Syllabus

Course Details

College Composition II – COMP 01112-7
CRN 24866

Your Canvas page for this course.

Canvas

Physical Presence Required
(following the first week of classes).

Time and Place
Mondays:          800-915 am     Business Hall, Room 223
Wednesdays:    800-915 am     Business Hall, Room 223

FIRST CLASS MEETING:        MON JAN 25 will occur on Zoom
SECOND CLASS MEETING:   WED JAN 27 will occur on Zoom

(Click Zoom in the sidebar on Canvas to launch your Zoom classroom)
Your Canvas page for this course.

All classes in FEB, MAR, APR, and MAY
will be held physically in Room 223 in the Business Hall.

Business Hall

Instructor David Hodges

Gravatar

Shared Office
Writing Arts Adjunct Office 515 Victoria Hall, 5th Floor, 260 Victoria Street.

Phone
Home Office (856) 854-8385 / Cell Phone (856) 979-6653 / Text (856) 979-6653

Email
Campus: hodges@rowan.edu / Personal: myfavoriteprofessor@davidhodges.com

Office Hours
See section Teleconference Hours below

Course Blog
Counterintuitivity
URL: rucomp2.com

Counterintuitivity

 

WELCOME!

You certainly chose an exciting time to begin or continue your college experience! I will be your very enthusiastic professor for College Composition II this spring. I’m a committed optimist who loves teaching and cannot wait to meet you next week. I’m also delighted that you’ve chosen a section in which we will meet in person and work together face to face (although at a safe social distance). My goal as always will be to engage you, support you, and help you improve as a writer and overall student.

Here are some things you should know before our first class:

  1. There is no textbook to purchase. All of our readings will be available for free through web articles, open source books, and copies of readings on our course blog (more about the blog later).​
  2. Our section of Comp II is designated “Physical Presence Required.” If that’s what you want, it offers the rare opportunity to meet in person for all classes provided we are not prohibited by governmental or campus mandates later in the semester.
  3. If “Physical Presence” learning IS NOT your preferred method of receiving instruction during the pandemic, you need to act promptly to transfer to a fully remote section. Doing so will free up a seat in this class for a student who desires a  face-to-face learning experience.
  4. If you do wish to switch to a remote learning section, reach out to your Academic Advisor immediately. You can start at this page https://sites.rowan.edu/student-success/advising/advising-directory1/index.html (Links to an external site.)  Look for the question: Who is my Academic Advisor?
  5. Our classroom will accommodate all students with proper distancing. We will not have to split the class into two cohorts. All 22 students (and me!) can safely distance in Victoria 301, a room designed to accommodate 60 students at a time.
  6. We’ll meet on Zoom for the first TWO class meetings, MON JAN 25, and WED JAN 27. Every Monday and Wednesday morning from MON FEB 01 to WED MAY 05, we’ll meet in person in Business Hall, Room 223. 
  7. Now, about that blog. Students in my sections of Comp II conduct most of their coursework on a WordPress blog. Readings will be posted there as well your assignments. You will receive your feedback there too, and you’ll have the opportunity to learn from the work of your fellow students. I’ll introduce you to the WordPress blogosphere on the first day of class, so be sure to attend. Most of my students for many years have reported that using the blog is their favorite part of the class experience.
  8. Before classes begin, you’ll receive from me the url for our class blog. Please familiarize yourself with its layout and content before coming to our first class.

TELECONFERENCE HOURS

A minimum of three teleconferences with your Professor are required.

  1. Defend your Hypothesis before MON FEB 15.
  2. Evaluate your Thesis Progress before MON MAR 22.
  3. Final Grade Conference during Finals Week (SAT MAY 01 — FRI MAY 07)

Masked at Computer

Professor Teleconferences
Choose your appointment times from the online Chart
Professor Teleconferences Chart

COURSE DESCRIPTION and LEARNING GOALS

College Composition II builds on the concepts and approaches in College Composition I or Intensive College Composition I (prerequisites for CCII). It emphasizes argumentation and information literacy. The course introduces students to argumentative strategies, asks them to identify and analyze forms of argumentation, and requires them to write a variety of well-researched and ethically responsible arguments. Students work to become independent researchers who can find relevant information from a variety of sources (both academic and non-academic, traditional text and digital) and evaluate and present that information to an academic audience. This course fulfills the second of the two-course general education requirement.

In our section of this course, you will develop your own research agenda around an issue that interests you, and you will develop multiple researched, argumentative essays that grow out of inquiry-based research.

