Course Syllabus

Analytical Reading & Writing

Fall 2025, ENG0802, Section 013, CRN 35950

Course Meeting Time: Mondays & Wednesdays 11:00am-12:40pm
Course Meeting Location: Ritter Hall 300
Instructor: elliott horowitz (pronouns: they/them)
Instructor Contact: tup89547@temple.edu | Office Location: Mazur 947
Drop-in Office Hours: Mon./Wed. 1:00pm-2:00pm (in-person) & Tues. 9:15am-10:15am (Zoom)

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Click Here to Download & Print Course Syllabus PDF

The course syllabus will provide you with the course schedule, course objectives, explanations of assignments and assessments, grading policies, and instructor contact information. Please read it carefully. You should have a deep familiarity with the schedule and process of the course.

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Instructor Information

elliott horowitz | Adjunct Assistant Professor of English
You can refer to me as Professor Horowitz or elliott. My pronouns are they/them/their[s].

Instructor Biography

Hello! This is my fourth year teaching in the English Department at Temple University, where I teach composition courses like English 802 and poetry workshops. Prior to working at Temple, I was an academic librarian for nearly a decade at a small college in New York, where I taught students how to conduct research across all disciplines. Currently, I also work as a librarian at the Community College of Philadelphia. I am a poet and interdisciplinary artist, and I received my M.F.A. in Creative Writing here at Temple in 2024. This is one of my favorite poems. Here's one song I've dug this summer. Go Phils.

I am grateful for the continued opportunity to teach writing at Temple University, where I find students to be extra-curious and alive to the world. I sincerely believe that writing is the most powerful and magical technology humans will ever produce and I take seriously the responsibility of teaching it. I'm especially excited to teach ENG802 this semester as I've decided to revamp the syllabus from previous years, and I hope you'll find our time together educational, restorative, fruitful, interesting, and sometimes even fun. I look forward to getting to know you! Thank you for taking ENG802 with me. 

My Contact Information

Please reach out to me at any time for assistance with the course or just to chat about the field or navigating university life. The best way to reach me is to send me a message through the Canvas inbox or email me at tup89547@temple.edu. I will generally respond within 24 hours, Monday through Friday. Please do not send a follow-up email before 24 hours have passed.

My Office

Mazur Hall 947

Seeking out individual assistance from the instructor is a normal part of the learning process. I set aside 1:00 to 2:00pm on Mondays and Wednesdays for you to come to my office with no appointment necessary, and Tuesdays 9:15-10:15am on Zoom (no appointment necessary). We can discuss the course content, your progress on the assessments, your future in the field, or anything else you need to talk about. If my regular Drop-In Hours don’t fit your schedule, please email me to make an appointment. I want to help you succeed!

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Purpose of the Course

Overall Purpose

This General Education course expands the breadth of your knowledge and skills, adding to the depth acquired in your major. This course emphasizes the critical competencies of critical thinking, oral/written communication, and information literacy through the close analysis of texts, academic writing and research, and reflective revision.

Overview of the Course

Bulletin: English 0802 (4 credit hours) requires students to explore a single theme from the point of multiple disciplines. Early in the semester, English 0802 students work on research and the evaluation of sources, moving through a sequence of papers that develop argumentation and the synthesis of materials. Library research is required, and sessions with librarians are part of the course. Individual and small group conferences will be held during the semester. Evaluation is predicated on a passing final portfolio of at least four assignments that are developed through multiple revisions. 

Why do we read and write? Given the context of our busy lives, are reading and writing a waste of time? Who needs to read deeply or write at length when generative A.I. can produce ideas for us in mere seconds? What's the role of reading and writing in a fractured, [social] media-saturated society that ceaselessly competes for our attention and demands us to fill our days with school, work, and consumption, leaving us little time to slow down and rest? Can reading, writing, and other acts of creative thinking teach us how to better rest, restore our attentional and cognitive faculties, and/or resist the oppressive and repressive forces of such a society—can they teach us “how to do nothing”? In other words, can slowing down to take the time to read and write—and reflect on what we’re reading and writing—reinforce a sense of self and one’s own humanity in an increasingly inhumane world?

