ENGLISH 81 READING TACTICS II and
ENGLISH 84 BASIC WRITING II PARAGRAPH TO ESSAY
Learning Community-- Bridges to Success by Breaking Barriers
SYLLABUS Fall 2008

Required Items | Description | ESOs (Expected Student Outcomes) | S.I. and Conferencing | 
Attendance Policies | Late Work, Safety Nets, and Test Policy | Grading Policies and Course Assignments | Academic Honesty  

Required Items: 

Texts for both classes:

Readily available Internet and word processing access
USB/pen/flash drive or similar device to save your work
Any college-level dictionary and thesaurus
A binder and binder paper
Highlighter pens
Post-it notes, post-it tabs
Small stapler

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Learning Community Description:

Welcome! We hope that our time together this semester will be productive, stimulating, and rewarding.
We want to create a respectful classroom environment where you can express your ideas and receive
supportive feedback while also learning the necessary steps to become a more proficient reader and
writer both in and out of the academic setting.

Overall this learning community is designed to support students in discovering how they can best achieve
success in college. Both professors will collaborate on assignments and journals, encouraging students
to take charge of their learning, reading, and writing goals.  The philosophy of these professors is that
students need four tools to help in their development as college learners: models, motivation, practice,
and feedback.  Students will investigate learning styles and multiple intelligences, and become aware
of their own learning strengths to develop into active learners.  Frequently, readings and other assignments
will be shared in both classes and some tests will count in both classes. Students will create maps, outlines,
and charts for both reading and writing assignments.

In English 81, students will learn to recognize steps in the reading process and apply reading process
strategies. In addition, students will learn to recognize main ideas, both stated and implied, identify
different patterns of organization, interpret assigned readings on an inferential level, analyze figurative
language, denotation and connotation, and point of view, and evaluate arguments.

Co-requisite:
English 81 has a mandatory co-requisite course, English 81L, a reading lab.  It is your responsibility 
to sign up for and to complete your lab hours. You will be scheduled for 3 hours per week. You may 
be dropped if you attend fewer than 15 hours by the 12^th week.  This drop can affect your enrollment 
in this Learning Community and your future enrollment in Eng. A.

In English 84, students will develop competency in writing paragraphs and short essays by means of
intensive practice in writing and by utilizing the writing process: prewriting/planning, drafting,
peer reviewing, and revising. In addition, students will develop fluency through journal writing, gain
knowledge of paragraph and essay structure and development, and learn the basics of using research
and MLA citation/documentation in essay writing.  Finally, students will gain and apply knowledge
of basic grammatical and stylistic principles in writing such as achieving sentence variety, avoiding fused
sentences, comma splices, and sentence fragments, recognizing and correcting awkward shifts in verb
tense and pronouns, and developing diction, tone, and technique appropriate to the developing college
writer.

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Expected Student Outcomes (ESOs):

By the end of English 81, students should know how to: 
A.  Locate and assess stated main ideas (topic sentences)
B.  Compose unstated (implied) main ideas
C.  Distinguish between major and minor details
D.  Interpret inferential material
E.  Recognize and apply transitional words and phrases
F.  Identify organizational patterns    
G.  Evaluate fact and opinion
H.  Recognize bias and tone
I.   Differentiate narrative, descriptive, informative, and persuasive writing
J.  Recognize and apply reading process
K. Create outlines and maps
L. Apply strategies to determine and increase vocabulary

By the end of English 84, students should know how to: 
A. Explore and utilize the writing process
B. Demonstrate a basic competence in grammar, syntax, and mechanics
C. Compose topic sentences and unified paragraphs
D. Compose thesis statements and unified short essays
E. Analyze texts and readings for use in writing

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Supplemental Instruction:

Conferencing:

In addition to being available to talk with you before and and after class and during office hours, we will
also be conferencing periodically about your reading and writing progress throughout the semester.

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Attendance Policies:

Your enrollment in this learning community signifies your ability and willingness to complete the course
work.  If you are not able to attend regularly or to complete assignments in a timely fashion,
you are jeopardizing your own academic success and your learning community experience.  A 
reasonable number of absences would be no more than one absence per course unit: that 
means three for English 81 and five for English 84.  Once you exceed this reasonable number, your
ability to continue successfully in this learning community may be jeopardized.

