Composition at Cumberland

To Begin With

Welcome to Cumberland College! By now you may have received several pieces of mail expressing this sentiment and even had a few people say it to you in person. Those people may have gone on to list some of the experiences you have to look forward to at CC--cheering for our teams, joining in BSU activities, meeting new friends and roommates, deciding upon your major, and, we hope, celebrating your achievement of graduation.

The odds are, however, that no one included freshman composition in a list of the highpoints of college life to be joyfully anticipated. And yet your experiences in freshman composition should be memorable. Even if not as relaxing and invigorating as a weekend outing to Cumberland Falls, freshman composition could become for you an interesting and engaging opportunity to explore your possibilities as a student and as an individual. After all, the communication skills you will practice and sharpen in freshman composition will contribute significantly to your success in college and in life--whatever major you choose or whatever occupation you enter.

The freshman and sophomore English courses at Cumberland College are at the heart of a true liberal education. First of all, these classes are intended to prepare you for the future--for later classwork and for later activities beyond college. Writing is one of the keys to education, and education is one of the keys to social success, economic stability, and personal satisfaction. Hence, learning to write well should be one of your priorities in college, not only to get a good grade in ENGL 131 or 132, but also to get the most out of all of your classes and the most out of yourself.

The administration and faculty of Cumberland College have made the promotion of good writing a priority--not only writing to communicate--as important as that is--but also writing to learn, to reach a higher level of understanding and mastery in any subject matter. Thus, as part of our commitment to Writing Across the Curriculum, college policy requires that at least one essay exam be written in every course. Since 1990, the English department has taken the further step of bringing computers into all freshman English courses, establishing the Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) Lab so that all freshman English students have the opportunity to develop computer literacy skills as well as traditional English and writing skills. And now resources for writers as available not only through the Academic Resource Center but also through the Department's Resources for Writers webpage.

Plainly, our commitment to you the student is clear; we are doing our best to help you. But our commitment means little without your commitment to do your best to help yourself--for academic survival if nothing else.  If you make this commitment, however, you will learn much more than the technical and rhetorical skills of good grammar, clear organization, an engaging prose style, and computer literacy. You will also develop your abilities as a critical thinker--and that is perhaps the goal of a liberal education.

Although it can be defined in many ways, critical thinking in general involves the ability to set experience--data, if you will--into a perspective that helps clarify and illuminate the significance and value of that experience. At its best, critical thinking is not negative and destructive but rather novel and constructive. When elementary teachers try to describe the strengths and weaknesses of students in order to determine the proper level of materials to assign, they are engaged in critical thinking. When music reviewers explain how the rhythms of contemporary rock music echo the contrapuntal music of J. S. Bach, they are engaged in critical thinking. When ministers discuss in sermons how Paul's letter to the Ephesians echoes and reinterprets certain Old Testament passages, they are also thinking critically and trying toget their congregations to do so as well. In freshman composition, you will be encouraged to think and write critically. You will be encouraged to express yourself, but also to test and stretch yourself. You will be asked to transform platitudes into insights, observations into truths, and opinions into reasoned arguments.

So, welcome to Cumberland College and to freshman composition. We hope that you will welcome the challenges and opportunities that both will provide.

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The Freshman Composition Sequence

As an entering freshman or as a returning student or transfer student who has not completed the general education requirement in English, you will take ENGL 131 or ENGL 132. Below are brief descriptions of the activities and goals of these courses.

ENGL 131

Most students arriving on campus for the first time will find themselves enrolled in English Composition I. Since composition is a basic skill that you will make use of in virtually all of your other courses, you should ideally complete the freshman composition sequence during your first year.

In ENGL 131 you will write at least 4500 words spread out among a number of formal essays, revisions, short exercises, and perhaps a journal. Further, you will have the opportunity to take freshman composition using computers. So you will be gaining in at least three ways--not only in English and writing skills, but also in computer literacy skills. The first semester of freshman composition routinely includes a survey of grammar and mechanics tailored to the needs of the class and emphasizing those problems commonly perceived by literate, educated people as major and serious errors. (See the brief discussion of these problems in the section on GRADING below.) For more intensive study and practice on specific points of grammar, some students will be encouraged to visit the Academic Resource Center (ARC). The staff of the ARC is available to any student desiring help with writing. You don't need an instructor's referral to take advantage of ARC's services.

Besides receiving practice in writing accurate prose, you will also be given the opportunity in ENGL 131 to develop those organizational and rhetorical skills that make for interesting, informative and effective prose. Most of the writing you do in ENGL 131 will be based upon personal experience and observation. Readings will often be assigned to help you become a more sensitive and perceptive observer of your own life and of events in the world around you.

