Fall 2025
Composition I
COMPOSITION 1 ENGL 1301, section 3F1 COURSE INFORMATION Class Location: TC 200 Days/Times: Tues, Thurs, 8:00 a.m. - 9:10 p.m. INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION Instructor: Dr. Scott Sands Email: ssands@lit.edu Office Phone: (409) 245-8749 Office Location: TC 206 Office Hours: Mon, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Wed, Fri, 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Tues, Thurs, 9:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. CREDIT 3 Semester Credit Hours (3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab) MODE OF INSTRUCTION Online or Face to Face PREREQUISITE/CO-REQUISITE: TSI Complete in Reading and Writing. COURSE DESCRIPTION Intensive study of and practice in writing processes, from invention and researching to drafting, revising, and editing, both individually and collaboratively. Emphasis on effective rhetorical choices, including audience, purpose, arrangement, and style. Focus on writing the academic essay as a vehicle for learning, communicating, and critical analysis. COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to: 1. Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes. 2. Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution. 3. Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose. 4. Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts. 5. Use Edited American English in academic essays. Core Objectives 1. Critical Thinking Skills: To include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information. 2. Communication Skills: To include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication. 3. Personal Responsibility: To include the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS An electronic device with access to the Internet. All other materials will be provided by the instructor. ATTENDANCE POLICY This is an in person class. Attendance and engagement are crucial to success in any course, including this one. Students are required to engage in class and participate in regular discussions and assignments to receive full credit. Students who do not engage with the class daily will fall behind. Additionally, students are expected to check Blackboard and their LIT e-mail regularly (at least twice a week). DROP POLICY If you wish to drop a course, you are responsible for starting and completing the drop process by the specified drop date as listed on the Academic Calendar. If you stop coming to class and fail to drop the course, you will earn an “F” in the course. STUDENT EXPECTED TIME REQUIREMENT For every hour in class (or unit of credit), students should expect to spend at least two to three hours per week studying and completing assignments. For a 3-credit-hour class, students should prepare to allocate approximately six to nine hours per week outside of class in a 16- week session OR approximately twelve to eighteen hours in an 8-week session. Online/Hybrid students should expect to spend at least as much time in this course as in the traditional, face-to-face class. COURSE CALENDAR DATE TOPICS READINGS ASSIGNMENTS Week 1: 8/25 - 8/29 Introduction to the Course Collaborative Storytelling Purdue OWL: Descriptive Essays Narrative Essays Priya Chandrasekaran, "Cutting Our Grandmother's Saris" Ocean Vuong, "Immigrating into English" Week 2: 9/1 - 9/5 Essay Writing: Description Introduction: The Writer’s Memo Bob Broad, The Writer’s Memo Nancy Mairs, “On Being a Cripple” Week 3: 9/8 - 9/12 Peer Review: Draft Personal Essay Draft: Personal Essay Writer’s Memo 1 Week 4: Check-in Conferences Final: Personal Essay 9/15 - 9/19 Writer’s Memo response 1 Week 5: 9/22 - 9/26 Essay Writing: Topic vs. Thesis Jamelle Bouie, "Why Don't Young People Vote?" Gloria Anzaldua, "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" Week 6: 9/29 - 10/3 Introduction to MLA Citation Library Instruction Purdue OWL: MLA Citations (in-text) MLA Works Cited page MLA Citation Practice Week 7: 10/6 - 10/10 Essay Writing: Integrating Sources Draft: Researched Essay Writer’s Memo 2 Week 8: 10/13 - 10/17 Essay Writing: Wrapping it Up Peer Review: Researched Essay Week 9: 10/20 - 10/24 The Dictionary Game Editing vs. Revision Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky” Final: Researched Essay Writer’s Memo response 2 Week 10: 10/27 - 10/31 Check-in Conferences Dictionary Game practice Week 11: 11/3 - 11/7 Peer Review: Revised Essay Draft: Revised Essay Writer’s Memo 3 Week 12: 11/10 - 11/14 Introduction: Transformation, Reflective Synthesis Building the Transformation Genre List Final: Revised Essay Writer’s Memo response 3 Week 13: 11/17 - 11/21 Peer Review: Transformation Draft: Transformation Writer’s Memo 4 Week 14: 11/24 - 11/28 NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Break) Week 15: FINALS Reflective Synthesis Final: Transformation 12/1 - 12/3 Writer’s Memo Response 4 COURSE EVALUATION Final grades will be calculated according to the following criteria: ● COURSE EVALUATION ● Final grades