In this course, we will consider these questions by reading and writing deeply, analytically, and mindfully. The theme of our course readings and activities is attention: resisting “the attention economy,” mindfully attending to the present moment and your orientation in it, and sustained reading, writing, and other creative acts as methods of paying attention (otherwise known as “thinking”). Course assignments will introduce you to the pleasures and challenges of college-level reading and writing, and once you have completed English 802 with a C- or better, you will have completed one of the foundational courses in the General Education Program at Temple University. By the end of this course, you will have strengthened your critical thinking, reading, and writing skills, and will have established a set of good practices and habits that will be useful throughout your college career and beyond.

Learning Goals

Upon successful completion of this General Education course, you will be able to…

  • identify key ideas and arguments in published texts and the writing of your peers
  • create and defend arguments of your own through effective rhetorical strategies and synthesis of others’ ideas
  • use the conventions of academic discourse, including coherent and logical organization; Standard English grammar and syntax; correct citation and evaluation of research sources
  • revise your writing through multiple drafts and reflect on your own writing process
  • pay attention to the world in new ways

All materials, activities, and assessments of this course are designed to help you achieve these goals. If at any time you feel that you are not making progress towards one of these goals, please reach out to me. It is my job to help you get there!

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Course Requirements

Final Portfolio (60%)

The final portfolio is a collection of four papers that you will have revised multiple times over the course of the semester. The grade on your final portfolio (60%) and the grade on the quality of your revisions between drafts (10%—see below) are the majority of your final grade in the course. Grading criteria for final portfolios will be posted on Canvas. Final portfolios are due December 7.

Specifically, the final portfolio consists of: your first and final drafts of a rhetorical analysis paper, a research paper, and a persuasive paper (six drafts). The progression between your first and final drafts should illustrate your growth as a writer (thinker) over the course of the semester and demonstrate technical improvement. The portfolio will also include a brief paper reflecting on your growth as a reader and writer throughout ENG802. Details about each paper are posted on Canvas, and you will be sufficiently briefed on assignment expectations throughout the semester. All coursework we complete in ENG802 is designed to help you submit a thoughtful and successful final portfolio at the end of the semester.

Upon submission of your first drafts of each major paper for the course, you will receive detailed written feedback from me with suggestions for revisions. My feedback will also give you an idea of what grade your paper might receive if were you to submit it without revising it in your final portfolio. Additionally, after submission of Papers 1 + 2, you will meet with me in conferences to discuss your drafts. You may submit drafts of your first three papers as many times as you’d like before the final portfolio is due, but you will only receive written feedback from me once, and after that I’ll ask that we meet in office hours to discuss your drafts further. You are also encouraged to work with a writing tutor at the Student Success Center to draft your papers and complete revisions.

See Grading and Late Work Policies for more details on how final portfolios are graded.

Revision (10%)

Thoughtfully revising drafts of Papers 1, 2, + 3 in your final portfolio is 10% of your final grade. When you revise, you should do so as thoroughly as possible, which means addressing the issues noted in my feedback on your drafts and going above and beyond to address all the ideas and suggestions that we discuss throughout the semester. For instance, our class readings serve as models of good writing to emulate and use as inspiration. Your weekly coursework, our in-class activities, and my mini-lectures and explanations will give you ideas and practice for successful college writing. Individual conferences and peer review workshops will allow you to reflect on your progress and grow as a reader, writer and thinker. Final portfolios in which revisions only “fix” simple errors are unlikely to result in grades of A or B for revision in your final grade, and a lack of serious revision will prevent final portfolio grades from being in the A range altogether.

Weekly Coursework (20%)

Weekly coursework consists of small assignments and activities that we do on Canvas or in class meetings, and may include readings, in-class writing, small group work, and Canvas discussion posts or journal entries. Together, these activities will be worth 20% of your final grade. Weekly coursework is essential for learning and helps you prepare for your papers, and it will be worth 2 points. In general, I will give you 2 points per assignment if you’ve met the basic requirements outlined by the assignment. If you do not follow directions or submit your work on time, you will receive partial credit (1 point). A full policy about late weekly coursework is listed below.

