Syllabus - Fall 2019

Instructor Information


Name: Dr. Matthew Horton
Office: 704 - Faculty Center
Email: matthew.horton@ung.edu
Office Hours: MW 11-12, W 1-2, F 11-2, TR 11-12:30

Description of Course

English 1101 is English Composition I, a 3-credit hour course offered by the English Department in the College of Arts and Letters that fulfills the first of two Area A "Communication Skills" requirements. You must earn a "C" in English 1101 in order to move on to English 1102.

"The Practice of Preparation"

Over the past few semesters, students have told me that they wish they had a class where they could talk about their struggles and get advice about dealing with them. I don't mean struggles with writing, math, or any other school subject. I mean struggles in life. Like how to earn and save money. How to secure good living conditions. How to deal with a bad roommate. How to manage time better. How to deal with having a job and going to school. How to cook. How to exercise. How to be healthy. How to build credit. How to "move out." How to live your own life. How to make good decisions about education. How to decide on a career. How to move on from people who mistreat you. How to interact with people in healthy ways. How to address the social problems around you. How to make yourself a good job candidate. And I am sure there are many more I have not thought of. Do these sound like things you think about? What a major mess of stress it can all accumulate into! Now, add school! Add English 1101 and your other classes. Add "first semester" woes. Add essays and reading. That's what classes are, right? More stressors to add to the mess. Trust me, I sympathize.

So what I hope we can do is give you a chance to exercise your reading, thinking, and writing skills by engaging in a bit of practical problem solving that might actually make your life better. It's up to you what problems you'd like to look into solving in your life, up to you what areas of your life you'd like to improve, but I promise you that this class will make room for discussions about issues that actually concern you and your classmates personally. Each area of concern is something you can pursue knowledge about. You can become more "literate" in that area. That is, you can come to understand MORE and understand BETTER about the areas of your life in which you struggle and worry. And by gaining competence in these areas, by becoming more literate in them, hopefully you can gain some power over them and worry less. It is the future that is ahead of you, but you need not worry that you won't be ready for it if you prepare and learn how to deal. Let's do some of the "getting ready" this semester. What do you need to be more "literate" in? Money, fitness, time, relationships, education, career planning, food, technology, information? You'll read and write plenty in college, but let's make sure you make progress in your life and your health as well! What else is more important?

To pass this course, you must achieve the following goals:

  • Submit all writing assignments, without turning in too many late or incomplete
  • Type all of your writing, without copying and pasting, in Google Drive

To make a strong grade in this course, you should pursue a mindset that

  • Values good, thorough work more than earning a particular grade
  • Views a college education as your purpose, not an obstacle
  • Approaches writing as a skill to develop rather than busy work
  • Promotes thinking about ideas, activities, and relationships that are important to you
  • Helps you develop a productive writing process
  • Follows the parts of an essay to compose smart, lively papers
  • Accepts criticism from others as a path to stronger performance
  • Motivates you to attend class and participate in our activities

Texts and Materials

Our text is available at the UNG Bookstore. You must purchase a paper copy and bring the text to class every day.

Course Grading

To learn about the work you will do and how your course grade will be determined, please read how your grade is calculated. The basic idea is that you will earn your grade by completing a variety of labor tasks:
  • Reflections
  • Reading Responses
  • Peer Responses
  • Self Responses
  • Paper Topics
  • Rough drafts of papers
  • Revised drafts of papers
  • Final drafts of papers

Stress Reduction Policy

Emotional stress in academic situations can hinder learning and make you anxious. To minimize this type of stress in this class, we will enact the following policies:
  1. Writing assignments in this course will allow you to discuss matters that are personally relevant to you as a human being.
  2. Writing assignments in this course are designed to help you work on skills that you are developing/improving (see Course Objectives for 1101).
  3. I will say only positive comments about your writing during class. Any comments to help you improve will be typed as comments on your documents or in a digital chat session. In addition, you can visit my office for a private conversation to help you improve.
  4. Course grades will largely be determined by timely completion of writing tasks, both in and out of class, not how sophisticated your writing happens to be on those assignments. Please see the Grading Contract for this course.
  5. If you feel stressed or worried about a grade for any assignment or the overall course, you may talk with me about your concerns and options for moving your grade to where you would like it to be. You can email me your free times to meet, even outside my stated office hours.

