English 217:

Writing Reflective Essays

Writing Program Guidelines:

Course Description: English 217 is an advanced interdisciplinary writing course emphasizing theories, methodologies, and issues of composing non-fiction prose. Practice and study of selected: biography, autobiography, memoir, the personal essay, and the recording and transcribing of oral narrative. Following an introduction to appropriate theories and methodologies, the course focuses on writing and response to the chosen form in a workshop atmosphere. Throughout this course, students will:

Since each writer's needs are unique, this course will provide individual attention and online feedback from me, yet students also rely on each other through collaborative peer groups. I also encourage you to seek reactions to your ideas and drafts from people outside of this course. In addition to family and friends, consider soliciting advice from tutors in the Writing Center (Now moved to DUAS the small brick building across from the MU).

Deadlines for Withdrawals: I want to underscore the published deadlines for dropping courses at ASU. The deadlinefor unrestricted withdrawal from any course you have enrolled in for this semester is Oct. 26 (in person), Oct. 28 (ASU interactive). Complete withdrawal deadline December 4th.

Note: Disability Resources for Students: ASU complies with all federal and state laws and regulations regarding discrimination, including the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 ( ADA ). If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation for equal access to education at ASU, please call Disability Resources for Students at 965-1234. Please feel free to discuss special accommodations with me.

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Class Policies:

1. Policy on class attendance

Because writing classes are performance courses that depend upon student attendance for both the class and the student’s success, this policy is non-negotiable. All absences count equally, irrespective of the cause and students who exceed the allowed number of absences cannot pass the course and will fail with a grade of “E.”

Note: Students who participate in university-sanctioned activities and/or who will be unable to meet the attendance requirements for a particular section should move to another section where their activity schedules will not interfere with their classroom obligations (students can freely switch sections during the first week of the semester). To accommodate students who participate in university-sanctioned activities, the Writing Programs Office offers sections of this course at various times of the day and week. We have asked advisors across campus to help students enroll in appropriate sections. If you think that this course may conflict with a university-sanctioned activity in which you are involved—athletics or the debate team or another—please see me immediately.

2. Attendance: first week of classes

According to university policy, students who are registered but do not attend any of the first week of classes may be dropped.

3. Grading (see more on specific grading guidelines for Eng 217 below under Course Requirements).

Grading for Writing Projects will follow English Department standards, which are based on content, organization, expression, and mechanics. To compute final course grades, the following values are assigned to the standard letter grades of A through E:

4. The public nature of class writing and discussions

Please consider every piece of writing you do for this class to be "public property." Part of becoming a good writer is learning to appreciate the ideas and criticisms of others, and in this course our purpose is to come together as a writing community. Remember that you will often be expected to share your writing with others, so avoid writing about things that you may not be prepared to subject to public scrutiny, or things you feel so strongly about that you are unwilling to listen to perspectives other than your own. This does not mean that you are not entitled to an opinion but that you adopt positions responsibly, contemplating the possible effect on others.

5. Late Writing Projects in the online class not only earn you an absence for the day, but for each day the assignment is late it drops one letter grade. Please remember that you must turn in all essays to pass the course. This means that even if you miss an online day, the work of that day must still be submitted even if late.

6. All writing for this class must be written for this class
To pass this class all major writing assignments must be completed, and note that all writing for this class must be written for this class. Reusing a paper you wrote for another class or in high school, constitutes academic dishonesty.

7. Plagiarism

Plagiarism is stealing. Whenever you borrow a phrase, sentence, paragraph—or even an idea stated in your own words—from any outside source (news writing, magazine, TV show, book) without giving credit to that source, you have plagiarized. Plagiarism is cheating yourself and someone else. The consequences are severe, including failure for the assignment, probable failure for the course, disciplinary referral to the Dean, and possible expulsion from the University. Academic integrity is expected of every individual in the University (See http://www.asu.edu/vpsa/studentlife/). For more information, see the Writing Programs Guide at http://www.asu.edu/english/writingprograms/teacherresources/wpguide/wpguide.htm . If you have any questions about how to acknowledge someone else's words or ideas, see me.

