Composition I Course Description

This is a dual-credit English course offered through Cowley College. Students will receive credit in high school and on a college transcript for successfully completing this course. Students will communicate, find assignments, and submit work though Blackboard (Bb). Caldwell Schools website will NOT provide information and updates for this course.

Purpose or Goal of the Course:  This course is designed to improve the reading, writing, and researching skills of the student.  Each essay written in the course should clearly communicate a central idea or framework, contain sufficient detail, reflect the voice of the writer, and use carefully edited standard written English.  Critical analysis of professional essays may be used to aid in developing the student's thinking, structure, focus, and style. Students will be introduced to the social and collaborative aspects of the writing process as well as to technologies used commonly in both research and writing. Required for all Associate of Arts, Science, and General Studies Degrees.

Objectives of this Course: Upon completion of this course the student will be able to begin a writing task by using appropriate methods for discovering ideas and gathering materials; decide on a suitable subject, framework, and arrangement for supporting details; write an essay presenting and supporting an idea; edit the essay for grammar and mechanics; and revise the essay in response to comments by the instructor and other students.  

Expectations of this Class:  Plan to attend class regularly except in the case of true emergency. A summary of what we have covered in class along with homework assignments will be available in Bb under Course Content and the current unit. Check this regularly to ensure that you have completed all homework assignments. Essays will be submitted via Bb and occasional assignments may be as well. Most assignments will be assigned in one class period and due at the beginning of the following class period. Use your class time wisely, which means staying off devices unless you are taking notes or entering assignments on a calendar.

Instructor Class Policies:  

1. Student privacy: Group work, class discussions, and peer review are an important element of this course.  Because written work and ideas may be shared in class, please only write about or discuss topics you feel comfortable disclosing to others.
2. Papers: We will write a minimum of four major essays, one of which includes MLA style documentation.  You will not receive a grade for the research paper unless documentation is included.  Major compositions will be submitted in Blackboard and should be completed in Microsoft Word.  For your own protection, please save a copy of every essay and save graded and returned items until the semester is over.
3. Preparation of essays: Type or word process all final versions of essays that are written out of class.  Double space and use margins of one inch unless specified differently by your instructor.  Papers not meeting the minimum requirements in length will have points deducted or in the more extreme case will be given a rewrite or an unsatisfactory grade.  To make the page minimum, use size 12 Times New Roman font.  The English Department uses a plagiarism detection program.  Do your own work and borrow words and ideas from resources ethically.  Misrepresenting another’s work as your own or turning in your own work that has previously earned a grade in another class is a serious offense and may result in failure for an assignment. Improper citation or creating fake citations is unethical and is considered a violation of academic dishonesty. 
4. A course pretest and a course posttest will be required.

Textbook:  Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings and Handbook, fourth edition

Go to https://www.cowley.edu/ and log into Blackboard to access assignments and resources.