Tuesdays and Thursdays: 9:20-10:50
Instructor: Jamison Spencer
Email: jspencer36@ccc.edu
Office: 2753
Office hours: By appointment and: MW 9:45-10:45 and Tues 11:00-12:00
Truman College Mission Statement
Our Mission dedicates us to deliver high-quality, innovative, affordable and accessible educational opportunities and services that prepare students for a rapidly changing and diverse global economy.
Truman College General Education Goals
In this course, the student will work towards the following goals: the student communicates effectively in both written and oral formats the student demonstrates the ability to think critically, abstractly, and logically the student gathers, interprets, and analyzes data the student demonstrates the ability to work independently.
Student Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing this course, a student should be able to
Engage in a recursive process of invention, drafting, revision, editing, and proofreading.
Engage further in a reflective process of evaluating his or her own drafts and those of others.
Define purpose and audience for each writing task.
Adopt appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality to the audience and purpose.
Compose an implicit or implied thesis.
Formulate an argument or explanation directed to a specific audience, which derives from a process of inquiry, investigation, and analysis, and which incorporates appropriate reasoning and explanations to support the thesis.
Employ a clear framework of organization that supports the thesis.
Explain one’s ideas clearly.
Employ other rhetorical tools, such as transitions, examples, explanations, concrete and relevant details, and other support, while integrating the student’s own ideas with those of other writers.
Apply conventions of Standard Edited English during revision, editing, and proofreading.
Eliminate surface errors that interfere with coherence and clarity.
Assimilate meaning, analyze, and determine point of view in the writings of authors individually or in combination. Summarize, paraphrase, and quote to demonstrate an understanding of the most important and/or relevant ideas in a reading.
Demonstrate an understanding of the relationships between language, knowledge, and power.
Employ the writing process to explore issues and investigate problems in a variety of disciplines and for a variety of audiences.
Required Materials and Supplies
They Say, I Say with Readings: the Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein.
The Least You Should Know About English: Writing Skills, by Paige Wilson and Teresa Glazier.
Texts are available at Beck’s Bookstore, 4520 N. Broadway, 773.784.7963.
Other supplies: a dictionary and thesaurus, paper and pencils/pens for in-class work, access to a computer and printer (or a typewriter), a 1/2 inch folder or binder with tabbed dividers for the final portfolio.
Make sure to keep all of the writing you compose this semester!!!
Course Policies and Procedures
Turn off cell phones, pagers, iPods, and other electronic devices during class. Students who do not comply with this policy will have to check their phones with me during class. Drinks—but not food—are allowed as long as we are not in the computer lab or library.
Coming to class regularly and completing your work on time are always crucial to college success. Writing, in particular, is a skill that only improves with practice. Every class is important, as is every assignment. You can not afford to get behind, because you will not be able to catch up. Do not miss class. Missing more than three will give you a grade of zero for your attendance grade (10% of your final grade). If you are late when I take attendance, you will be marked tardy. Two tardies equal one absence.
I do not accept homework via email. While I am happy to go over drafts with you in my office, I will not offer