8. University Sanctioned Activities: To accommodate students who participate in university-sanctioned activities, the composition program offers sections of this course at various times of the day and week. We have asked advisors across the campus to help students enroll in appropriate sections. If you think that this course may conflict with a university sanctioned-activity in which you are involved--athletics, the debate team, or other university sanctioned activity--please see me after class today. While transferring to another section of this course may be the only viable option, let's discuss the possibilities.

Course Requirements

Attendance and Participation: Because so much of your learning will take place in class, you must attend on a regular basis to receive credit for this course.  If you miss more than four classes, you cannot pass the course.   Since we often work with partners or in groups, if you are absent your group must make other arrangements.  If you are late, you are also burdening your partner/group by not presenting  your work in a timely manner.

NOTE: "Attendance" means being present, on time, and prepared for the entire class period. At the end of each class period, I will award you credit for participation: a zero(0) if you were absent, a minus(-) if you showed up but didn't contribute positively, and a plus (+) if you were there the whole class period and contributed positively.  The policy is the same for online and face to face classes.

Course Work: You must come to each class prepared to write, to share your drafts with others, and to revise what you have already written. This means you must work steadily both in class and on your own. Time management is an important element in writing and, thus, an important concern for you in this class.
Homework:  You will be called on to discuss your homework online, or in the face to face class.  Failure to have read the material will earn a failing mark for the day.

EMAIL NOTE: All students must have an ASU email account to participate in the course. .

Online Class Etiquette : Please be on time and prepared. You will spend most of your class time reading weekly assignments, posting and/or replying to posted work of your peers. Peer evaluation is a large part of the course so it is important to develop good working relationships with class members. A portion of classes will also include reading instructions on blackboard, and/or posting or presentation your work. Regardless of the class format of the day, be prepared to participate appropriately.  Please conduct yourself as you would in any mixed group of peers. Show your respect for yourself and others and refrain from using inappropriate language or bringing into the classroom topics which do not relate to our class work. Failure to comply with class guidelines, failing to attend the sessions, off task remarks, insulting or flaming class members, posting late work, failure to peer edit appropriately is distracting and a waste of time. These behaviors will earn an absence for the day and if continued could result in permanent withdrawal from the course. If you are having problems please contact me immediately. Usually any problems can be quickly resolved.

Class Software: You must use Microsoft Word for all assignments.

Essay Format: Place your name, my name, course title, date, and title of the essay at top right of the first page. Please don't submit a cover page with your essay. Since WP 2 and 3 are research based, you MUST turn transcripts of interview questions for WP 2, and links to each article you use to prepare WP3, and all the supporting work that you have done in preparing your essay. Since supporting materials are required, their lack will cause the essay to fail.

Online Portfolio : Keep ALL your writing for this course, including in-class and out-of-class working notes, drafts, revisions, final drafts, peer edits and reading journal. At the end of the semester, you will review these (your portfolio), to write the final essay analyzing and evaluating your progress. 

Disposition of Papers : Students should keep copies of their work in case of Blackboard problems and because. among other things, any student who appeals a course grade will need to submit copies of all graded course papers with the appeal.

Revision:  Revision will be a major part of the work that you do in the course. After your peer workshops you will have the opportunity to revise your essay before turning in the final version. Therefore the peer editing sessions are extremely important. After the peer editing sessions is a good time to consult with me and ask any questions you may still have about your work. Feel free to make an appointment with me to discuss your work or ask me to read portions of your essay.

Rewrites: You will have the opportunity to rewrite ONE paper. (It cannot be a paper that was turned in late).  After I have evaluated and graded the "final" version of the paper, you may, after consultation with me (re-write conference,see below), revise your paper once more. However you may only improve your paper by one letter grade. For example if you did a fast job on a paper and turned in a rough draft in place of the final and you received a final grade of D, you could not revise that paper into an A paper. The reason for this stipulation is to insure that you concentrate on the quality of your work throughout the entire drafting/writing process.