Peer Review Participation (10%)

Peer review workshops allow you to read each other’s papers and practice giving suggestions for improvement that may result in deeper insights for your own writing process. We will do at least three peer review workshops (for Papers 1, 2, and 3), and these are clearly marked in the course schedule. The 10% of your final grade reflects whether or not you participated in these workshops, thus it is in your best interest to attend class on days when peer review is scheduled.

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Course Policies

Attendance

Being present and engaged in this course is vital to your development as a college-level writer and thinker. Thus, you should attend every class meeting. To allow for illness or other emergencies, you may miss up to five (5) classes without penalty. This may seem like a generous policy, but I recommend you save your absences as long as possible because you cannot predict when and how often you might become ill as the semester goes on, or if other unforeseen circumstances will preclude your ability to participate in class. If you miss more than 5 classes, it will mean automatic failure for the course.

Please note that one-on-one conferences are considered equivalent to a class meeting for the purposes of the attendance policy; if you miss a scheduled conference it will count as a full class absence. Arriving late or leaving early will be counted as a half-absence, and thus two of these will equal one full absence. Also, if you are not prepared for class or not paying attention and it is distracting or detrimental to our community, I may ask you to leave and take an absence.

In ENG802, there is no difference between “excused” or “unexcused” absences. Why you miss class is your business—I do not need to know details. If you anticipate an absence, please email me ahead of time letting me know (and again, I don’t need to know why). If you have DRS accommodations that allow extra absences, you must confer with me early in the semester so we can come to an agreement about how many additional absences are right for this course.

  • School-Life Conflict: Many unpredictable things can happen over the course of a semester. If you find yourself struggling to balance your education and your other commitments, please reach out to me immediately so that we can work together to build a plan for your success.
  • Attendance and Your Health: To achieve course learning goals, students must attend and participate in classes, according to the course requirements. However, if you have tested positive for or are experiencing symptoms of a contagious illness, you should not come to campus or attend in-person classes or activities. If you miss class, you should do all weekly coursework and get notes about what you missed from a classmate. Doing weekly coursework does not substitute for a missed class.
  • Religious Holidays: It is your right to observe religious holidays without impacting your opportunity to learn and succeed in this course. Please reach out to me at the start of the semester so that deadlines can be reviewed in advance of your religious observations. You will still be held responsible for course content and any assignments, but you will not be marked as absence on days that are important to your faith.
  • Caregiver Responsibilities: I have great respect for students who are pursuing their education while responsible for the care of children or other family members. Please contact me if you encounter challenges that require you to miss a class session or if your caregiving responsibilities are interfering with your success in the course. Together, we may be able to find some flexibility to support your learning.
  • Withdrawal: If you are considering withdrawing from the course after the add/drop date, please don’t make that decision alone! Withdrawing from the course without talking to me first eliminates the possibility of finding a path to success for you. Furthermore, it is extremely important that you consult your academic advisor before withdrawing. They will be able to walk you through how the withdrawal would impact your progress towards your degree and your graduation date.

Conferences

We will meet for conferences after you submit Papers 1 + 2 in my office or on Zoom to discuss your progress. Dates, times, and modes for our conferences will be mutually arranged. I will let you know in class what you need to prepare for each conference. If you fail to show up at a scheduled conference, it will count as an absence.

Food

Small meals and snacks are okay to have in class so long as they’re not disruptive and you clean up after yourself. Please keep lids on drinks.

Generative Artificial Intelligence

One important truth I hope you take away from this class is that there is no difference between writing, actively reading, and thinking. Writing is thinking. Actively reading is thinking. Recorded language is the only tool we have as humans to fasten our thinking into place so that we might return to and learn from it later: All forms of writing give us an opening for continual growth. Thus, using generative artificial intelligence in a writing class detracts from our capacity to grow as thinkers (as humans). I would always prefer you submit less-than-perfect, partially-completed writing composed in your own voice than submit shiny, lifeless, “complete” work generated by artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence doesn’t have anything new to say, but you—a unique individual who exists in a body, who is messy, imperfect, forever-growing, forever-unfinished—do.

