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
Internet Explorer and Safari don't play well with Google Drive. Chrome is best! These buttons will take you to portable versions of the Firefox and Chrome that you can put on a USB drive, or you can search for a full install version in Google. 
