
The consequences of plagiarism:
If an essay involves plagiarism of the first kind (malicious or intentional) you will receive a 0 on the assignment and will
be required to come to my office hours to discuss the matter and practice proper in-text citations. You will not be able
to re-submit essays that involve malicious or intentional plagiarism for partial credit, even on a first offense.
If an essay involves plagiarism of the first kind (malicious or intentional), even on a 1st offense, you will receive a zero on
the assignment and will not have an opportunity to re-write that assignment. I am empowered by the Student Code of
Conduct to assign a grade of F for the course, a penalty that may be imposed in particularly serious cases and I will also
make a complaint to the Vice President of Student Services, who is responsible for enforcing the regulations in the
Student Code of Conduct.
If an essay involves plagiarism of the second kind (mosaic plagiarism with missing in-text citations) you will be required
to come to my office hours to work on accurately summarizing and using in-text citations. Then you will have 24 hours
from this meeting to rewrite and re-submit the paper using correct forms of documentation in order to receive credit.
(1st offense only)
If a problem with plagiarism of the second type persists (if I have to talk to you about plagiarism more than once), you
will receive a 0 on the assignment (2nd offense), and I will not accept a re-write for partial credit. In addition to the
academic penalty of receiving an F in the course, you may also be subject to other disciplinary penalties, which can
include suspension or expulsion. Although such severe penalties are rarely imposed for first-time offenders, the Vice
President of Student Services Office maintains disciplinary records as part of a students overall academic record.
A final word on plagiarism: I understand the occasional temptation to use copy-pastebut I am surprisingly good at
recognizing plagiarism. My basic message is Do Not Do It. When you need to take something from another persons
workan idea, a powerful statement, a set of facts, or an explanationcite your source.
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GRADING:
The majority of the points for this course come from daily assignments, in class reading quizzes, and participation, so be
sure to keep up with the daily readings and homeworks. Simply turning in final papers will not result in a passing grade
in this class. Your percentage in the class is based out of 535 points (subject to change). You must turn in all 4 final
essays and receive at least 319 points to pass this class. In order to receive a 2.0 (the grade required for this course to
count at most 4-year colleges), you will have to receive a minimum of 388 points.
The points are distributed as follows:
Unit 1Drama (130)

Unit 2Nonfiction (205)

Unit 3Poetry (100)

Unit 4Fiction (100)

Quizzes (20)
Reading Habits Handout (10)
Author Bio (5)
Summary Practice (5)
Blue Jasmine NC (5)
Discussion Boards (15)
Vanity Fair Annotations (5)
Peer Review (10)
Blue Books (5)
Final Draft (50)

PBS Notecatcher (5)

Quizzes (30)
Quote Sandwich Practice (10)
Reading Habits Handout (20)
Recorded Bio mp3 (5)
Podcast Conventions Handout (5)
Discussion Board (5)
Uncut Interview Audio mp3 (5)
Podcast Outline (5)
Peer Review (10)
Blue Books (5)
Final Podcast + Reflection (50)
Midterm Exam (50)

Vocab Quiz (10)

Discussion Board (5)
Poem Read Aloud mp3 (5)
Reading Habits Handouts (10)
Formal Analysis Handout (5)
Peer Review (10)
Blue Books (5)
Final Draft (50)

Quizzes (20)
Discussion Boards (10)
Author Bio (5)
Peer Review (10)
Blue Books (5)
Final Draft (50)

Grading Scale:
%

A
= GPA

95-100
94
92-93
91

= 4.0
= 3.8
= 3.7
= 3.6

B
%
89-90
87-88
86
85
84
83
82
81
80

= GPA
= 3.5
= 3.4
= 3.3
= 3.2
= 3.1
= 3.0
= 2.9
= 2.8
= 2.7

C
%
= GPA
79
= 2.6
78
= 2.5
77
= 2.4
76
= 2.3
75
= 2.2
74
= 2.1
73
= 2.0
----------transfer cut-off----------72
= 1.9
71
= 1.8
70
= 1.7

%
69
68
67
66
65
64
63
62
61
60
<60

D
= GPA
= 1.6
= 1.5
= 1.4
= 1.3
= 1.2
= 1.1
= 1.0
= 0.9
= 0.8
= 0.7
= 0.0 (F)

Represents achievement that is outstanding or superior relative to the level necessary to meet the requirements of the
course.
B
Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet the requirements of the course.
Grades of A or B are honors grades. You must do something above and beyond the min. requirements in order to earn an A or B.
Represents achievement that meets the basic requirements in every respect. It signifies that the work is average, but
C
nothing more.
Represents achievement that meets some but not all of the basic requirements. It signifies that a significant amount of
D
coursework is either missing or received not-passing grades.
If you receive less than 500 points in the course or fail to hand in one of the 4 major writing assignments, you will
automatically earn an F. If your average grade is a D but you did not complete one of the major components of the
F
course (one of the 3 major papers or the Midterm exam), you will automatically earn an F in the course. Accumulating
more than eight absences also will result in an F. There is no reason for receiving an F in this course unless you simply
fail to submit the required work.
I
Stands for Incomplete. Under very unusual circumstances you could be assigned an Incomplete in the course if
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something happened to you within the last two weeks of the quarter that made it impossible to complete the course
(a serious accident or illness that left you hospitalized and very significant personal tragedy, etc.)

Re-doing Final Drafts. I will allow you to re-submit Essays 1, 2(Podcast), or 3 (chose only one) again for the chance to
earn 10 points of Extra Credit added on to the grade you received in your first submission. Revisions must be significant
and must address the comments I make in the margins in order to be considered. Any re-writes must be submitted by
Thursday, March 12 at midnight in order to be considered.
A Note on Transferring. While any grade above a .7 (60%) is considered passing at Big Bend, many programs and
colleges require a 2.0 or higher in order to transfer credits earned in a class. In addition, students who fall below a 2.0
are particularly likely to struggle in other classes that require academic writing. Speak to your advisor or transfer
colleges for details about this issue.

RESOURCES:
English Skills Lab: If you would like another reader for any of your essays or if you would like help on an essay in
between your first and final drafts, you may schedule an appointment with a tutor at the English Lab. The English Skills
Lab is Located the 1800 Building, Room 1832.
Winter Quarter Hours:
Monday - Wednesday....8:00am - 8:00pm
Thursday........................8:00am - 4:00pm
Friday.............................9:00am - 4:00pm
The English Skills Lab can help with all stages of the writing process and all levels of writers, so it is not always necessary
to have a completed draft prepared for your appointment. You can also receive e-tutoring and online feedback on your
writing. Visit http://academics.bigbend.edu/library/Pages/lab-hours.aspx for more info.
Student Success Center: If you need to use a computer, to check out a laptop, or if you are struggling in any of your
classes, you can sign up for peer mentoring or supplemental instruction, contact Diana Villafana at 509.793.2369. The
Student Success Center is located in the 1400 Building and is open Mon-Thurs 8am-5pm and Fri 8am-2:30pm.
Accessibility & Disability Services: Big Bend Community College is committed to providing accommodations in academic
programs to ensure maximum participation by all students with disabilities and to minimize the functional limitations
their disabling condition has on their education. Proper procedures are in place to obtain equal access wherein the
student and college staff work together to facilitate reasonable accommodations. The Disabled Student Services Office is
located in the 1400 Building. Loralyn Allen is the disabled students liaison. Her office, located inside the Counseling
Center, is open Monday - Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To schedule an
appointment contact her at 509.793.2027.
For the hearing impaired TDD is available in the Registration/Admissions Office for incoming and outgoing calls at
telephone number 509.762.6335.