Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Spring Semester 2026

IW: Writing abt Pop Culture (Face-to-Face)

ENGL 2010-27

Course: ENGL 2010-27
Credits: 3
Term: Spring Semester 2026
Department: ENGL
CRN: 12097

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

Bullock, Richard, et al. The Little Seagull Handbook, 5th ed. Norton, 2023.

ISBN: 978-1-324-06000-0

Learning Outcomes


1. Sources and Evidence: Locate, evaluate, and integrate credible and relevant sources to achieve various writing purposes.

2. Genre Awareness: Demonstrate critical and conceptual awareness of genre in reading and writing—including organization, content, presentation, formatting, and stylistic choices.

3. Context and Purpose: Analyze rhetorical situations and adapt to the audience, purpose, modalities, and the circumstances surrounding a range of reading and writing tasks.

4. Language Awareness and Usage: Recognize and make intentional, critical, and contextually-informed language choices across a range of rhetorical contexts/situations.

5. Recursive Writing Processes: Develop flexible, iterative, and reflective processes for invention, drafting, workshopping, and revision.

Course Requirements

Diagnostic/P4

In the first few days of the semester you'll write a diagnostic essay. This essay is graded on completion. The point of it is to give me an idea of how the class is doing as a whole so I can respond to student need. We will, however, return to the diagnostic at the very end of the semester. As your final, you will revise the diagnostic and discuss what it is you revised and why. 

P1: Review


The first major paper is an introduction to argumentation and academic writing, and it is a collaborative paper. You and a few other classmates with similar interests will put together a review of a pop culture artifact published within the last three years. You will assess your rhetorical situation and choose an argument and an argumentation approach that suits your specific rhetorical situation.

P2: Proposal


The second and third papers are linked: All the work you do for P2 will directly serve P3, but P2 is essentially the research and prep work for writing a paper while P3 is the actual sentences of the final paper. For the proposal, at minimum, you will choose a topic; assess the rhetorical situation for that topic; conduct, evaluate, synthesize, and cite research on an annotated bibliography; and draft an outline of the argument you plan to make.

P3: Argumentative Research Paper


For P3 you will draft your argumentative research paper. You will need to take into consideration and respond to the feedback I gave you on your proposal, changing course if/when necessary and conducting additional research as needed. This assignment will emphasize overall paper organization, line-level handling of sources, and clean, easy-to-read sentences, though a rough idea or weak research persisting from P2 will continue to haunt you if not corrected.


Course Outline

Weeks 1-4: P1, emphasizing rhetorical awareness and various methods of argumentation.
Weeks 5-10: P2, emphasizing research methods, citation, source evaluation, and outlines.
Weeks 11-14: P3, emphasizing paragraph and sentence-level writing and source integration.
Weeks 15-16: P4. Students will return to their diagnostic, revise it, then write a reflective letter detailing what they revised and why as well as their writing process overall.

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


Each assignment has a due date. That date is the date at which I will begin grading. You have a natural, built-in grace period, though. If I haven’t finished grading the assignment yet, you can still turn your assignment in. Once I’ve entered a zero for your grade, that means I’m done grading that assignment, and the grace period has ended. It’s a bit of a gamble to turn something in late; get your work done ASAP. If you really need to, email me and ask me how far out I am on grading. I can give you a rough ballpark. Note that major assignments generally take longer to grade while minor assignments usually have a quicker turnaround. (Note that this late policy does not apply to the final, presentations, or other time-dependent assignments like peer review.)

If you see two hyphens in Canvas [--], that is not a zero. That means I haven't given you a grade yet and you're still allowed to submit something. 

Accepted late work will be given no feedback, only a grade, and may take longer to be returned.

If you have something exceptional going on, talk with me ASAP. I may be able to work with you, but I also have to be fair to all students, so there are some issues my hands are tied on.

Computer or user error is not a legitimate excuse for late work, so submit early and double-check that your submissions were uploaded correctly and that they are the correct submissions. This is especially true for an online class.

I do not offer extra credit. If you haven't done as well on an assignment as you'd like or as well as you need to in order to maintain the grade you need, get in touch with me as soon as possible so we can discuss how you can do better in the future. 

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance is required. In order to pass the class, your final attendance percentage will need to be at or above 70%. That's very lenient. If someone is missing 30% of class, they're likely to fail without this intervention. Students tend to not get a grade percentage higher than their attendance percentage.

Of course, occasional absences will happen. If you are ill (with anything) or suspect you may be, please stay home and rest. Contact a classmate for notes on what you missed.

If you are every having issues that are keeping you from regular attendance (hospitalization or prolonged, serious illness, etc.) let me know as soon as possible. We will see what we can work out. Note, though, that coming to me at the end of the semester to highlight an issue that began in the early weeks of the semester leaves us with little wiggle room. Even if all you can do is jot a quick email that tells me something is up and you can't even work with me on it yet is better than nothing.

For University-Excused Absences, be sure you're following policy 6.30.

If you have to miss class for any reason, get notes from a classmate, not me. You can always email me with specific followup questions after getting notes from a classmate, but I will respond to "Did I miss anything?" emails with this section of the syllabus.

Course Fees

$12

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.