The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutWRT-201Bergen Community College Division of English Composition and Literature Department Course Syllabus WRT 201 - (Section): Composition II Semester and Year Meeting Time and Location Instructor’s Name Office Location Phone Office Hours Email Address Course Description English Composition II is a three-credit, general education course that continues the emphasis of Composition I on expository/analytic writing, with a greater focus on critical thinking and writing in response to the class readings of short stories, poetry, and drama. Students will learn to evaluate and respond to the ideas that they encounter within the selections. The course will aim to develop students’ writing skills, essential for the production of persuasive, well-supported essays. A research paper is required for this course. The prerequisite in this course is WRT-101: Composition I. Student Learning Objectives As a result of meeting the requirements in this course, you will be able to: 1. Employ active reading strategies and textual analysis to interpret and evaluate complicated texts including, but not limited to, literary texts. (PLG 1) (Gen Ed Goal 1 a) 2. Respond to these texts, in discussion and writing, demonstrating an understanding of the themes, techniques, and rhetorical strategies employed in the texts. (PLG 2) (Gen Ed Goal 1a, b; 6 a, b) 3. Develop essays using the strategies learned in WRT-101 with a greater emphasis on extended development, tone, and style. (PLG 3) (Gen Ed Goal 1c, d) 4. Using argumentative strategies, compose persuasive analyses of texts, appropriately integrating evidence from these texts using language appropriate to the subject. (PLG 4, 5) (Gen Ed Goal 1 c; 6 b) 2 5. In support of analysis, incorporate both primary and secondary sources; use critical stances of others as lenses through which to view primary texts. (PLG 4, 5, 6) (Gen Ed Goal 4 a, b, c, d; 6 a, b) 6. Employ current MLA style for text presentation, in-text citations, and Works Cited pages for essays and research papers. (PLG 5, 6) (Gen Ed Goal 4 a, b, c, d) 7. Perform research to support analysis of a particular text or texts using the resources of contemporary information science and write a focused research paper on a primary text synthesizing secondary sources in support of an argument. (PLG 5, 6) (Gen Ed Goal 1 a, b, c, d; 4 a, b, c, d; 6 a, b) Course Requirements: You will be required to do the following: 1. Write at least four multi-paragraph, academic essays of at least 500 words. (Meets student learning objectives 1-6) 2. Write at least two in-class essays. (Meets student learning objectives 1-4) 3. Complete other writing exercises such as summaries, journals, reading responses, reading comprehension questions, quizzes on reading assignments, letters, etc. (Meets student learning objectives 1-5) 4. Read, interpret, and analyze literary works. (Meets student learning objectives 1, 2) 5. Comprehend and apply various literary terms to texts assigned by your instructor. (Meets student learning objectives 2, 4) 6. Conduct independent research and write a 7-10 page research paper using MLA style. (Meets student learning objectives 4-7) 7. Submit papers that adhere to MLA manuscript requirements and demonstrate effective proofreading and editing. (Meets student learning objectives 3, 6) 8. Participate in class discussions and other in-class (individual or group) activities necessary to produce quality academic prose. (Meets student learning objectives 1- 4) Course Content As a student in this course, you can expect to do a great deal of reading, writing, and thinking. All three of these tasks should work in tandem and not in isolation from one another. When you read, you should think deeply about the ideas presented in the text 3 you are studying and the ways in which these ideas are organized. Don’t simply see the words on the page. Think about them and the way in which the author put these words together to convey meaning. Write about what you read. This will help you understand the material better. Read what you write and be certain that your words convey the meaning you intend. Don’t think about writing as splashing enough words on a page so that you fill up two or three pages of typewritten text. Take pride in your writing for it represents your unique way of seeing the world. You can expect to read many literary texts and to write about these texts. Like Composition I, this class will continue to prepare you for the work that you will do in this or any other college. Whether you take a math, economics, or philosophy course, you will have to read and understand the course material. Effective reading skills are essential to success in college. In addition, many college courses require a research paper. Composition II will continue to help you develop the skills that you will need to write research papers for this and for other college courses. Please don’t think about this course in isolation; instead, think about how your experience here can help make you a better student. Course Texts and Other Required Materials* A handbook such as: Glenn, Cheryl et al. The Writer’s Harbrace Handbook. 2nd ed. Boston: Thomson, 2004. ISBN 0-8384-0338-7. or Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003. ISBN 0-31241-369-6. and McMahan, Elizabeth, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. Literature and the Writing Process. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005. ISBN 0-13-189102-2. or A reader such as: Meyer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. ISBN 0-312-43445-6. College Dictionary Notebook and computer discs *Adjuncts are required to select from approved department texts. 4 Grading Policy [Your grading policy must be included in the syllabus you distribute to students. The policy below is an example of one approach among many. It is provided here as an example. It should not be interpreted as the English Department’s policy on grading. Instructors may use the approach below or devise a fair and balanced grading policy of their own. Instructors must include an explicit statement on penalties for late or missed assignments.] Your final grade will be computed in the following way: four essays and revisions, 50%; research paper, 25%; journals, quizzes, and homework 15%; and class participation,10%. Attendance Policy [Your attendance policy must be included in the syllabus you distribute to students. The policy below is an example of one approach among many. It is provided here as an example. It should not be interpreted as the English Department’s policy on attendance. Instructors may use the approach below or devise a fair policy of their own; however, the BCC policy must be included.] BCC Attendance Policy: “All students are expected to attend punctually every scheduled meeting of each course in which they are registered. Attendance and lateness policies and sanctions are to be determined by the instructor for each section of each course. These will be established in writing on the individual course outline. Attendance will be kept by the instructor for administrative and counseling purposes.” Class Attendance Policy: Poor attendance will affect your grade. If your absences exceed twice the number of weekly meetings, your grade will be lowered. If you are absent excessively, you can expect to fail the course. Arriving late to class can affect your grade, too. If you arrive to class late twice, I will count that as one absence. Statement on Plagiarism Statement on Learning Assistance Center See attached. file: comp2syllabus.070704 revised 060910