Our main vehicle this semester for course content will be the Course Website, but it is linked to Canvas, which we may use for some things, such as discussion posts or for accessing video. We will not use the Canvas Gradebook; instead, the Grade Sheet on our Course Notes page (on the course website) will help you track assignments and grades.

We will use three texts for the course to help you learn about the writing process. These texts are not an unnecessary expense but rather helpful resources we will use in class and you will use outside of class to help you become a more effective writer. Students will use the grammar handbook, Rules for Writers, for this course and other courses until graduatation. The following acronyms are used on the Reading Schedule.

Introductory writing classes provide an essential foundation of communication skills on which students can build throughout the rest of their university careers and beyond. They develop students' skills in analyzing audience, structuring written documents, and understanding and applying the conventions of effective writing. Subsequent writing courses build upon these skills by helping students learn to locate sources, critically analyze information, and synthesize their ideas with those of others to write well-supported academic arguments. They also provide an essential starting point for the more specialized writing students will be expected to do in the future within their fields of study.

The General Education Program Learning Outcomes for Written Communication (Foundation Level) are as follows:

• Compose an articulate, thoughtful, grammatically correct, and logically organized piece of writing with properly documented and supported ideas, evidence, and information suitable to the topic, purpose, genre, and audience.
• Apply your understanding of elements that shape successful writing to critique and improve your own and others’ writing through effective and useful feedback.

First-Year Composition 101 is a writing-intensive course that will give you experience writing for various purposes, for various audiences, and in different contexts. More than just a knowledge of "good grammar," effective writing requires a range of activities, from invention and planning to drafting and revising, activities that you will practice throughout the semester.  All of our assignments will return to the questions of why and how we write, which are important questions to think about as you choose topics, develop ideas, and reflect on what you write.  In addition to thinking carefully about each writing subject, we will examine the relationship between the writer and his/her subject as well as the issues outside of the classroom that shape the writer's thinking and connect him/her to communities and society.  You will also participate in peer editing sessions in which you will evaluate the essays of others as a way of helping your classmates and of improving your own evaluative skills.  Integrating computer technology into the study of writing, in the form of planning and drafting, editing, or research, will also be an important goal of the course. Along with these goals, you will need to develop your own writing goals as a means of assessing your progress throughout the semester.

• Understand through class discussion and writing assignments how writing is a way of sharing information, expressing viewpoints, bringing about social change, and connecting people, all essential for an inclusive democracy
• Analyze the relationship between the writer and his and her audience as well as the contexts that shape writing
• Integrate reading, planning, drafting, peer review, editing, revision, and proofreading into the writing process with an emphasis on grammatical correctness as a means of effective communication

Texts

Text Rental

The St. Martin's Guide to Writing. Axelrod and Cooper. 13th ed., Bedford/St. Martin's P, 2022

Purchase at Bookstore

Rules for Writers. Hacker and Sommers. 10th. ed., Bedford/St. Martin's P, 2022.
**You will use this handbook throughout your university education.

During the semester, you will complete weekly and longer-term writing assignments dealing with the topic of sports. Class discussions will be the most informative and helpful if the reading assignments have been carefully thought over and all students participate and share ideas. To prepare for class discussions, it will be helpful to take notes. Note key passages or language that points to central concerns or ideas in the reading assignments. Write out key ideas and concepts along with your thoughts and questions that you have. Throughout the semester you will be required to complete planning assignments and rough drafts. Please be prepared to bring these to class to share with classmates so that we can discuss them and make suggestions for improving them.

There will be weekly writing assignments, peer review assignments, and essays. The course grade will be determined mathematically using the percentages below. Please remember that your course grade will be based on the work that you submit, not simply on the effort you make and not on my subjective opinion.

All work must be completed on time. It is your responsibility to keep copies of all of your planning work, assignments, and quizzes. Some assignments may be submitted via email, and email communication will be required throughout the semester.

Late Assignment Policy: Assignments/essays due on a given day must be submitted at the beginning of the class period. An assignment/essay that is finished but not printed out and ready to hand in is late.

Late assignments will be accepted one day after the original due date, but will lose one letter grade or the point equivalent. After that, they will not be accepted. (Assignments due on Friday that are late must be turned in by 5pm.) Assignments due electronically must be received by the day and time specified. Late email assignments will be accepted 24hrs from the original due date. For any special circumstances, please contact me ahead of time. No incompletes will given in the course.

Essays submitted late will lose 1/3 of a letter grade each day they are late, including weekends (e.g., original grade B. Two days late, C+). For any special circumstances, please contact me ahead of time. It may not be possible to make up some quizzes or assignments.

Peer review: Peer review days are very important because you will receive specific, targeted feedback about your essays and, in turn, provide feedback for a writing partner. This process will help you become a more effective writer. Peer review days are mandatory. If you miss them, you will lose all peer review points. If you do not have all of the required documents, properly prepared, you will lose points for peer review and your essay grade may be lowered too.

For any special circumstances, please contact me ahead of time. It may not be possible to make up a missed peer review class.

Regular attendance is your responsibility and is essential for success in the course. As stated in the online UWSP Course Catalog (UWSP Course Catalog pgs 25-26), you cannot "cut" classes.

There are no excused or unexcused absences in this course.  The only relevant factor is your number of absences.  However, you have personal days to use and manage as needed: For three-days-a-week classes: 5.  For two-days-a-week classes: 3.  Use personal days for family situations or sickness.  Be careful not to squander them.