English Composition II is a three-credit college research writing course to prepare students to use the conventions of academic research writing. Writing-as-process and practice strategies will be employed to culminate in the production of an academic research essay supported by well-synthesized, diverse, credible, and reliable secondary sources. Students will demonstrate use of technology to ensure appropriate paraphrase and summary of sources, originality, use of citation style, grammar and mechanics, and scholarly voice.
UNE Online’s science prerequisite courses provide students with a convenient and flexible approach to completing prerequisite requirements. Courses are specifically designed to meet prerequisite requirements for many graduate programs and other professional needs.
On the course start date, students will have access to orientation. This must be completed to be able to gain access to the first module in the course. Students must complete the first module to gain access to the next one. We recommend that students spend about 15 hours per week to complete a course in 16 weeks. When trying to complete the course in less than 16 weeks, we typically see students do this successfully within 12-14 weeks. Instructors will be timely in grading and feedback, but it will not be instant.
Three types of assignments are used within this course and include Discussion Forums, Assignments, and Major Assignments that culminate into the course comprehensive assignment, the Research Essay. Assignment types are weighted in the Grade Breakdown below. See the Course Schedule for an itemized list of the specific course assignments and learning materials.
Assignments involve various writing activities and reflection to strengthen your scholarly writing foundation, conduct library research, explore and apply the conventions of persuasive writing, logic, and rhetorical argument structure.
Discussion Forums allow you to define and examine the various concepts related to academic and research writing. You will also reflect on peer posts as you view how others respond to the discussion prompts. Major Assignments in the course are scaffolded assignments that allow you to construct the comprehensive course assignment, the Research Essay. In the Major Assignments, you will craft and refine sections, drafts, and a final Research Essay.
Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:
Assignment Category | Grade |
---|---|
Discussion and Assessments | 20% |
Assignments | 30% |
Major Assignments | 50% |
Total | 100% |
Grade | Points Grade | Point Average (GPA) |
A | 94 – 100% | 4.00 |
A- | 90 – 93% | 3.75 |
B+ | 87 – 89% | 3.50 |
B | 84 – 86% | 3.00 |
B- | 80 – 83% | 2.75 |
C+ | 77 – 79% | 2.50 |
C | 74 – 76% | 2.00 |
C- | 70 – 73% | 1.75 |
D | 64 – 69% | 1.00 |
F | 00 – 63% | 0.00 |
Week |
Topic |
Readings/Resources |
Assignment Type |
1 |
Your Writing Foundation |
Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence
Writing Commons UNC Writing Center The Guide to Grammar and Writing Videos |
Discussions and Assessments |
Research Purpose and Context |
Assignments |
||
The Research Essay Template |
Assignments |
||
2 |
Opinion Activity |
Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence UNC Writing Center
Writing Commons Videos |
Assignments |
Claims and Counterclaims |
Assignments |
||
Academic Arguments |
Discussions and Assessments |
||
3 |
The Rhetorical Argument |
Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence Writing Commons Purdue OWL Videos |
Assignments |
A Tweet as Rhetorical Appeal |
Assignments |
||
4 |
Deductive Argument Structure |
Writing Commons Purdue OWL UNC Writing Center Videos |
Assignments |
Deductive Argument Analysis |
Assignments |
||
5 |
Inductive Argument Structure |
Writing Commons Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Purdue OWL Videos |
Assignments |
Inductive Argument Analysis |
Assignments |
||
6 |
Logical Fallacies in Social Media |
Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence Purdue OWL UNC Writing Center Videos |
Assignments |
Audience Analysis: Pro, Con, or Neutral |
Assignments |
||
Sources as Evidence |
Discussions and Assessments |
||
7 |
Scholarly vs. Popular Source Types |
Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence Writing Commons UNE Library Services Videos Website
|
Assignments |
Locating Sources of Evidence |
Assignments |
||
8 |
Research Essay Level Headings |
Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence Writing Commons Videos |
Assignments |
Research Essay Coherence |
Assignments |
||
9 |
Thesis Working Statement Prewriting |
Writing Commons UNC Writing Center Videos |
Assignments |
Thesis Working Statement Draft |
Assignments |
||
10 |
Argument Approach Refinement |
Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence Writing Commons UNC Writing Center Videos |
Assignments |
Draft Thesis Paragraph |
Assignments |
||
The Working Thesis Statement |
Discussions and Assessments |
||
11 |
Sources as Argument Evidence |
Writing Commons Purdue OWL Videos |
Assignments |
The Logical Argument Map |
Assignments |
||
Scholarly Source Summary and Paraphrase |
Assignments |
||
12 |
Persuasive Proposals |
UNC Writing Center Purdue OWL Video |
Discussions and Assessments |
The Abstract as Research Paper Proposal |
Assignments |
||
13 |
The Topical Outline with Source Annotation |
Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence Writing Commons Video |
Major Assignments |
APA Mastery for Source Citations |
Assignments |
||
14 |
Research Essay Partial Draft |
Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence Videos |
Major Assignments |
Originality and Similarity Evaluation |
Assignments |
||
15 |
Research Essay Full Draft |
Writing Commons Video |
Major Assignments |
16 |
Final Research Essay |
Writing Commons UNC Writing Center Video |
Major Assignments |
Research and Academic Writing Skills Reflection |
Discussions and Assessments |
Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don’t hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.
