First-Year Writing Seminar

Policies

Required Texts

Donovan-Kranz, Eileen & Lad Tobin, Fresh Ink, McGraw-Hill, 2002.
Elbow, Peter. Writing with Power, 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 1998.
Eggers, Dave, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2002, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 2002.

Attendance and Participation

You are expected to attend all class meetings. This means that you have done your reading in advance, written any required assignments, and are ready to think and to work. During class meetings, we will discuss the writing process, draft ideas, participate in group exercises, write informally, and provide feedback on other studentsÕ work.

In tandem with class meetings, you are expected to attend all conferences. I will schedule a weekly meeting time with you for the entire semester. This is an opportunity for us to discuss organizational issues and stumbling blocks in your writing. During certain weeks, we will meet in small groups to workshop drafts and participate in collaborative projects.

You are allowed two unexcused absences. After two unexcused absences, your final grade will drop one unit (for example from B to B-) for each absence.

If a family, work, or personal situation interrupts your studies, please talk to me rather than stay away from class. In the case of any emergency, I suggest you contact the Dean of your college. He or she will keep all of your professors apprised of your situation.

Writing

This is a writing course, and your grade is based, in part, upon both informal and formal writing. Save all of your written work throughout the semester!

As a rule, expect to write a minimum of 5 pages per week in this course.

What will I write?

Many short assignments
4 drafts (most likely, more)
3 revised essays
1 editor's introduction
1 final portfolio

What’s the difference between these types of writing?

A short assignment is brief, often informal, writing. Short assignments may include freewriting, observations, in-class exercises descriptions, annotations, interviews, and journal writing.
A draft is a typed essay of 4-7 pages. We will write many drafts and revisions; most will be hybrids of narrative, research, analysis, and persuasive techniques.
A "finished" essay is a draft that has been significantly revised.
The final portfolio is a collection of your writing, both informal and formal, that shows your understanding of the writing process. SAVE YOUR NOTES, DRAFTS, OUTLINES, ANNOTATIONs, ETC. THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER AS EVIDENCE OF YOUR WRITING PROCESS.

Late Assignments

In general, I do not accept late assignments.

In the case of an emergency, please talk to me. If I agree to accept a late assignment, one letter grade will be dropped for each class meeting after the deadline.

Plagiarism

The Boston College Office of Student Services has instituted a clear Academic Integrity Policy. Students are expected to read and adhere to this policy, which states, in part:

Academic integrity is violated by any dishonest act which is committed in an academic context including, but not restricted to the following:

Cheating is the fraudulent or dishonest presentation of work.

Plagiarism is the deliberate act of taking the words, ideas, data, illustrations, or statements of another person or source, and presenting them as one's own. Each student is responsible for learning and using proper methods of paraphrasing and footnoting, quotation, and other forms of citation, to ensure that the original author, speaker, illustrator, or source of the material used is clearly acknowledged.

Collusion is defined as assistance or an attempt to assist another student in an act of academic dishonesty. Collusion is distinct from collaborative learning, which may be a valuable component of students' scholarly development. Acceptable levels of collaboration vary in different courses, and students are expected to consult with their instructor if they are uncertain whether their cooperative activities are acceptable.

Grading

Daily assignments 30%

Attendance and Participation 30%

Final portfolio 40%

The Boston College Office of Student Services publishes the university-wide grading policy. It is defined as follows:

The grading system consists of twelve categories, as follows: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F.

A is excellent; B is good; C is satisfactory; D is passing but unsatisfactory; F is failure.

How do I earn an "F" or a "D" grade? Despise all writing and the FWS requirement. Don’t attend class or individual conferences; when in class, don’t contribute to discussion. Respond to in-class writing exercises with a few sentences about the worthlessness of language. Write essays the night before they are due.

How do I earn a "C" grade? Take the attitude of FWS as simply a required course. Miss more than one class or conference; don’t contribute to discussion until called upon. Read some of the assigned readings. Turn in the required work without your best effort. When revising essays, just copyedit; use only the spell-checking function of your word processor. Don’t seek comments on essays from your peers, the Academic Development Center, or the instructor, and when given suggestions for revision, ignore them.

How do I earn a "B" grade? Display an understanding of writing as a process. Miss more than two classes or conferences. Read most of the assigned readings and contribute to class discussions. Write and revise drafts of each essay. Solicit feedback from peers, resources such as the Academic Development Center, and the instructor. Integrate suggestions for revision into your essays.

How do I earn an "A" grade? View writing as an integral part of being an educated adult. Attend all class meetings and individual conferences. Read all of the assigned readings and adapt the strategies of professional writers into your essays. Contribute to class discussions. Write often. Revise often. During the revision process, literally re-"vision" your essays (play with the structure, rewrite troubled spots, write new passages, seek comments from others). Save all drafts of your work and create an organized final portfolio. In the portfolio, display an understanding of writing as a process-oriented craft.

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