By the end of the semester, you will be able to:

  • Use writing and research as a form of inquiry to explore a complex issue, then develop and communicate an original and well-constructed argument that incorporates or builds on ongoing textual discussions from informal and formal research .
  • Understand and write within various rhetorical situations and modes; this variety might include academic and public-facing writing, print and digital writing, alphabetic and multimodal texts, etc.  
  • Analyze written and multimodal arguments for their methods of persuasion, the quality of their logic, and their use of evidence.
  • Understand the ethics and responsibilities of writing, which includes avoiding manipulative arguments and fallacious reasoning. 
  • Support your claims using evidence and outside research, and qualify those claims appropriately.
  • Understand your topic’s complexity by finding, locating, and evaluating sources that represent a variety of perspectives (e.g. political, disciplinary, social, etc.) and information, including sources that represent points of view that differ from your own and sources that represent often marginalized voices, when these sources are available. 
  • Document your use of sources through methods appropriate to the context (e.g. in-text citation, a References page, hyperlinks).
  • Recognize that word and language choices have power and consequences and that adopting the preferred language used by individuals and groups for themselves demonstrates respect and builds your credibility as an informed, reasonable, and respectful voice in a conversation.
  • Use a process-based approach to writing that uses global and local revision strategies, and understand how to utilize outside resources to improve writing (e.g., your instructor, your peers, the Writing Center).

Graduate

ROWAN CORE (GENERAL EDUCATION)

All first-year, non-transfer students who entered Rowan Fall 2018 or later complete the Rowan Core general education requirements. (Students who arrived before Fall 2018—and all new transfer students—continue to follow the previous general education requirements.) Students in Rowan Core complete course requirements in six literacies: Artistic, Communicative, Global, Humanistic, Quantitative and Scientific. College Composition II is a course that satisfies the Communicative Literacy. All students in this course will be assessed on the following Rowan Core learning outcomes for this literacy:

  • Students can identify and evaluate various format, modes, and genres of communication within their social context.
  • Students will produce and analyze complex texts (written, oral and nonverbal) for a variety of purposes and demonstrate their understanding of rhetorical strategies, genres, and discourse community expectations, and well as the effect of evolving digital technologies on communication.
  • Students will investigate, discover, evaluate and incorporate information and ideas to create authentic messages.
  • Students can investigate, discover, evaluate and incorporate information and ideas to create rhetorically adept messages.
  • Students can compose texts that successfully respond to a variety of rhetorical situations and needs.

For the assessment, we will look at some of your work in this course and evaluate how well you are achieving those goals. The results from all CCII students are used purely for improving our program’s teaching of this literacy, and your individual scores do not factor into your course grade or have any other impact on you as a student. 

For details on the new Rowan Core requirements, please consult your advisor or the Undergraduate Catalog (https://sites.rowan.edu/catalogs/).

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS

  • College Comp II WebBook (2019) by Jude Miller, Amanda Haruch, Samantha Kennedy, and Amy Woodworth: https://rowanccii.pressbooks.com/
  • Printouts or electronic copies of other course readings assigned by your instructor and which will be available via the course blog.  You are expected to have access to these on the days we are discussing them in class.
  • Access to the Rowan First-Year Writing Program’s Student Support Site: http://www.rowanfyw.org/

CANVAS

This class is linked to Canvas, which you can access at Your Canvas page for this course.  Use the same username and password as your email to access Canvas.

Canvas

Our course Canvas site is a convenient way to begin the work of the course in the early weeks, but following our transition to the Course Blog, almost all of our course work and materials, including the Daily Agendas, assignments, and readings, will be conducted at Counterintuitivity. You are expected to follow along with the course schedule available there as a series of Daily Agendas for every class meeting.

Attendance

Your attendance in class is incredibly important to your success in this course. A writing class is a community, and most classes will include collaborative work that cannot be replicated. 

Attend

The policy below is the university’s attendance policy
The maximum number of permissible absences—both excused and unexcused—is six. You cannot earn credit for this course if you miss more classes than this. You may withdraw from the course before you have exceeded this number of absences or you will receive an F for the course.

You will be allowed to make up work for excused absences only, providing you have documentation.

Excused absences include: religious observances, official University activities, illness, death of a family member or loved one, inclement weather.

If you must miss class for any of the above or other excusable reasons, you must contact me as soon as possible. If extenuating circumstances force you to miss more than six classes, you must speak to me about the possibilities for accommodating you beyond this. Absences should be used with discretion because you never know when you will suddenly have to miss class.

