English 101: MT7 & MT9
Course Description
All students in these sections of English 101 (MT 7 and MT9) are also enrolled in the relevant sections of IT 103, as part of the Mason Topics Information Society program. Students in this program will work on projects in both English and IT. For example, discussion topics in the English class will become presentation topics in the IT class.Texts
Berners-Lee, Tim. Weaving the Web. Harper/Collins. ISBN-10: 006251587X ISBN-13: 978-0062515872. Paperback $15.00
Hacker, Diana. Writer's Reference. 6th edition. Bedford.
ISBN-10: 0312465319 ISBN-13: 978-0312465315.
Comb-Bound $53.95
Prices as of August 15, 2007. If you are charged more at the bookstore, let me know.
Online Exercises for the handbook
Assignments
Many of the assignments in this class are linked in some way to the
IT 103 class.
IT 103 Presentations:
During the first week, students will write a short exploratory
paper on their assigned IT 103 Presentation topic. In addition, each IT
103 group will write a Position Paper which will be the basis for your
IT 103 presentation. The Position paper will be graded ion the English
class; the Powerpoint presentation will be graded in the IT class.
Topic Exploratory
Paper: 10%
Position Paper: 15%
After the IT 103 presentations, students will be required to submit a short
response paper in English 101. These responses will be due on Tuesdays. In
the IT 103 course, students will post a summary of their response on the
IT 103 WebCT site by Wednesday.
Weekly presentation responses: 15%
IT 103 Project:
As part of the website project for IT 103, students will write a
short (5 page) research paper for English 101. The research paper topics
will not be assigned, but must be approved by both the English and IT instructors.
We will read Tim Berners-Lee's Weaving the Web, a book on the creation
of the WWW, which should provide ample topics for the research project.
Research Paper: 15%
Annotated Bibliography: 10%
Movie Night and Field Trips
As part of the Mason Topics Program, we have arranged for several out-of-class
events. The first will be a showing of the 1998 film Enemy
of the State. We are also arranging tours of the Micron chip plant
in Manassas and the NRO in Chantilly. Students will write an essay-review
of the 1998 film, considering whether the film's topics are more or less
relevant today than in 1998. Students will also write a short report on
the field trips,
Enemy of the State Paper: 10%
Field trip paper: 10%
Handbook Exercises
The only unlinked assignments in the English class will be exercises from The
Writer's Reference. Most of these will be online
exercises, although
some will be in-class.
Exercises: 15%
Online
Exercises are available on the Bedford website. You will need to
register; make sure you enter my email (dtaciuch@gmu.edu) as the Instructor
email so I can check your scores.
Grading
Grades on the linked assignments are always independent. I do not compare grades with the IT instructors, and they do not compare grades with me. As an English professor, I will look for clear and concise writing with plenty of examples, strong organization, a clear and well-supported thesis, and few if any grammatical errors.
Each paper will receive a letter grade. An "A" paper has a strong thesis, clear organization and focus, very good support, and very few if any grammatical errors. A "B" paper has a good thesis, good organization and focus, good support and examples, and a few grammatical errors. A "C" paper may have a weaker thesis, some organizational problems (though still an identifiable organization and focus), some support (though it could use more), and some (though not too many) grammatical errors. A "D" paper may have problems with its thesis or organization, may lack focus and support, or may have serious grammatical errors. An "F" paper has serious problems in more than two of these areas.
The weekly discussion responses will not receive letter grades, but will be marked as outstanding, acceptable, or unacceptable. "Acceptable" grades on all twelve responses will be an A. Some "outstanding" responses will raise this to A+, and missed or "unacceptable" responses will lower the grade.
The
exercises will receive percentage grades, which can be converted to letter
grades using the following scale:
| A+ 100 | |
| A 95 | C+ 78 |
| A- 90 | C 75 |
| B+ 88 | C- 70 |
| B 85 | D 65 |
| B- 80 | F below 60 |
I calculate final grades by converting the letter grades to a 100 point scale using the same values.
The University translates letter grades into 4-point GPA values:
| A+ 4.00 | B- 2.67 | C- 1.67 |
| A 4.00 | B 3.00 | D 1.00 |
| A- 3.67 | C+ 2.33 | F 0.00 |
| B+ 3.33 | C 2.00 |
(please note that A+ and A have equivalent point values.)
Course Policies
Late Assignments: Unless you make prior arrangements with me, late
papers will lose one letter grade per day. The lost grades cannot be made
up by revision.
Revisions: A revision is a thorough reworking of a paper; it is
not merely correcting spelling and grammar errors (that"s proofreading,
and it won't result in a higher grade, since I assume you proofread
before you turn in a paper). Generally, "B" papers are more difficult
to revise; they are already better than average, and revising means changing
them substantively. There is always a risk that the changes may result
in a weaker paper, but I will not penalize anyone for revising (you won't
drop below the original grade on a revision). I recommend revising papers
with a "C" or lower, since these papers usually have more serious
problems which respond better to the thoroughness of the revision process.
The weekly discussions, exercises, and the final field trip report cannot
be revised. Also, please note that the revisions affect the grade in the
English class only.
All revisions must be submitted by Nov 29.
Plagiarism: "Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or
factual information from another person without giving the person credit. Writers
give credit through accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation,
footnotes or endnotes; a simple listing of books and articles is not sufficient.
Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated
in an academic setting" (Department of English Guidebook). I will report
any suspected cases of plagiarism to the Honors Committee.
Attendance: I will not take attendance, but it is not possible to do
well in this course without regular attendance. In class assignments make up
part of your grade. Class discussions of the texts are necessary for the papers,
exercises, and the research project. Topics will develop from the class discussions.