Syllabus

WR 132: Practical Grammar for Writers

Sec. 03, 10:00 to 11:20, T/R                                         Spring 2015

Room IT 23

Joe Van Zutphen

Joe.VanZutphen@mhcc.edu                                                           

Office Hours: TBA in the Humanities office.

Blogspot: http://practicalgrammar132.blogspot.com/

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course provides grammar instruction for students who wish to improve their editing and writing skills so as to produce a variety of clear and mechanically correct sentences. It also provides students with instruction on how to use electronic and Web-based proofreading tools and resources. While this course proves helpful to students taking writing courses within the English department, it serves all students who want to feel more confident in their writing at the sentence-level.

PREREQUISITE:

Recommended for students of all writing levels. Students must place above RD090 and either be concurrently enrolled in WR090 or place above WR090. Students coming from ENL classes must have completed or placed above ENL201W and ENL201R.

REQUIRED TEXT 

The Grammar Ninja Apprenticeship, by Zach Hudson. This is available in the MHCC bookstore.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Recognize subjects and verbs in sentences

2. Differentiate phrases, dependent clauses, and independent clauses from one another

3. Recognize sentence structure errors, including fragments and run-together sentences

4. Demonstrate how to fix sentence structure errors, including using correct punctuation

5. Demonstrate how to clearly focus sentences

6. Identify parallel structure problems and possible solutions

7. Demonstrate clear use of pronouns and antecedents

8. Demonstrate correct capitalization

9. Employ the correct form of homophones and easily confused words

10. Demonstrate correct punctuation (including using quotation marks and apostrophes)

11. Demonstrate knowledge of electronic and web-based proofreading tools and resources

12. Use coordination to improve logical relationships between sentences and to create smoother writing

13. Use subordination to improve logical relationships between sentences and to create smoother writing

14. Use concessive subordinators (although, though, even though, and while) to advance one idea while giving acknowledgement to another idea

15. Use adjective clauses to embed additional information in a sentence

16. Use noun phrase appositives to embed additional information in a sentence

17. Use verbal phrases to embed additional information in a sentence

CLASS STRUCTURE AND GRADES

This class will be graded based on the following categories:

Homework                  40 points (2 each)

Four exams                  50 points (12.5 each)

Attendance                  10 points (decreases by two for each absence after 2)

Total                           100

Homework, quizzes, and exams cannot be made up. Instead, there will be a 10-point extra credit opportunity available during week 7.

Final grades will be calculated from the percentages earned in class as follows:

A      90 - 100

B      80 – 89.9

C      70 – 79.9

D      60 – 69.9

F       <60                    

This syllabus, including assignments, dates and other information is subject to changes announced in class or by e-mail.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR IN WR 132

A rule of thumb for college-level classes is to allow two hours of homework outside of class for every hour in class. Since this is a condensed course, expect six hours of homework for each class. It might not be that much, but it will be a good few hours. You will probably want to schedule multiple short study sessions instead of trying to finish it all at once.

You are of course requested to maintain proper classroom behavior, such as participating with class activities, acting civilly and not impeding the learning of others. Show up on time and don’t leave early if you can help it. Please take phone calls outside, and only when very necessary. If you will miss a class, or have missed a class, please check the class website at https://sites.google.com/site/winter2013wr132 and get what you need to stay caught up.

I encourage you to form study groups. There is also help available through the Learning Success Center.

Should it be necessary to quit attending this or any other class, you must officially withdraw in the Registration Office by the dates published in the class schedule or risk a failing grade. A UW (Unofficial Withdrawal) is equivalent to an F on your transcript.

Academic Honesty—Cheating, plagiarism, and other acts of academic dishonesty are regarded as serious offenses. Instructors have the responsibility to submit, in a written report to the Associate Vice President of Student Life, any such incident that cannot be resolved between the instructor and student. Depending on the nature of the offense, serious penalties may be imposed, ranging from loss of points to expulsion from the class or college. Student rights and responsibilities can be located in the MHCC Student Handbook.

Classroom Behavior—Instructors have the responsibility to set and maintain standards of classroom behavior appropriate to the discipline and method of teaching. Students may not engage in any activity which the instructor deems disruptive or counterproductive to the goals of the class. Beepers, pagers, and cellular phones can be a nuisance and are not to be brought to the classroom. Instructors have the right to remove offending students from class. Repetition of the offense may result in expulsion from the course.

Americans with Disability Act—If you have a documented disability that may require assistance, you will need to contact the Disability Services Office for coordination of your academic accommodations. The Disability Services Office is located on the Gresham campus in AC 2182. Please call the following numbers for more information- (503) 491-6923 or (503) 491-7670 TDD.

Equal Opportunity—It is the policy of MHCC to provide equal educational opportunity and employment opportunities and to provide service benefits to all students and employees without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable state of federal law.

Safety and Security Considerations—There are Public Safety officers on duty 24 hours every day. They patrol the entire campus in marked vehicles. In the event of an emergency dial "33" from any campus phone. There are 20 emergency and information telephones placed throughout the campus. They are located at the front flagpoles, at the main gym entrance and at various points on both the upper and lower levels of the main academic center. The community service/campus information office (at the southwest corner of the library wing, near the flagpoles) is open Monday through Friday until 7 p.m. for students waiting for rides or buses. The office is not open on Saturdays. Doors leading to the Jazz Café are open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. This well- lit area is equipped with tables and vending machines. It is a great place for study groups. Restrooms adjacent to the café are open during Jazz Café hours. Public Safety officers are available to escort you through our "Safe Walk" program. Officers are available at any time through the campus switchboard. Dial "7310" from any campus phone to reach an officer. Closed-circuit cameras monitor broad areas of the campus at all times.

Affirmative Action—Inquiries regarding application of these and other regulations should be directed to either the College’s Affirmative Action Office (503)491-7200 or TDD, 491-7202, the Office of Civil Rights, Department of Education, Seattle, Washington; or to the office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Department of Labor, Seattle, Washington.