Writing 20 - Cora Agatucci
Basic Writing I

WR 20 Syllabus ~ Fall 2001
for CRN #40561, Tues.-Thurs. 11:00 am - 12:15 pm, Jefferson 101

Required Textbook & Materials:

• Kelly, William J., and Deborah L. Lawton.  Odyssey: A Guide to Better Writing.  2nd ed.  Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.  (Available in COCC Bookstore)  Note: Odyssey may be packaged with free workbook of editing exercises.

• Good, recently published college dictionary and thesaurus.

• One inexpensive letter-sized manila folder (for submitting assignments on
  standard-sized 8 1/2" x 11" paper)

• One college examination Bluebook (available in COCC Bookstore) – a second
  bluebook may also be needed

• Resources to zerox or otherwise duplicate clear readable copies of several writing
  assignments for Writer's Workshops

• Revised/final drafts of graded writing assignments prepared outside of class must be typed or wordprocessed. If you don't have a wordprocessor, you can use one of COCC's: open lab hours are offered by the COCC Computer Labs in Pioneer Hall and COCC Library. See COCC Online Resources (Disability Services, Student Computing, Tutoring, COCC Library, COCC Bookstore): http://www.cocc.edu/humanities/resources.html 

Additional Resources:

• Allyn & Bacon CompSite Web Page: http://www.abacon.com
• Allyn & Bacon Companion Website for Odyssey: A Guide to Better Writing, 2nd ed.,
  organized by textbook chapters and topics:  http://www.abacon.com/kelly
• COCC Online Resources (Disability Services, Student Computing, Tutoring, COCC Library, COCC Bookstore): http://www.cocc.edu/humanities/resources.html 
• COCC Online Writing Lab - OWL (Eleanor Sumpter-Latham):
   http://www.cocc.edu/opencampus/students/owl.htm 
• COCC Writing Labs (Eleanor Sumpter-Latham):
   http://www.cocc.edu/elatham/favorite.htm 
• Latham's Grammar Shop: The Least You Should Know about Punctuation & Sentence Mechanics (Eleanor Sumpter-Latham): http://www.cocc.edu/elatham/grammar_shop.htm  
• Writer Resources (Jacob Agatucci, 2001):
   http://www.cocc.edu/humanities/WIC/WriterResources.htm 
• Writing Resources & Course Websites (Humanities Dept.):
   http://www.cocc.edu/humanities/courses/writing/resources.htm  =

Course Grading

See Wr 20Course Plan for a week-by-week schedule of course assignments & activities,
which will be assigned and discussed in more detail in class.

Course Description & Learning Objectives
(Course Competencies)

Writing 20 and Writing 40--Basic Writing I & II--will help students develop the college-preparatory writing skills needed to succeed in Writing 121, as well as in future college and professional writing tasks. Writing 20 will emphasize writing effective paragraphs and developing proficiency in the fundamentals of sentence structure, word choice, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
Course Competencies, or learning objectives, for Writing 20 students have been established by the Humanities Dept. Composition Committee.  This course has been designed to help students meet those course Competencies, which are listed and discussed below.

Paragraph Writing Skills

Competency 1: Be able to produce stand-alone paragraphs with a topic sentence and supporting details.

Competency 2: Be able to maintain focus and coherence for stand-alone paragraphs of at least 200 words.

Competency 3: Be able to distinguish between general support and specific evidence and to apply the distinction to one’s writing.

Sentence Editing & Correction Skills

Competency 4: Be able to produce paragraphs containing a variety of sentence lengths and structures, including some complex sentences.

Competency 5: Be able to edit one’s own writing to avoid most major sentence errors.

Competency 6: Be able to edit one’s own writing to avoid capitalization, spelling and confused word errors.

Competency 7: Be able to edit one’s own writing for generally accurate use of commas, semi-colons, apostrophes, and pronouns.

The Writing Process

Competency 8: Understand the principles of the writing process in its basic form: generating ideas, organizing ideas, drafting, revising and editing.

Writer's Workshops

Competency 9: Be able to assist other writers with accurate analysis of focus, coherence, and specific development, at the paragraph level.

Attendance, Late Work, & Plagiarism Policies

Attendance Policy: I expect students to come regularly to class prepared for the day's activities, to participate actively in in-class learning experiences, and to complete assignments promptly to that they will receive timely feedback from Cora and other students needed for development and improvement of students' writing skills. College students are responsible for course content and assignments whether or not they are present in class. In case of absence, students should consult the Wr 20 Course Plan, and contact Cora as soon as possible to arrange to make up what they have missed when possible.

Late/Make-Up Preparation/Participation Credit Assignments & Activities:
Most "PC" assignments can be made up or submitted late by arrangement with Cora.  However, some in-class assignments and activities cannot be made up if they depend upon in-class participation, although a limited number of extra credit options will be offered to compensate (in part). Review note on Wr 20 Course Plan regarding textbook Exercises.

Late Work Policy on Graded Assignments:  

• Paragraphs & Essay: One (1) graded writing assignment will be accepted late with no penalty. Thereafter, late graded writing assignments will be penalized one letter grade. 

• Quizzes cannot be "made up" or taken late. A missed quiz receives an F.  However, Quiz #2 (scheduled during our Final Exam meeting) is comprehensive and may be counted at 10% to replace a low Quiz #1 grade.

• Portfolio is due at the Final and will not be accepted late.

Plagiarism Policy
Normally, you would not be expected to do research or use outside sources in WR 20.  However, if you do decide to draw upon outside sources in your writing this term, please see Cora for advice on citing those sources.  Proper citations and documentation of any sources that you quote, paraphrase, and/or summarize in your writing are required whenever you borrow the words, facts, and/or ideas of others. Note well that even putting others’ ideas into your own words still means you are borrowing, and you need to give credit where credit is due. To avoid plagiarism, source(s) must be cited and documented, both (a) at the point in your papers where the borrowing occurs (using parenthetical citations for most documentation styles), and (b) in a list of all sources cited given at the end of your papers.

If unforeseen problems
 emerge during the quarter that may seriously hurt
your progress or performance in this course,
please see Cora right away.
- or E-mail me now cagatucci@cocc.edu -
Together we can perhaps reach a solution or compromise
that will enable you to continue the course
and complete requirements successfully.

Any WR 20 student with a documented disability
(physical, learning, psychological, vision, hearing)
who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations
must inform the College and Cora as soon as possible.
If you require any assistance related to a disability,
contact the Disability Services Office located in
Boyle Education Center – call (541) 383-7580,
or send e-mail to sobrien@cocc.edu

I look forward to working with all of you this term! . . . Cora

Cora's Fall 2001 WR 20 Syllabus | Course Plan  
Assignments are being webposted after they are discussed in class.

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Last Updated: 07 July 2003

This webpage is maintained by Cora Agatucci, Professor of English,
Humanities Department, Central Oregon Community College
I welcome comments: cagatucci@cocc.edu
© Cora Agatucci, 1997-2001
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