Technical Assistance

Properly functioning technology is essential to our success in remote/hybrid classes. If you experience any technical difficulties, please contact Rowan’s Information Resources and Technology  (IRT) department by clicking on this IRT Support link. You can also call IRT at 856-256-4400 or email support@rowan.edu. 

crazy wiring

If you do not have reliable internet service or a laptop/tablet to use remotely, please let me know. The same is true for students attending class in person. The ability to conveniently contribute to the course blog during classes is essential. I can connect you with the technical resources you need to be successful this semester. You should not have to rely on your smartphone as your only device this semester. 

Accommodation Statement
Not all students learn the same way. The federal government, through the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, tries to ensure that all students have a fair chance at being successful. If you have a documented disability that may have an impact upon your work in this class, please contact me.

Your academic success is important. If you have a documented disability that may have an impact upon your work in this class, please contact me. Students must provide documentation of their disability to the Academic Success Center in order to receive official University services and accommodations.  The Academic Success Center can be reached at 856-256-4234. The Center is located on the 3rd floor of Savitz Hall. The staff is available to answer questions regarding accommodations or assist you in your pursuit of accommodations. They look forward to working with you to meet your learning goals.

Classroom Behavior Policy

The University Classroom Behavior Policy and Procedures can be found at:
http://www.rowan.edu/provost/policies/documents/ClassroomBehaviorPolicy.04.12.pdf

classroom behavior

Rowan Success Network

The Rowan Success Network powered by Starfish® is designed to make it easier for you to connect with the resources you need to be successful at Rowan. Throughout the term, you may receive email from the Rowan Success Network team (Starfish®) regarding your course grades or academic performance. Please pay attention to these emails and consider taking the recommended actions. Utilize the scheduling tools to make appointments at your convenience and keep an eye on your reminders and flags to track your progress and get help when needed. Additional information about RSN may be found at https://sites.rowan.edu/student-success/rsn/index.html.

Academic Integrity

Ethical and Responsible Writing

One of the goals for this course is to increase your awareness of the ethical ramifications of writing and your ability to write ethically and responsibly. How to avoid unintentional plagiarism is a major component of this course. However, it is ultimately your responsibility to submit ethical writing. If you have any question about the use of sources and citations in your work, you should contact me prior to turning in the assignment.

Plagiarism, whether the intentional act of passing off someone else’s work as your own or the unintentional act where sources for material are not acknowledged due to a lack of familiarity with citation forms, is a serious violation of the principles of academic honesty. Acts of plagiarism include parts of as well as the whole of assignment. Students who submit plagiarized work will be subject to process and penalties of Rowan’s academic integrity policy.

This detailed policy, which outlines the varying levels of infractions and possible sanctions, can be found at

http://www.rowan.edu/provost/policies/AcademicIntegrity.htm

Department Policy on Previous Assignments

The Department of Writing Arts does not allow students to turn in the same writing assignment for more than one class. Students must receive express permission from both instructors when submitting writing or a substantial part of a written text previously submitted to another class. Not doing so is considered academic dishonesty and, may result in an F for that assignment and possibly an F for the semester.

First-Year-Writing-Program (FYWP) Position
on Language and Correctness

Our program approaches language and grammatical/mechanical correctness rhetorically.  This means that we think about the impact/effects of language, and we encourage students to make linguistic choices in context. Specifically, we believe that linguistic diversity is an asset for composition. Linguistic diversity means that we all have different ways of expressing ourselves, even when we are all speaking English. These forms of expression are influenced by many factors, including our cultural, familial, and class backgrounds, and are a part of our identity. Therefore, we often have more than one language or even more than one English to choose from or work with when we write, and “standard written English” is not always the best or most appropriate choice for every writing situation. Our program also believes in using gender inclusive language to more accurately reflect the multitude of gender identities in the classroom and in the world.

Basic Needs, Self-Care, Resources

The First-Year Writing Program has created a comprehensive resource guide to help you navigate college life, academically, personally, financially, etc: https://www.rowanfyw.org/campus-resources

College life can be busy, overwhelming, and stressful. When your body is run down or you’re suffering from anxiety or distress, it can be difficult or impossible to be an effective student while balancing work, friends, family life, and more. And according to a 2017 poll, 48% of Rowan University students have experienced food insecurity. Hunger, homelessness, financial concerns, and other struggles with basic needs are a growing problem among college students at Rowan and across the country. This statement is intended to help disarm stigma or shame—we all have basic needs, and I, along with your other faculty and administration here at Rowan, want to ensure that your basic needs are being met so that you can learn and succeed. 

