English 101 Syllabus

Christopher J. Padgett
Office: L320
Office Hours: TR 12:30-2:00; W 8:30-3:30
Phone: 847-925-6440
E-Mail: cpadgett@harpercollege.edu

Required Text
Solomon, Jack, and Sonia Maasik. Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 7th Ed. Eds. Jack Solomon and Sonia Maasik. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2012.

Course Description
English 101 is a course designed to help you use writing as inquiry, as a way of critiquing and analyzing the culture you live in. The course asks you to identify, understand, and evaluate the beliefs and assumptions constantly informing the way you think and feel, whether it is presented on television, in film, in books, in social media, in the music you listen to, or in the issues--political or personal--you engage with. Second, the course asks you to go about this process of inquiry and critique by writing. Using writing as a strategy for inquiry, you will be given the opportunity to pose questions, offer solutions, and discover new ways of seeing and understanding. In short, you will be using writing as a way to either challenge or affirm the assumptions of the culture you live in.

Course Requirements and Grading
There are 100 available points for the course. The breakdown of your final grade is as follows:

Critical Essay #1: 10
Critical Essay #2: 20
Critical Essay #3: 20
Critical Essay #4: 30
Discussion: 20

Explanation of Course Requirements

Critical Essays
Throughout the semester, you will be required to write four (4) critical essays. The topic(s) and guidelines for each of the assigned essays will be posted in the course schedule and assignments section of the English 101 website a few weeks prior to the scheduled due date. Page requirements for the critical essays are as follows:

Critical Essay #1: 2-3 pages
Critical Essay #2: 2-3 pages
Critical Essay #3: 3-4 pages
Critical Essay #4: 4-5 pages

Discussion
In addition to the critical essays, discussion will play an essential role in the course (as well as in your grade). Since this is an online course, and not a traditional, face-to-face class, discussion for the course will take place via a message board system. Your grade for discussion will be determined by the number of quality postings you make to the message board, as well as your willingness to respond to topic-related questions posed by either an instructor or fellow classmate. The following is a breakdown of the grading system for the discussion portion of your grade based on the number of quality postings made to the message board:

A: 30 or more quality postings
B: 20 or more quality postings
C: 15 or more quality postings
D: 10 or more quality postings
F: 9 or less quality posts

What is a "quality" post?
As you can see, earning an "A" for this portion of your grade simply requires you to make approximately two postings per week. At the same time, your grade for discussion hinges on both quantity AND quality. In other words, in order for you to receive credit for a specific posting, the posting must meet the following criteria:

1.) Posting responds directly to the topic, question, or issue
2.) Posting demonstrates a critical understanding of the topic, question, or issue
3.) Posting takes into account previous postings on the same topic, question, or issue
4.) Posting is relatively free of grammar and punctuation errors

For an example of a "quality" posting, please visit the discussion board, sign in, and click on the folder entitled "Quality Posting."

Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. If I suspect that you have plagiarized, I will make a formal complaint to the College, at which point administrative action may be taken. You will also receive zero credit for the assignment in question and an "F" for the entire course.

Access and Disability Services
In accordance with College policy, if you have a documented disability and require accommodations to obtain equal access in this course, please notify me at the beginning of the semester or when given an assignment for which an accommodation is required. Students with disabilities must verify their eligibility through the Access and Disability Services (ADS) office in the Student Development Division of Harper College. The telephone number for ADS is 847-925-6266.

Click here for the course schedule and assignments...