Conduct Policies

  1. Seek help from Dr. H first. If you are struggling or need help, send me an email—we can meet for tutoring in my office. You can also use workshop time in class to ask me questions. You may seek help on assignments before they are due. Be sure to use your UNG email account and send me an email at matthew.horton@ung.edu, my UNG email address.
  2. Visit the Writing Center. Getting extra help from the writing tutors could be good for you. It all depends on the kind of help you are seeking. If you are not sure, you can talk to me about the best way to use the Writing Center.
  3. Be present. Arriving on time goes a long way to staying on track. I want you to succeed--time in class is essential to that success.
  4. Keep your phone in your bag. Part of "being present" is staying engaged with me, your classmates, and your assignments while in the classroom. If I see your phone or see you using your phone, you will get a non-participation mark for the day. This policy comes into effect as soon as I arrive, even before class begins, so only use your phone in the hallway.
  5. Make-Up Work. Some assignments will be homework, and some will be done in the classroom. When you are absent, show me proof of excuse to avoid the penalty for late work. Attendance will often be required to complete an assignment on time because of an assignment-related workshop. Being here every class period, with all assignments ready, is the best way to earn the grade you want. Always email to notify me about an absence. And if you know you will be absent ahead of time, please let me know so you can finish your work ahead of time and figure out another way to participate in our planned activity.
  6. Turning in work. All assignments for credit will be done in Google Drive. Writing assignments have length requirements stated in the instructions. You will need access to a working computer with reliable internet. The computers in the labs here on campus work great if you don't have one at home. Never use email to turn in work.
  7. Email. The official form of communication at UNG is email. This UNG policy protects the privacy of all of us in the exchange of information. If you need to ask me a question about anything, whether personal or class related, please use your UNG email account to send a message to matthew.horton@ung.edu. This is my official UNG email address. Check your email two or three times a day.
  8. Computers. Please log on as soon as you arrive and come to this website. Review the calendar, look over the resources, reread assignment instructions, work on your writing. All communication with people outside the classroom needs to happen outside the classroom. If you have an emergency that requires you to use your phone during class, please ask to be excused.
  9. Printers. To avoid distractions, do not print any documents in the classroom during class.
  10. Disruptive behavior. Sensitivity and respect in and out of class between you and me and between you and your classmates is important. Do not be intentionally base, insulting, or provocative. I like debate during class when we are discussing issues or reading material, but please do not publicly criticize me, my class, or your classmates. We can speak privately in my office, or you can send me an email. Disruptive behavior includes leaving class (except for emergencies) and eating in the classroom. You may have bottled water in the classroom, but no food (UNG policy).
  11. Academic honesty. All work to fulfill requirements of this class must meet UNG standards of academic honesty. Violations of these standards include receiving or giving assistance on any graded assignment without my permission (aka, cheating), fabricating evidence for use in an essay (aka, lying), and using another person's words or thoughts in your paper without giving that person credit (aka, plagiarism). Penalty for committing these acts could range from a zero on the assignment to an "F" in the course. For instance, in a class like this one, having someone proofread your paper or write any part of it for you would be considered cheating. I know that might seem strange to some of you, but it is even more strange to think that you should pretend to have skills that actually belong to someone else. Instead, develop YOUR skills.
  12. Withdrawal. Remember that you cannot withdraw from a class simply by not coming anymore. You have to withdraw yourself through Banner Web before the midpoint. Please be familiar with the University Attendance Policies.
  13. Disclaimer. This syllabus is subject to change to meet the needs of the course.
Supplemental Syllabus
Student IT support