*Rewrite Conferences : Students who rewrite must submit, on the day of our conference, a comprehensive typewritten revision plan. This essay should be about one page long, analyzing your problems with the assignment, and detailing exactly how you intend to correct them.  On submitting the final paper, it must be accompanied by the re-write proposal (above) and a letter to me discussing the specific improvements you've made, backing your argument with specific examples from the essay. For the online course, I am happy to teleconference. Simply email me with your number and we can arrange a meeting time.

Reading: Most of the work of the online class depends on close reading. When you read for this class, do so with pen/pencil in hand. Annotate or mark the essays and the chapter readings. Underline, question, reflect on the text and make notes in the margins. This will enable you to do much of the work of the week (discussion of the essays) as you read.

Weekly Reading Journal: This is a vital part of your class work. It will demonstrate your engagement with the readings and the work of the class. Here you will make connections, analyze writing strategies, and evaluate style. This is where your good ideas and much of your learning will likely originate. Please see Tell It Slant, pg. 197 for analysis strategies.

Drafts and Process: You will have the opportunity to work with peers in a comprehensive editing session before each major essay is due. These "rough" drafts must be full drafts, not simply your notes. I do expect that you may add to or change the text of the draft to improve your writing, however turning in half an essay, an essay filled with typos, or a collection of notes will not count as a draft. Because you are working with several people or a partner, if you submit an inappropriate draft you will slight your editing partner as well as yourself. and will receive no credit for the class period.

To avoid such problems, I suggest the habit of making some kind of rough writing outline when the assignment is introduced and then setting aside some work time each day of the four weeks of the unit. In this way when the time for peer editing arrives, you will likely have the material of an essay and can easily shape it and present the material for peer review. Usually it is when you are shaping your draft material for the "rough" draft that you "see" the final shape of the essay, and this will spur you to add to and give it a rough finish at the time. When you have received feedback you can go on the give it the final shape and polish by the due date.

Also, since writing is a process, when grading I will look at your writing process. By this I mean the progression of your essay from the notes required for the weekly assignments, to the shape of the final essay. I will not accept a paper that you change completely the week, or night before it is due. In other words for assignment one you first decided to write about the time you fell down the well and I agreed that this was an appropriate event for that assignment, but then when you turned in the final it was about the time you stole a bicycle and got away with it.

The purpose of this is to insure that you acquire the habit of workiing with a piece of writing/ and idea, and turning it into polished work. In this way your writing will improve. Please know that at any stage along the way (the sooner the better) I am available for consultations. Email me right away if you find you are having trouble. jvan@asu.edu


Grading Policy:

4 Essays = 60%
-Significant Event Narrative 15%
-My Family, My Self: Interviewing family members. 15%
-The ? Generation; How/where do I fit? 15%
-Analysis Essay and Portfolio 15% (much of this essay will be drawn from your reading journal and your essays).

Weekly Reading Journal 20%
Attendance and Participation: 20%

** All work must be turned in to pass the course.

 Characteristics of A, B, C, D, and E Essays

A Papers:

A. Content
1. The paper responds fully and directly to the writing assignment.
2. The response is thoughtful and sophisticated.
B. Organization
  1.   The thesis or topic of the paper is clear
2.   The thesis or topic is fully developed through a sequence of logically related paragraphs.
3. Each paragraph is clearly organized and rich in supporting evidence and detailed examples.
4. Transitions between and within paragraphs are explicit and clear.
C. Sentences
  1.  The sentences demonstrate the writer's control over a range of sentence structures appropriate to the writing task.
  2.  The sentences are models of clarity.
D. Diction (*The choice of words and phrases in speech or writing).
1. Word choice is precise and appropriate to the writing task.
2. The language is idiomatic.
E.  Mechanics
1. The format is correct and appropriate.
2.  The presentation ( typing, form, ) is neat and legible.
3. There are few to no errors in spelling, punctuation, and usage.

