I.  ENGLISH 121           HONORS ENGLISH               3 CREDIT HOURS

II.  Fall 2001          Dr. Elizabeth Lamont         elamont@inetlmu.lmunet.edu

                                Avery 113                            phone: 869-6271

                                Office Hours: MWF: 11-12; TTR: 9:30-10:30 & by appt.

III. PREREQUISITES:  Admission determined by ACT score.

IV.  COURSE DESCRIPTION/ GOALS: This course is designed to improve the clarity of

students’ thinking and writing by offering instruction in critical reading, the         writing of clear and effective sentences, unified and developed paragraphs, and well-organized, coherent, and intelligent essays.

V.  RELATIONSHIP OF COURSE TO CONTENT AREA KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS: This

course teaches students to overcome grammatical, mechanical, and stylistic

deficiencies in their writing and to formulate a topic and develop it.  Through class discussion based on assigned readings, students will gain the opportunity to develop their oral expression and critical reading skills. 

VI. TEXTS: Literature and Society, Abbas and Rosen, eds.

                 Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 6th edition.

                 The Holt Handbook, 5th edition.

VII. COURSE OBJECTIVES: Students should learn to avoid mechanical and grammat-

      ical errors, expand their vocabulary, write unified paragraphs, learn specific ways

      of developing an essay, develop an individual and effective prose style, and read

      well. 

VIII. OUTLINE OF COURSE CONTENT: The course is organized around some of

the main themes of human experience, including Growing Up & Growing Older; the Relationship between Men and Women; and Money and Work.  In addition, students will be introduced to questions of style: understanding style and issues of correctness, clarity, cohesion, coherence, and emphasis.

IX.  REQUIRED READINGS: approximately 60 works including poetry, drama, fiction

and nonfiction.

X.  METHODS OF INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING: reading, writing, class discussion,

film, online work, conferences.

XI.  COURSE REQUIREMENTS/EVALUATION METHODS:

  1. More than 4 absences will result in a lowered final grade and, possibly, failure of the course.  Students are responsible for finding out what work was missed while absent; absence is not an excuse for being unprepared.
  2. Work turned in late without prior permission will be marked down one full grade.  The instructor reserves the right to refuse to accept work handed in more than 2 days late.
  3. All graded work should be kept until the end of the semester.  Please keep your returned papers in a folder that you bring to each class.  To avoid losing your work, make backup copies of your computer disks.
  4. The final grade will be averaged as follows: in-class essays (10% each); out-of-class essays (20 % each); reading quiz and revision average (20%). 
  5. Plagiarism: passing off someone else’s work as your own is a serious offense.  If you are caught, you will fail the paper and, possibly, the course.  All instances of plagiarism will be penalized.

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