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On this page you will find links to the various course assignments for EN111:
First-Year Composition II (Summer 2004). New assignments are posted on
Tuesday morning around noon. Due dates (and times) are listed on each
assignment, but generally you can expect that they will be due the day of the
assignment by 5:00 p.m.
Week One:
 | Read Chapters One through Three in Dees (p. 1-54) |
| There is no written assignment for today, but have the readings done by
Thursday as we'll be applying this information in your library activities that
day. |
Week Two:
| Reread pages 6-12 in Dees. Once you've done that, complete a
research schedule for this course. Remember to include the following
assignments in your plan: prospectus, annotated bibliography, research paper
with abstract, and a research notebook. The last day of this term is
June 18, so make sure that your schedule meets this deadline as extensions
beyond it are not possible. Once you've completed your schedule, email
it to me at seraph9k@sbcglobal.net
(you can do this by cutting and pasting your schedule directly into the email,
rather than as an attachment). Remember to keep a copy of the schedule
for yourself! (Due by 5:00 p.m. Tuesday.) |
| Read Chapter 5 (89-114) and Chapter 7 (141-179) in Dees. |
| Read the LSSU Writing Studies
Committee Policy on Academic Honesty. |
| Write a two page essay on the subject of plagiarism and email it to me at
seraph9k@sbcglobal.net.
Again, this can be entered directly into your email, rather than sent as an
attachment. (Due by 5:00 p.m. Tuesday.) |
| Note: The assignment sheet distributed on the first day of class says that
the research notebook should be typed. This is incorrect--it may be
handwritten, but the 40-page requirement is still in effect. You should
get started on the notebook (and your research) today, if you haven't already. |
| Note: The prospectus assignment and grading sheet will be distributed in
class on Thursday. In the meantime, you may wish to review a couple of
the following web pages for more information about how prospectuses are
written:
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Week Three:
| Read Chapter 8 (171-92) in Dees. Create a preliminary thesis
statement for your research paper. (Don't worry; this is not necessarily the
thesis statement you will actually use for your paper, since it's likely to
change by the time you actually begin working on the paper.) Email this
thesis statement to me at
seraph9k@sbcglobal.net. Note: Do not send email to me via my
lssu.edu address. Current upgrades to the LSSU email system make
receiving emails there (especially from off-campus) problematic. |
| Read Chapter 11 (231-260) in Dees. Then use the following chart to
determine your next reading assignment:
| Your Major |
Citation Format |
Chapter to Read in Dees |
| Biology, Chemistry, Geology |
CBE |
13 (303-342) |
| Environmental Sciences |
CBE |
13 (303-342) |
| Nursing, Exercise Science |
APA |
13 (303-342) |
| Engineering |
APA |
13 (303-342) |
| Math, Computer Science |
APA |
13 (303-342) |
| Sociology, Psychology |
APA |
13 (303-342) |
| Criminal Justice, Fire Science |
APA |
13 (303-342) |
| History, Political Science |
MLA |
12 (261-302) |
| Humanities (all Majors) |
MLA |
12 (261-302) |
| English (all Majors) |
MLA |
12 (261-302) |
| Education (all Majors) |
MLA |
12 (261-302) |
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(If your major is not listed here, call your department office to determine
whether you should learn MLA or APA format.)
| Read the following handouts:
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| Using MLA or APA format, prepare a bibliography of the sources you have
gathered so far. (NOTE: This is not your annotated bibliography!)
If you are using CBE format, let me know before tackling this assignment.
Bring your bibliography to class with you on Thursday. |
| Note: The annotated bibliography assignment and grading sheet will be distributed in
class on Thursday. |
Week Four:
| Read Chapter 10 (207-30) in Dees. |
| Work through Dr. Ruth Karras's
BAD ESSAY and WHY
IT IS SO BAD, comparing it to the information in Chapter 10 of Dees. Pay
special attention to problems in the author's use of formal Academic English
and Karras's response to them. |
| Read Chapter 9 (193-206) in Dees. Then read the following essays and
write an analysis of the arguments each contains. (You may find page 206
in Dees helpful here--pick any three or four of the exercises and complete
them.) Your analyses should be in-depth, comprehensive (meaning that any
assignment received before 4:00 p.m. is immediately suspect), and written
using the guidelines covered in Chapter 10--especially those regarding
language. When you have completed your analyses, mail them to me at
seraph9k@sbcglobal.net.
NOTE: Both essays are bad sources. I've been getting analyses that
suggest that these essays are logical, well-written, and well supported.
I've been told that "they make good points". If you think these are good
essays, try again. I'm extending the deadline on this exercise until
6:00 p.m. Wednesday. Please, READ AND REREAD chapter 9 in Dees if you're
not understanding why the essays are bad ones.
If you are having difficulties grasping the problems with the first
essay, you can download a copy with my comments
here. (MSWord format only.)
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| Finally, familiarize yourself with the following websites. They're
all good sources for getting help with your grammar and writing style. (Bear
in mind, however, that you may not qualify for all the features offered by the
website.)
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Week Five
| Read Chapter 14 (543-68) in Dees. |
| Download and print a copy of the essay "Capital
Punishment." Assume the writer should use the same paper and
citation formats (APA, MLA, or CBE) as those you are using in your research
paper. Proofread this essay for the following:
 | Grammar |
| Spelling |
| Mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, use of numbers, etc.) |
| Word Choice
 | Precision (Is there a word that is more accurate than the one used?) |
| Conciseness (Can a single word work instead of the several actually
used?) |
| Definition (Does the word mean what the writer thinks it means?) |
| Homonyms (e.g. "there" for "their" and so forth) |
| Typos (e.g. "form" for "from" and so forth) |
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| Formality (Assume the paper should be written in formal Academic
English) |
| Citation (Are sources properly cited? Is the format correct?) |
| Argument (Assuming the sources are good ones, how logical is the
argument?) |
| Sources (Are the sources good ones? (It's obvious from what they say.)) |
| Organization (Does the essay "flow", or does it confuse the reader by
jumping around?) |
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| Note: You may make your proofreading marks and corrections directly on
your printout. Bring the proofread copy to class with you on Thursday.
(It's not due until then.) |
| Note: You will notice that there are only these two assignments today.
That's because the proofreading exercise should take you about three to three
and a half hours. This essay is riddled with errors, and in fact would
probably lose all the grammar, mechanic, spelling, and format points possible
on the assignment. So be sure to do a thorough job. |
| Note: If you get stuck with the grammar and mechanics portion of the
proofreading, use the websites from last week to help you out. Bear in
mind that this is a learning exercise (I'm not going to grade you down because
you miss a comma error), so take it seriously--proofreading can make a huge
difference in the grade on your final papers. |
Week Six
| I wasn't going to give you an assignment this week, since most of you are
focused on writing your research paper (or should be--ahem). However,
I've been getting a lot of questions about the abstract, so I'm posting
several links here that should help you out. If you still have questions
after reading through these, please don't hesitate to email me.
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| You may also find it useful to review the
common research paper mistakes in
English 111. |
| You should also (probably) review the
Plagiarism FAQ before taking the
final exam. |
| Reminder: We will be meeting in the classroom on Thursday for the final
exam (which will be graded before you leave the room) and paper turn-in. |
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