Writing 40 - Cora Agatucci
Basic English/Writing II

WR 40 Syllabus - Winter 2001
Instructor: Dr. Cora Agatucci
Office: Deschutes 14; Office Hours: See Current Schedule; also by appointment
Office Phone & Messages: (541) 383-7522;
Mailbox: Deschutes 12, Humanities Department Office
E-mail: cagatucci@cocc.edu
WR 40 Home Page: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr40/index.htm

Required Textbook & Materials

Kelly, William J., and Deborah L. Lawton.  Odyssey: A Guide to Better Writing.
2nd ed.  Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.  (NOTE: Continued from WR 20, or 
available for purchase in COCC Bookstore) 

Good, recently published college dictionary and thesaurus.

One inexpensive folder (for submitting graded writing assignments, with
preliminary drafts, etc.)

One college examination Bluebook (available in COCC Bookstore)

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, and double spaced. 
 (NOTE: 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.)

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 Links: Online Resources for Student Writers & Researchers:
 http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/cocclk.htm 

Course Prerequisites

Students are best prepared to succeed in WR 40 who have:

Successfully completed WR 20 (Basic English/Writing I) with a grade of C" or higher,
by achieving WR 20 Competencies; 
OR . . . 
Acquired equivalent skills in paragraph writing, sentence editing and correction, an effective
writing process, and teamwork.

Course Grading

10% - Preparation & Participation  - credit/no credit
10% - Writers Profiles (abbreviated WP) - credit/no credit
10% - 2 Paragraphs (@ 5%) - letter graded
30% - 3 Essays (@10%) - letter graded
10% -  2 Quizzes (@ 5%) - letter graded
30% - Portfolio (20%: 2 revised "best" WR 40 writings; & 
             10%: Cover Letter Essay) - letter graded

Attendance and Late Work Policies are described below.
See Wr 40Course Plan for a week-by-week schedule of course assignments & activities,
which will be assigned and discussed in more detail in class.

Course Description & Objectives

Writing 20 and Writing 40--Basic English/Writing I & II--develop students' college-preparatory writing skills needed to succeed in Writing 121, as well as in future college and professional writing tasks. Writing 40 emphasizes short essay writing, sentence style development, and continued review of standard written English conventions to aid students in editing and correcting common errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, and mechanics. 
Nine key course Competencies (or learning objectives) for Writing 40 students have been established by the Humanities Dept. Composition Committee.  This course has been designed to help students meet these course Competencies, which are listed below.

Paragraph & Essay Writing

Competency 1: Demonstrate control of a variety of organizational strategies at the paragraph level, such as compare and contrast, cause and effect, examples, and classification/division.

Competency 2:  Demonstrate understanding of the basic structure of an essay, including understanding the difference between introductory/concluding paragraphs and body paragraphs.

Competency 3:  Be able to maintain focus and coherence for essays of at least 600 words, including using a thesis statement and transitions.

Competency 4:  Be able to distinguish among general ideas, specific evidence and analysis of evidence and to apply the distinctions to one’s own writing.

Sentence Style & Editing

Competency 5:  Be able to produce essays containing a variety of sentence lengths and structures, including some complex sentences.

Competency 6:  Be able to edit one’s own writing for mechanical and grammatical errors, producing work that is substantially free from both minor surface errors and major sentence errors.

Competency 7:  Demonstrate awareness of different audiences and show control of writing strategies to address those audiences.

Writing Process

Competency 8: Demonstrate control of the writing process: generating ideas, organizing ideas, drafting, revising and editing.

Teamwork & Writer's Workshops

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

Competencies approved by Humanities Dept. Composition Committee, as revised  5-10-99

Attendance & Late Work 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 40Course Plan, and contact Cora as soon as possible to arrange to make up what they have missed when possible by arrangement with the instructor. Note that 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). Also read carefully the Late Policy on Graded Assignments (below).

Late Work Policy on Graded Assignments:  One (1) graded writing assignment will be accepted late with no penalty. Thereafter, late graded writing assignments will be penalized 1/2 letter grade.

The 2 required QUIZZES cannot be "made up" or taken late. A missed quiz receives an F.  However, Optional Quiz #3 may be taken at the Final to improve students' Quiz grades.

The Portfolio will not be accepted late.

Any WR 40 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 (BEC) – call (541) 383-7580,
or send e-mail to sobrien@cocc.edu

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

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

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URL of this webpage: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr40/index.htm

WR 40  Syllabus|Course Plan|Assignments|Student Writing
WR 40 Course Competencies & Benchmarks - Winter 2001:
 http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr40/competencies.htm  

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