Spring 2026
Composition I
English 1301-3A4 TR 12:30-2:10 *class starts 2/16/26 INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION Instructor: Mrs. Esther Courville Email: ecourville@lit.edu Office Phone: 409-247-5235 Office Location: Technology Center 112B Office Hours: M-F: 9:00-11:00 & F: 12:05-2:00 *I am also available by appointment if none of these times work with your schedule. I can also meet online via Teams. I accept walk-in appointments, but if you want to be sure I am available, it’s best to make an appointment via Starfish. CREDIT 3 Semester Credit Hours (3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab) MODE OF INSTRUCTION Face-to-face in the Technology Center, room 102. 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 REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS A reliable device with internet access is required The instructor will provide information for supplemental required reading resources. ATTENDANCE POLICY Attendance is mandatory and graded. Attendance is taken each class day. If you are more than 15 minutes late or leave 15 minutes early without a documented excuse, you will get a tardy which is half-credit attendance for the day. If you are on your phone or other device throughout most of the class, you will be counted as absent considering that you are mentally absent from the class. If you leave for a long period of time and come back, you will be either counted as absent or tardy depending on how long you were gone and why you left. Attendance grades cannot be made up, but you can have attendance excused if you have a documented, university-approved absence. Laptops and other devices should only be used when given permission to do so for an in-class activity. DROP POLICY If you wish to drop a course, you are responsible for initiating 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 TOPIC READINGS/MATERIAL (power points posted each week along w/ reading material used to craft power points) ASSIGNMENTS (Due on Sunday night of each week unless otherwise stated by the individual assignment) Week 1 Feb 16-22 VISUAL ANALYSIS: Introduction to class, College writing, and syllabus, Introduction to writing process and general rhetoric -Power point on the rhetorical triangle and rhetorical tools -Syllabus -Power point on college writing -rhetorical analysis exercise journal -creative journal 1 -introduction post discussion -diagnostic mini-essay Week 2 Feb 23-Mar 1 VISUAL ANALYSIS: Introduction to visual rhetoric, Thesis -visual analysis sample essay reading -piece choice discussion board (due Feb 25) -creative journal 2-thesis statement statements, outlining, and brainstorming -power point on thesis, outline, and brainstorming -Power point on ethos, logos, pathos in visual analysis drafting discussion board -outline submission -creative journal 3 Week 3 March 2-8 VISUAL ANALYSIS: the Primary and secondary resources; drafting paragraphs and peer review revision and editing process -Power point on revising and editing a rough draft -Power point on using secondary vs. primary sources, drafting paragraphs, and peer review - rough draft submission -peer review -creative journal 4 -final edited draft due -creative journal 5 Week 4 March 9-15 *this week falls over spring break MOVIE ANALYSIS: Film literacy and how to think and write objectively about a movie -Power point on how to watch a film critically (film literacy), how to think objectively -sample movie analysis reading -movie selection due (must be from the posted list of options) -short film analysis discussion board -creative journal 6 Week 5 March 16-22 MOVIE ANALYSIS: Transforming analytical notes into an outline, thesis statements for movie analysis -Power point on Transforming analytical notes into an outline and thesis statements for movie analysis -thesis statement and outline submission -movie notes (must be hand-written) submission -creative journal 7 Week 6 March 23-29 MOVIE ANALYSIS: Analytical writing style—using specific examples and staying focused and argumentative; using secondary sources -Power point on analytical writing style and secondary sources -rough draft due -peer review due -creative journal 8 Week 7 March 30 – April 5 MOVIE ANALYSIS: Creative approach to critical writing; revision, and editing -Power point on creative approach to critical writing; revision and editing -peer review due -revised edited essay due -creative journal 9 Week 8 April 6-12 PERSUASIVE ESSAY: Argumentation skills, counterargument anticipation, and position -Power point on argumentation skills, counterargument anticipation, and position -practicing argumentation discussion board -topic proposal -creative journal 10 Week 9 April 13-19 PERSUASIVE ESSAY: Researching, source evaluation, thesis statements, and implementation -power point on researching, source evaluation, thesis statements, and implementation -research log submission -thesis statement and outline submission -creative journal 11 Week 10 April 20-26 PERSUASIVE ESSAY: Essay structure, persuasive techniques, audience awareness -Power point on essay structure, persuasive techniques, and audience awareness -rough draft submission -peer review -creative journal 12 Week 11 April 27 – May 3 PERSUASIVE ESSAY: Revision, editing, grammar, and style -Power point on revision, editing, grammar, and style -final draft submission -creative journal 13 