Syllabus
Course Structure
Course Description
This course focuses on written and visual rhetoric, using multiple technologies to deliver and enhance a variety of texts aimed at various audiences. In addition to serving as a prerequisite to many classes in your major, it is designed to prepare you for the writing you will likely do in college and professional work. The tools you will use to interpret and analyze various types of written communication will likely change the way you read, write, and think.
Prerequisites
English 252 assumes that you are familiar with the writing process (pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing) and standard conventions of writing (grammar, punctuation, mechanics, spelling). It also assumes that you have reading skills appropriate to the college level, and that you have been at least superficially introduced to the campus library. You have completed Foundations English 101 or Communication 111.
Course Objectives
English 252 Fundamentals of Research and Presentation is a writing class for English majors and minors. It examines English Studies, asks students to research an issue from the major, and requires students to interpret that research for various rhetorical contexts, both print and digital.
- Students will understand career options and attendant professional issues within English studies.
- Students will demonstrate evidence of academic and career planning (English major emphases, planning classes, extracurricular opportunities, professional networking, and issues in English studies).
- Students will write a resume and begin a professional portfolio.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to conduct and report academic research (research; analyze, synthesize, argue, support; organize, draft, rewrite, edit; document in MLA).
- Students will demonstrate the ability to adapt academic research to a variety of rhetorical situations, including contexts requiring desktop publishing and web authoring (rhetorical theory, audience and context, visual rhetoric, software).
In conjunction with the objectives above, you will:
- Design, draft, revise, edit and proofread several types of academic/pre-professional documents.
- Apply reliable, expected principles of written and visual rhetoric to non-literary contexts.
- State ideas in a logical, concise, and coherent form.
- Choose the most effective language and efficient manner to present material.
Upon course completion, you should become:
- A more methodical researcher, analytical reader, critical thinker, and persuasive presenter.
- A better pre-professional writer and document designer.
Assignments will include:
- Summary papers (English Education, Creative Writing, Literary Studies, Professional Writing
- Research Proposal
- Research Paper
- Presentation (PowerPoint or Prezi)
- LinkedIn Post
- Online Portfolio
- Job materials (Résumé/Cover Letter/List of References)
Course Requirements
Course Texts
There are no texts for this course.
Grading Policies
This course is divided into 14 weeks. All assignments for the week must be turned in by their deadlines (Please refer to your Calendar for due dates as there are sometimes several per week). No late work is accepted. If there is a true emergency preventing you from turning in your assignment on time, you must contact me as quickly as possible to make other arrangements. If you know you will be unable to turn in an assignment during the week it is due, you must make arrangements to turn in your work early. Because the class is online, you have more flexibility, so things like car trouble, travel, mild illness, or employment should not deter you from completing the work for the course on time. In the event of technical difficulties with I-Learn, you will need to find another way to send me your work (email is a possibility).
Please remember to save your work in several places to ensure that it is not lost. For example, you could email it to yourself and a friend, save it on a flash drive, and save it on your hard drive. If you lose work and do not have it backed up elsewhere, you will have no choice but to redo everything that you lost.
There are approximately 1000 points possible. The number of points you accumulate by the end of the semester determines your grade. I-Learn’s Grade Center shows the percentage of the work completed and your current grade. The majority of the final grade comes at the course’s end with the completion of several writing projects.
My goal is to help you become a better writer, so please contact me with any questions or concerns you have about the class. Please put ENG 252 in the subject line of your email. I am here to help.
Grades
The total points possible in the course cluster in approximately the following weights:
- 20% Preparation
- 55% Assignments and Papers
- 25% Exams
BYU–I has adopted new definitions for final grades:
- A: To achieve this grade students should master course content and then demonstrate through their own initiative a desire and ability to go beyond mastery.
- B: Represents mastery of material and would prepare students to be successful in next-level courses, graduate school, or employment.
