monika.brown@uncp.edu                                                                                                    Jacobs P3 521-6257

uncp.edu/home/monika          ENG 106 COMPOSITION II        Office MW 2:30, W 11 & by appt.

                                                         Dr. Monika Brown                       f:\users\brownmcls    

         SYLLABUS SPRING 2004

    ☆ Philosophy, Main Goals, Activities ☆ (for textbooks, competencies, policies, see p.2)

      College is a place where people are made to read difficult books. My own moments of peak collegiate learning occurred whenever I acquired new
      tools to unlock difficulty.                    --novelist Jonathan Franzen, New Yorker 2002

      In our Composition Program, students develop self-awareness as critical readers and writers, engage in public discussion and debate as informed citizens, investigate and present informed insights for academic and public communities, and cultivate habits of mind for successful living: meeting challenges, analyzing and solving problems, acquiring expertise, and growing in confidence, responsibility, perseverance, and collaboration.

      Writing courses, a cornerstone of UNCP General Education, prepare “students with broad vision, sensitive to values,” who “recognize the complexity of social problems and [become] contributing citizens" who can “make informed decisions,” "think critically and creatively, communicate effectively in writing and speech," and apply research and technology. Composition students engage in “6 r’s”--reading, research, (w)riting, revising, reaching out, and reflection--to develop knowledge and skills set by the National Association of Writing Program Administrators:

    1. rhetorical knowledge to write effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences

    2. critical reading, thinking, research, and writing: for inquiry, synthesis, integration of ideas, and taking action

    3. flexible strategies for using the writing process, collaborating with peers, and applying research and technology

    4. conventions of genres, forms, documentation, and standard English syntax and grammar

      In ENG 106, a challenging foundation for writing and research in upper-level courses and beyond the university, students critically analyze, research, and write arguments from research on public issues and academic topics. Argument--stating a thesis and supporting it with reasons, evidence, ethical and emotional appeals, and responses to alternative views--shapes life choices and interactions in families, workplaces, and communities. Our textbook, Writing in the Disciplines, engages you with academic and general-interest texts from social sciences, sciences, and humanities.

Your instructor’s teaching approach is shaped by 20 years of teaching process writing, and by these principles

1. social construction theory: our knowledge of “reality” is shaped by culture and language; and language users, by critical reading, inquiry, writing, and speaking, create, discover, and contribute new meaning;

2. writing across the curriculum: writing promotes learning in all subjects, and people enter and influence academic

     and public communities by learning their vocabulary, genres, and methods of study;

3. developmental and social pedagogy: research shows that with active learning and structured support from instructors & peers, students can master complex concepts, develop intellectual independence, and take public action.

                    ✍      Course Outline, Assignments, and Grades ✌                                                percent

Short Writings and Process Activities, attendance, preparation, homework, classwork, peer critiques     10

Unit 1: Practical and Public Issue Arguments (wks 1-4; Writing in Disciplines ch 6-10 & SF Writer)     

          Proposal Letter (collaborative, counts with classwork) 400 words

     Essay 1. Public Argument on Science or Social Issue    600-750 wds, WD sources etc, MLA         10

Unit 2. Academic Arguments (wks 5-8; Writing/Disciplines. ch. 4, ch 9-12 & SF Writer)
          Group Report: Critical Analysis of an Article       

     Essay 2. Academic Argument on a Humanities or Social Topic 800-1000 wd, 4-5 sources, MLA   15

Unit 3: Research Paper Project (wks 9-14; Writing in Disciplines ch.5 & SF Writer)                   

    Prospectus and Annotated Bibliography 10
    Oral Presentation using media                                                                                                  5
Essay 3. Research Paper 2000-3000 wds, 10 pgs, 8-12 sources (APA, Turabian, or MLA )              20

Course Portfolio of 3 items (pass/fail outside grade; instructor gives one letter grade based on all items) 30

         Reflective Essay; plus Research Paper and one Argument Essay, with Prewriting & Revisions 100

Course Grade: each paper: A 94, A- 91, B+ 88, B 84; course average: A 92-96, A- 90-91, B+ 8 7-89, etc