Questions? Visit the Student Support Science Prerequisites page
Check Brightspace for specific instructor and support specialist contact information.
Your student service advisor monitors course progression and provides assistance or guidance when needed. They can assist questions regarding ordering course materials, University policies, billing, navigating the course in Brightspace, and more.
The Student Lounge Discussion Board is a designated support forum in which students may engage with each other and grapple with course content. Feel free to post questions, seek clarification, and support each other, but be mindful of UNE’s Academic Integrity Policy.
Your instructor will monitor this forum. However, if you are seeking specific and timely answers to questions about course content or your personal grades, please contact your instructor via course messages. For questions about course materials, program policy, and how to navigate and proceed through the course, please contact your Student Service Advisor through the Student Portal.
The University of New England has contracted with ProctorU to provide students with the most convenient online exam proctoring system. This system provides a simple, no cost to the student, secure, online proctor for exams and allows the student to take all the exams at home and on their own schedule.
Upon enrollment into the course, each student will register with ProctorU and establish a login name and password. This will give the student access to all of ProctorU’s services. When ready, students will schedule each of their proctored exams with ProctorU. Exams must be scheduled at least 72 hours in advance to avoid fees. Prior to taking their exams, students must be sure that they have downloaded the ProctorU Chrome or Firefox extension and are using the most current version of Chrome or Firefox. They must also be sure their testing site’s connection meets the minimum requirements by using ProctorU’s “Test It Out” utility.
Upon the exam day and hour, students will log in to ProctorU and click on “exams”. After following the procedures outlined at ProctorU’s web site, the student will log in to Brightspace and locate their correct exam. The proctor will then allow student access to that exam.
Students must use ProctorU and must follow all proctoring requirements for their exams to be credited.
Proctored exams are not available for review at any time. You will not be able to see the questions, nor the answers you’ve given, after completing the exams. Please contact your instructor for specific feedback.
Discussion board assignments cover interesting current events or materials related to this course that contribute to a deeper understanding of key concepts and allow you to interact with your classmates and the instructor. Each assignment may require you to conduct internet research, read additional materials (a short journal or magazine article), visit a specific webpage, AND/OR view a short video prior to writing a response following the specific guidelines in the assignment.
To earn full credit: you will need to post a response to the discussion topic, respond to the original posts of at least two other students, and then contribute meaningfully to an ongoing discussion. You will need to post your initial response before you will see any posts from your classmates. Please keep in mind that only this initial response is included in your assignment grade, so make sure you have followed all of the guidelines and written a complete response prior to submitting the post. For special cases where one or two students are accelerating faster through the course, the instructor will participate in the discussion so that everyone has the opportunity to interact.
Please see Brightspace for a full description, along with specific guidelines, for each assignment. Discussion board assignments should be completed, along with all other assignments in the course, in the order that they appear. Due to the course design, you may be unable to take a proctored exam if you do not complete all assignments that appear prior to that exam.
Please also refer to the Grading Policy/Grade Breakdown section of the syllabus to learn the percentage of your grade that each discussion board assignment is worth.
Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Programs: Technical Requirements
A schedule of lectures and assignments is included in this syllabus. This is, however a self-paced course and you can complete the course in less time.
Please visit the enrollment page to review the withdrawal and refund policies.
Students are expected to attempt and complete all graded assignments and proctored exams by the end date of the course. View the incomplete grade policy..
Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, only the student may request official transcripts. This may be done online by going to the University of New England Registrar website and following the directions on the page.
To view your unofficial UNE student transcript:
To request your official UNE student transcript:
Please review your Unofficial Transcript prior to requesting an Official Transcript.
After you click Submit Request, your official transcript will be put into the queue to be printed in the Registrar’s Office.
The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:
Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.