English 216: Course Policies

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
The mission of ASU’s Writing Programs is to introduce students to the importance of writing in the work of the university and to develop their critical reading, thinking and writing skills so that they can successfully participate in that work. Writing is intellectual work, and the demands of writing within the university community include the need:

to synthesize and analyze multiple points of view;
to articulate and support one's own position regarding various issues; and
to adjust writing to multiple audiences, purposes, and conventions.

Students in our courses are expected to engage the ideas encountered in academic and serious public discourse, to develop complex ideas and arguments through serious consideration of different perspectives, and to connect their life experiences with ideas and information they encounter in classes.

English 216 is an advanced interdisciplinary writing course emphasizing major contemporary public issues. Practice in and study of: the logic by which writers construct arguments; the various means that writers use to persuade an audience; the conventions of evidence, claims, and argument in persuasive discourses. Throughout this course, students will:

significantly improve their persuasive public writing;
understand and effectively employ various forms of persuasion;
understand and deploy effective rhetorical strategies in situated discourse;
discover and evaluate the methods of persuasion used in the construction of a public issue;
read critically and analyze rhetorically writings within public forums and use those lenses to frame their own discourses;
write in the different forms and styles of a particular public discourse; and
develop techniques for conducting research on the Internet and with other electronic databases.

REQUIRED TEXTS/SUPPLIES:

Hahn, Dan F. Political Communication: Rhetoric, Government, and Citizens.
2nd edition. Pennsylvania: Strata, 2003

Love, Nancy S. Understanding Dogmas and Dreams: A Text. New Jersey: Chatham House, 1998.

Guide to ASU's Writing Programs.

University Policies/Student Affairs Office: Student Code of Conduct, including: Student Academic Integrity, Sexual Harassment, Class Disruption

2 new 3 1/2" disks

An ASUrite account

Stapler and staples (standard size--trust me on this one) OR binder clips

Course Requirements and Grading
The policies and procedures listed here are a supplement to those listed in the ASU Writing Programs Guide

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 (4) class meetings , you cannot pass this course. This is a Writing Programs policy and is non-negotiable . This means that there is no such thing as an "excused" absence. There are only `absences.'

"Attendance" means being present, on time, awake, and prepared for the entire class period. A student who is chronically late to class, leaves early, sleeps through class, engages in off-task activity, or is not prepared to participate in the day's class work will not receive attendance and participation credit. Further, I may cancel classes at least once this semester to hold mandatory conferences with you. If you miss a conference, you will be counted absent (as if from class). Beyond this policy, I expect students to make every effort to attend all meetings and to miss class only in rare and unavoidable circumstances. Should you arrive after I have called the roll, it is your responsibility to ensure that I correct the roll at class end.

At the end of each class period, I will award you credit for participation: a 3 or 4 if you were there the whole class period and contributed positively, a 1 or 2 if you showed up but didn't contribute positively, and a 0 if you were absent. A student who is chronically late to class, leaves early, or is not prepared to participate in the day's class work will not receive attendance and participation credit.

Note #1: 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, the debate team or another--please see me after class today. Transferring to another section may be the only viable option, but we should discuss it.

Note #2 : If I cannot attend class for some reason, I will try to contact you via-email or have a colleague post a sign indicating the class is cancelled. However , if neither of these options is possible, you should wait for me in the classroom for fifteen minutes. If I do not arrive after that time, you may then leave and assume class is cancelled for the day.

Teacher Conferences:
You must visit with me in my office at least twice during the term to discuss your papers and your class performance. I will schedule the first conference. YOU will schedule the second. Please take this opportunity to let me get to know you a little better. Your conferences with me will be figured in your final grade.

