Student Guide to English 10600 and 10800

WHAT IS INTRODUCTORY COMPOSITION?

Students at Purdue have diverse academic interests and professional goals. And although not every student at Purdue is an English major or strives to become a career writer, the ability to communicate creatively and effectively is important to all of us for several reasons: 1) it provides us an outlet for sharing our ideas and an opportunity for making those ideas better; 2) it empowers us to understand different conventions, genres, groups, societies, and cultures; and 3) it allows us to have a voice in multiple academic, civic, and personal situations. In short, writing is a way of learning that spans all fields and disciplines; it is broadly defined to include many reasons for and methods of composing.

Introductory Composition at Purdue is designed to help you:

• build confidence in your abilities to create, interpret, and evaluate texts in all types of media;
• develop knowledge and inspire new ideas through writing;
• understand, evaluate, and organize your ideas;
• understand what it means to write in different academic contexts;
• articulate, develop and support a topic through first-hand and archival research;
• become an effective writer who can respond credibly and accurately to a variety of writing situations.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENGLISH 10600 AND ENGLISH 10800?

English 10600 – First-Year Composition

English 10600 is the standard 4-credit hour composition course for entering students at Purdue. To meet all your goals in this one-semester course, you should expect to produce between 7,500-11,500 words of polished writing (or 15,000-22,000 total words, including drafts) or the equivalent. Some of this text production will be done using multimedia, and some of it may be given through short assignments. Your writing topics will be closely tied to the course's theme or approach, and may include personal experiences as well as research-based arguments. You may also be asked to write on topics that are related to your major field of study.

It is common practice in English 10600 to conduct different types of research and create a final project that demonstrates the expertise you have gained over the semester. So, your instructor may use planning assignments in order to help you discover and explore a topic, perspective, or audience. It is also common practice to spned some time in exploration of topics and rhetorical contexts, and in the production, interpretation, and analysis of multimedia environments.

You will also spend time reading and discussing writing by you, your peers, and professionals. Your instructors may accomplish this through in-class review sessions or in bi-weekly conferences. Additionally, your instructors may select outside readings related to the theme of the class or similar in purpose to the writing they expect you to do.

English 10800 – Accelerated First-Year Composition

English 10800 is an accelerated 3-credit hour composition course for advanced students, or students who have already demonstrated a certain level of writing proficiency. In many respects, English 10800 is similar to English 10600; however it emphasizes a more rigorous approach with higher expectations on your ability to work more quickly and more independently. To meet all the goals of this course, you should expect to produce approximately 8,000 words of polished writing or the equivalent. Some of this text production may be done using multimedia, and some of it may be given through short assignments. Your writing topics may include personal experiences as well as research-based arguments. You may also be asked to write on topics that are related to your major field of study.

DO ALL INTRODUCTORY COMPOSITION INSTRUCTORS TEACH THE SAME WAY?

The theme or approach your English class takes may differ from the class of someone you know, but all of your instructors are meeting the same goals and you should expect more similarities than differences. Here's what you can generally expect:

I. Instructor Policies

• Your instructor will provide you with a course syllabus and policy statement that contains information about required texts and materials, office hours, paper or project format requirements, and attendance policies. It is up to you to read these documents, to ask questions if any of them are unclear to you, and to abide by the policies that your instructor has established.
• Your instructor will make every effort to return your papers and assignments within a reasonable time frame. They will offer comments about the strengths and weaknesses of your work and may suggest that you revise and resubmit a project if it doesn't meet the assignment goals. They may also recommend that you seek specific help from the Writing Lab or make additional appointments with them to confer about your progress in the class.
• Your instructor will hold a minimum of one office hour each week, during which you can discuss your work or receive individual help. Under some circumstances, your instructor may make alternative appointments for you if you have classes during their regularly scheduled office hours.
• Your instructor will hold classes and conferences regularly, announce any class cancellations in advance when possible, and have someone post a cancellation notice in the classroom in case of illness or an emergency. If your instructor is absent and there is no notice posted, you can check with the English Department Office (324 Heavilon Hall).

II. Academic Honesty

Most instructors will spend class time discussing the best ways to acknowledge material from other sources and the necessary formats for citing them. When using outside materials in the course of your research or writing, you must acknowledge them appropriately. Not doing so results in plagiarism, which is using the ideas, expressions, or words of another person without crediting them.

We take your academic integrity seriously, and so should you. As a writer and student at Purdue, you are cautioned against (1) submitting someone else's work as your own, even if you have paid for it or obtained the author's permission;
(2) using, without acknowledgment, word for word phrases, sentences, or paragraphs from the printed or electronic manuscript material of others; (3) using the materials of another after making only slight changes; and (4) using a rewritten form of someone else's materials. These guidelines apply to the work of fellow students as well as the published work of professional writers, information found on the Internet, and electronic compositions such as Web sites and PowerPoint presentations. Penalties for plagiarism are serious and are clearly stated on the Office of the Dean of Students Web Site (http://www.purdue.edu/ODOS/osrr/integrity.htm).