- C: Represents exposure to all materials with a basic understanding of most concepts. Sequenced courses could be attempted, but difficulty in mastering new materials might prove challenging.
- D: Indicates a lack of performance and understanding in the subject matter. Sequenced courses should not be attempted. Retaking a course or remediation would be necessary to prepare for additional instruction in the subject matter.
- F: Represents failure in the course.
| Grading Scale | |
|---|---|
| A | 94% - 100% |
| A- | 90% - 93% |
| B+ | 87% - 89% |
| B | 84% - 86% |
| B- | 80% - 83% |
| C+ | 77% - 79% |
| C | 74% - 76% |
| C- | 70% - 73% |
| D+ | 67% - 69% |
| D | 62% - 66% |
| D- | 60% - 61% |
| F | 59% - 0% |
Standard Code of Conduct
Demand the highest ethical standards from yourself.
The collaborative and team oriented nature in this class means that there are many group projects both in and out of class. It is inevitable that you will have opportunities to hand in work that is not your own. Remember when these opportunities present themselves that you are being trusted and challenged to uphold the highest standards of ethical behavior. We want you to learn from your experiences in this class and at BYU-I in general, that you need to be able to trust each other and yourself to make the ethical decision. Accordingly, cheating, plagiarism, and other cases of intellectual dishonesty will not be tolerated, and will be referred to the judicial board for review.
Take pride in your work.
Business leaders know that everything they present to the public reflects on them and their organization. Long-term success comes only to companies and individuals who produce the highest quality products and services, and deliver them in a timely fashion. Every paper, presentation, and project is an expression of the pride you take in yourself and your work. Make every effort to write well, meet deadlines, and take the time to make both the format and the content of your work of the highest quality. This may mean writing one more draft, double checking spelling and grammar, or reviewing overheads and practicing your presentation one more time.
Demonstrate respect for yourself and for others.
Managers make decisions and try to influence others to implement them. Thus, if you are going to be a manager, you have to learn how to make others accept and respect you. You must show yourself to be worthy of their respect and show that you respect them. Your professional demeanor sends messages about your leadership ability and level of dedication. You can earn a lot of credit here for doing some very basic things.
- Be On Time – Professional behavior means being on time for classes, appointments, and meetings. Furthermore, it means staying there once you have arrived. Just as you wouldn’t leave the middle of a business meeting in order to get a soda, you shouldn’t disrupt a class by leaving in the middle for a drink, chat or to check your e-mail.
- Be Prepared – Unprepared managers have very short careers (or end up in dead-end jobs). To succeed, you need to prepare for each class session. Nothing shows less respect for others than making them wait while you do something you were supposed to have done in advance. If you don’t come prepared and try instead, to “fake it,” you run the risk of looking foolish and wasting everyone’s time with irrelevant comments.
- Show Respect – Professionalism also means being civil to those with whom you disagree. In business, you will find that you must work with people with conflicting opinions or personal styles. Your ability to work with, tolerate, and effectively interact with these individuals is critical to your success. Finally, you demonstrate a lack of respect for your colleagues or professors when you engage in private discussions while course or business meeting is in progress.
- Get Involved – Professionalism means keeping up with the discussion. It means making a contribution. Not everything you say has to be serious, however. As long as it fits, it is okay, even desirable, to inject a little humor once in a while. Just make sure you do it in a way that is not mean and does not step on anybody’s toes.
Resources
Online Support Center
The Online Support Center (OSC) is designed to help any students taking online courses at BYU-Idaho. If you have questions about any online course or any feedback concerning online courses, instructors, or your online learning experience please contact the OSC.
OSC Contact Information
Phone: 208-496-1411
Text Messaging: 855-808-7102
Email: onlinelearning@byui.edu
Live Chat: Click Here
Website: https://www.byui.edu/online/online-support-center
Hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. MST
Please visit the University Policies page to read BYU-Idaho’s policies on student honor, students with disabilities, sexual harassment, and complaints and grievances.