Counseling

If you are facing challenges, we urge you to use the resources available to support your well-being:

  • Any student who faces challenges securing their food or housing is urged to contact the Dean of Students: 203 Savitz Hall, 856-256-4283, studentlife@rowan.edu.
  • If you or someone you know ever thinks about hurting yourself/themselves, please do one of the following:
    • call Rowan’s Crisis Hotline and ask to speak to a counselor (it is confidential): 856-256-4911
    • call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255
    • text “home” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 to talk to a trained crisis counselor by text 
  • If you are experiencing anxiety, depression, or other mental wellness issues, visit or call Counseling & Psychological Services: Winans Hall, 856-256-4333.
  • If you need support academically, the Academic Success Center offers a variety of services, including tutoring and academic coaching: Savitz Hall, 3rd floor, successcenter@rowan.edu 856-256-4259.
  • To make a complaint involving discrimination on the basis of disability, gender identity and/or expression, national origin, race or ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, color, veteran status, genetic information, and other characteristics prohibited by law go to go.rowan.edu/titlevi .

COURSEWORK

The First-Year Writing Program values writing as process as much as product, and strongly emphasizes revision and self-reflection as part of this process.

To emphasize the recursive and social nature of academic writing, you will be required to submit your work when due to critique and review by your professor and your classmates. Showing improvement from your early drafts to your finished portfolio is a critical component of your coursework and the basis on which your grades will be evaluated. No portfolio that does not demonstrate a systematic appraisal and revision process can earn a passing grade. 

Portfolio

Your Final Portfolio will be a collection of your formal work that demonstrates your engagement in the writing process.  It will be a digital document collected on the blog. Its will be composed of:

  • Two short formal polished Arguments (one each Categorical, Causal, or Refutation) along with
  • Drafts and Revisions of those two short Arguments,
  • A longer Research Position Argument that incorporates the three short Arguments,
  • An Annotated Bibliography that details the value and method of incorporation of the sources to your Argument,
  • A Visual Rhetoric assignment,
  • and a Reflective Statement.

Your Final Portfolio will be graded as a whole. You will work on and revise the portfolio essays throughout the semester and must turn each draft in as assigned. But, while these drafts will be given individual reference grades, it is the Final Portfolio grade at the end of the semester that counts. Keep in mind that I pay close attention to the quality of revision in the Final Portfolio. A detailed description of the contents of the portfolio will be available as a separate assignment when appropriate.

Important Reminder: Our hosting arrangement on the course blog includes automatic backup of all drafts. Earlier drafts can be compared to later drafts electronically, side by side, highlighted for changes. Professor feedback is also saved in the form of Replies to your posts.

Class Assignments and Exercises

In addition to essays, you will be required to participate in regular homework assignments and in-class writing exercises that are always practical and skills-based.

Peer Review

Publishing to a blog, by its public nature encourages peer review. Several times during the semester, you will be assigned the task of reading and critically reacting to the work of your cohorts in either of my two sections of this course. are always practical and skills-based.

MANDATORY PROFESSOR CONFERENCES

Once during the first half and once during the second half of the semester, you will meet me for scheduled mandatory one-on-one professor conferences. Make appointments on the Professor TeleConference Chart. I am available at any time by appointment except as noted on the live, always-current chart of my availability.

Participation Grading

My primary method of determining and grading participation is by evaluating your daily Class Notes on the Daily Agendas. Almost always in person, but in emergencies remotely, you’ll log into the blog during class and take good notes to indicate your active engagement with the course material. Notes will be evaluated on a scale of 1-3 each day and totaled at semester’s end.

Student Support

Rowan Success Network

The Rowan Success Network powered by Starfish® is designed to make it easier for you to connect with the resources you need to be successful at Rowan. Throughout the term, you may receive email from the Rowan Success Network team (Starfish®) regarding your course grades or academic performance. Please pay attention to these emails and consider taking the recommended actions. Utilize the scheduling tools to make appointments at your convenience and keep an eye on your reminders and flags to track your progress and get help when needed. Additional information about RSN may be found at the Office of Academic Transition.

The Writing Center

The Rowan Writing Center is a space where all student writers can find support at every stage of the writing process. Whether it be invention strategies to get you started, organizing ideas or revising drafts, the center and its tutors provide a comfortable environment for success.

Writing Center 2

Meet with tutors face-to-face at the center for one-on-one or small group consultations. There are also two online options offered. The first is a synchronous, live session where students and tutors chat over an uploaded paper. The second are asynchronous sessions in which uploaded papers are reviewed within a specific timeframe (typically by the next day) with tutor comments.

The Writing Center is located on the 1st floor of the library. Make appointments by registering for an account at www.rowan.mywconline.com . Free accounts give students access to a list of tutors and their hours. Click on an open timeslot and fill out the form to request personal, live chat, or asynchronous sessions. Limited walk-in appointments are also available. For help with scheduling or any other questions, call 856-256-4376 or email writingcenter@rowan.edu.