These classes begin and end on time. Arriving late and/or leaving early disrupts the class and counts

against your attendance and participation points. You will have a break between the two classes on the days

we meet back-to-back, so we expect you to come on time and stay for the entire class. You will earn 50

points for attendance in each class (minus 1 point for each of first 3 absences, then minus 2 for each

after 3).

Late Work:

We do not accept late work in this Learning Community (except for what is described in the 
next "Safety Nets" section for English 84).  Assignments are due be class time on the day the
assignment is due.  This policy is designed to reward responsibility and to discourage procrastination.
Plan ahead for potential technical, transportation, childcare, and other difficulties.  A limited number of
extra credit points will be available to compensate for missing work.  If you miss in-class work including
group work, quizzes, exams, in-class writing, etc. due to absence or incomplete attendance, you lose
credit for this work.  Extenuating circumstances may modify this policy; however, it is the student's 
responsibility to bring these circumstances to our attention as soon as possible (before class or at
least the same day) so that the necessary arrangements can be made.

English 84 “Safety Nets”:

During the course of the semester, students will be allowed one rewrite and one late paragraph or 
essay, but only if s/he has turned in on time all other work required for that particular paragraph or essay. 
A student may not utilize both “safety net” options on the same assignment. The rewritten or late paper 
must be turned in with all other work for that assignment to my mailbox, office, or in person to me on campus,
no later than the beginning of the next class session. It is the student’s responsibility to write a 
short but specific note explaining why s/he decided to rewrite the paper or why the paper is late. 
THIS OPTION DOES NOT APPLY TO IN-CLASS WRITING ASSIGNMENTS,
EXAMS, OR THE LAST WRITING ASSIGNMENT OF THE SEMESTER.
 

English 81 Test policy: 

Tests not taken at scheduled time are subject to a deduction.  A chapter test may be rescheduled;
however, arrangements must be made prior to the day of the test to avoid any deduction.
A call or an e-mail on the day of the test will allow you to take the test with a ten percent deduction.
If Professor Wilson is not informed of the absence on the day of the test, you will still be allowed to make
up a missed test, but there will be a twenty percent deduction.  Late tests must be made up within a week from
scheduled test date unless otherwise arranged.  Quizzes may only be taken the day given.

English 84 Test policy: 

If you miss in-class work including tests due to absence or incomplete attendance, you lose credit for
this work unless arrangements are made prior to the day of the test. No partial credit will be given.

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Grading Policies and Course Assignments:

You may check your grade periodically upon request. We will also be sharing printouts of your grades 
during scheduled conferences. Both professors use the following grading scale to determine your 
semester grade:

Grading Scale:
90%-100% = A     80%-89% = B     70%-79% = C     60-69% = D    0-59% = F

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Academic Honesty:

The intentional or unintentional presentation of information from another source as if it were your 
own is plagiarism. In this learning community you will learn to incorporate and document outside 
sources correctly in order to avoid plagiarism. All other forms of cheating, copying, or academic 
dishonesty including writing a paper for another student and turning in as your own a paper written by
another student, will not be tolerated. A failing grade on a plagiarized assignment and a formal complaint 
in your student personnel file are the least we can do to enforce this academic law. Further 
consequences can include a failing grade for the course, being dropped from the learning community, 
or academic probation.

Collegiate Behavior and Common Courtesy:

Students are expected to be punctual, prepared, and ready to participate. Everyone deserves the right 
to study and learn in an atmosphere that is relatively free from distractions; therefore, before you enter 
class, please turn off and put away all beepers/pagers, cell phones/text messaging devices, MP3 players, 
headphones, and all other personal electronic equipment that can cause disruption. During discussion 
students should listen respectfully, both to other students and to the professors. We will not tolerate 
disruptive behavior in class and will ask you to leave if the problem persists.  Food and beverages 
should be consumed outside. Due to Merced College liability policies, persons not enrolled in the 
class should not be in the classroom.

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Student Contacts:
It is a good idea to get at least 2 fellow students’ names, phone numbers and/or e-mail addresses in case you miss class or you need help on an assignment.
 

THIS SYLLABUS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
 

YOU WILL RECEIVE A SEPARATE DETAILED COMBINED COURSE CALENDAR SHOWING CLASS WORK AND
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS.

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