Skip to Reading and Writing Assignments
This course stresses the development of effective grammatical and rhetorical form through the assignment of expository and argumentative writing projects. Students will learn to reflect on ideas and observations, to use writing as a tool to sharpen those ideas, to reflect on their own writing process, and to use and cite sources accurately. May not be taken for S/U credit. Meets Core credit for composition I.
The goal of the Composition Program is to help students develop the ability to use writing as a thinking tool and to take responsibility for their own development as writers. Students generally do not leave the Composition Program as mature writers, but they should have developed a sense of what it means to write effectively and have acquired numerous tools to help them write and continue learning to write.
Composition I assumes that students have basic command of the mechanical aspects of composition and can write a brief essay with relatively few mechanical and grammatical problems.
Based on a combination of ACT/SAT scores, high school GPA, and review of a composition placement essay, students with borderline preparation for 101 will be placed in English 110, the Writing Laboratory, in which students work on papers in collaboration with junior/senior writing assistants.
Composition I focuses on the transition to college-level writing. It asks students to go beyond the five-paragraph essay format, to take ownership of their ideas, and to consider themselves real participants in academic discourse.
The course introduces students to the problems of observing, exploring ideas, and presenting arguments. Students begin learning to read texts closely and to develop and to make meaningful connections with those ideas. Students develop greater understanding of the writing process including learning to edit and revise for grammatical and rhetorical problems.
Students will be asked to observe and read, to explore and understand the observations, and to reflect on the relationships among ideas and on their implications. They will learn to develop their reflections into papers which discuss and support a point of view or an argument. They will acquire the fundamentals of information literacy, learning what constitutes college-level research and how to evaluate sources for value, credibility, and bias.
Students will begin taking responsibility for their own development as writers and will learn to reflect on their writing and editing strategies. They will be expected to have or to develop effective personal strategies for discovering and developing ideas and for organizing and editing papers.
| English 101 Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) | |
|---|---|
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Rhetorical Context - Students will be able to: Critically evaluate the context, audience, and purpose of a given communicative situation to construct effective writing assignments in a variety of genres. |
Related topics include, but are not limited to:
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Writing Process - Students will be able to: Use generating, organizing, revising, and editing strategies that are appropriate to specific writing situations. Practice strategies for purposeful, concrete development of topics, for example, by using writing to record, explore, organize and communicate. Self-manage assorted tasks related to writing - invention, planning, drafting, self-revision, peer revision, and editing. This involves the awareness and use of appropriate resources. |
Related topics include, but are not limited to:
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Critical Reading - Students will be able to: Read a variety genres and academic texts in-depth to discern shades of meaning, draw inferences, and develop original interpretations and critiques. Confidently discuss, debate, and evaluate different interpretations of a text. |
Related topics include, but are not limited to:
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Reflection & Metacognition - Students will be able to: Develop an awareness of their writing process through in-class discussions, peer review, and written and oral reflections on their own writing. Critique their own and others’ works and to reflect on their own development as writers. |
Related topics include, but are not limited to:
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Conventions - Students will be able to: Produce clean final drafts that follow the appropriate genre conventions with few or no errors. Use appropriate citation style conventions including document format, in-text citations, and reference/works cited page for a given writing assignment. |
Related topics include, but are not limited to:
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Major papers for this course will be graded holistically. Holistic grading is an attempt to move beyond a “counting errors” approach to writing; it is an attempt to deal with a piece of writing the way real-world readers would respond. Essentially, the question is “Did this piece of writing work?”
Here is what this means for our course:
Students are expected to abide by the academic integrity standards outlined in the official Academic Integrity policy. This policy can be found in the Ashland University Academic Catalog: https://catalog.ashland.edu/pol/undergraduate/ugacadaff#class-coursework-and-academic-integrity-policy.
Other Forms of Academic Misconduct Examples include using computing resources in a manner that violates university academic integrity policies. Submission of AI-generated content as one’s original work is a violation of the Ashland University Academic Integrity Policy. Do not use artificial intelligence programs to write your papers.
University regulations require the instructor to report all cases of fabrication and plagiarism to the Registrar. You should note that two violations of the Academic Integrity Policy, even if they are in courses in different departments, might well result in your suspension from the University.
| Course Assignments | |
|---|---|
| Hello Essay | 25 points |
| Essay #1 | 100 points |
| Essay #2 | 100 points |
| Handwritten Midterm | 25 points |
| Essay #3 | 100 points |
| Essay #4 | 100 points |
| Essay #5 | 100 points |
| Handwritten Final | 50 points |
| Quizzes, Peer Editing, etc. | 25 points |
| Attendance | 25 points |
| Total | 650 points |
| Assignment Grading Scale (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A = 100 | B = 84 | C = 74 | D = 64 |
| A– = 91 | B– = 81 | C– = 71 | D– = 61 |
| B+ = 88 | C+ = 78 | D+ = 68 | F = 50* |
| *Papers which receive a failing grade because of plagiarism receive a zero with no opportunity for revision. | |||
The “Course Grading Scale” below reflects a range for the course as a whole. Thus, if your overall average is between 83% and 85.9%, you can expect to receive a “B” for the course.
| Course Grading Scale (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A = 93-100 | B = 83-85.9 | C = 73-75.9 | D = 63-65.9 |
| A– = 90-92.9 | B– = 80-82.9 | C– = 70-72.9 | D– = 60-62.9 |
| B+ = 86-89.9 | C+ = 76-79.9 | D+ = 66-69.9 | F = below 60 |
To facilitate English Department evaluations, we are asking you to upload your essays as electronic copies to the Blackboard drop box. If the only copy available for grading is blank or otherwise unreadable, you will get a zero for the assignment. If you submit a copy that cannot be read, you will be notified and given a chance to load a readable copy, but there is no way a grade can be assigned to a blank page or a page of gibberish.
