English 097          English 099          English 101          English 102

                                                                      Standard Student Survival Kit

                       For All Composition Courses

General Disclaimer
This class is rated “R” and contains adult themes.  We might debate controversial topics such as abortion or same-sex marriages, might read literature containing profanity or sexual references, or might view and discuss “R”-rated movies.  If you have concerns about these policies, please speak to the instructor about them during or after class, preferably within the first week of the semester.

Enrollment, Attendance, and Punctuality
1. Students whose names do not appear on the class roster and who wish to enroll must do so, with the permission of the
    instructor, within the first two meetings of the class. 

2. This class meets twice a week for 16 weeks, excluding holidays.  Students who are absent from the first class meeting or
    from four consecutive class meetings will be dropped from the roster for nonparticipation unless they have communicated
    with the instructor that day or earlier, informing him of their intent to continue with the course.  Chronic lateness is
   discourteous to the instructor and the other students and reflects a lack of seriousness of purpose.   

3. All written work due on the date of an absence must be submitted no later than the next class meeting.  Papers may be emailed as word document attachments.  Please do not zip these attachments or send them in any exotic formats.  If emailed papers cannot be opened and printed, they will be consider not received..  Students will be held responsible for making up any reading assignments that were due during the period of absence. Late work may not be accepted for comment and grading. 

Formatting and Revising Written Work
1. All written work done outside of class must be typed or computer-generated in double-spaced, 12 point, Times New
    Roman font.  The first line of each paragraph must be indented.  All terminal punctuation must be followed by a
    double space.  Margins of 1" should be observed on all sides of the paper.  If you are using a standard word processing
    program, do not attempt to set the margins; they are already properly set.  All such written work should also be stapled in
    the upper left-hand corner.  Do not double-double space between paragraphs.

2. All written work done in class must be written in a standard-sized, lined bluebook (8 1/2'' x 11") in ink. Students should leave a 1" margin at top and left side of each page.  Crossing out words or phrases is permissible, but work should be reasonably neat and legible.

3. All written work must also have a title and heading.  The title should be centered and typed in the font specified above.
    Titles should not be oversized, italicized, underlined, or set in bold print.  Normal rules for capitalization of titles
    should be followed (the title should not be typed entirely in caps).  If in doubt consult your Handbook. 

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  4.  Please…no cutesy-poo, oversized fonts in toy-box colors.  Do not include a cover sheet.  The heading should appear in the upper left-hand corner of the paper and should be formatted in four lines: first line, your name; second line, the instructor’s name; third line, course number and the time the class meets (i.e. English 101—MWF 8:00 a.m.); and fourth line, the date the paper is due. Number pages, starting with page 2, in the upper right-hand corner of the page, typing your last name followed by a space and the page number (ex. Smith 2).

4. After corrected essays are returned to the student, they must be revised and returned to the instructor within one week, the two versions stapled together with the revised version on top.  Please just make the indicated corrections.  Do not completely rewrite the paper with a whole new set of errors.  Failure to submit revisions before the next written assignment is due will result in more abbreviated, less complete instructor comments on that next paper.

Plagiarism

1. The purpose of this course is to teach the student to organize and develop ideas in writing and to do so in a mechanically correct and effective manner.  Obviously, this purpose cannot be served if the student copies the work of another (whether that other be a published writer or just another student) or has someone else do his/her writing assignments.  All written work submitted in this course must be written solely and exclusively by the student submitting it although the writer may solicit suggestions from others regarding viewpoint, reasoning or organization. 

2. All direct quotes from printed sources must appear in quotation marks or be indented and should be cited
    according to standard MLA style.  Paraphrased original opinions and information gleaned from readings, as well as
    indirect quotes, must also be properly credited, although they obviously need not be enclosed in quotation marks.
   Quotes of more than four lines must be indented (all the lines, not just the first line) and should not be enclosed in quotation
    marks, but must include a citation at the end.  See MLA Handbook or "MLA Documentation" section in other
    handbooks..   

3. If the student has cited sources for any material in his/her essay, he/she must include a Works Cited page at the end of the
    paper, giving full bibliographical citations for all such works, formatted in MLA style.  

4. Changing one or two words in a sentence is not paraphrasing.  If you retain the sentence structure and key phrases, you
    might as well quote directly.  All quotes must be scrupulously accurate.  Inaccuracies in quotes constitute misquoting.