Characteristics of “B” Papers
A.  Content
1. The paper responds directly to the writing assignment.
2. The response is thoughtful and engaged.
B.  Organization
1. There is an identifiable thesis or topic.
2. The thesis or topic is developed through a sequence of logically related paragraphs.
3. All paragraphs are clearly organized, but some may lack richness of detail or evidence.
4. Transitions between and within paragraphs are clear and effective.
C.  Sentences
1. Sentences generally demonstrate the writer's control over a range of sentence structures appropriate to the assigned
writing task, but occasional errors in  sentence structure occur.
2. Sentences are generally clear and readable.
D  Diction
1. Writer demonstrates general control over vocabulary appropriate to the assigned writing task although occasional word
choice errors occur.
2.   The language is idiomatic.
E  Mechanics
1. Format is correct and appropriate
2. Typing and presentation is neat, correct and legible.
3. There are no serious errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage.

Characteristics of “C” Papers
A  Content
1. The paper is an acceptable response to the assignment, but aspects of the task may be slighted.
2. The response tends toward the superficial and mechanical
B  Organization
1. The topic or thesis is the focus of the paper although essay-level organizational difficulties occur.
2. Most paragraphs are well organized but tend to lack richness of evidence or detailed examples.
3. Transitions are not always clearly marked.
C  Sentences
1. A limited range of sentence structures appears, not always adequate to the demands of the writing task.
2. Sentence structure errors increase in frequency and seriousness.
D  Diction
  1.Writer chooses some diction appropriately but word choice errors increase in frequency and seriousness.
3. Occasional errors in standard idiom occur.
E  Mechanics
1. Format is usually correct and appropriate.
2. Typing is neat and legible.
3. Errors in spelling, punctuation, or usage interfere somewhat with communication.


Characteristics of “D” papers
A  Content
1. The paper responds inadequately to the assignment.
2. The response suggests a lack of understanding of the assignment or lack of control over the means to accomplish it.
B.  Organization
1. Topic or thesis is missing or unclear.
2. An attempt at development is evident but unsuccessful; paragraphs seem unrelated.
3. Paragraphs are poorly constructed, and contain little supporting detail.
4. Transitions are weak, ineffective, or missing.
C  Sentences
1. Range of sentence structures is inadequate to the demands of the writing task.
2. Sentence structure errors are frequent and serious, impeding effective communication.
3. The reader must reread many sentences in order to comprehend them.

D  Diction
1. Word choice errors are frequent and serious.
2. There are many problems with standard idiom
E.  Mechanics
1. Format is not always correct or appropriate.
2. Typing is not always neat or legible.
3. Many serious errors in spelling, punctuation, and usage impede communication and undercut the writer's credibility.

Characteristics of “E” Papers
A.  Content
1. The paper fails to respond to the assigned writing task
2. The response indicates that the writer has misunderstood the assignment or lacks the writing proficiency to accomplish it.

B  Organization
1. There is no recognizable topic or thesis.
2. No principle of overall organization is evident.
3. Individual paragraphs are poorly constructed and lack detail.
4.  Transitions are weak or nonexistent
C  Sentences
1. Range of sentence structures is narrow and clearly inadequate to the demands of the writing task.
2. Sentence structure errors are frequent and serious, impeding effective communication.
3. Rereading often will not unlock flawed sentences.
D  Diction
1. Writer displays lack of control over general diction as well as diction required by the writing task.
2. Writer has difficulty with common English idioms.
E  Mechanics
1. Format is often incorrect and inappropriate.
2. Presentation and/or typing is poor.
3. Many and serious errors in mechanics impede communication and undercut the writer's credibility.

The grade on a paper may be determined by its strengths or weaknesses in ANY of the areas identified above (content, organization, sentences, diction, mechanics).  For example, a paper that is a direct response to the assignment will receive a low grade because of serious sentence-level problems.  A paper that is well written at the sentence level but is not responsive to the assignment will also receive a low grade.

Instructors base a grade on a student's individual writing performance.  Students are graded on what they achieve, not on how hard they work, or how congenial they are.  Students should also know that simply doing the assigned work does not mean receiving passing grades.  The Instructor determines a student's grade by the Uniform Grading Policy described in this syllabus.