Week 12 May 4-6 Final Exams Final exam due: May 6 COURSE EVALUATION Final grades will be calculated according to the following criteria: • Essay #1 (visual analysis) 10% • Essay #2 (movie analysis) 15% • Persuasive Research Essay--Common Assignment 20% • Short Writing Assignments 15% • Daily Grades 15% • Participation/Attendance 10% • Final Examination Essay 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 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY Students found to be committing academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, or collusion) may receive disciplinary action. Students need to familiarize themselves with the institution’s Academic Dishonesty Policy available in the Student Catalog & Handbook at http://catalog.lit.edu/content.php?catoid=3&navoid=80#academic-dishonesty. 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. 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 SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS ONLINE 1. You must have access to a device that is reliable and can connect to reliable internet access. The device must also allow access to the course material. 2. If you do not have access to WI-FI at home, it is your responsibility to find another source of internet access via LIT campus, a public library, cellphone hotspot data, a coffee shop, your high school campus (if you are dual credit), etc. 3. If something happens to your primary device, it is your responsibility to find another device to work with via a public library, the computer lab at LIT, etc. I have had many students successfully submit assignments on cellphones. 4. You may not use WIFI errors or device errors as an excuse for turning something in late when there are several alternatives you can take. 5. If you have a technical problem with Blackboard, you MUST contact the Blackboard help desk. Their contact information is located on the home page when you first sign onto Blackboard. You should also shoot me an email immediately. 6. You will not get full credit for submitting something late if you notify me of a technical difficulty AFTER the due date. 7. You won’t succeed in this course if you don’t check your email and Blackboard announcements daily. 8. Use Chrome or Firefox as your browser. Edge and Safari do not work well with Blackboard. 9. If you do this class’s assignments on a cell phone, a tablet, or a netbook, make sure you are seeing all assignments as they are presented on a desktop computer. MRS. COURVILLE’S RESPONSE TIME 1. I only answer my phone when I am in my office. 2. I only return calls that leave a voicemail. Please leave a detailed message with your name, your number, the class you are in, and your concern. I will call you back as soon as I am back in my office which may be the following day or the following Monday if you left a voicemail on a Friday afternoon. 3. The best way to reach me is through my LIT email, ecourville@lit.edu 4. I usually respond to emails well within the required 24-hour window. On weekends and holidays, I may respond later than 24 hours. Feel free to send me a follow-up email if I have not responded to your first one. Sometimes emails can slip through the cracks. LIT EMAIL 1. Not communicating with me because your LIT email is not working is not a valid reason for not responding to my emails, or for not emailing me. The IT department can help with any issues like this. 2. You are welcome to email me screenshots of what you need help with. 3. Please email me as soon as you get into the blackboard course so that I can ensure your email is up and running. 1. When you email me, please provide your full name and your course name and section so that I can better assist you. BLACKBOARD MESSAGES 1. Check the Send to Email box above Blackboard Messages textbox if you want a faster response. 2. If you use Blackboard Messages to contact me, and I don’t respond within 24 hours, send the same message to my LIT email. BLACKBOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Announcements in Blackboard are posted to the Announcements webpage that you see when you log into class. Read them. They may pertain to schedule changes, homework changes, etc. 2. Announcements are also emailed to your Blackboard email, which you can check at My LIT. STUDENT BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS 1. Keep in mind that each student comes from a different cultural background and brings with her or him a different set of beliefs and values. 2. As a result, students may disagree on various topics during class discussions. 3. Disagreements lead to critical thinking, scholarly debates, and learning only when each member of the class respects the different opinions of others. 4. Disrespect for others or me will not be tolerated. If I feel you are disrupting the learning/teaching environment, I will tell you that you must leave. Your attendance for that class day will not be counted. If this happens a second time, you will be reported and/or removed from the class. 5. Your emails and all communications with me should be respectful. With that in mind, you need to remember email etiquette by addressing me politely, objectively telling me your concern, and closing out the email. You should also have a subject line in your email and tell me your whole name with your class. DUE DATES 1. All assignments have due dates. In-class work cannot be made up unless you have an excused absence. Late homework will only receive full credit if you have an extenuating circumstance that you have communicated to me. Any other late homework assignments will receive a partial grade of 60% or less. Late work that is turned in incomplete will most likely receive 0 credit depending on the severity of incompletion. 