will be calculated according to the following criteria: ● Participation 10% ● Short Writing Assignments 15% ● Personal Essay (Essay 1) 10% ● Revised Essay (Essay 2) 15% ● Researched Essay (Essay 3) 20% ● Transformation Essay (Essay 4) 15% ● Final Exam 15% ● Total 100% GRADING SCALE 90-100 A 80-89 B 70-79 C 60-69 D 0 – 59 F LIT does not use +/- grading scales TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS The latest technical requirements, including hardware, compatible browsers, operating systems, etc. can be online at https://lit.edu/online-learning/online-learning-minimum-computer-requirements. A functional broadband internet connection, such as DSL, cable, or WiFi is necessary to maximize the use of online technology and resources. DISABILITIES STATEMENT The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are federal anti-discrimination statutes that provide comprehensive civil rights for persons with disabilities. LIT provides reasonable accommodations as defined in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, to students with a diagnosed disability. The Special Populations Office is located in the Eagles’ Nest Room 129 and helps foster a supportive and inclusive educational environment by maintaining partnerships with faculty and staff, as well as promoting awareness among all members of the Lamar Institute of Technology community. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Special Populations Coordinator at (409) 951-5708 or email specialpopulations@lit.edu. You may also visit the online resource at Special Populations - Lamar Institute of Technology (lit.edu). STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT STATEMENT It is the responsibility of all registered Lamar Institute of Technology students to access, read, understand and abide by all published policies, regulations, and procedures listed in the LIT Catalog and Student Handbook. The LIT Catalog and Student Handbook may be accessed at www.lit.edu. Please note that the online version of the LIT Catalog and Student Handbook supersedes all other versions of the same document. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE STATEMENT Lamar Institute of Technology (LIT) recognizes the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, have changed the landscape of many career disciplines and will impact many students in and out of the classroom. To prepare students for their selected careers, LIT desires to guide students in the ethical use of these technologies and incorporate AI into classroom instruction and assignments appropriately. Appropriate use of these technologies is at the discretion of the instructor. Students are reminded that all submitted work must be their own original work unless otherwise specified. Students should contact their instructor with any questions as to the acceptable use of AI/ChatGPT in their courses. In this class, AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Perplexity, CoPilot, etc.) may be used up to two times in the following ways: 1) When used by a writer to seek feedback on the writer’s own draft, using the Writer’s Memo as the “prompt” (the text provided to the AI tool to generate a response.) The feedback the AI tool provides must be added as an additional section of the Writer’s Memo for that assignment, and the memo must cite AI appropriately in MLA format. 2) To brainstorm how to complete part of the first draft of the Revised Essay and/or Transformation assignments. The AI tool’s response must be added as a section of the Writer’s Memo for that assignment, and the Writer’s Memo must cite the AI tool appropriately in MLA format. No part of the AI tool’s response language may be used in the draft or final versions of any assignments. STARFISH LIT utilizes an early alert system called Starfish. Throughout the semester, you may receive emails from Starfish regarding your course grades, attendance, or academic performance. Faculty members record student attendance, raise flags and kudos to express concern or give praise, and you can make an appointment with faculty and staff all through the Starfish home page. You can also login to Blackboard or MyLIT and click on the Starfish link to view academic alerts and detailed information. It is the responsibility of the student to pay attention to these emails and information in Starfish and consider taking the recommended actions. Starfish is used to help you be a successful student at LIT ADDITIONAL COURSE POLICIES/INFORMATION Due dates are subject to change. Communication: I will respond to e-mails within 48 hours. Typically, I will only respond to e-mails during my office hours. Late Work and Make-Up Work: Students are permitted to submit up to 1 assignment late, and re-submit up to 1 assignment for a new grade through Friday, November 21. The one late assignment and one re-submission can be different assignments, or the same assignment. The student must submit a completely new Writer’s Memo for the re-submitted assignment.