As explained in "General Education at George Mason University," English 302 is an integral part of the general education curriculum at George Mason. The mission of the General Education Program is to educate, liberate, and broaden the mind, and to instill lifelong love of learning. In conjunction with each students' major program of study and other electives, minors, or certificates, this program seeks to produce graduates with intellectual vision, creative abilities, and moral sensibility, as well as the skills to assure a well-rounded and useable education. The General Education Program seeks four specific goals: 1. General education courses should first ensure that all undergraduates develop skills in information gathering, written and oral communication, and analytical and quantitative reasoning. 2. General education courses should expose students to the development of knowledge by emphasizing major domains of thought and methods of inquiry. 3. General education courses should enable students to attain a breadth of knowledge that supports their specializations and contributes to their education in both personal and professional ways. 4. General education courses should encourage students to make important connections across boundaries (for example: among disciplines; between the university and the external world; between the United States and other countries).

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This advanced composition course is designed to help you develop effective written communication and analytical skills, which are critical to the learning of every well-educated student. In addition to requiring a minimum of 3500 written words from each student, the English Department's Composition Program has identified the following objectives for English 302:

• To prepare students for the diverse demands of writing in a major and in the workplace by building upon the objectives noted for 100/101 
• To introduce students to ways of thinking, organizational techniques and formats typical in certain disciplines through more specialized sections in Business, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Technology, and Social Sciences 
• To help students identify and use research resources (print and electronic) and documentation styles preferred in their major 
• To guide students to appropriate support services, including the Career Development Center and those services listed under goals for 100/101

This course falls roughly into four sections. All four components are supported and enriched by input from student writing groups.  Each class member has the opportunity, as well as the obligation, to improve his or her work by assisting and critiquing others.

·        An opening exercise exploring the library, personal, professional and Internet materials specialized to each student's field of study. This will be supported by a class session with a university librarian and will produce the first paper of the semester, the Publication and Authority Paper, as well as a review of the Elements of a Scientific Paper.

·        A section in which the student explores and critiques the appropriate content, formats and approaches to placement within his/her proposed field. A general exploration of current resume and job application options will be followed by preparation of an actual or prospective resume with support documentation.

·        A research component, including a brief proposal for research leading to an independent research project related to the student's field. It is preceded by instruction and online testing on intellectual property and plagiarism. If desired, the student may substitute a research paper (s)he is concurrently submitting in another class IF AND ONLY IF it is approved by both instructors IN ADVANCE with appropriaste documentation

·        A poster presentation prepared as a group and involving all group members, exploring an unresolved ethical issue now confronting professionals in the field. This will be presented before the class at the last regular class meeting.

PLEASE NOTE: since the English Department requires a research component in all sections of English 302, anyone not completing the research project will FAIL THE CLASS.

Students will also select one of two options to be completed independently in the course of the semester: to attend two university events and submit brief synopses/evaluations, or to read and annotate the MLA or APA handbook, as appropriate. Either option is equally acceptable. The events choice, in particular, is widely adaptable to fit the student's interests or educational needs. Note that events outside the university must be cleared with the instructor IN ADVANCE.

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COURSE OBJECTIVES

As explained in "General Education at George Mason University," English 302 is an integral part of the general education curriculum at George Mason. The mission of the General Education Program is to educate, liberate, and broaden the mind, and to instill lifelong love of learning. In conjunction with each students' major program of study and other electives, minors, or certificates, this program seeks to produce graduates with intellectual vision, creative abilities, and moral sensibility, as well as the skills to assure a well-rounded and useable education. The General Education Program seeks four specific goals: 1. General education courses should first ensure that all undergraduates develop skills in information gathering, written and oral communication, and analytical and quantitative reasoning. 2. General education courses should expose students to the development of knowledge by emphasizing major domains of thought and methods of inquiry. 3. General education courses should enable students to attain a breadth of knowledge that supports their specializations and contributes to their education in both personal and professional ways. 4. General education courses should encourage students to make important connections across boundaries (for example: among disciplines; between the university and the external world; between the United States and other countries).

This advanced composition course is designed to help you develop effective written communication and analytical skills, which are critical to the learning of every well-educated student. In addition to requiring a minimum of 3500 written words from each student, the English Department has identified the following objectives for English 302:

1. To prepare students for the diverse demands of writing in a major and in the workplace by building upon the objectives noted for 100/101 
2. To introduce students to ways of thinking, organizational techniques and formats typical in certain disciplines through more specialized sections in Business, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Technology, and Social Sciences 
3. To help students identify and use research resources (print and electronic) and documentation styles preferred in their major 
4. To guide students to appropriate support services, including the Career Development Center and those services listed under goals for 100/101

• There is no print text for this class; readings will be done online, using both links provided in the syllabus and link collections e-mailed to the class by the instructor.  Thus, it will be essential to have regular computer access and to check e-mail before each class meeting.
• Regular access to computer with e-mail and World Wide Web capabilities, plus printer with DARK ribbon or cartridge. The computer may be either on- or off-campus. Since assignments are often constructed and/or critiqued in class, off-site work should be in a format compatible with the software loaded in our classroom. All assignments are available on the instructor's website at URL's linked to the syllabus. Although assignments will be discussed in class, text summaries of all assignments are therefore available at all times, complete with goals, instructions and grading criteria.
• GMU computer account (free to students) with user ID and password, or other working e-mail account. Students who do not begin the semester with an account should apply on-line or in person on the Fairfax campus at Thompson Hall IMMEDIATELY.  Students not familiar with GMU's computers--or computer use in general--are strongly encouraged to attend the free teaching sessions provided by UCIS. Course credit can be obtained for these sessions under the Events option. (IMPORTANT NOTE: any student not regularly using his or her GMU e-mail account must set that account to forward to the student's preferrred e-mail address. Failure to do so will mean that the student will not receive any class notices or the web links needed for class work, which are sent to the class list maintained by the Registrar's Office.)
• Willingness and ability to use GMU's libraries in Fenwick, the Johnson Center, and if necessary the Prince William and Law School campuses, plus possibly the Washington Research Library Consortium. Students new to GMU's libraries may receive free orientation sessions, which the library staff provides near the beginning of each semester. See the calendar of orientation sessions. These sessions may also be used as an Event credit. Our class will also visit the library on our campus early in the semester for a training session.

