EN085 - WRITING STRATEGIES Fall 2007
Instructor:
Dr. Madeline Seltzer
215-885-2360
EXT 250
Office
Hours: Tues., Thurs.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Prepares
the student for college writing by providing a solid foundation in the
fundamentals of grammar and mechanics through writing practice. The writing
skills developed in this course will enable the student to write clearly,
effectively, and grammatically not only in his/her English courses, but in all
his/her college courses.
COURSE PHILOSOPHY:
The course philosophy of
Writing Strategies is based on the recognition that successful students and people must be able to communicate effectively in
writing. The importance of good writing
skills both in college and in careers cannot be over-emphasized. This course enables students to achieve
mastery of the basics of grammar as well as of effective essay writing.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
A student successfully
completing this course will be able to:
1. Develop an idea with clarity and coherence.
2. Demonstrate basic knowledge of standard grammar, mechanics,
and
spelling.
3. Achieve an average of at least 80% on grammar mastery tests.
4. Write three (3) 200 word “Passing” essays in-class.
5. Participate in class activities.
STUDENT OUTCOMES:
1. To demonstrate effective communication skills:
A. MEASURE: Students will communicate knowledge of
standard grammar,
mechanics,
and spelling in mastery quizzes and in in-class essays.
A. STANDARD: 70% of students will complete three
(3) essays in class,
with
passing grades and achieve an average of 80% on mastery tests.
B. MEASURE: Students will demonstrate knowledge
of principles of essay
writing
in in-class essays.
B. STANDARD: 70% of students will complete at
least three (3) essays in
class
with passing grades.
2. To
demonstrate effective reading and critical thinking skills:
A. MEASURE: Students will critically analyze
their own as well as their peers’
rough
drafts, evaluating them according to established criteria for
successful
essay writing.
A. STANDARD: 70% of the students will perform on
a passing level of
proficiency
in critically analyzing their own and their peers’ rough drafts.
B. MEASURE: Students will critically read essay
questions, determining what
is
required to best fulfill the assignment.
B. STANDARD: 70% of the students will perform on
a passing level of
proficiency
in determining the requirements for fulfilling essay
assignments.
OUTLINE OF COURSE CONTENT:
WEEK 1 Introduction to Course
Diagnostic
Essay
Prescriptive
Conferences
WEEK 2 The 200 Word Essay
Rough Draft Conferences
WEEK 3 Subjects and Verbs
Writing
Workshop
In-class
essay
WEEK 4 The Complete Sentence
Patterns of Sentence Structure
Writing
Workshop
In-class
essay
WEEK 5 Sentence Fragments
Writing
Workshop
In-class essay
WEEK 6 Run-on Sentences
Writing Workshop
In-class essay
WEEK 7 Commas
Writing Workshop
In-class essay
WEEK 8 Quotations
Apostrophe
Writing
Workshop
In-class
essay
WEEK 9 Subject-Verb Agreement
Writing Workshop
In-class essay
WEEK 10 Pronoun Agreement
Verb
Tense
Writing
Workshop
In-class
essay
WEEK 11 Dangling
modifiers
Writing Workshop
In-class essay
WEEK 12 Parallelism
Writing Workshop
In-class essay
WEEK 13 Commonly Confused Words
Writing
Workshop
In-class
essay
WEEK 14 Review for
Final Exam
In-class essay
FINAL
EXAM: 200 Word in-class essay
APPROACHES TO TEACHING:
1. Lecture
2. Discussions
3. Recitations
4. Writing Activities
These approaches to teaching
facilitate students’ development of communication, reading, and critical
thinking skills. Lectures and
discussions provide modeling for these skills while recitations and writing
activities provide hands-on practice for students in using and developing them.
This course will be run as a
workshop, during which students will write and focus on their particular
problems, and as a lecture class, in which specific grammatical and writing
principles will be covered.
Class time will be spent
writing, evaluating, and revising that writing, and doing appropriate exercises
to strengthen grammar and mechanics.
Students will write essays in class and at home which will be handed in,
graded, then returned for revision, and finally resubmitted. There will also be exercise assignments to be
completed at home and handed in for correction.
Students will keep a writing folder, consisting of all writing done this
semester, and a personal spelling list of all words circled in papers.
PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION
AND GRADING:
To pass the course,
"S", by the end of the semester, the student must:
1. Write three (3) 200 word “Passing” essays in
class.
2. Achieve a minimum average of 80% on topic
mastery tests.
3. Participate in class activities.
4. Complete all essays and written assignments
A final grade of
"U" will indicate that the student has not achieved the above
objectives. A final grade of
"SP" will mean that the student has worked hard and improved but
still has not achieved all of the objectives listed above and should take EN090
next semester. A final grade of
"S" will indicate that the student should take EN101 if he/she has
also passed or placed out of EN075.
ATTENDANCE:
Students are expected to
attend every class. Participation in
class activities will be part of their final grade. Any more than the equivalent of two (2) weeks
of regular semester absences will result in a lowered final grade. Students who
are absent are responsible for all material covered in class.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Sentence
Skills Form A,
John Langan
A
college dictionary
A
college thesaurus
ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY:
Plagiarism is a serious
offense with serious consequences from failing the essay, to failing the
course, to being expelled from the college.
Students are responsible for make sure that they don’t plagiarize.