Bergen Community College
Composition and Literature Department
WRT 101-033: English Composition I
Tuesday 9/2/2014-Thursday, 12/18/2014
Tuesday/Thursday 3:15-4:30
Pitkin Education Center C-320
Course Syllabus
Professor Pamela Kwartler
Office hours on request pkwartler@bergen.edu Course Description
English Composition I is a three-credit, general education course that gives students the opportunity for extensive practice in critical reading and thinking, and academic essay writing. This course emphasizes the writing process and concentrates on the organization and development of ideas in written form. Correct language usage, research skills, and document presentation are covered. Particular attention is given to writing about the texts students have read and the integration of primary and secondary sources into their writing for the purpose of supporting a thesis. The prerequisite in this course is EBS-017, EBS 024, ALP-063, or by placement exam.
Student Learning Objectives
As a result of meeting the requirements in this course, you will be able to:
1. Read, analyze, and interpret a variety of texts. (PLG 1) (Gen Ed Goal 1 a)
2. Respond to texts, in discussion and writing assignments, demonstrating an understanding of each text’s central arguments. (PLG 2) (Gen Ed Goal 1a, b; 6 a, b) 3. Incorporate the fundamentals of academic essay writing such as gathering ideas, developing and clearly stating theses, organizing, drafting, revising, and editing.
(PLG 3) (Gen Ed Goal 1 c, d)
4. Move from personal responses to formal academic essays, including appropriate, properly formatted evidence from both primary and secondary sources. (PLG 4, 5) (Gen Ed Goal 1 c)
5. Accurately incorporate the ideas of others using summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation. (PLG 4, 5) (Gen Ed Goal 1 c; 6 b)
Course Requirements
You will be required to do the following:
1. Write at least four multi-paragraph essays of at least 500 words that respond to or incorporate aspects of class readings/texts. (Meets student learning objectives 1-5)
2. Complete other writing exercises such as summaries, journals, reading responses, reading comprehension questions, quizzes on reading assignments, letters, resumes - both in and outside of the classroom. (Meets student learning objectives 1-6)
3. Read, interpret, analyze and write critically on variety of texts. (Meets student learning objectives 1, 2) 4. Conduct independent research and write a 5-7 page research paper, using MLA style. (Meets student learning objectives 6-9)
5. Submit papers that adhere to MLA manuscript requirements and which demonstrate effective proofreading and editing. (Meets student learning objectives 1-9) 6. Participate in class discussions and other in-class (individual or group) activities necessary to produce quality expository prose. (Meets student learning objectives 2-7)
Course Texts and Other Required Materials
Online Dictionary/Thesaurus
Notebook , flashdrive, laptop or tablet when needed.
Attendance Policy
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 for WRT 101-033:
Since this is a web-enhanced class, fluency in Moodle is essential. All your papers must be submitted to Turnitin via Moodle. Many of our readings, forums, some lectures, and other material you are expected to know must be accessed there. However, since this is not an exclusively online class, being present in class is crucial. Much of our classroom time will be spent analyzing the works we read, and proving your comprehension through in-class writing, quizzes, and tests, so make sure to be present for all. In-class writing