Optional materials include:

• A research handbook, either the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.) for students in the sciences or social sciences, or the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.) for students in the humanities. Both are available on-line if preferred (links are given in the syllabus) or can be purchased from the GMU bookstore, Barnes and Noble, Waldenbooks, Borders, etc. Please be aware that since this is a natural sciences section, instruction will be provided for APA, CBE and engineering formats ONLY; MLA will not be taught. Students are responsible for correct MLA or APA format for all papers, whether or not the text is purchased.
• The User's Guide to Mason is available in the Copy Shop (Room 117 in the Johnson Center) for those unfamiliar with GMU's computer support, at a cost of about $1.00.
• Diana Hacker's A Writer's Reference is recommended for those seeking a highly readable handbook of correct grammar and English usage. Her A Pocket Style Manual is an abridged but cheaper version of the same thing.

NOTE: All readings are on-line. Some are listed on the syllabus, and are no less required than paper texts, while others will be e-mailed to you before class or introduced in class. Therefore, missing a class means not only missing instruction, but also missing needed readings.

Grammar will be taught in this class only occasionally, on an as-needed basis for the whole group. Please see the instructor if a particular grammar question plagues you.

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It is University policy that in all General Education English classes (English 100, 101, 201 and 302), students must achieve a grade of C or higher to receive credit for the course. Students with averages of C- or lower will receive an NC (No Credit) for the course.

In order of weight, assignments will carry the following percentage values:

Elements of a Scientific Paper 5%

Plagiarism Test 5%

Netiquette Quiz 5%

Resume Analysis 10%

Resume 10%

Readings or Events 10%

Publication and Authority Paper 15%

Writing Group Participation 10%

Group Oral Presentation 10%

Research Paper 20%

The final examination is optional; it may be attempted if a student wishes to seek a grade higher than the one achieved from the semester's work. The final examination, if attempted, is worth an additional 15%. It will be averaged in after the other grades for the semester have been computed. If a student chooses not to take the semester exam, the assignments listed above will determine the final course grade, with no penalty for not attempting the exam. Again, anyone not completing the research project will FAIL THE COURSE.

On the last day of regular classes, each student will be informed of his/her semester grade to date and must then choose whether or not to take the exam. Students electing to take the exam will receive exam preparation instructions at that time. Any student electing the exam but not appearing on the scheduled date and time will be assumed to have elected to receive the grade earned as of the last scheduled day of classes.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Essential outlines of each assignment, along with goals and grading criteria, are provided as links to the syllabus. However, they are not exhaustive; they are simply summaries of the basic requirements. Please note: As previously mentioned, this is not a correspondence course, additional instructions for each assignment will be given in class. They are as much a part of the final evaluation of each paper as the online support.

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All work is due on the date specified in the syllabus. Unless by prior arrangement with the instructor, late work will be penalized one letter grade for each week or portion thereof and two letter grades thereafter. This penalty cannot be removed from work resubmitted or revised.

In addition, late work may be delayed in being graded and returned to you; delay is usually one week but may be more. Please keep this in mind if planning to resubmit a paper, especially near the end of the semester. No work will be accepted after the date indicated on the syllabus as the last day to submit rewritten assignments.

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Each assignment has related instructions in a link to that assignment in the online version of the Syllabus. The format for each assignment is presented in the file of instructions. Please refer to the Syllabus itself at http://mason.gmu.edu/~jjohnsto/sylln13f07.html

Assignments submitted electronically MUST be in Word (.doc) format, especially if sent as attachments. Because they cannot be written on, PDF files prevent ths instructor from grading the assignment. GMU's e-mail will not read Mime, NotePad or WordPerfect documents, and regards zipped documents as possible viruses. Therefore, any material sent in any of these formats cannot be accepted and may not even arrive.

Finally, any REVISED assignments or correspondence should be directed to the instructor's GMU e-mail: jjohnsto@gmu.edu. A Google or other search will reveal other e-mail addresses, but all GMU-related correspondence is handled through that address and only that address.

Mail sent to other addresses will receive no response.

NOTE: Be careful when responding to mail sent to the class list. The Registrar's Office provides the capability to e-mail the whole lass from its online registration site, but requires the sender to use whatever mail program is resident on the machine (s)he is using rather than GMU's mail program, which is web-based. DO NOT reply to the mail address used for class mailings, but to the GMU address above.

Attendance is not graded in this class. However, missing any substantial art of class instruction or activities has the following disadvantages that the student is responsible to overcome:

• missing instructions for writing assignments
• lack of workshop preparation in formatting and writing skills
• nonparticipation in writing and presentation groups
• serious lack of consideration and support for other members of one’s writing group

Be aware that writing is a time-intensive activity.  It is thus very difficult to make up any significant amount of lost time.  Anyone who must unavoidably miss class is advised to notify the instructor as promptly as possible to avoid falling behind. 

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 If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services at 703.993.2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that office.

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Return to the Syllabus for Section N13, Fall 2007

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