Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

IW: Writing about Dystopias (Online)

ENGL 2010-32I

Course: ENGL 2010-32I
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: ENGL
CRN: 32249

Course Description

The second of the GE writing courses emphasizes the development of an effective academic style in argumentative essays that makes use of traditional rhetorical patterns, culminating in a major research paper. Subtopics will vary. Students with ACT English scores below 29 must take ENGL 1010 or ENGL 1010E before enrolling in 2010. (Fall, Spring, Summer) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Prerequisite(s): ENGL 1010 or ENGL 1010E or ACT English Subscore - Prerequisite Min. Grade: D- Prerequisite Test (Min. Score): ACT English Subscore (29) General Education Category: Written Communication

Required Texts


  • I provide required articles and links for you through Canvas modules and your assignments. There are no books for you to buy.
  • You need to use Word for this class.  You have free access to this: On MySUU, go to Resources, then Office 356 Log In.  Do not use Google Docs; it messes up the formatting and doesn't always work with Canvas.
  • You need access to Canvas and the SUU Library website.

Learning Outcomes


By the end of this course, you will have learned the following:

Written Communication
Construct arguments that demonstrate rhetorical awareness of purpose, audience, and context
  • Employ accurate and diverse diction, appropriate tone, and construct sentences varied in structure
  • Define the scope of the research question or thesis completely and determine key concepts.
  • Design and construct arguments for specific audiences with an emphasis on organizing, sustaining, and maintaining consistency
  • Employ standard grammatical usage, including correct punctuation for discipline, and adhere to a specific style guide

Information Literacy
Identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively and responsibly use and share information to achieve an intended purpose.
  • Access and document information and relevant sources using a variety of search strategies
  • Correctly use primary and secondary sources (including paraphrase, summary, and quotations) in ways that are true to the original text

Inquiry and Analysis
Systematically explore issues through the collection and analysis of evidence that results in informed conclusions and judgments.
  • Break complex topics or issues into parts to gain a better understanding of them. 
  • Arrange and synthesize evidence to reveal insightful patterns, differences, or similarities related to focus

Course Requirements

While you can technically miss some assignments and not hurt your grade, sometimes one assignment is the only time a concept is talked about, so you won't know how to do it on the next assignments or major essays.
**Also note that because I want to teach you to use the best academic sources, we will only be using the SUU library databases' peer-reviewed academic articles and they can only be 5 years old or less.**

Major Essays

The bulk of your grade in ENGL 2010 will come from these interconnected assignments which culminate in a substantial, 10+ page Persuasive Argument Essay. The Informational Essay and the Topic Proposal are all part of the process for this final essay.
All smaller assignments help you craft parts of the final essay, so you need each assignment to do well on that final essay.

Discussions

Discussions are completion-based assignments that allow us to explore course ideas and readings in depth.

Workshops

Workshops are low-stakes activities designed to help you practice skills and explore ideas (easy points that will help your other assignments, too)--they also let your professors check in on how your research is developing. They are designed to help with your Major Writing Assignments, so feel free to reuse and recycle the writing you do for them when appropriate!

Quizzes

These are open-book quizzes just to make sure you have some basic information under your belt.

