This is a 16-week course managed via Canvas. It begins on Tuesday, August 26 and ends on Thursday, December 18. This is an in-person course, meeting in LA5-171 on Tuesdays from 5:00-7:45pm.

Course Information

What's this course all about?

English 100B is an introductory composition course, which means that you'll be building all the important skills you'll need to read and write successfully as a college student. You'll read from a wide variety of texts with ideas and perspectives that you might find new and challenging. Remember to stay open-minded! You'll have plenty of opportunities to critically think about, discuss, question, and respond to these readings, and to the ideas of other students in the course. You can read the official course description here. 

As I mentioned above, the theme of our course this semester will be identity and community. Outside of general content about how to improve your writing skills, all of our readings, discussions, and writing projects will center around this theme. Ultimately, our work will center around these questions:

• How do we form and shape our identities as individuals?

• In what ways do language, culture, and community shape our identities? 

• How do we fit into larger communities, and what are our roles? 

• What are the major concerns of our communities?

What course materials will you need?

How can you contact the instructor?

I'm always available through Canvas course messages or via email: lauren.campbell@csulb.edu. Reach out to me with questions anytime, and I'll do my best to respond within 12-24 hours (though perhaps it will take a little longer on the weekends). 

I'll host regular office hours on campus (MHB 706) and via Zoom on Mondays from 2-3pm and on Thursdays from 5-6pm. If these times do not typically work for you, contact me to schedule a Zoom meeting. 

How will you be graded?

In this course, as with most of your college courses, the course grading scale is as follows: A 100-90% | B 89-80% | C 79-70% | D 69-60% | F 59% and lower. 

I want you to succeed in this course, so here's a clear breakdown of how you will earn your points throughout the semester:

5%  Essay 1 (Personal Narrative Essay)

15%  Essay 2 (Thesis-Driven Essay)

20%  Essay 2 (Research Essay)

20%  Final Writing Portfolio

20%  Homework (annotations, quizzes, journaling)

20%  Class Community (discussion posts, peer review, & in-class work)

Rolling Revisions

It's important to remember that our writing will not turn out perfectly the first time, and that revision is an essential part of the writing process. Because the purpose of this course is to support you as you learn to write effectively for college-level courses, I will accept continuous revisions on our three major essays. You must meet all initial deadlines (including peer reviews), but if you are unhappy with your grade you may continue to revise an unlimited number of times until the last week of the semester. While this does not mean that you are guaranteed a better grade, seeking and implementing continuous feedback very often has that effect. If you choose to revise a major essay, you should reach out to me via email and let me know that you will be uploading a revision to Canvas so that I can keep an eye out!

Late Work Policy

Due dates are in place to keep you on track with work. When you miss one due date and fall behind, it can quickly snowball into several missed assignments. Therefore, it is important to turn all assignments in on time. If you find that due dates are unclear to you or that you are struggling, it's essential that you contact me ASAP! 

• All assignments will be submitted through Canvas - I will not accept email submissions for any assignments. 

• All assignments must be submitted as .doc or .PDF files

• Revised drafts of Essays 1, 2 & 3 and the Final Reflection will be screened for plagiarism and AI-generated content using Turnitin and Draftback

• Late or missing work:

  • • If you miss the initial deadline for a homework assignment or discussion post/responses, you may post these up to one week late for 50% credit. After a week has passed I will no longer accept these assignments.

    • I will not accept late posts for peer reviews - you will receive an automatic 0 - NO EXCEPTIONS

    • I will accept late submissions of revised drafts for Essays 1, 2 and 3 up to one week after the due date, but after the week has passed outstanding assignments will receive an automatic 0 and cannot be turned in for credit - NO EXCEPTIONS

Student Conduct and Attendance Policies

It is important to keep in mind that attendance and *active* participation account for 10% of your final grade. This means that if you miss class, you will miss an essential discussion or activity worth a significant number of points. Therefore, it is in your best interest to limit the number of absences you have during the semester. You will have two free absences, and all others will result in your final grade being lowered by one-half letter grade (5%). Missing more than four classes will result in automatic failure of the course. Significant or excessive lateness will also count towards absences; this means that you should not arrive more than 15 minutes late (automatic absence) and should not arrive late more than three times (will count as an absence). 

In this collaborative environment, it is important that we cultivate a space for open-mindedness, respect and kindness. I invite the discussion and debate of controversial topics; in fact, many of our readings will encourage them. Every student will be expected to contribute to class discussion while engaging respectfully with one another. In order to keep our classroom and Canvas page a safe space for all, you should avoid using inflammatory language that could be harmful to others based on their gender, sexual orientation, race, age, culture, or religion, etc. Be thoughtful and lead with kindness. 

AI Policy

While I understand that it can be tempting to use AI, the most important skills we will develop and rely on in this class--critical thinking and analysis--are not skills that AI possesses. AI chatbots are unreliable and cannot replicate human thought. However, if you do use AI, you are fully responsible for the information you submit. My strong suggestion, then, is that if you choose to use AI, it should be for help primarily with brainstorming or revision purposes, and you must clearly note when and how AI was used in your work. If you have ideas about how you’d like to use AI, or questions on how to cite it, please contact me. Use of AI that is not documented will be treated as plagiarism and the assignment will receive a 0. 

College Course Description & Learning Objectives

Course Description from the Catalog:

This is an expository writing course designed for first-year students. It satisfies one of the writing requirements for general education at CSULB. It emphasizes academic discourse, focusing on analytical reading, thesis-driven writing, and rhetorical strategies. This semester, our course will center around the theme of “Identity,” with the following guiding questions: How do we form and shape our identities as individuals? As writers? In what ways do language, culture, and community affect our identities? How do we fit into larger communities, and what are our roles? What are the concerns of those communities? The first unit will focus on the individual, the second unit will focus on the individual as a writer, and the third unit will focus on the individual as part of a community. 

Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to—

1. Compose using multiple modalities appropriate for particular rhetorical situations

2. Assess rhetorical purpose by demonstrating awareness of audience expectations, representing opposing viewpoints accurately and respectfully, and contextualizing claims

3. Develop an academic essay in response to a writing task, indicating a clear topic, focus, and purpose supported by evidence, relevant details, and effectively integrated source materials; apply correctly and understand the assumptions informing citation systems

4. Recognize and make effective use of organizational patterns and transitional devices that serve both the writer’s rhetorical purposes and the needs of the reading audience

5. Demonstrate critical comprehension of college-level reading by grasping the significance of the topic, recognizing assumptions, and providing well-developed, informed analysis

6. Demonstrate control of sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics to enhance clarity and credibility; examine writing conventions as rhetorical decisions: negotiable and fluid across various genres and contexts

College Policies

You can find more information about CSULB's policies on student conduct, plagiarism, and more in here.