Honors English 102 Class Syllabus

1. Syllabus English 102H Fall 2019
College Writing and Rhetoric
Instructor: Victoria M. Arthur, PhD
Email: varthur@uidaho.edu
Office: Brink 229
Office Hrs: MW 1:30 – 3:00 pm
& by appt.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
English 102 is an introductory composition course, designed to improve your skills in persuasive,
expository writing, the sort you will be doing in other courses in college and in many jobs. Sometimes
this kind of writing is called transactional writing; it is used to transact something—persuade and inform
a reasonably well-educated audience, conduct business, evaluate, review, or explain a complex process,
procedure, or event.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the course, you should be able to...
1. Demonstrate awareness and application of rhetorical strategies in the writing produced by others
and yourself.
a. How writers use rhetoric:
i. Comprehend college-level and professional prose and analyze how authors
present their ideas in view of their probable purposes, audiences, genres,
modalities.
b. Use rhetoric yourself:
i. Accurately assess and effectively respond to a wide variety of audiences and
rhetorical situations and articulate your rhetorical purpose for writing, who you
are writing for, what you are saying, and how you’ve decided to present it (genre
and modality).
ii. Use evidence for a rhetorical purpose in writing a research paper.
2. Apply effective research skills appropriate for your rhetorical purpose.
a. Locate, evaluate, organize, and use research material collected from a variety of sources,
including, but not limited to the following:
i. scholarly library databases;
ii. other official databases (e.g., federal government databases);
iii. informal electronic networks and internet sources;
iv. print and online books and journals;
v. and primary sources.
b. Use evidence appropriately according to the rhetorical situation (e.g. paraphrase,
summary, quote, attributive tags, in-text citation, etc.).
c. Correctly cite and document source material according to a current style manual.

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3. Demonstrate critical thinking.
a. Productively incorporate a variety of perspectives when considering or composing an
argument.
b. Present ideas as related to, but clearly distinguished from, the ideas of others.
c. Write critical analyses and syntheses of college-level and professional prose.
4. Demonstrate your understanding that writing is a process.
a. Apply a variety of strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proofreading.
b. Revise your writing using additional invention and re-thinking after initial draft is
produced.
c. Give and receive constructive feedback from peers.
5. Compose arguments that meet college-level expectations for academic compositions.
a. Compose a focused claim supported with logical and clear reasons and evidence.
b. Synthesize arguments made by other rhetors to develop and support your own claim.
c. Apply current citation rules in situations like paraphrasing, summarizing, citing and
documenting borrowed material.
Of course, we expect that you are able to carry out some of these tasks already.
DEADLINES
Administrative Deadlines
The university has certain deadlines of which you need to be aware if you want to drop
the course at some point during the term.
Monday, September 9th – Last day to drop the course without a grade of W.
Friday, November 1st – Last day to drop the course with a grade of W.
Class Deadlines
As the term progresses, you will be given major writing assignments, along with daily
writing and reading work. Each of these assignments has a firm deadline. All late
assignments will receive a point deduction.
TEXTBOOK
• Nicotra, Jodie. Becoming Rhetorical: Analyzing and Composing in a Multimedia World.
ISBN: 978-1-305-95677-3
COURSE EXPECTATIONS
Class Preparation and Active Participation
My philosophy of teaching is that students are active agents of their own learning rather than
passive vessels to be filled by listening to me lecture. You cannot learn to write by listening to
me talk about writing; you must hone your skills through practice. Therefore a significant
amount of class time will be spent writing, discussing your writing efforts and experiences, and

