DEADLINES:
Every assignment for this course is due at 11 AM on the due date on the syllabus. Papers turned in after this time are considered late and are given severe penalties. Generally, assignments will be marked one letter grade lower for each day they are late. No assignments are accepted after being four days late.

FORMAT, LENGTH, STYLE, TONE AND AUDIENCE:
Every written assignment is required to be written on a word processor, specifically Microsoft Word. Each assignment will need to be emailed to the professor as an attachment. Each page of the assignment should have one inch margins all around, be left justified, and include a page number and the student's name. All text should be double spaced, unless the format specifies otherwise, and font and point sizes of the text should yield around 250 words per page (I recommend Times New Roman at 10 or 12 point). All submitted text must be original work. All quoted and paraphrased text must be documented according to MLA documentation standards, unless otherwise stated. All writing must maintain a formal, profession style and tone. Each document should demonstrate the student's ability to write, edit, revise and proofread on a college level. Contractions and slang terms or phrases are not considered elements of formal writing. Generally, for most assignments try to avoid using first and second person pronouns. The audiences for all your papers will be, primarily, the instructor and your peers and, secondarily an educated, college level reader. As such, you should always consider these audiences when you write. Avoid racist and sexist language at all times. Avoid all common logical fallacies.

DRAFTS:
Each advanced draft should meet all format requirements of the final essay format, including being written on a word processor. Drafts will be worth a percentage of the assignment's overall grade.

ELECTRONIC COPIES (Virtual):
All assignments turned in to the instructor will be through email; you will be required to attach electronic versions of all your assignments to an email message sent to me. Use Millikin University's email processor GroupWise or the Blackboard email system to do this. My email address is: moconner@mail.millikin.edu

Names of electronic assignments should be consistent. They should include the assignment number (AS1) followed by three initials of your name (AS1mlo) then followed by the document word processor type. Since MS Word documents end with [.doc] your assignment written with Word would be titled AS1mlo.doc

For safety, keep all of your assignments on a three and a half inch floppy disk, and back up this disk often. To submit the assignment to me attached to an email message, use GroupWise from a campus computer lab. Address the email to me as you normally would. For the subject line of the email message, use your assignment name (AS1mlo.doc) then click on the Attach button. Click onto your floppy disk, then onto the assignment your are sending. Then send me the email and the document will be attached--if properly done, an icon of the assignment will appear at the bottom of the email screen.

PRODUCT VERSUS EFFORT:
Keep in mind that the English Department requires professors to grade the assignment, not the effort. Spending many hours--indeed multiple days--on an assignment is the norm, not the exception, and the amount of time you spend on a paper will be reflected in the grade you receive only insofar as it is also reflected in the quality of that paper.

PLAGIARISM POLICY:
Students who submit as their own work a paper (i.e., a thesis, microtheme, draft, completed essay, or any other written work) which is taken in whole or in part from another person's writing without proper acknowledgment (that is, the use of quotation marks and documentation for directly quoted work or some sort of specific citation for paraphrased material) are guilty of plagiarism. Students who allow another student to copy their work are also guilty of cheating. Students who submit a plagiarized paper or who allow another person to copy their work are subject to any one or all of the following actions:
1. receiving a grade of zero for the paper
2. receiving an F for the course
3. being reported to the Dean for possible disciplinary action
In brief, plagiarism is the borrowing of ideas, opinions, examples, words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or even structure from another person, including professional writers and other students, without acknowledgement. Note that plagiarism is not restricted to the unacknowledged borrowing of specific language; it includes as well unacknowledged paraphrasing (restating another's ideas in your own language) and the unacknowledged borrowing of ideas with or without direct quotation or paraphrase. Whenever you borrow any concepts, structures, or words from another person, you must include full formal acknowledgement; when particular words are borrowed, you must also include quotation marks around them. Failure to provide complete documentation and, when applicable, quotation marks is plagiarism and will be subject to the disciplinary actions outlined above.

WRITING ASSISTANCE:
Assistance with your writing can be obtained by making an appointment with The Writing Center. Bring the assignment sheet and/or your drafts with you to the appointment. Although walk-ins are accepted, scheduled appointments have priority. Call for an appointment at 424-6353. The Center helps with all aspects of writing, including brainstorming for ideas and overcoming "writer's block." The Center will not edit nor write student's papers but will help develop strategies to improve writing, reading, thinking, and studying processes in a friendly, supportive environment. Multiple visits to the Center are recommended for each of your essays in this class. The Center is in Blackburn Hall Lounge.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
I am always glad to provide letters of recommendation for students who have completed any of my courses with a 93% or above.