Prerequisites

To enter Writing 340, a student must have successfully completed Writing 140 and have at least Sophomore status.

Course Requirements

1. Four formal out-of-class essays written in response to different assignments. Each essay will vary from 5-15 typed pages for a total of approximately 30-40 pages during the semester and should demonstrate the ability to document sources correctly and to prepare a Works Cited or References page.
2. Regular informal writing assignments (e.g., responses to readings or class discussions, etc.).
3. Two substantially revised essays selected from the four out-of-class essays to be submitted for the final portfolio.
4. Research activities in support of argumentative or analytical writing assignments.
5. Regular attendance throughout the semester and active participation in class discussions and workshop activities.

Attendance Policies

Please note: You should consult your class syllabus for specific policies related to your section.

Consistent attendance is important both to your own progress in your writing class and to the effective functioning of the class to which you belong. Most of what happens in class cannot be made up.

Failure to attend class, to come prepared and on time, or to participate in group activities will affect not only your own work but the learning of others. For these reasons, any absence has the potential to lower your grade, and excessive absences are certain to lower it significantly.

While absences may result in a direct penalty of up to 5% of your overall grade, their hidden or indirect effect on your mark will in all likelihood be even greater than their direct cost. If you are absent, you will miss the information, practice, and feedback provided in support of each assignment, and this will significantly lower your performance on the most important components of the semester mark, your essays and final portfolio.

Moreover, absences will substantially lower your participation mark (itself worth 5% of the final grade), and they are likely to result in late-paper penalties or in papers that cannot be accepted because your instructor was unable to work on them with you. Most seriously of all, if your absences reach the point at which you can no longer derive adequate benefit from the class, you will be required to withdraw from the course and complete it at a future date when you will be able to attend.

You may be asked to withdraw if you accumulate more than three weeks' worth of absences (six class meetings in TTh sections; nine class meetings in MWF sections). There is no direct attendance penalty for absences totaling less than one week of classes (two absences for TTh sections; three meetings for MWF sections) but such absences may well entail various of the indirect effects described above.

• Absences totaling more than one week's worth of meetings will result in a direct penalty of up to 5% of the final mark, together with additional indirect effects on that grade.
• Absences totaling more than two weeks' worth of meetings will usually undermine the participation mark and lower the grades given to a number of assignments, thus resulting in a severe reduction in the final grade.
• Absences in excess of three weeks' worth of classes will not only further reduce the final grade but may well necessitate withdrawal from the course, since at that point it is unlikely that adequate benefit may be derived from the class.
• Absence from a scheduled conference is equivalent to absence from class.

If you will miss class to participate in a university sponsored activity, you are responsible for informing your instructor in writing at least one week before the impending absence. Notification should include the name and phone number of the sponsoring university agency and/or representative. At your instructor's discretion, you may be required to submit in advance work scheduled for submission on the day of your absence.

If a medical or personal emergency or the observance of a religious holiday causes you to miss class, you are responsible for notifying your instructor in advance and for arranging to make up any work you will miss.
When emergency conditions preclude advance notification, you should contact your instructor or leave a message as soon as reasonably possible. Phone messages may be left with the Writing Program receptionist at (213) 740-1980; voice mail may be left at this number after business hours. Because even notified or "excused" absences interfere with your learning, you are responsible for ensuring that your total number of absences does not exceed the threshold figures described above. Do not allow frivolous or unnecessary absences to place you in a situation in which additional unforeseen absences might jeopardize your grade or require you to withdraw from the class.

When emergency conditions preclude advance notification, you should contact your instructor or leave a message as soon as reasonably possible. Phone messages may be left with the Writing Program receptionist at (213) 740-1980; voice mail may be left at this number after business hours. Because even notified or "excused" absences interfere with your learning, you are responsible for ensuring that your total number of absences does not exceed the threshold figures described above. Do not allow frivolous or unnecessary absences to place you in a situation in which additional unforeseen absences might jeopardize your grade or require you to withdraw from the class.