In the past, I have allowed students, if they so wished, to use generative A.I. in this class to brainstorm ideas, outline papers, and complete some research. This semester, however, I do not want you to use it at all—not even Grammarly. The purpose of this class is to recognize that reading and writing are forms of thinking, and thinking takes time. Thinking is messy. Thinking is hard. I want to learn about how you think by reading your writing in all its forms; mostly, I want you to learn about how you think by reading your writing in all its forms.

If you are found to have used A.I. without acknowledgement on a small assignment, the penalty will range from an Incomplete on the assignment to an F for the course depending on the severity of the situation. If you are found to have used A.I. without acknowledgement on a draft submitted for peer review or my feedback, you will have one week to revise and resubmit or you will receive an F for the course. If you are found to have used A.I. without acknowledgement in your final portfolio, the penalty will be an F for the course.

Grading Scheme

A 93-100%

A- 90-92%

B+ 87-89%

B 83-86%

B- 80-82%

C+ 77-79%

C 73-76%

C- 70-72%

D+ 67-69%

D 63-66%

D- 60-62%

F 0-59%

Note: You may occasionally feel frustrated with our grading system because unlike other courses where you can check Canvas and receive an immediate projected final grade, you will not receive a binding grade on your biggest assignments until the final portfolio is submitted. But try to remember that our system works to your advantage. You are the one who ultimately decides your grade through completing (or not completing) weekly coursework, participating (or not participating) in peer review, and revising (or not revising) your papers for the final portfolio. Your final portfolio is being graded not on where you began the semester but on the cumulative result of your work since the first day of class. If you think about it, giving early binding grades would be quite unfair in a course designed to see progress over time. If you are ever feeling completely unsure of where your grade might be heading or how you’re doing in the course, please check in with me at conferences, at office hours or by appointment. I am always happy to talk about your papers in person or on Zoom, and I never want you to feel like your entire grade is up in the air or uncertain.

Late Work

Weekly Coursework & Peer Review Drafts: Weekly coursework deadlines are generally firm because we use such coursework as the basis for in-class discussions and activities. Also, weekly coursework is intended to build skills and habits over time. I will do my best to make deadlines clear on Canvas and to post announcements and other reminders on a regular basis. But ultimately, you are responsible for checking Canvas often and keeping track of weekly due dates. You may be able to ask ahead of time for a week-long extension for some weekly coursework; please email me to confirm.

Paper Drafts: Drafts of your papers must be submitted on time. If an extreme situation or sudden crisis arises that prevents you from submitting a draft for feedback on time, you may ask me for a one-week extension and I will say yes, no questions asked. If you submit a draft late within a week of its due date without asking for an extension, your final portfolio grade will be reduced by two points.

If you have not submitted a draft within one week of its due date, or if you submit a draft of a paper in your final portfolio I haven’t seen before, your final portfolio will receive a failing grade and you will have to repeat English 802, even if your other work is of passing quality or was marked complete.

I know this sounds harsh, but the reason for this strict policy is that I must see your drafts in a timely manner so that I can encourage continual improvement. Much like faculty in a math course, writing faculty need to see how you get from point A to point B to be sure you understand the process of writing that we are teaching in this course. The only possible exception to this late policy would be if you have a situation so significant that the Dean of Students or the CARE Team have reached out to me to ask for extra time, or if you have already alerted me to a DRS accommodation that requires me to give you longer than one week extension; in these cases, we will work out arrangements and you will still be subject to the above policy using the newly agreed-upon revised due dates.

If you decide to re-write a paper from scratch after I have seen a version of it and given you feedback, you must submit the new draft to me before it goes into your final portfolio. If you do not, your portfolio will violate the above policy for having one or more papers I have not seen in draft form during the semester. If you are ever in doubt that you are working on a draft that is fundamentally “new” and unlike the one I gave feedback on, contact me to discuss. The purpose of this is to prevent plagiarism and to ensure, as stated above, that I can see your progress with a draft over time. If a paper appears to be wholly new and does not show how you got from point A to point B, the portfolio cannot be passing even if the quality of the new paper is satisfactory or above. I will not necessarily give you written feedback if you produce a wholly new draft, nor will we need to meet or discuss it unless I see a problem with what you’ve done. But I will be glad to support you starting fresh or improving a draft so much that it is unrecognizable from a first draft as long as you keep me in the loop and show me what you’re doing before the final portfolio is due.