Course Outline


Sun Aug 31, 2025
Canvas Settings (abt. 15 min) due by 11:59pm
MLA Template 1 (abt. 15 min) due by 11:59pm
Syllabus Quiz (abt. 15 min) due by 11:59pm
Sun Sep 14, 2025 
Discussion: "Shitty First Drafts" (abt. 30 min) due by 11:59pm
Quick Quiz: What Makes a Source Academic? (abt. 15 min) | due by 11:59pm
Mon Sep 15, 2025
Discussion: "Shitty First Drafts" (abt. 30 min) due by 11:59pm
Sun Sep 21, 2025
Discussion: Read "The Perfect Match" by Ken Liu (abt. 1 hr) due by 11:59pm
Discussion: What Is a Dystopia? (abt. 1 hr) due by 11:59pm
Quick Quiz: MLA Writing Style (abt. 30 min) due by 11:59pm
Mon Sep 22, 2025
Discussion: Read "The Perfect Match" by Ken Liu (abt. 1 hr) due by 11:59pm
Discussion: What Is a Dystopia? (abt. 1 hr) due by 11:59pm
Sun Sep 28, 2025 
Discussion: Read a Dystopian Story! (abt. 1 hrs) due by 11:59pm
MLA Template 2 (abt. 15 min) due by 11:59pm
Quick Quiz: Personal Pronouns in Academic Writing (abt. 15 min) due by 11:59pm
Workshop: How to Read Like a Writer (abt. 1 hr) due by 11:59pm
Discussion: Read a Dystopian Story! (abt. 1 hrs) due by 11:59pm
Sun Oct 5, 2025 
Discussion: Watch a Dystopian Movie! (abt. 3 hrs) due by 11:59pm
Workshop: Incorporating Sources into Writing (abt. 20 min) due by 11:59pm
Mon Oct 6, 2025 
Discussion: Watch a Dystopian Movie! (abt. 3 hrs) due by 11:59pm
Sun Oct 12, 2025
Major Assignment 1: First Draft of the Explanatory Essay (abt. 3 hrs) due by 11:59pm
Sun Oct 19, 2025
Major Assignment 1: Final Draft of the Explanatory Essay (abt. 1 hr to revise if your first draft is in decent shape) due by 11:59pm
Sun Oct 26, 2025 
Discussion: Rhetorical "Moves" (abt 30 min) due by 11:59pm
Quick Quiz: Choosing Quotes (abt. 15 min) due by 11:59pm
Mon Oct 27, 2025 
Discussion: Rhetorical "Moves" (abt 30 min) due by 11:59pm
Sun Nov 2, 2025 
Major Assignment 2: First Draft of the Topic Proposal (abt. 3 hrs) due by 11:59pm
Sun Nov 9, 2025
Major Assignment 2: Final Draft of the Topic Proposal (abt. 1 hr to revise if your first draft is in decent shape) due by 11:59pm
Sun Nov 16, 2025 
Quick Quiz: Odds and Ends (abt. 15 min) due by 11:59pm
Thesis Statement (abt. 30 min) due by 11:59pm
Workshop: Introductions (abt. 20 min) due by 11:59pm
Sun Nov 30, 2025 
Major Assignment 3: First Draft of the Persuasive Argument Essay (abt. 8-12 hrs depending on the time you spent on assignments working up to this one) due by 11:59pm
Sun Dec 7, 2025 
Major Assignment 3: Final Draft of the Persuasive Argument Essay (abt. 2 hrs to revise if your first draft is in decent shape) due by 11:59pm

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work


  • You can turn work in late for full points! But late work won't get notes from me, which can inadvertently affect your grade. (You can still get any questions answered if you come in for office hours, however).
  • You can do rewrites for full points, too! In writing, it is very common to have to revise!  That's what the writing process is!  It's not a failing on your part if you need to revise.  I want you to learn, so if you miss the point of an assignment or you don't like your grade, come see me so we can see what needs to be done for your next attempt.
  • There are exceptions to late work and rewrites being allowed: 
    • Discussions- because other students depend on your timely response, cannot be late.
    • Oct 12 and Nov 23 are hard deadlines. No work or rewrites from Weeks 1-5 can be turned in after October 12. No work or rewrites from Weeks 6-12 can be turned in after Nov 23. There are no exceptions.
    • Your final draft of your final essay cannot be turned in late.  There are no exceptions.

**Please, contact me asap if you need extra time or are struggling in some other way! I can't help you after the fact.**

Attendance Policy

As this is an asynchronous online class, there is no attendance requirement. However, please note that the course discussions (which replicate the in-class discussion portion of a face-to-face class) are mandatory, due weekly, and cannot be made up if missed.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.