2. Making up missed work is not a guarantee to bring you to a passing grade, even if you have made up all of your assignments. 3. Late work MUST be submitted no later than a week before finals start. 4. Late work that is submitted will not be marked or commented on with feedback, and I will not have late work graded immediately. I will have late grades inputted by two weeks. GRADING POLICIES 1. Homework assignments are completion grades, but if you put in an obviously low amount of effort into it, do not meet the requirements, or do not complete it, you will receive partial credit. 2. Missing assignments will be given a 0. 3. All grades are recorded in Gradebook on Blackboard. 4. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure their grades on their assignments match their grades in Blackboard Gradebook. 5. Grading rubrics are available on large assignments. 6. I do not mark specific grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, and style errors on writing assignments, but if there is an abundance of these errors and they lead to a lack of overall language clarity, I will note it on the assignment and doc points from the assignment grade. 7. I provide a list of writing errors that will lower students’ writing assignments’ grades. 8. If you have problems with the types of errors above, we can discuss what those errors are, how to identify them, and the best ways to correct them. 9. This is a student-led discussion of their own writing. 10. I do not recommend that you use programs like Grammarly to fix your errors. 11. All writing assignments must use correct academic style, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage, and MLA formatting. It is the student’s responsibility to know, or find out, what these requirements are. I will provide all the resources you need to find out how to adhere to these writing conventions. 12. All writing assignments’ topics must be approved by me before you start your writing assignments. All of your writing must be completely objective unless otherwise stated by me, so I recommend steering away from highly emotional topics such as abortion, political parties, religious matters, etc. unless you have a logical, unbiased argument. 13. Homework CANNOT be submitted via Blackboard messages or via email unless I have given you permission to do so. If you randomly send me late work via email and do not submit it on Blackboard, you won’t get credit for the assignments. 14. If you submit the wrong assignment, you must contact me asap so that I can delete your attempt and let you resubmit. You must tell me by at least an hour after the original deadline in order to receive full credit for resubmitting. If you do not tell me that you submitted the wrong document, you will receive a 0 for the assignment since it is equivalent to not doing it at all. Once you resubmit the correct document, you either will have late points deducted or receive full credit depending on when you resubmitted. It is very important to double and triple check that you are submitting the right documents for these reasons. 15. Grades on individual assignments and final course grades are NOT negotiable. You may not email me asking me to change a grade or “let you pass.” Your grade and how many points you earn is your responsibility. You can, however, email me if you see a clerical error in the grade, and I will quickly make that change. 16. You may NOT submit links to homework in the place of actual documents. The reason for this is because students can make changes to their document if they have submitted links, and they usually forget to grant access to me. I will not chase anyone down for resubmission of documents that were originally submitted as Word or GoogleDocs links. You will receive a 0 for the assignment, and you will get credit for it once you have submitted the proper document. 17. There are no regrades or retakes. 18. I do not drop assignments. 19. All homework assignments will be graded no later than a week after they were due unless I have an extenuating circumstance. If homework takes me more than a week to grade, I will communicate this to the class with reasoning. Using AI on your papers will slow the grading process down since it requires investigations. ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM POLICIES 1. Academic honesty is expected on all assignments. See LIT student handbook for more information about academic honesty and the penalty for breaking academic honesty. 2. I do not tolerate plagiarism or deception of any sort. This includes using AI to write your writing assignments. You are allowed to use AI to brainstorm topics for papers and edit grammar mistakes, but I do not recommend the latter. I use several AI checkers to check for the use of AI. If your work shows heavy ai-use across multiple checkers indicating that you did not complete the majority of the work yourself, you will receive a 0% on the assignment without the chance to make it up. If you do this a second time, you will be reported to the department chair, and you will not be able to submit any further assignments until you have met with her. 3. Plagiarism is submitting someone else’s work, either published or not, as your own, and is not allowed. 