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English 102 Syllabus 3
responding to each other’s drafts. You are expected to bring your writing and a laptop (or
whatever way you prefer to write) to each class meeting.
The minimum expectations for participation are that you
• complete any reading and writing assigned before the class,
• arrive on time with your work and laptop, and
• enthusiastically engage in class activities and discussions.
I don’t grade attendance. The mini-lectures, discussions and activities we do in class are
designed to help you write the major projects. Therefore, attendance is rewarded by improved
performance. And you can only earn the homework/process points from in-class work by
actually being in the class (and doing the activity), so attendance is also rewarded in this way.
University of Idaho Classroom Learning Civility Clause
In any environment in which people gather to learn, it is essential that all members feel as free
and safe as possible in their participation, especially in regards to one’s writing. To this end, it is
expected that everyone in this course will be treated with mutual respect and civility, with an
understanding that all of us (students, instructors, professors, guests, and teaching assistants)
will be respectful and civil to one another in discussion, in action, in teaching, and in learning.
Should you feel our classroom interactions do not reflect an environment of civility and respect,
please meet with me during office hours to discuss your concern. Additional resources for
expression of concern or requesting support include the Dean of Students office and staff (208-
885-6757), the UI Counseling & Testing Center’s confidential services (208-885-6716), or the UI
Office of Human Rights, Access, & Inclusion (208-885-4285).
Plagiarism
It is academically dishonest, and sometimes illegal, to present someone else’s ideas or writing
as your own. Ignorance is not a defense: it is your responsibility to make sure you use proper
citation, so get assistance (from me, for example) if you are unsure.
Sometimes students plagiarize because they do not feel they can complete the assignment. If
you have concerns about the quality of your work or your ability to meet deadlines, please talk
to me about it. There is always a better alternative than plagiarism, which may cause you to fail
the assignment or the course and will be reported to the Dean of Students. For more
information see the Plagiarism Policy on the English Department website:
http://www.class.uidaho.edu/english/comp/plagiarism.htm.
Disability Accommodation
The University of Idaho is committed to providing equal and integrated access for individuals
with disabilities. This commitment is consistent with legal requirements, including Section 504
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and
embodies the university’s historic determination to ensure the inclusion of all members of its
communities.

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English 102 Syllabus 4
If you have a disability that you feel may impair your ability to complete the work in this course
as it is designed, please let me know as soon as possible. All accommodations must be approved
through Center for Disability Access and Resources located in the Idaho Commons, Room 333,
885-6307.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Major Writing Assignments
• Rhetorical Analysis of an Argument: 100 points
• Rhetorical Problem Statement: 50 points
• Annotated Bibliography: 100 points
• Critical Conversation Essay: 100 points
• Public Statement Document: 50 points
Scaffolding Assignments
There will be shorter (“invention” or “prep work”) writing assignments due regularly. These
assignments are specifically designed to help you generate material to write the major
assignments. Complete drafts are also included in this category. For each major assignment,
you will also be asked to read and comment on the papers of other students. The number of
points available from process work is roughly equivalent to the total points for the major
assignments.
GRADING
Grading criteria are provided for each major assignment.
A = 90 – 100%
B = 80 – 89%
C = 70 – 79%
D = 60 – 69%
F = 59% and less
Only the first three are passing grades.
A
Represents achievement that is outstanding or superior relative to the level necessary to
meet the requirements of the course.
B
Represents achievement that is significantly above the level necessary to meet the
requirements of the course.
C
Represents achievement that meets the basic requirements in every respect. It signifies that
the work is average, but nothing more.
W
Stands for Withdrawal. This is the grade you will receive if you withdraw from the course
after August 31st but on or before October 26th. A W has no effect on your GPA, but you

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can have only 20 W credits during your time as an undergraduate at UI (about six courses).
After October 26th you can no longer withdraw from the course.
N
Stands for No Credit. A grade of N has no effect on your GPA, but it does mean that you
need to take the course again. You will earn a grade of N if your grade is an N and you have
done all the work for the course. You also must have made a good faith effort to complete
all the assignments. Handing in just any piece of writing just to avoid getting an F will not
work.
F
Stands for Failure. A grade of F has a negative effect on your GPA. If you fail to hand in any
major writing assignment or do not make a good-faith effort to succeed at a major
assignment, you will automatically earn an F. If your average grade is an N but you did not
complete one of the major components of the course (one of the major papers of all of the
homework assignments or drafts), you will automatically earn an F in the course. There is no
reason for receiving an F in this course, unless you simply fail to submit the required work.
I
Stands for incomplete. Under very unusual circumstances you could be assigned an
Incomplete in the course if something happened to you within the last two weeks of the
semester that made it impossible to complete the course (a serious accident or illness that
left you hospitalized and very significant personal tragedy, etc.
REPEATING THE COURSE
You may not hand in the same papers you used in a previous semester. If you are repeating the course,
you need to write new versions of the assignments.