COMP 100-05: Composition (CRN 253)
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Portfolio and Assignments Guidelines

The following is a list of all of the assignments comprising your final grade, with the percentage they are worth of your final grade in parentheses. For some of the major writing assignments, you will later receive a more descriptive explanation of the assignment in class. The underlined assignments must be saved and included in your final portfolio at the end of the semester.

Research Topic Parameters: This semester you will focus on a single research topic and will submit several papers about that topic. Your topic must in some way be related to technology, though what aspect of technology you choose to focus on is completely up to you. It must also be a topic that will allow you to make some kind of argument. Choose a topic about which you can sustain an interest for 14 weeks. I recommend that you choose something related to your major, planned career, or a hobby.

For example, if you are planning to be a doctor, you can research the impact of a website such as WebMD on patient knowledge; the use of robots (or lasers) to perform surgery; the backlash (if there is one) against synthetic drugs compared to holistic/traditional medicines. Similarly, if you are an education major, you can research how computer technology has affected student learning (positive and/or negative); whether text messaging and IMing has affected how students write; how the cost of technology can impact students in under-funded districts (and who should be responsible, if anyone, for paying for technology updates). If you are a sports enthusiast, you could research how better testing for illegal substances has affected sports (preferably a specific sport); how technology leads to improved safety features in a specific sport (e.g. vehicles and crash barriers in NASCAR, goalie helmets in hockey, padding in football); how media technology has altered sports viewing (e.g. the use if instant replay, the TV timeout, the green screen commercial boards at stadiums).

Bear in mind that, though most of the above topics are very modern, technology does not have to be computer-related or even be modern. Each era of history has some kind of technology that can be examined. We will spend several days discussing avenues of research to help you develop a topic for the semester, and if you have difficulty coming up with something, please see me so that we can discuss options.

Library Research Narrative (5%)

On 17 and 19 September, we will be meeting in Milne Library 108 for library instruction. Following the library instruction days, you will complete a 1-page narrative describing your research process based on what you have accomplished during the instruction. The Library Research Narrative is due on Monday, 24 September. We will discuss more specific details of this assignment as it approaches. Save the graded version of this assignment to place in your portfolio at the end of the semester.

Research Prospectus (10%)

Early in the semester, you will write a short (2-3 page) paper in which you present your general research topic or question (e.g. “What was the most important technological development of the 18th century?” or “What role has technology had in the way students are educated?” or “What impact has the computer design programs had on fashion/architecture/accounting?”) and ways in which you are thinking about narrowing it. This paper is an exploration of your thoughts on the topic. You can include additional questions you might want/need to answer as your research progresses, as well as how you expect to go about your research (e.g. what types of sources will be most useful for you). See the specific handout on the prospectus for more information. The draft of the prospectus is due 26 September; the final draft is due 1 October. The graded Research Prospectus must be included in your final portfolio.

Annotated Bibliography (20%)

An annotated bibliography is a collection of sources about your topic that you summarize and analyze as you complete your research for class. For the purposes of this class, you will annotate at least 10 sources. Of the sources, 1 must be field work (an interview, survey, etc.) and 1 must be an internet source (but you may not have more than 3 internet sources). The rest of the sources are up to you. Each annotation will be 1 ½ to 2 pages long, and each will start with the bibliographic citation (in MLA format). The actual annotation will have 4 parts: a brief summary of the source; an analysis of the source’s reliability; an analysis of the content of the source; and an explanation of the source’s relevance to your paper. You need to read each source before you write its annotation, so start reading your sources immediately. The summary should be no more than 1/3 of the annotation. Alphabetize the sources in the final draft. You will submit the rough draft of 2 annotations to me on 22 October, and we will discuss them during an individual conference. The complete 10 annotations are due 16 November by 5 in my office. Save the graded Annotated Bibliography to place in your portfolio at the end of the semester.

Research Paper Draft (5%)

On 30 November, your research paper rough draft is due. The draft must be typed and a minimum of 3-5 pages long, though I encourage you strongly to make it as complete as you can (remember that your final paper will be 10-12 pages long). You will need to bring 3 copies of the draft to class: 1 for me to grade and 2 for your peer revision group members to read. Your draft will be graded based on whether it sets up your argument (even if you have yet to substantiate that argument). The grammar and mechanics policy established by the class at the start of the semester will not be applied to this draft. We will have a conference to discuss your concerns about the rough draft. Save the graded draft to place in your portfolio at the end of the semester.

Research Paper (submitted as part of the final portfolio) (40%)

At the end of the semester, you will write a research paper of 10-12 pages long (no more than 25). This research paper is not just a report of the information you've gathered, but an argumentative, analytical essay about a greatly narrowed version of your topic. Papers that do not contain a clearly expressed argument are unacceptable for this course. You should wait until the end of the semester to write the paper (though hopefully not the day before it's due). By the time you do write the paper, you should be more than ready to present your research since you will have been writing about it in your annotated bibliography. The research must contain a Works Cited page in order for it to be graded. Failure to include this page will result in an E for the portfolio. I will distribute a more specific rubric for the grading of the research paper when we begin drafting it. The research paper is due Friday, 14 December by 5 in my office as the final part of the portfolio (containing also the graded copies of your Library Research Narrative, Research Prospectus, Annotated Bibliography, and Research Paper Rough Draft).

Final Exam (5%)

Your final exam for this class is the Grammar exam that you will take using the Angel Learning Management Suite. This exam will be available from 3-7 December, and you are required to log onto Angel and take it during this period. Though this exam is not during the final examination slot, you will still be required to attend that class (Wednesday, 19 December 8:00-10:30), at which time you will receive your graded portfolio and your course grade.

Participation and Miscellaneous (5%)

Throughout the semester, we will be having frequent discussions and in-class writings and other exercises, and you will be graded on your participation in them. In addition, your attendance at the library sessions and conferences (see syllabus for dates) will count toward your participation grade. If I feel that the class as a whole is unprepared for discussions, there is also the possibility of quizzes about the materials we’re covering. The quiz grades, if necessary, will count toward this portion of your final grade.

Caught’ya Exercises (10%)

We will spend part of each class discussing grammatical and mechanical issues in writing through an exercise called Caught’ya. Starting on Monday, 3 September, you will come to class and copy the sentences on the board onto a sheet of paper using blue or black ink or a pencil, correcting the grammatical and mechanical errors you see in them as you do so. I will come around the room and try to "catch" you missing these errors. After a couple minutes, as a class we will go over the sentences and you will make any corrections you missed in red ink or pencil and mark the number of errors in the left margin.  Each Friday, I will collect the Caught'ya paper (you will do all of a week's sentences on the same page) and grade it based on whether you have marked your sentences correctly (and followed the assigned formatting for the paper).  A sample Caught’ya page and more specific instructions will be distributed in class on 3 September.

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