Introduction to Rhetorical and Analytical Writing
| Home | Attendance | Due Dates | Plagiarism | Assignments | Handouts |
Materials
Required Texts
One World, Many Cultures , 5 th ed. by Stuart and Terry Hirschberg
Quick Access , 4 th ed. by Lynn Q. Troyka
Optional, but strongly suggested
A dictionary. Good online references: dictionary.com and thesaurus.com
Course Objectives
That by the end of the semester, students will be better able to
• Understand, identify, and use key conventions of academic writing
• Analyze professional writing to assess its purpose, audience, and rhetorical strategies
• Construct arguments that include effective logical ethical, and emotional appeals
• Write researched papers in which students analyze a rhetorical situation, as well as identify and accurately document appropriate source materials
• Avoid sentence-level errors that are distracting or confusing to the reader
I expect you to attend all classes. A semester total of 4 absences or more—excused or unexcused—will result in a lowered final grade. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to get any missed assignments or notes from a classmate. If there is a problem in this area, I urge you to speak with me.
Class work is due on the assigned due dates. Late work will not be accepted, unless arrangements are negotiated with me in advance of that date. Printer problems are not an acceptable excuse. You should print your papers out early enough, so that if you do have problems you can find a working printer.
Plagiarism is using someone else's writing, research or ideas without giving that individual (or group) proper credit through documentation. It is presenting another person's (or group's) work as your own original work. This includes using papers from online essay sites (like (SchoolSucks.com), having a friend or relative write a paper for you, or using a paper from a fraternity or sorority collection.
This practice is dishonest, unethical, and unacceptable at St. Cloud State University and in this class. Additionally, plagiarism is more easily discovered now because instructors now have browsers and software at their disposal that make discovery of dishonest “borrowing” easier to find.
A plagiarized paper will result in an F grade for the course .
Computer labs and general computer problems
What can go wrong will go wrong in any computer lab. Although lab techs will check on the labs from time to time, they may not be available when glitches occur. Computer or printer breakdowns or lost or inaccessible work are no longer excuses for late or missing work. The following are certain measures you can take to avoid losing your work.
• Save frequently to your “Student File Space,” to disk, to flash drive or on your hard drive.
• Send the assignment to yourself in an email—either as an attachment or copied and pasted into the message portion of the email.
• Print off a hard copy of a draft of your paper, so if the worst happens and you lose everything, you do not have to start again with nothing.
Assignments.
Four Major Writing Assignments. Major assignments (MA's) are formal assignments and require standard MLA essay format and must include a Works Cited page. Major assignments will be penalized one letter grade for each class day they are late. All will be submitted online to d2l.
In-class Assignments (10+ of these). These assignments will be written in class and submitted electronically. They are informal, but should be well-edited. Many times, they will be a group effort.
Quizzes. You will complete 10 weekly quizzes on d2l. These quizzes will concern the weekly readings. You will have one (1) hour to complete each quiz and they will be due by 11:55 pm on Friday night.
The midterm quiz will include a paraphrasing section, some vocabulary, and MLA in-text and works cited documentation—for the most part.