Most of our class time will be devoted to discussions and workshops, with an occasional lecture, announcements, and other in-class activities. Regardless of the class format, you are expected to be prepared, to listen, to contribute, and to participate in an appropriate fashion. Among other things, this means:

no off-task use of your computer (e.g., no personal e-mail, Web surfing, or other computer based activities that are not specifically course related)
computer monitors are to be turned off during class discussions, lectures, and announcements or when otherwise directed
do not print files during class time unless otherwise directed
personal communication devices (cell phones, beepers, and other devices) must be turned off for the entire class period. Unless you are part of an emergency on-call organization--Fire Department, Police Department, EMT, etc.), you should not and will not receive calls during class. Doing so will result in a 0 for the day's participation credit.

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. You should plan to spend two to three hours outside of class for every hour in class. Writing classes frequently require more time from students than many other classes do. Manage your time wisely.

All final drafts of papers must be typed or word-processed and double-spaced. Place your name, my name, course title, date, and title of the paper at the top of the first page . Be sure to number each page and to staple all the pages together . Keep all your writing for this course, including in-class and out-of-class working notes, drafts, revisions, final drafts, workshop responses, and heuristics. (I strongly urge you to backup all your work. It could be disastrous for you gradewise if you cannot produce evidence of your work at semester's end.) ALL major projects must be completed in order to pass the course.

Since each writer's needs are unique, this course will provide lots of individual attention and feedback from me as well as from other students in class. I also encourage you to seek reactions to your ideas and drafts from people outside of this course. Consider soliciting advice from family, friends, and roommates. To plagiarize is to present as your own any work that is not exclusively your own and violates the University policy on Academic Integrity. Plagiarism of all or a portion of any assignment will be severely penalized.

This class will also introduce you to several aspects of computer research and pedagogy. We will frequently be doing class exercises and collaborative work on computer. You do not have to have expertise on the computer to succeed in this class, but you will have to work frequently on computer-aided assignments. If you do not have a computer at home, you'll want to visit the ASU computing sites on campus. There are several locations. Although the Computing Commons is the biggest site, it is also the busiest. So, it's a good idea to explore and visit the smaller sites as well.

NOTE : As a rule, I try not to penalize students for late work when something unexpected prevents completion of a particular assignment on time. HOWEVER, students who make it a practice to turn in work late should expect that as much as a letter grade will be deducted at the end of the semester from their final grade. In addition, a paper that is more than one week late may be dropped as much as one letter grade. Late in-class and take-home assignments will not be accepted for credit. Again, All four major projects must be completed in order to pass the course .

Project1: Conjecturing Public Issues	15%
Project 2: Values in Public Issues	20%
Project 3: Proposal Concerning Public Issues	30%
Project 4: Reflection	15%
Heuristics	10%
Participation	10%

The Public Nature of the Class Writing and Discussion:
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 community of writers. Remember that you will often be expected to share your writing with others. Avoid writing about things that you may not be prepared to subject to public scrutiny or that 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 effects on others, that you take responsibility for your words and for engagement with the words of others.

PROBLEM SOLVING:
All of us struggle with our limits, and I sometimes suspect that no one is more conscious of that than students in writing requirement courses. Keep in mind, as you set your priorities, that I am very moved by students who visibly struggle with their limits. I encourage you to also see me during office hours, e-mail me, or make an appointment anytime you wish to discuss issues connected with this class and/or your performance. Students frequently tell me that the most helpful feature of the class was coming to my office and discussing their writing projects and/or classroom concerns. Please discuss concerns with me while we still have options. I tend to be generous with students who take the initiative to consult with me about concerns while they are still `situations,' i.e., not-yet-crises, and downright testy with those who permit things to slide until a crisis is unavoidable.

If anything arises about which you want an opinion or advice other than mine, please contact the Writing Programs Associate Director at 480/965-3853 or see our Administrative Assistant in LL314.

Dr. Katherine Heenan	Office Hours: T: 9:15-10:15, W: 10-12, Th: 9:15-10:15 & by appt.
Office: LL 309B	E-mail: K.Heenan@asu.edu
Phone: 5-8881	Class Meets: TTh 1:40-2:44, CPCOM 203