O'Conner Assignments: Use Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Sheet and see below
Style and Audience:
All essays and assignments must maintain a formal, profession style and tone.
Each assignment 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. Also, for most assignments try to
avoid using first and second person pronouns. The audiences for all your assignments
will be, primarily, the instructor, secondarily, a university-wide audience,
and finally anyone hooked up to the world wide web in the world. As such, you
should always consider these audiences when you write. Your tone should be serious
and intellectual for the majority of your assignments. Avoid racist and sexist
language at all times. Avoid all common logical fallacies.
Virtual Copies -- Web Assignments:
Virtual or electronic versions of all your assignments will be placed on the
web. You will be shown how to convert all your assignments into web pages or
HTML in the course. Sometimes I will also ask you to send assignments to me
electronically as an email attachment. Use Millikin University's email processor
GroupWise 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. HTML documents end with .html. Hence, assignment one may be titled AS1mlo.html Since MS Word documents end with [.doc] your assignment, written with Word, would be titled AS1mlo.doc PKM teaches us to use files that are accessable to all platforms. I recommend saving all word documents in the Rich Text Format, which generally ends with .rtf. This can be done under the FILE menu choosing the SAVE AS option. Under FILE TYPE or FILE FORMAT choose rtf or rich text format. These files should be labeled ending with a .rtf, hence the assignment would be called AS1mlo.rtf
Keep all of your assignments backed up on your H: drive, a zip disk or superdisk and a three and a half inch floppy disk, and back up 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.
Hard Copies (Printed):
Occassionally, printed hard copies of assignments are requested. Every essay
and assignment is required to be written on a word processor. Microsoft Word
is recommended. No handwritten assignments are acceptable. 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. Assignments with more than two pages should
be affixed with a staple or paper clip. All text should be double spaced and
font and point sizes of the text should yield around 250 words per page. All
submitted text must be original work. All quoted and paraphrased text must be
documented according to MLA documentation standards.
ATTENDANCE:
Roll is taken at the beginning of every class because attendance is mandatory
for success in this course. Students arriving late will be counted absent. See
my Attendance
Policy.
DEADLINES:
Every assignment for this course is due at the beginning of the hour of the
due date on the syllabus. Assignments 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.
ELECTRONIC COPIES (Virtual):
In addition to hard copies of all assignments turned in to the instructor, you will also be required to attach electronic versions of all your assignments to an email note sent to me. Use Millikin University's email processor GroupWise 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 If for some reason you are using another word processor, you will need to save your electronic document as a TEXT (ASCII or DOS) file. This can be done under the FILE menu choosing the SAVE AS option. These files should be labeled ending with a .txt, hence the assignment would be called AS1mlo.txt
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 instructors to grade the actual
assignments, 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 an assignment will be reflected in the grade you receive only insofar as
it is also reflected in the quality of that work.
PLAGIARISM POLICY:
Students who submit as their own work a paper (i.e., a thesis, microtheme, draft,
completed essay, webpage or web presentation or any other 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 the library.
DISTRACTIONS
If you carry a cell phone into the classroom, please turn it off during class
or place it on "silent" mode. Any disruptions that prevent the smooth
flow of academic activities will result in a student being asked to cease the
disruption or leave the classroom. Multiple instances of such distractions will
result in the student being dropped from the course.
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.