Austin Community College

Department of Composition and Literary Studies

English 2328: American Literature II 

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This document applies only to the specific course  section(s) indicated below. It supplements the Departmental Syllabus, which applies to all sections of this course at ACC, and which covers information including the course catalog description, learning goals, and department-wide policies. All Departmental Syllabi can be viewed on the Composition and Literary Studies Department website. 

SECTION INFORMATION

Section Number: 003

Synonym: 16712

Modality/Section Type: Online (16-week) 

Service-Learning Course


INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Associate Adjunct Professor Becky Villarreal

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 6-7 p.m. (virtual); 8-9 p.m. (Zoom Conferences)

ACC Email: bvillarr@austincc.edu

Click here to access the Department Syllabus for American Lit II 

REQUIRED TEXTS & MATERIALS

This is a ZTC (Zero Textbook Costs) section. In place of required textbooks, all textbook materials needed for the class will be available online to students free of charge. Students may print copies of the resources but will be responsible for printing costs.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY

During this course, you will complete online activities and quizzes; participate in bulletin board discussions, Zoom meetings, and peer editing; write journals; read and watch online lectures; write two major papers (or an optional project/service-learning presentation); take a midterm exam, and read lectures, short stories, and poetry from online texts and materials.

DISTANCE EDUCATION INFORMATION

This is an asynchronous course and all materials are housed in Blackboard. You can access this course via Blackboard. Although this course is asynchronous, I hold office hours weekly via Zoom.

The Zoom office-hour meetings in this course are held Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Please note that it is highly recommended that you attend Zoom meetings, so that you can learn pertinent information about the assignments, terminology, and lectures, and take the opportunity to ask questions. If you don't attend, you need to watch the recorded session(s) for that week. Information about the Zoom meetings (codes and links) and the recorded sessions are located in the Zoom folder in the course menu in Blackboard. 

During our Zoom sessions, I encourage all students to unmute and engage with me and the other students, reveal your faces (or upload a profile image that captures your essence), and provide your gender pronoun preferences if you wish-- all this will help me and the other students get to know you. If I provide an opportunity to review one of your papers during a Zoom session, by all means, take advantage.

If there is time after our meeting, I can Zoom with students privately by appointment (either at 6:45 p.m. or after 8 p.m.). You must request such a meeting beforehand, not during the Zoom class session.

If you have any problems with Blackboard, Zoom, or ACC email, call the Help Desk at: 512-223-4636.

ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION

Readings and Lectures: Each student will be required to study the assigned lectures, materials, and readings for the course. The quizzes, discussions, exams, journals, terminology, and papers are all focused on the readings and lectures. 

Quizzes and Tutorials: The quizzes will review content and assess what you have learned (lectures, the readings, terms, grammar, punctuation, MLA). The tutorials are required, and the results will need to be attached to your submitted outlines.

Outlines: Before beginning each paper, you will need to complete an outline that will be graded. Once I have provided feedback for you outline, you can begin drafting your paper.

Discussion Board: All discussion board assignments involve either a discussion of the readings or peer editing and will be graded. Do not begin peer editing a paper until I have approved your outline. Once the hard due date has passed, you cannot receive credit for a discussion board.

Papers: There are two major papers assigned for this class (or a project/service learning showcase presentation if you choose that option in Week One or Two). Each paper is 750 or more words and, combined, represent 40 percent of your grade. Do not submit your paper for a grade until after you have complete both the outline and peer editing.


Journals: Students will be required to submit a journal entry at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester to reflect on the readings, assignments, experiences, lectures, and interactions with the instructor and classmates. Students will be required to submit a journal entry at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester to reflect on the readings, assignments, experiences, lectures, and interactions with the instructor and classmates. Each journal is 300-400 words, and together they represent 15 percent of your final grade.

Midterm: The midterm exam will be a multiple choice/true false/short essay open-book test to be taken via the folder linked in the Blackboard menu. Each short essay is 300-500 words, representing five percent of your final grade. 

Zoom Meetings: Zoom meetings are required. If you cannot attend the weekly meeting(s), you must watch the recorded session(s) in the Zoom folder. 


Project and Service Learning Showcase(optional):  Students can opt out of Paper Two and give a 10-15 minute audio/visual presentation based on one of the works or authors on our Reading List. This decision must be made the first week of class (email your proposal to the teacher), and the project must be presented via Zoom in the final two weeks of the course. There is a written component for the project that will align with the word-count provision for this course. If your outline for the project is not completed by the date on the schedule and peer editing not finished a week before your scheduled presentation, you will be asked to write Paper Two. See the Final Project/Showcase tab in the course menu for details.

Service Learning: Service Learning is not required in this course; however, students can earn five points EC after completing service-learning orientation (via Journal One), and then earn ten EC points on Paper Two for participating in two hours or more of an approved Service Learning Activity, which must be completed by the date on the schedule.Students who participate in SIX hours or more of approved service learning activities will be exempt from Journal Three. Those students can also opt out of Paper Two if they present in the Service Learning Showcase TBA (and when available). If your outline for the showcase is not completed by the date on the schedule and peer editing not finished a week before the showcase, you will be asked to withdraw from the showcase and write Paper Two. There is a written component for the showcase that aligns with written requirement for this course. See the Final Project/Showcase tab in the course menu for details.

Attendance: Zoom meetings are required for the online class, whether asynchronous or synchronous. If you cannot attend the weekly meeting(s), you must watch the recorded session(s) in the Zoom folder in Blackboard.  