Suggestions for getting the most out of a 30- minute session:

  • Bring the writing assignment your instructor gave you.
  • Have a clean, hard copy of your draft.
  • If possible, make your appointment well before the due date to allow yourself time to revise.
  • Come prepared with some awareness of what specific concerns you have about your work.
  • Ask questions and, if the responses are not clear to you, ask more.

Web Resources

Deadlines

MIDNIGHT SUN and MIDNIGHT TUE.
Unless otherwise indicated in the official assignment, the deadline for “weekend assignments” is 11:59PM Sunday, just before midnight. The deadline for “midweek assignments” is 11:59PM Tuesday.

Weekend Assignments:
For example, if an assignment is due before class MON FEB 01,
the deadline for publishing your draft is 11:59PM SUN JAN 31.

Midweek Assignments:
For example, if an assignment is due before class WED JAN 27,
the deadline for publishing your draft is 11:59PM TUE JAN 26.

Grading Scale

F   (0-60)
D- (61-63)   /   D (64-67)   /   D+ (68-70)   /   C- (71-73)   /   C (74-77)    /   C+ (78-80)
B- (81-83)   /   B (84-87)   /   B+ (88-90)   /   A- (91-93)   /   A (94-100)   /   A+ (can’t get one)

Note that you must earn at least a D- to pass the course, but most majors require at least a C to graduate from the college.

A+Grade Breakdown

End of Semester Portfolio accounts for 75% of your final Grade.

  • 75% Final Portfolio
  • 20% Non-Portfolio Assignments (see below)
  • 5% Class Participation

Assignment Types

Portfolio Assignments:
The Short Arguments and other Portfolio items will undergo revisions during the semester, so grade penalties and deadlines are somewhat flexible. One thing is certain: Portfolio materials MUST be available for professor feedback and student revision WELL BEFORE the end of the semester. No student can pass the course whose work has not been reviewed early in the semester and thoroughly revised in response to feedback. The penalty, therefore, for repeated failure to post drafts and revisions timely will be a grade of F.

Students who are not keeping up with the publication schedule will be advised to drop the course during the Withdrawal or Late Withdrawal periods to avoid ultimate failure.

Non-Portfolio Assignments:
The Stone Money Argument, the Purposeful Summary Assignment, the Critical Reading Assignment, and several other tasks are not eligible for Rewrites and will not be part of the end-of-season Portfolio. For these Non-Portfolio assignments, late penalties are severe but the impact is smaller than for Portfolio failure.  

  • Early posts are eligible for early feedback before the first draft is graded.
  • On-time posts published before midnight or noon on the due date: Full Credit
  • 0-24. Posts published within 24 hours of the deadline: 10% Grade Penalty
  • 24-48. Posts published 24-48 hours late: 20% Grade Penalty
  • 48+. Posts published more than 48 hours late: Maximum grade 50 for a perfect essay (can’t pass regardless of quality)

Incomplete

Very special circumstances only! Students in good standing with a B average at the time of their incapacity who suffer a serious illness, injury or pressing emergency which renders them unable to complete the required work for the course may be given a grade of I (incomplete) at the discretion of the professor and only by approved proposal.

END-OF-SEMESTER GRADE CONFERENCE

In addition to two mandatory “Progress Conferences,” we will meet briefly during Finals Week for a MANDATORY one-on-one Grade Conference. At this final meeting of the semester, you and your beloved professor will come to a meeting of the minds regarding your earned grade for the semester. In addition to helping you understand the rationale for your grade, this conference will eliminate the possibility of disputes after grades are posted.

Students who fail to schedule a Grade Conference or who fail to attend a scheduled Grade Conference WAIVE THEIR RIGHT to dispute the grade their professor determines fair. 

Course Outline / Daily Agendas

The Course Outline is contained on a series of 30 Agenda pages, each with a title that indicates its date and its place in the sequence of classes; for example:

01 Class MON JAN 25

The individual Agendas for each class meeting are organized under the menu heading Agendas at the top of the blog.

Daily Agendas
The more reliable guide to exactly what will occur in every class are the Daily Agendas, always available before the class begins, usually several days in advance, and the document we will use IN CLASS as a guide to our classroom activities.

Communications

I will communicate with you via email and blog posts or, if those methods fail to elicit a response, by texting your phone. We will also meet twice in Mandatory Teleconferences and as many additional conferences as you choose to schedule.

You may communicate with me any of the several ways we have arranged the first week of class: to my Rowan email account, to my personal email account, by phone to either my home office or cell, by text to my cell. My phone may not recognize you the first time, so provide your name and your class meeting time (Danny Huston from your Spring 2021 Class). The same is VERY helpful for emails too.