III. Evaluation and Grading

Each instructor will establish specific grading poilicies. Although your instructor may use plus and minus grades on your individual assignments, you should remember that Purdue does not use plus or minus grades on your final grade report. So, even if you do consistent B+ work, your final grade will be reported as a B.

Your instructor's policy statement should explain his or her grading procedures, how much you are expected to read and write, how much each assignment will count toward your final grade, and what other factors (exercises, Writing Lab work, class participation, attendance, submission of late work, etc.) enter into your grade. But as a general rule, you can expect all Introductory Composition instructors to evaluate your work based on the following:

• A: An "A" indicates work of exceptional quality. "A" work addresses the assignment thoroughly, appropriately, and insightfully. It demonstrates a strong understanding of the rhetorical context for writing; is sophisticated in content, purpose, structure, and form; makes effective use of language, mechanics, and style; and follows the appropriate citation and documentation conventions required by the genre.
• B: A "B" indicates work of above average quality. "B" work exceeds baseline expectations and addresses the assignment thoroughly and appropriately. It is clearly focused; demonstrates a sound understanding of rhetorical context; is solid in content, purpose, and form; uses language, mechanics and style appropriately; and follows the citation and documentation conventions required by the genre.
• C: A "C" indicates satisfactory completion of the assignment. "C" work meets baseline expectations but may need some revision to successfully meet the goals of the assignment. It may require an identifiable focus; a clearer understanding of the rhetorical context for writing; or some strengthening of content, purpose, structure, and form. It may also need improvement in using language, mechanics, and style appropriately; and follows the citation and documentations required by the genre.
• D: A "D" indicates unsatisfactory but passing work. "D" work lacks the strength necessary to successfully complete the project. That may include failure to address the assignment; unclear focus or purpose; confusion with content, structure, or form; or numerous errors in language, mechanics, style, and in usage of important genre conventions.
• F: An "F" indicates failing work, or work that does not meet hte expectations expressed above. Although not the only reason, not coming to class or completing the required assignments is frequently the reason for failure.

WHAT IF I WANT MORE HELP WITH OR RESOURCES FOR MY COMPOSITION CLASS?

During the semester, your instructors may recommend additional conference times or resources if they find you could benefit from more (or different) help with writing. However, you don't have to wait for someone to recommend these additional resources to take advantage of them:

The Writing Lab

Working closely with instructors to support your development as writers, the Writing Lab (Heavilon Hall 226) offers half-jour individual and group tutorials to interested 106 students by appointmnet and on a drop-in basis. If you or your instructor feels that you need more support for your writing, you can also request a regular tutor for ongoing, weekly tutoring sessions. Also, the Writing Lab maintains a variety of writing resources for all students and teachers at Purdue, including tutorials, workshops, handouts and books, public use computers, a collection of tapes and software for writers of English as a Second Language (ESL), and an inexhaustible supply of animal crackers. For more information or an appointment, call 494-3723, or access their resources from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at http://owl.english.purdue.edu.

The Digital Learning Collaboratory (DLC)

The DLC (located in the lower level of Hicks Undergraduate Library) offers an active learning environment with a number of resources that you can access to help create your multimedia projects. As a student, you can check out equipment, use the high-speed Macs and PCs, learn new software, or reserve space to work collaboratively on a class project. For more information, go to http://www.lib.purdue.edu, send e-mail to DLC@purdue.edu, or call 494-3751.

Adaptive Programs

The Adaptive Programs division of the Office of the Dean of Students (ODOS) can arrange for assistance, auxiliary aids, or related services if you think a temporary or permanent disability might prevent you from gaining access to departmental or university resources listed above. Contact them at 494-1247 or http://www.purdue.edu/odos/ with any individual concerns. Students with disabilities must be registered with Adaptive Programs in the Office of the Dean of Students before classroom accommodations can be provided.

WHAT IF PROBLEMS ARISE DURING THE COURSE?

Be sure to see your instructor if you have problems with your work, have questions about assignments, want to discuss a specific grade, need help understanding a particular procedure, or need help catching up after an illness. ICaP instructors are carefully chosen for their ability to help you become a better writer and their willingness to be as helpful as possible. If you want to talk with someone else about your composition course or instructor, or if you have a problem that you and your instructor can't resolve, be sure to make an appointment with your instructor's mentor or with the program director: for English 10600 and 10800 see Professor Samantha Blackmon, the Director of Composition (Heavilon Hall 302, 494-3730); for English 10600 for International Students see Professor Tony Silva (Heavilon Hall 433, 494-3769).

Purdue University Department of English | Revised June 2004