Participation: All students who are unable to attend and turn on their cameras during one of the first four Zooms (I will take attendance in the last ten min. of class) must meet with the professor in a 5-minute conference before the hard due date noted in the schedule (or complete the alternative participation activity linked in the course menu). All students who are unable to attend and turn on their cameras during one of the first four Zooms (I will take attendance in the last ten min. of class) must complete the alternative participation activity, which will be available after Week Four and linked in the course menu. 

Grades and Feedback: Go to the Gradesheet and Feedback tab in the Course Menu to keep up with your Grades and read the detailed feedback for Journals, Quizzes and Midterm, Outlines, and Papers. For most written assignments, you are allowed to make corrections and receive extra points.

The course is divided into several learning units:

GRADING SYSTEM

All assignments, except for the quizzes, have a written component, which constitutes at least 2/3 of your final grade. The percentages below are based on a 1000-point system:

Grading Scale

A-- 90-100%

B-- 80-89%

C-- 70-79%

D-- 60-69%

F- 59% or Below

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE COURSE SCHEDULE

ATTENDANCE / PARTICIPATION

For online classes, you must complete the orientation quiz and the intro thread by the deadline in the course schedule in order to be counted present that first week.

Attendance is mandatory. In my online courses, you are required to either attend or watch the recordings of all Zoom meetings. 

WITHDRAWALS

If you do not attend or participate in the first week of class (or the first few days in short semesters), you will be withdrawn for non-attendance.

Please do not withdraw from the course without first talking to me. We can discuss a plan of action to ensure your success in the class. If you are thinking about withdrawing, I will insist that you first visit with an academic advisor, the financial aid office, and/or an academic coach to discuss your options.

If you are failing the course and there is no pathway to success, I reserve the right to withdraw you from the class. If you do not want to be withdrawn for whatever reason (such as financial aid, veterans benefits, or graduation), it is your responsibility to let me know early in the semester. Check the Academic Calendar to view the final withdrawal date for this course.

MISSED EXAMS & LATE WORK

Refer to the soft due dates in the schedule to stay on track. In general, I give students a one-week grace period to complete all assignments, except for the first and last week of class. 

All work must be completed by the last day of the course-- no exceptions!

INCOMPLETES

Except in very rare situations, I do not give incompletes. You must be passing the class at the time of your request. I will review each case to determine whether I feel an incomplete is warranted or not. In general, however, barring extraordinary circumstances, and unless you have completed 75% of the coursework on time (and the drop date has passed), I will not grant you an incomplete. Refer to the soft due dates in the syllabus to stay on track.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT & PLAGIARISM


All acts of plagiarism and scholastic dishonesty, including having someone complete assignments for you and using AI tools improperly, are violations of academic integrity subjected to disciplinary action. 


Plagiarism is intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own.


Self-Plagiarism, which is submitting a paper you completed in another class (K-12 or college), is also forbidden. 

If you plagiarize and it is unintentional, you will be given a warning. If you are asked to choose another topic or rewrite the paper, the professor is obligated to report your misconduct to the chair, dean, and Student Affairs. After the second incident, you will face disciplinary action. However, if you commit an act of plagiarism or scholastic dishonesty and it is intentional, you could receive an F in the course and face serious disciplinary action. 

The professor reserves the right to subject students to a one-on-one Zoom conference in the event of suspected academic dishonesty, plagiarism, or improper AI usage. 


Click here to read my paper guidelines and policies. Each paper is assessed based on the criteria set by this grading rubric. 


Use of Artificial Intelligence 

I see AI as a tool, not a replacement for your own thinking. When used thoughtfully, it can assist you, but your personal voice is the most important part of this course.  If you use AI, I expect you to document your use of these tools clearly and appropriately. 

Instructional AI refers to the use of AI tools as a learning aid, such as the basic version of Grammarly*, Quillbot, or some parts of Google NotebookLM. This type of use is often encouraged to help you understand a topic better, but it should not be used to do the work for you. While Grammarly was originally an instructional tool to help students edit their work, it has become a generative AI tool that can revise and rewrite student writing. Using it in this way overrides your authority as an author, so use it primarily for grammar and spelling assistance.

Generative AI refers to computer programs that can create new text, images, or other content in response to your prompts. Popular examples include ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Microsoft's Copilot, DALL-E, and Adobe Firefly. 

When to Use AI 

You may use AI tools in certain stages of the writing process, such as to brainstorm ideas or to assist with editing. 

How I Will Determine and Assess AI Use

Consequences of Misusing AI

If your work shows signs that you have used AI improperly, be prepared to explain your writing process in detail. Penalties may be assessed, such as earning a zero without the opportunity to resubmit. Persistent and/or egregious misuse of AI will be considered a violation of ACC’s Academic Honesty Policies and may result in your failing the course.

Your Digital Privacy

As you use AI tools, keep in mind that many of them collect information from your interactions and use that information to train the programs. Avoid including identifying or personal information in your prompts. You may also consider creating a separate Gmail address to use specifically with GAI tools. Google Gemini is available from the list of Google Apps for your ACC account, and this version of the app will not collect or use your interactions to train Gemini.

Please see the Department Syllabus for English 2328 for more information.

Disclaimer: In this course, we will be dealing with controversial and sensitive subject matter, so that all students exit the course with the ability to communicate effectively and use reliable sources to evolve and think critically. With that said, the topics in the assignments and papers, as well as the banter in discussion boards and Zoom meetings, are not an endorsement of the professor's viewpoints. 


Updated: Spring 2025