Service-Learning

English 108: Accelerated Composition

Instructor: Cody Reimer
Office: HEAV 220
Office Hours: Wed 8:30-9:30 and by appointment
Email: reimerc@purdue.edu
Spring 2012, 9:30 10:20 // MF, HEAV 110; W, HEAV 227

Welcome to English 108: Accelerated Composition. English 108 is an accelerated composition course that
substitutes for English 106 in which students will engage in public writing and community service. Students
can expect to engage in local community activities outside the classroom. Throughout the semester we will
hone our writing skills and our understanding of various rhetorical situations through the work we perform
for the community.

Course Goals
The purpose of this accelerated composition course is three-fold:
1. To increase students awareness of the rhetorical strategies integral for the composition of effective
written, visual, and multimedia texts.
2. To develop students understanding of what service-learning is and how it relates both to education
more generally and ones own life more specifically.
3. To introduce students to the larger, local community in which they live, beyond Purdues campus
borders.

Required Texts
You will have one required text for this class. Please purchase the book as soon as possible, as we will begin
using it immediately. You will be able to find this text at Borders, University Bookstore, Follets,
Amazon.com, as well as other online retailers. When purchasing, be sure that you obtain the correct edition.
Sometimes it is helpful to bring along your syllabus so that the retailer may double check the author, edition,
ISBN, etc.

Joining the Conversation, Mike Palmquist, ISBN-10: 0-312-41215-0

**A digital coursepack containing other required readings will be made available.

Attendance
I expect you to attend all classes. Much of what we will learn this semester will happen in class, so its vital
you be present. However, I also understand that stuff happens, so I allow three grace absences. After three
absences, excused or unexcused, your grade will be lowered by 1% for each class, up to 5%. If you miss nine
or more classes, you will receive an F for the course.

Assignments
You will receive a calendar that outlines readings for each week as well as deadlines for assignments. While
we will adhere to this calendar as close as possible, various circumstances may arise where we will need to
adjust the calendar accordingly. In addition to the listed readings, there may also be times that I assign
additional short readings based on class discussion for that week.


Following is a breakdown of how each assignment will be weighted in this course:

Attendance 5%
Participation 5%
Blog (Online) 10%
Service (30 hours) 30%
Unit 1 Project (Editorial) 15%
Unit 2 Project (Internal Research Report) 20%
Unit 3 Project (Digital Poster) 15%

Grading
Breakdown of points:

90-100 (A- to A)You did what the assignment asked at a high quality level, and your work shows originality and
creativity. Work in this range shows all the qualities listed above for a B; but it also demonstrates that you took
extra steps to be original or creative in developing content, solving a problem, or developing a verbal or visual
style.
80-89 (B- to B+)You did what the assignment asked of you at a high quality level. Work in this range
needs little revision, is complete in content, is organized well, and shows special attention to style and visual
design.
70-79 (C- to C+)You did what the assignment asked of you. Work in this range tends to need some
revision, but it is complete in content and the organization is logical. The style, verbal and visual, is
straightforward but unremarkable.
60-69 (D)You did what the assignment asked at a low level of quality. Work in this range tends to need
significant revision. The content is often incomplete and the organization is hard to discern. Verbal and visual
style is often non-existent or chaotic.
Below 60 (F)Dont go here. I usually reserve the F for people who dont show up or dont do the work. If
you give an assignment an honest try, I doubt you would receive an F. If you feel you put in your best effort
and still received an F, you might consider dropping from the class.

*Note on grammar and spelling: English 108 is not a grammar course. By this time in your academic career, you
should have a fairly strong grasp on the mechanics of writing. Grammar and spelling mistakes will be
counted against your grade. A portion of the writing process is revision, so do not overlook this. If you find
that you are having problems with grammar, please feel free to ask me for help and I can provide additional
materials or direct you to a good writing manual.

Service
ENGL 108 is a service-learning course. A substantial portion of your grade is earned through community
service. You are required to do, at minimum, 30 hours of service work with a community partner. On
average, this works out to 2-3 hours per week. This work is crucial to achieving the course goals and passing
this class, so make it a priority. Each student will pursue their own community service engagement. Here are
some resources to aid you:

Boiler Volunteer Network
http://www.purdue.edu/odos/bvn/volunteeropportunities.php
United Way of Greater Lafayette
http://www.uwlafayette.org/Volunteer.html

Blogging
As part of this course you will be constructing and posting to a blog. You are required to make ten
contributions throughout the semester. These contributions will include one original post to your own blog
(at a minimum of 300 words) and two responses to classmates blogs (at a minimum of 150 words each). If
you do not post both an original post and two responses, you will not receive credit for the week. You may
make the blog contributions at any point throughout the semester, but are only able to gain one point per
week. This means you cannot do ten original posts and twenty responses during the last week of the
semester. Each contribution (the original post and both responses) is worth one percent of your grade, so
make sure to stay on top of your blogging. The content of the posts should relate to the course content or
your community service in some way, shape, or form. You may choose to use the space to write through
ideas for an upcoming project, to solicit ideas or feedback from classmates, or to analyze/digest some of the
reading weve done for the week.

Deadlines
Please be respectful and take notice of all project due dates. A project is considered late when it is not turned
in to the class website at the beginning of the class period when it is due. If for any reason you are unable to
turn in your project at this time, your grade will be docked one complete letter grade for each day it is late.
This includes weekend days. Problems can arise, but the key to their successful resolution is communication:
keep me informed.

Plagiarism
We take your academic integrity seriously, and so should you. As a writer and student at Purdue, you are
cautioned against: submitting someone else's work as your own, even if you have paid for it or obtained the
author's permission; using, without acknowledgment, word for word phrases, sentences, or paragraphs from
the printed or electronic manuscript material of others; using the materials of another after making only
slight changes; 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/aboutodos/academicintegrity.php).

If you knowingly plagiarize or commit academic dishonesty, I will either give you a zero for the assignment or
fail you for the course depending on the severity. We will cover plagiarism as well as other acts of academic
dishonesty in class so that you will clearly understand what constitutes plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

Etiquette
Be respectful, tactful, and considerate of others in class. Cell phones are to be turned off or set to mute. If I
notice you off task in class or lab, I reserve the right to count you absent without a warning or notice. If you
are expecting an emergency phone call, please see me prior to the start of class and sit near the exit so you
can quickly and quietly leave to take your call.

Disabilities
Students with disabilities must be registered with Adaptive Programs in the Office of the Dean of Students
before classroom accommodations can be provided. If you are eligible for academic accommodations
because you have a documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please schedule an
appointment with me as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

Emergencies
In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines and grading percentages are
subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances beyond the
instructors control. I will e-mail you about any changes in the course due to these kinds of emergency
situations.