Final Portfolio: The final portfolio due date is December 7. You may ask ahead of time for a 48-hour, no-questions-asked extension if you need it. After the due date and extension date have passed, I cannot accept final portfolios and you will be given a failing grade for the course. The reason for this policy is that I need time to read final portfolios, to discuss final portfolios with other faculty in First Year Writing,* and to calculate and enter final grades in TU Portal.

Extremely occasionally, a student who had been making good progress has a true medical emergency at the very end of the semester that would make it impossible to complete a final portfolio on time. In cases like these, contact me to discuss an Incomplete, which is an arrangement that requires formal documentation of the emergency and approval of the Dean and other university officials.

*Final portfolios are graded by committees of faculty from First Year Writing called Teaching Circles. We use a standard rubric to ensure that portfolios are read by more than one person and that grades across multiple sections are fair and consistent. That is, this system ensures that a C in one section of English 802 is equivalent to a C in another section of English 802, and all students can be assured that their work has been reviewed fairly and free from intentional bias. All faculty in First Year Writing participate in Teaching Circles, and this system of grading has been used successfully for decades at TU and in many other writing programs around the world. 

Respect

It is important to foster a respectful and productive learning environment that includes all students in our diverse community of learners. Our differences, some of which are outlined in the University's nondiscrimination statement, will add richness to this learning experience. Therefore, all opinions and experiences, no matter how different or controversial they may be perceived, must be respected in the tolerant spirit of academic discourse.

Treat your classmates and instructor with respect in all communication, class activities, and meetings. You are encouraged to comment, question, or critique an idea, but you are not to attack an individual. Please consider that sarcasm, humor, and slang can be misconstrued in online interactions and generate unintended disruptions. Profanity should be avoided as should the use of all capital letters when composing responses in discussion threads, which can be construed as “shouting” online. Remember to be careful with your own and others' privacy. In general, have your behavior mirror how you would like to be treated by others.

We are all here to learn and work with others, and any activity that runs contrary to the spirit of learning and collaboration will not be tolerated. I am here to help foster a respectful and accountable space, and if a student seems not to participate in this space as described above, I will speak with them about it. However, explicitly hostile or hateful language, discrimination or abuse will not be tolerated.

For more information, please visit the IDEAL website.

Technology Use in the Classroom

We will not infrequently use devices (phones, laptops) in class, and I expect you to use them respectfully, which means staying on task and avoiding disruption to your classmates. Please keep devices in “Focus” mode. Please note: I am not dull and understand when you’re using your device for purposes other than coursework. If you are not “present” in class because of inappropriate device-usage, you may be marked as absent.  

The Learning Environment

How Class Will Be Conducted

This course meets twice a week in person for in-class activities, brief lectures, discussion of readings, and to review and plan to write the major papers of the course. We will have Canvas assignments in addition to the work we do in class. Students in all sections of English 802 regardless of course mode should expect to spend a minimum of 8-10 hours a week on this course including class time. You are expected to complete the preparatory reading, video, or podcast assignment before coming to class in order to ensure that we can all engage in an informed dialogue. I will generally be available for a few minutes after class to discuss individual issues, but, as a courtesy to the next class to use our space, we may defer lengthy and/or serious matters to an appointment in my office.

Should I need to move class online or cancel class due to unforeseen circumstances, I will send an announcement on Canvas and via TU email.

Course Materials

You will not need to purchase books for this course. All readings and other materials will be posted on Canvas.

Using Canvas and your Temple email are required for this course. Please familiarize yourself with our Canvas course site so that you understand where and when readings are posted. Canvas can be confusing and non-intuitive to first-time users: Do not hesitate to ask questions if you aren’t sure where to find information or how to do something on Canvas. Please note that readings will often be available if you want to read ahead, but if you read ahead, you won’t have the benefit of getting more context or trigger warnings in advance.

Please check the technology specifications for using Canvas from computers and networks off campus. You will be submitting work online through Canvas for this course, and you must have regular access to Microsoft Word, which you can download for free through TU Portal (Microsoft Office 365) or use in any Temple computer lab. If you use Google Docs, you will need to convert your documents into Word Docs in order to submit your papers. Feel free to consult Temple’s Information Technology Services for support: https://its.temple.edu/.

