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English 280 is the second course in Western's Writing Program. This sheet, along with your instructor's syllabus, will help you understand what you will be doing in your 280 class. You should read both sheets carefully, ask questions about any points you don't understand, and keep both for future reference.
English 280, College Composition II, focuses on writing for an audience. In 280 you'll examine your own reading process and analyze the ways that readers respond to texts. Then you'll apply what you learn about yourself as a reader to the task of writing for another reader. The course includes the study of a book on an academic subject selected by your instructor.
There are two prerequisites for English 280:
English 280 will provide semester-long practice in:
Students who took English 180 at Western will have had training and experience in writing with a computer. Even though many 280 sections are not taught in computer classrooms, you are encouraged to continue to write your papers with a computer. Your student fees give you access to computer labs in various locations on campus.
The Writing Center is a free service offered by the English Department to all WIU students and faculty. The Center is located in Simpkins Hall 341. Tutors are available to help you with any aspect of the writing process, including: choosing a paper topic, narrowing your focus, brainstorming and invention, organization, development, audience awareness, mechanics, word processing, format, and proofreading. The tutors will not, however, provide a proofreading service. You may visit the Writing Center during the posted hours or call 298-2815 to arrange an appointment.
The Writing Center also offers electronic tutoring. Questions may be sent to mwcenter@wiu.edu. Messages sent overnight will be answered the next morning. Messages sent during the day will be answered by 4:00. You are also invited to visit the Writing Center Home Page.
The grades given for English 280 are A, B, C, U, or F. The grade of U carries no course credit and is not included in the computation of your Grade Point Average. If you receive a U or an F in 280 you must repeat the course in order to fulfill the Basic Skills requirement. (If you entered Western under a pre-1991 catalog, 280 substitutes for English 102.)
An incomplete grade may be given only when a you fail to complete course requirements due to documented circumstances beyond your control. The mere failure to complete an assignment does not justify the recording of an incomplete, unless illness or other emergency is the cause.
Dishonesty of any kind with respect to examinations, course assignments, alteration of records, or illegal possession of examinations shall be considered cheating. It is the responsibility of the student not only to abstain from cheating, but also to avoid making it possible for others to cheat. Any student who knowingly helps another students to cheat is as guilty of cheating as the student he or she assists. The submission of the work of someone else as one's own constitutes plagiarism. Academic honesty requires that ideas or materials taken from another source for use in a course paper or project be fully acknowledged.
The final examination is considered one of a course's scheduled meeting periods. A course in which a final is not given must still meet during this time. The final exam schedule for all courses is printed in the course schedule book.
All course work in the Department of English and Journalism involves a considerable amount of both reading and writing outside of class, yet much of the learning occurs directly in the classroom. While out-of-class work involves reading, working with texts, and writing, in-class work may include discussion, small group work, creative exercises, and workshops. Such in-class work involves the productive exchange of ideas on which learning depends, and thus this work cannot be "made up."
Attendance is also extremely important in classes in which lecture is the main mode of communication. Usually, lectures are intended to clarify, interpret, and supplement the textbook; they may also add depth by raising related raising related issues--all of which contribute to a student's understanding of the reading. In fact, the issue of attendance, even in a class with a purely lecture format, is an issue of participation. In our department, small classes are maintained in order to create a mutually beneficial interaction between student and teacher.
Furthermore, in-class work, no matter what the form, prepares students for homework projects, papers, tests, midterm and final exams--activities which form a very substantial part of the final grade. To work and read only on one's own outside of class and to miss in-class work is to miss preparation necessary to do well on assignments. To sign up for a class and then not to attend is possibly to risk failing the course and certainly to miss the most valuable part of the educational experience.
Therefore the Department of English and Journalism has approved the following:
The department of English and Journalism supports the right of individual faculty members to penalize students for attendance problems, provided the policy and penalties are described in the course syllabus.