At the end of the term, your mastery of the skills covered in ENGL 131 will be assessed in a two-part final.

The following texts are currently used in ENGL 131:

  • Motives for Writing, 4th ed.
  • Hodges' Harbrace Handbook, 15th ed.

In addition, your instructor may use one or more books from the department's "lending library." These books will be distributed to you at the appropriate time by your instructor. Finally, if you do not already own a good college dictionary, you should purchase one immediately. It will serve you well, if you use it, throughout your college career.

Opening Week in ENGL 131

During the first week or so of classes, all ENGL 131 sections will take a diagnostic test on grammar and mechanics. Once the diagnostic test has been graded, you will receive a diagnostic key to the test which indicates your particular areas of weakness and the sections in the English handbook which address them. If your diagnostic test score falls below the acceptable level, you should visit the Academic Resource Center right away and begin working on your weakest areas. All sections will also write an in-class essay. These activities will enable your instructor to become familiar with the skills and needs of the class. Your instructor will also go over grading criteria and course policies.

ENGL 132

In English Composition II, you will again write at least 4500 words, probably more, in the course of the term. Generally this class will provide you with continued study and practice of the materials covered in ENGL 131. You will also continue to do a portion of your writing on a computer. Usually, however, less class time is spent on grammar and mechanics. If you still are struggling with major points of grammar or mechanics, your instructor may assign you individualized work or encourage you to make use of the facilities of the Academic Resource Center. Please heed the advice of your instructor. If you do not and at the end of the term are still muddling modifiers or splicing together independent clauses with commas, you will have only yourself to blame for the consequences.

Although the same basic skills are dealt with in both ENGL 131 and 132, English Composition II encourages you to develop more formal, practical writing skills. Whereas major assignments in ENGL 131 often focus on your expression and investigation of personal experience, assignments in ENGL 132 tend to focus more on your comprehension of and critical response to assigned readings in literature. Since most of the writing you will do outside the English classroom--in other classes, on standardized exams, and in business--will involve such a response situation, the critical response skills developed in ENGL 132 should be invaluable to you. Some instructors may include major units on the research paper, resume-writing, and job application letters. And many students discover that by the end of the term they have undergone a rigorous orientation in using the library.

At the end of the term, your mastery of the skills covered in the course will be assessed in a final essay.

The following texts are currently used in ENGL 132:
Harbrace College Handbook, 13th ed.
Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay, 3rd ed.

As in ENGL 131, your instructor will distribute to you additional books from the English department's "lending library."

Taking Courses in Sequence

After you have successfully completed ENGL 132, you will be ready to take one of the literature courses listed later in this booklet. This course will complete your general education requirement in English. ENGL 131 and ENGL 132 are pre-requisites for these and all other courses in literature. Although all of the freshman and sophomore courses focus on many of the same writing skills, they are designed to help you develop your abilities progressively. Thus, ENGL 131, ENGL 132, and the sophomore literature survey course MUST be taken in sequence.

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Final Examinations

Two final tests are required for all ENGL 131 students: an in-class essay and a grammar examination. In ENGL 132, students will write a final essay of literary analysis.

The Final Grammar Exam for ENGL 131

The grammar final will be given during the last full week of classes. This multiple-choice test comes in a variety of forms, each constructed to cover all of the important grammatical points outlined in your Harbrace Handbook. Your professor will advise you further about preparing for this test and may even give you an alternate form for practice. A common grading scale is used by all sections on the grammar final.

The Final Essay Exams for ENGL 131 and 132

The in-class paper for ENGL 131 and ENGL 132 is written at a common time assigned by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Initially your essay will be given to another English professor to be graded simply on a pass-fail basis. Then your essay will be returned to your professor for evaluation. (A coded system is used to keep the pass-fail grading process anonymous and objective.)

Your instructor may also assign your paper a regular letter grade. In the case of a disagreement in judgment between your professor and the outside reader, your instructor's decision usually prevails.

In ENGL 131, you will write a PERSONAL RESPONSE ESSAY based on a list of general topics given to you by your professor. When you move on to ENGL 132, you will be asked to write a somewhat more complex CRITICAL ESSAY based on your reading of one or more literary selections from your textbook or from another source. Your professor will advise you further about essay organization, content, and the need for grammatical correctness.

Teacher Certification Portfolios

Any essay written in English Composition I or II may be included in the portfolio required of all students for admission to the Teacher Education Program.

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Policies and Procedures

Below are the general ground rules of ENGL 131 and ENGL 132 established by the English department. You will want to keep these in mind throughout the semester and take heed of any amendments or additions your instructor may announce.

