ENG 071 Syllabus
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ENG 071 Basic Writing Skills

Class description: Emphasis on the fundamentals of writing a sentence, paragraph, and multi-paragraph structure.

Prerequisites: Appropriate English placement score, or completion of ENG056 or ENG061 with a grade of "C" or better is required. Students are encouraged to enroll in RDG091. This class will write a writing sample (taken the first day of class) to ensure placement at appropriate levels.

On this and the following pages, I have put the syllabus, schedule and handouts/exercises that you can access for reminders, help and guidelines throughout the semester. Feel free to copy or print any of the pages you would like--I would suggest copying the page into a word file before printing to avoid formating errors or lost information because of margins, etc.

The following is a list of what the district sets as the "competencies" for this class (the skills you should learn during the semester).

1. Review and develop use of the writing process for paragraphs and essays to include invention, planning, developing, revising, and editing.

2. Demonstrate development of a topic for a specific audience and purpose.

3. Identify sentence patterns and correct common errors in sentence construction.

4. Review and practice use of topic sentences for paragraphs and/or thesis statements for essays.

5. Review, practice and revise paragraphs and/or essays to be unified and coherent using a variety of methods of development.

6. Review and practice developing paragraphs and/or essays with supporting details, facts, statistics, examples, and statements by authorities.

7. Write multiple paragraphs and at least one essay to review and practice using the essay format.

8. Revise paragraphs and/or multi-paragraph essays for audience, purpose, organization, style, mechanics, and sentence structure.

9. Review and practice summarizing information.

District Expectations of a Course Outline:

I. Overview of Writing: The writing process; Audience analysis

II. Writing Correct Sentences: avoiding and/or correcting Sentence fragments, antecedent agreement, Subject-verb agreement, case, Run-on sentences, Modifiers, Commas, Parallel construction, and Past tense verbs

III. Writing Clear Paragraphs: Topic sentence and thesis statements; Specific support sentences; Unity; Coherence; and Continuity

IV. Using Specific Support: Detailed facts, Statistics, Examples, Personal experiences, and Statements by authorities

V. Modes of Development: Narration, Description, Exemplification, Process, Comparison and contrast, Cause and effect, and Definition

GRADES: The grade for this semseter will be based on writings and tests required to accomplish the requirements listed above. First, there will be several paragraphs written in the different modes (narration, exposition, etc., see list above) each revised and polished; second, there will be several in-class writing assignments exploring and utilizing the skills that are being developed; third, there will be a reading/writing journal the student will keep during the semester in which she/he will write responses to readings; and fourth, there will be a multi-paragraph argumentative essay written at the end of the semester utilzing the skills developed throughout. There will also be tests/quizzes throughout the semseter over textbook, lecture and writing skills information, including a final exam.

POLICIES: You are required to be here for every class meeting. See the Student Handbook regarding absences, excused and unexcused. I have given you my voice mail box so you may call if there is a problem getting to class; however, short of a death in the family you really need to be here every day.

CLASS CONDUCT: I am a pretty casual person--only a couple of things are needed to make me happy. First, when I am speaking (or when anyone else in the class is supposed to be the speaker), you should be courteous enough to at least pretend to pay attention. Do not talk amongst yourselves, etc. Second, when I give an assignment, I expect that it will be done--and done on time. Whether that means that something has been assigned for the next class period, or assigned for later in the same period, you should always keep an eye on that deadline. (I have given you a schedule with the deadlines listed on it, so there should be no questions about when something is due.)

There will be some "goal sessions" in which you will be required to work alone, others when you will be required to work with a partner or group. Please be aware that this means sharing your work with others, so choose your topics appropriately for your writings. We will also have times for conferences and one-on-one work with the instructor.

The text required for this class is: 

_Writing Sentences and Paragraphs_ by Wingersky 

Please click on the picture below to link to the GCC Bookstore to see what text is required or to pre-order the book.

Link to the bookstore

Please remember that you need to be here EVERY DAY. If you are unable to attend, please contact me at one of the numbers listed on the Contact Me page so that I know you are still interested in being a student in this class.