Blackboard does best with Microsoft Word DOCX files. All the major word processors can make these, though it usually requires one extra easy step. Please submit all your essays in this format.
You may rewrite two of your first three major essays and submit them for an improved grade. Here are the rules:
Note that simply typing in corrections suggested by the instructor (punctuation, spelling, etc.) will not generally result in an improved grade.
Each assignment has a due date on the assignment’s web page.
The Incomplete is a temporary grade given to a student who has completed most of the course and has a passing grade but is unable to complete the course for major reasons beyond his/her control (such as a serious medical problem). The Incomplete is not intended for students who simply did not get around to doing all the work during the semester. The University academic calendar lists the final deadline for making up Incompletes each semester.
Composition students with any questions or concerns about their class should first contact their instructor directly. Any questions that are not addressed can be sent to the Director of Composition, Dr. Maura Grady mgrady3@ashland.edu.
Your primary job is “student,” and you are expected to take that job seriously. You are expected to show up at the beginning of class, participate, and stay until the end of class. You get three (3) “personal day” absences during the semester which do not count against you.
You will lose attendance credit for:
Excused absences: You must ask me personally (not by e-mail) for an excused absence. The distinction between excused and unexcused absences is at the discretion of the instructor, but you would be wise to document requests for excused absences (note from your doctor, for example).
Athletes and others who are absent on University business: When your participation in scheduled University events conflicts with class, you receive an excused absence. Here are the rules:
Our Accent on the Individual core value speaks to our commitment to offering equitable access to learning, and Ashland University is required, by law, to provide reasonable accommodations to students with documented disabilities. For students connected with the Student Accessibility Center (SAC), a Letter of Accommodation may be created and sent to professors, which informs faculty of potential course access and accommodations that might be necessary and reasonable. Students who are registered with the SAC and receive accommodations should notify me as soon as possible to avoid any delays in implementing those accommodations. Accommodations are not provided retroactively. Determining reasonable access and accommodations requires consideration of the course design, course learning objectives and the individual academic and course barriers experienced by the student. Students who are not already registered but may be eligible due to a documented disability should visit the SAC (930 Claremont Avenue) to discuss accommodations. The SAC determines accommodations on an individualized basis through an interactive process, including a meeting with the student and a review of their disability documentation. More information can be found on the SAC web page, by emailing au-sac@ashland.edu, or by contacting the Director at 419-289-5904.
This course does not have a textbook; all reading material is available on Blackboard.
A laptop, while generally useful, is not something you will need to bring to class, but you should make plans to get access to a computer. Public computers are available in several locations around campus as well as in the Writing Lab.
Every time you come to class, you should bring:
The Undergraduate Center for Academic Support is designed to be a central location for students with resources like professional academic advising and peer tutoring. The staff emphasizes social, personal, and academic success, and advisors assist students with degree planning, course registration, campus resources, academic success strategies, and understanding of University policies and procedures. The Center for Academic Support is on the seventh floor of the library. For more information, visit their website at https://www.ashland.edu/academic-support.
The Tutoring Programs Department provides peer tutoring in any of the undergraduate courses and the Academic Skills (time management, study skills, note taking and test- taking strategies).
We offer one-on-one, drop-in, group study and Peer Led Team Learning in-person or virtually. You may contact Denisia Stoops at dstoops@ashland.edu or 419.207.6779. For more information, please check out the AU Tutoring website.
Location: Library 1st Floor — Website: https://www.ashland.edu/writing-and-communication-center — Phone: 419-289-5145
The Writing and Communication Center (WCC) is a free service available to all Ashland University students in any major.
PLEASE NOTE: Four Writing Center visits are required in this course.
Students are encouraged to get the Ashland Healthy Mind app, available on Android and Apple devices. This app provides tips and tools for stress prevention and management, health services, meditation, calming media, and anxiety reduction, and highlights the Ashland University and Community mental health-related services.
Students must participate in a course-related activity within the first three days of the course's start date. Students may be administratively dropped/withdrawn from the course and/or may lose financial aid benefits if a qualifying activity has not occurred between the student and the coursework or faculty within the first few days of the course. Simply logging into a course online via the Learning Management System (LMS) is not considered a qualifying activity. Faculty will be given the opportunity to report, in a SOAR survey (Academic Engagement Survey), to any students who have failed to participate academically.
According to policies and procedures set forth by Ashland University’s Department for Veterans’ Services: AU will grant any service member requiring more than a 30-day leave a release from coursework. Please contact the Office of Veterans’ Services for more information regarding this process.
In the following calendar:
The dates below are due dates. You will be responsible for the reading and/or writing assignment on the date listed.
Format Quality Statement:
To support student learning in the event of extended disruptions of face-to-face instructional activities, the format for this course may be modified.