4. You also may not use your own work from a previous class in my class, even if it was my class. You may not work together on assignments unless I have granted permission. 5. You may not allow anyone else to do or significantly alter your work. If you need extra help beyond what I have given you, you can take advantage of the writing tutoring provided through our institution. 6. Patchworking together from the internet is also plagiarism. 7. All writing assignments are submitted to a plagiarism checker in Blackboard to be reviewed for plagiarism, but this is not the only method I use to check for plagiarism. 8. Students who plagiarize may receive a 0 on the entire unit and may receive an F for the entire course. 9. If you use AI grammar checkers, it may make your essay indicative of heavy AI-use. Be careful. 10. Most of the essays that have heavy AI-use end up scoring lowly anyway for lack of requirements met. 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 COURSE ASSIGNMENT BREAKDOWN 1. Minor assignments, such as weekly homework assignments and readings, are subject to change. 2. It’s best to think of this class as broken up into three sets of skills that all fall under the umbrella of composition. Every 5 weeks or so, you will have a major essay due. The assignments that come before the major essay will help you either practice the skills necessary for that essay, help you learn about the skills needed via readings/videos, or help you complete process work for the final essay that is due (such as outlines, rough drafts, etc.). Other small assignments include creative journals and discussions of readings. All of these assignments fall under the categories of ‘Short writing assignments’ and ‘Daily grades.’ 3. Major assignments include essay 1 (visual analysis), essay 2 (movie analysis), essay 3 (persuasive essay), and final exam project. These assignments will not change. MAJOR ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS AND SKILLS 1. Essay 1 (visual analysis) is an essay where you take a non-famous image and analyze the rhetorical situation of the image. You will focus on visual elements such as lighting, colors, subject matter, action, theme, etc. Your goal is to break the image apart for its elements and go beyond mere observation by telling your audience why the artist chose the specific visual elements he/she used to carry out the message of the photo. The skills learned in this essay are summary vs. analysis. As you work on the essay, you will learn about the rhetorical situation, rhetorical tools, and skills of analysis. 2. Essay 2 (movie analysis) is an essay where you build off the skills you learned in Essay 1. Instead of analyzing one image, you will analyze the rhetorical elements of a film. You will be given a list of movies to choose from. You will analyze some elements of the film such as the structure of the plot, themes, motifs, characters, action, cinematography, music, script, and context (you can choose three elements) and make an informed argument about how these certain elements are driving the narrative of the movie and/or how these elements are effectively or ineffectively exhibiting the main message of the film. You will also use scholarly sources to aid your argument. You will sharpen skills of analysis vs. summary in this essay, and you will also learn the importance of argumentation vs. analysis in this essay, considering that you will be blending the two skills in this paper. 3. Essay 3 (persuasive paper) is the core assessment in the class and the last large assignment other than the final project. In this paper, you will make an argument about a pre-approved topic that you chose from the list of umbrella topics given on the assignment sheet. You will have to approach this paper as if you are seeking to show your audience a solution to a relevant problem. It might be helpful for you to think of this paper as a speech. You will not be allowed to choose well-worn, controversial paths such as gun rights, highly political matters, etc. You will use scholarly research to aid your argument. In this paper, you will sharpen valuable skills of writing without bias, objectivity, argumentation, rhetoric, and writing without fallacies. 4. Final Exam Project is a short paper where you will take the core objectives of the class and write an argument with specific examples that prove you met these core objectives. You must use examples from your writing that you produced in the course of the semester. OTHER NOTES 1. Since this is an online course and we will not be meeting synchronously for me to lecture, you are required to read the attached readings each week and watch the attached videos. These readings and videos serve as lecture material. If you do not do this, it will be evident in your essays. Ultimately, the essays are like tests. They assess how well you have understood the material leading up to it. 2. Please come to my office (or call) if you need extra assistance in real-time with material and assignments. I am here to help you! 3. I will give 5 bonus points on an essay if you come to my office before you turn in your final essay.