Attendance

The English department follows the college-wide attendance policy. If you are in a MWF class and miss more than nine times, or if you are in a TTH class and miss more than six times, you will normally be dropped from the class with a grade of automatic F. There is no such thing as an "excused" absence, so you will want to make every reasonable effort to be in class every day. You should save your absences for necessities. Athletes and others in programs that require them to be off-campus periodically must make a special effort to keep their instructors informed in advance of scheduled trips. You are expected to reserve your "free" absences for your scheduled extra-curricular activities. If an emergency arises after you have used up your absences on legitimate school activities, your instructor will be more likely to make adjustments if you have kept him or her informed of your absences in advance and turned in all assignments on time.

Withdrawing from Classes

It is an institutional policy that no freshman enrolled in the college is allowed to withdraw from an ENGL 131 or ENGL 132 course. You must remain in your composition courses throughout your freshman year. If you are dropped from one of these classes for excessive absences, your grade is recorded in the registrar's office as AF (Automatic F), rather than as WP or WF (Withdrew Passing, Withdrew Failing).

Late Work

As a college student, you must learn to budget your time in order to meet all scheduled assignments in all of your classes. Turning in assignments late shows a lack of concern on your part.

To pass ENGL 131 and ENGL 132, all major assignments must be completed. Any work turned in late will probably receive a late penalty, or even may receive a grade of F. Your instructor will define for you at what point work will be deemed late in your class, and you will be expected to keep that standard in mind throughout the term or face the consequences. Once again, any students who must be off-campus periodically have a particular responsibility to turn in beforehand assignments due during a scheduled absence.

Preparation of Written Work

Your final draft should be written in blue or blue-black ink or typed in black. Further, you should write your final draft only on approved paper, whether it be "Theme Pad" paper, a "blue book," or standard-size loose-leaf or typing paper, all of which are available in the college bookstore. Of course, for work produced on a computer, standard white printer paper is expected. Note that although the CAI Lab has laser printers, 24-pin letter-quality dot-matrix printing is considered adequate by all English department faculty. Be certain to ask your instructor which is preferred if you have questions. You may be required to turn in all notes, outlines, and rough drafts with your essay.

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Academic Responsibility

Plagiarism involves the presenting of another person's work as your own. This may come in the form of quoting an author without giving proper credit, allowing another person to complete a portion of an assignment for you (regardless of the length), or copying work done by another student. Put simply, plagiarism is both cheating and stealing. Such an act cannot be tolerated at an institution of higher learning, especially at a Christian institution such as Cumberland College. If plagiarism is proved, the instructor has the right to do any or all of the following: 1) assign a failing grade for the particular assignment, 2) assign a failing grade for the entire course, 3) bring charges against the student with the appropriate disciplinary body.

At the beginning of each semester of freshman English you will be asked to sign a form stating that you understand the meaning of plagiarism and the procedure which may be followed if you are found guilty of plagiarism.

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Supplemental Services

The English department and the College offer several programs extending beyond the classroom that provide you additional opportunities to develop your communication skills.

The Academic Resource Center

The Academic Resource Center (ARC), located on the first floor of the Gray Brick Building, provides free tutorial assistance in writing skills for all Cumberland College students.

Individualized, self-paced approaches available in the ARC include one-to-one conferences with a qualified tutor, books, free printed help-sheets, sound-filmstrips, videocassettes, and computers. Even "user-friendly" software is provided, as well as letter-quality printers. The whole writing process is covered, from getting ideas to final revision. The how's and why's of writing essays or essay exams, research papers, reports, resumes, business letters or speeches are some of the specific topics addressed. Other topics include grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary building, and spelling improvement.

Students are welcome to use the ARC either on a walk-in basis or on an instructor's referral. All classifications, freshman through graduate students from all academic disciplines, can strengthen their writing skills by using the facilities of the ARC.

Though many students are referred, many students "drop-in" to get ARC self-help materials and advice. Some of these students are "creative" writers who are working on poems or stories, while most are mature students who realize that they can't get very far in today's job market without effective writing skills. Many come to do computer word processing or to use the ARC's letter-quality printers.

The ARC is open to all Cumberland College students year-round. Specific hours are posted beside the entrance. Individual appointments are available by request. You're invited to drop in at the ARC or call ext. 4312 for further information.

Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) Lab

Your coursework in English 131 and 132 will include class days spent in the CAI Lab, Room 108 in the Gray Brick Building, next door to the Academic Resource Center. Since it is unlikely that you will complete all of your word processing during class hours, you may want to return to the lab for individualized work during the late afternoons, evenings, or weekends. The CAI Lab will be open an adequate number of hours during the week and on weekends to meet the needs of students. Your instructor will distribute to you a copy of the scheduled hours. Trained teaching assistants will be available to help you during these hours. Check classroom and lab bulletins for any changes in the schedule. The CAI Lab is designated for the exclusive use of students enrolled in ENGL 131 and 132. Of course, all students are welcome to use the computers and printers in the ARC (GB 104) and in the Academic Computer Center (Library Basement).

Lending Library

The English department maintains its own small lending library housed in the central English office in Gray Brick. Selections include both fiction and nonfiction and are chosen to appeal to a number of interests, including science, philosophy, and family life. Your instructor will discuss with you the specific titles available.

As with any library, you will be required to reimburse the English department if you lose or damage your copy.

Library Orientation

An important element in the education of any individual is the development of skills in using the library. One part of your freshman English experience will deal with usage of the library. At least once each semester in both ENGL 131 and 132 you will accompany your classroom teacher for a formal orientation to the library facilities at Cumberland College. Throughout your freshman English classes, you will be asked to accomplish certain assignments which will require active research in the library.

Pensworth

One creative outlet for student writers of all varieties is Pensworth. This journal of student writing is sponsored jointly by the English Department and the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society. Published once each year, Pensworth normally includes poetry, fiction, essays, and artwork--all by Cumberland students. Submissions are due at the end of October for the new issue that appears each spring. For more details, contact Ms. Nancy Bowden or Dr. Tom Fish, or speak to any member of the English Department.

Sigma Tau Delta

In 1985 the Delta Upsilon chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honor society, was founded at Cumberland College. This group is open to students of all disciplines, not just to English majors and minors. So if you have a strong interest in literature and/or language, you may want to consider applying for membership to Sigma Tau Delta after you have completed your freshman and sophomore English requirements. Since this is an honor society, besides completing three English courses, applicants must have a 3.25 GPA overall and a 3.4 GPA in English. Among other activities, Sigma Tau Delta sponsors Pensworth (a journal of student writing), the Children's Story Hour, and the Student Research Forum. For information on Sigma Tau Delta contact Dr. Tom Fish at ext. 4438.

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Your Future in the English Department

Required Course in Literature

Once you have successfully completed Composition I and II, you will need to take a literature survey course to complete your general education requirements. You may choose from one of the following:

ENGL 331 -- English Literature through 1660. This course provides an overall view of English literature from earliest times through the early seventeenth century. The course introduces students to major writers and literary texts, as well as to the cultural background that defines the Old English, later Medieval, and Renaissance eras. Credit, 3 hours. Offered every semester.

ENGL 332 -- English Literature 1660-1830. This course provides an overall view of English literature from the later seventeenth century through the early nineteenth century. This course introduces students to major writers and literary texts, as well as to the cultural background that defines the Restoration, Augustan, and Romantic eras. Credit, 3 hours. Offered every semester.

ENGL 333 -- English Literature since 1830. This course provides an overall view of English literature from 1830 to the present. The course introduces students to major writers and literary texts, as well as to the cultural background that defines the Victorian, Modern, or Post-Modern milieu. Credit, 3 hours. Offered every semester.

ENGL 334 -- American Literature through 1865. A study of literature in America from colonial times to approximately 1865. Credit, 3 hours. Offered every semester.

ENGL 335 -- American Literature since 1865. A continuation of English 334 to the present time. Credit, 3 hours. Offered every semester.

For more information on these courses, visit the Course Descriptions page or the Literature Surveys page.

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Why Major or Minor in English?

Most students with coursework in English go on to teach in middle schools, junior highs, or high schools. There they usually present a mixture of grammar and literature, often along with a mixture of study skills, library skills, journalism, or even speech and drama. The current trend seems to be that the need for liberal arts teachers is growing. This trend, bolstered by the "back to basics" movement in education, would seem to bode well for the prospective English teacher.

However, not every English major or minor wants to move into the teaching profession. For this student, there are plenty of valid answers to the age-old question, "What can I do with an English major besides teach?" The need for communication skills is being reexamined and reemphasized in the business world today. Besides providing you with a chance to study the best that has been written in western culture, an English major or minor teaches you how to communicate, analyze, and synthesize. The study of English is excellent preparation for seminary, law school, or other graduate programs. It could also provide you with excellent training, by itself or with another major, for employment in the business or computer worlds.

For detailed information on the requirements of the English major or minor, and on the different tracks by which you can focus your Englsih studies, see the college catalog or visit one of the following pages of the English Department's website.

In addition, more information onplanning for your post-collegiate life is available on the Careers in English page.

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