Course Guidelines

English 1A

Writing: In English 1A, you will focus on practicing all phases of the writing process including: prewriting, organizing, writing, revising, and editing. This class requires that you write sequenced essays, totaling a minimum of 8000 words. This total word count does not include your final exam, journals, quizzes, or any brief or informal writing assignments. However, this word count can include any major revisions of any assignments that have already been submitted for a grade and commented by peers or your instructor. A major revision is defined as a significant rethinking or reworking of an assignment rather than correcting small grammatical or structural mistakes. In English 1A you will write at least 3 but no more than 4 in-class essays and at least 3 but no more than 4 out-of-class essays, and how you meet the 8000 word minimum will be specified on your greensheet.

Throughout the semester, your instructor will give you frequent feedback on your writing, including comments on what is working well and suggestions for how to improve specific features of individual papers.

Reading: English 1A will include extensive and intensive reading. The reading you do in English 1A will provide useful models of writing for academic, general, and specific audiences.

Course Materials: A dictionary, a rhetoric (or rhetoric/reader), and a handbook are appropriate materials for English 1A.

The University Essay Final Exam: A common essay final, graded holistically, will count as 20 percent of your course grade. You must take the final exam in order to pass the course.

Research: In this course, you may learn to use the tools of the SJSU library, including online resources for research, but library research is not a requirement of the course.

Diversity: In English 1A, you will address issues of race, class, and gender as well as the perspectives of women and diverse cultural groups.

Grading: A-F. This class must be passed with a C or better to move on to CORE GE Area A2 and to satisfy the prerequisite for English 1B. A passing grade in the course signifies that the student is a capable college-level writer and reader of English.

English 1B

Writing: In English 1B, your assignments will emphasize the skills and activities in writing and thinking that produce both the persuasive argument and the critical essay. Each of these demands analysis, interpretation, and evaluation. These assignments will give you repeated practice in prewriting, organizing, writing, revising, and editing. Your writing assignments will total a minimum of 8000 words and this word requirement will be met by writing a sequence of six to eight essays. At least one of your essays will require research. This 8000-word minimum does not include the final exam, quizzes, journals, or any brief or informal assignments but can include any major revisions of essays or assignments. A major revision is defined as rethinking or reworking an assignment rather than just correcting grammatical or structural errors. How your 8000-word minimum will be met will be clearly indicated on your greensheet.

Reading:The reading you will do in English 1B will include useful models of writing for academic, general, and specific audiences. Readings will be used consistently with the course goal of enhancing ability in written communication and reading. The majority of the readings you do in English 1B will be devoted to analytical, critical, and argumentative essays. However, other readings will include poetry, fiction, and drama. Your instructor will help you develop and refine strategies for reading challenging, college-level material.

Course Materials: A dictionary, a rhetoric (or rhetoric/reader), and a handbook are appropriate materials for English 1B.

Research: English 1B will include an introduction to the library and basic research strategies. You will learn to locate materials and use them effectively, as well as how to properly cite them. You will be required to write a traditional research paper or a series of short essays in which you use library research to inform your position or thesis. As part of this requirement, a University Librarian will lead one class session of your English 1B course.

The University Essay Final Exam: A common essay final, graded holistically, will count as 20 percent of your course grade. You must take the final exam in order to pass the course.

Grading: A-F.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic calendar web page located at http://www.sjsu.edu/academic_programs/calendars/academic_calendar/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Grading Policy

English 1A: Grading A-F. This class must be passed with a C or better to move on to CORE GE Area C3 and to satisfy the prerequisite for English 1B. A passing grade in the course signifies that the student is a capable college-level writer and reader of English. A grade of C- means you must repeat English 1A and receive a C or better before taking English 1B.

English 1B: Grading A-F.

 

University Policies

Estimation of Per-Unit Student Workload

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Recording policies

Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her.  You must obtain the instructor’s permission to make audio or video recordings in class.  Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only.  The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material.

Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval.  You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent.

Academic integrity

Your commitment as a student to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University's Academic Integrity policy, located at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/S07-2.htm, requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Instances of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Cheating on exams or plagiarism (presenting the work of another as your own, or the use of another person's ideas without giving proper credit) will result in a failing grade and sanctions by the University. For this class, all assignments are to be completed by the individual student unless otherwise specified. If you would like to include your assignment or any material you have submitted, or plan to submit for another class, please note that SJSU's Academic Policy S07-2 requires approval of instructors.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the DisabilityResource Center (DRC) at http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/ to establish a record of their disability.

Student Technology Resources

Computer labs for student use are available in the Academic Success Center located on the 1 ^st floor of Clark Hall and on the 2 ^nd floor of the Student Union. Additional computer labs may be available in your department/college. Computers are also available in the Martin Luther King Library.

A wide variety of audio-visual equipment is available for student checkout from Media Services located in IRC 112. These items include digital and VHS camcorders, VHS and Beta video players, 16 mm, slide, overhead, DVD, CD, and audiotape players, sound systems, wireless microphones, projection screens and monitors.

Peer Connections

The Learning Assistance Resource Center (LARC) and the Peer Mentor Program have merged to become Peer Connections.  Peer Connections is the new campus-wide resource for mentoring and tutoring.  Our staff is here to inspire students to develop their potential as independent learners while they learn to successfully navigate through their university experience.  Students are encouraged to take advantage of our services which include course-content based tutoring, enhanced study and time management skills, more effective critical thinking strategies, decision making and problem-solving abilities, and campus resource referrals.  In addition to offering small group, individual, and drop-in tutoring for a number of undergraduate courses, consultation with mentors is available on a drop-in or by appointment basis.   Workshops are offered on a wide variety of topics including preparing for the WST, improving your learning and memory, alleviating procrastination, surviving your first semester at SJSU, and other related topics.  We are located in SSC 600 (10th Street Garage), at the first floor entrance of Clark Hall, and in the Living Learning Center (LLC) in Campus Village Housing Building B.  See the Peer Connections website for more information (peerconnections.sjsu.edu) and be sure to come see us! 

SJSU Writing Center

The SJSU Writing Center is located in Room 126 in Clark Hall. It is staffed by professional instructors and upper-division or graduate-level writing specialists from each of the seven SJSU colleges. Our writing specialists have met a rigorous GPA requirement, and they are well trained to assist all students at all levels within all disciplines to become better writers. The WritingCenter website is located at http://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter.