English 100

Paper and Grading Details

How to monitor your progress and maximize your grade.

English 100 syllabus

“I love being a writer.
What I can’t stand is the paperwork.”  --Peter De Vries

In order to meet the objectives of this course in the areas of reading, writing, and research, you will need to complete all reading assignments and papers. 


PAPERS
Detailed directions, specific grading rubrics, and examples will be given out for each of assignment. All six papers are to be submitted in MLA format: double spaced, name and other identifying information in left-hand corner of first page, last name and page number in upper-right corner of each page, one inch margins, correctly handled quotations, parenthetical citations, and worked cited list.  

Five of the papers are worth 100 points, and your paper grade will be given as some total of points such as 86 (out of 100).  The research paper is worth 200 points.  You can monitor your progress (and estimate your on-going grade) by adding these scores and dividing by the possible points.  All papers must be submitted through turnitin.com by the deadline stipulated in the schedule. You must also submit papers to the appropriate place at TalonNet.

The 8000 words required for this class will be distributed among the assignments (6 papers and the final in-class essay) as follows.
Paper 1: About you
Paper 2: Definition
Paper 3: Objective Summary.  
Paper 4: Analysis
Paper 5: Research Paper
Paper 6: Comparison

 
All papers must be submitted in two forms. First, you must submit your papers to turnitin.com by the deadline stipulated in the syllabus (How To), and second, you must submit to the appropriate place at TalonNet. Save papers as Word *.docx or Word 97-2002 (*.doc).). Failure to do either of these two actions by their respective deadlines will almost certainly result in a late-paper penalty.

READING NOTES/DIALECTICAL JOURNAL ENTRIES
For reading notes, you may use any forms: outlines, dialectical journals, maps, etc.   Reading notes should be submitted to the appropriate place at TalonNet

 and are due when stated in the schedule.
Full credit will be given for thorough, neat, insightful, and on-time work.

GRADING


5 papers (500 points each) 500 points

1 research paper 200 points

Discussions 100 points

Reading notes/dialectical journals       100 points

Other Assignments 100 points


Total 1000 points

Your total points will determine your final grade:
900 - 1000 points = A
Excellent—a grade of excellent indicates superior mastery of reading, writing, reasoning, and research skills as indicated through adept
· focus and organization of ideas at the essay and paragraph levels;
· maintenance of unity and coherence throughout paragraphs and the essay;
· employment of adequate, insightful, and original support;
· handling of summation, paraphrase, and quotation from appropriate and quality sources;
· interpretation and evaluation literature and other texts;
· writing skills that include correct, precise, and appropriate language use;
· sentence construction, grammar, and punctuation.
800 - 899 points = B
Above average—this grade indicates strong mastery of all of the above, but may also be given in cases where students do not consistently reach the level of distinction that merits a grade of excellent.
700 - 799 points = C
Average—not to be construed as a negative grade, this designation is given to competent students who show adequate mastery of most to all of the above skills.
600 - 699 points = D
Below average—this mark often indicates either substandard skills or missing work.
Less than 599 points = F
Failure—this grade is reserved for students who fail in some way: serious writing skills problems, careless errors, or missing assignments.
Note: In order to accurately assess a student’s skills, one-quarter of his or her grade derives from in-class writing tasks.  Also, please be aware that certain forms of tutoring, specifically “proofreading” of a paper by someone other than the student may constitute a form of cheating and violate this school’s Academic Honesty policy.

 

Understanding the markings on your paper.

 

Recoverable points for formatting, MLA, and other common errors. (Available only when your instructor has made it an option in a comment on your graded paper.)