Accessibility

It is important to me that every student has the opportunity to succeed in this course. Please reach out to me if any obstacle is in the way of your success.

Any student who has a need for accommodations based on the impact of a documented disability or medical condition should contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) located in the Howard Gittis Student Center South, 4th Floor at drs@temple.edu or 215-204-1280 to request accommodations and learn more about the resources available to you. If you have a DRS accommodation letter to share with me, or you would like to discuss your accommodations, please contact me as soon as practical. I will work with you and with DRS to coordinate reasonable accommodations for all students with documented disabilities. All discussions related to your accommodations will be confidential. Students can learn more about the accommodation process and pre-register on the DRS website. Students may register at any time during the semester, but accommodations are not active until you register, so I recommend doing so as early in the semester as possible.

Information regarding accessibility for additional technologies is provided below:

Resources and Support

Sometimes the biggest factors impacting student success are things happening beyond the scope of the individual classroom. Temple provides a wide array of resources both to help you overcome academic challenges and those not directly related to the educational challenges of the course. Please reach out to me if you need help deciding which resources might be right for you.

Student Success Center

University Libraries

Undergraduate Research Support

Career Center

Tuttleman Counseling Services

Disability Resources and Services

Wellness Resource Center

Student Health Services

If you are experiencing food insecurity or financial struggles, Temple provides resources and support. Notably, the Temple University Cherry Pantry is in operation, as well as a variety of resources from the Division of Student Affairs.

It is common for your first year at a new school to be stressful, and I want you to know you’re not alone and there are resources here at the university, such as Tuttleman Counseling Services and the Dean of Students. The Dean of Students offers a wide range of support for students who do not have enough food, who struggle with access to secure housing, who need emergency student aid, who are dealing with sexual assault, and who have similar problems and are unsure where to turn. Further, the Dean of Students provides specific forms of outreach and support for LGBTQIA students, international students, and veterans, among others. I strongly encourage you to seek out help from the Dean of Students when needed, and if you’re having trouble connecting to the proper resources, let me know and I’ll do my best to help by filing a CARE TEAM report or asking the team in First Year Writing for assistance.

Library Resources

Temple University Libraries provide resources to assist Temple students with their class projects and research needs. Visit the Libraries’ website to find millions of articles, books, video, and other resources, both in print and online.

You may wish to use this library guide developed for our course: https://guides.temple.edu/english802

The site also provides tutorials to help you start your research, as well as subject and course research guides to help you identify resources that may be particularly useful for this class.

Contact the library at any stage of the research process. You can chat with a librarian 24/7 or make an appointment with your subject librarian, who can help you explore a topic, craft a research question, and identify and cite sources.

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Course Schedule

Please find the complete course schedule on the Course Syllabus PDF.

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Technology Guidelines

Technology Requirements

To participate in this course, you will need the equipment, software, and internet access necessary to reliably use Zoom and Canvas, as well as “productivity tools” like word processors and slide show creators.

Limited resources are available for students who do not have the technology they need for class. Students with educational technology needs, including no computer or camera or insufficient Wifi access, should submit a Student Technology Assistance Application located in TUPortal and linked from the Dean of Students Support and Resources. The University will endeavor to meet needs, such as with a long-term loan of a laptop or Mifi device, a refurbished computer, or subsidized internet access.

Note that there are technology resources available for students, including on-campus computers available for student use, the Tech Center computer labs and free laptop and battery borrowing at Charles Library, software that is available for free download and other specialty software that may be available for remote access through ITS.

Technical Support

For a listing of technical support services available to Temple University students, see the Tech Support page.

Privacy and Data Protection

Please see the links below to become familiar with the privacy policies for each of the following: 

A.I. Policies 

See Course Policies.

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University Policies

Policy on Recording Class Meetings or Conferences

This course will not meet on Zoom unless mandated by the university, which is highly unlikely. But we may meet on Zoom for conferences, and this is the official policy from the university that is applicable to conferences, which are official class business and similar to a class meeting: “recordings of class meetings will be allowed at [faculty] discretion [and particularly if a student in the class has an accommodation requiring such recordings]. Any recordings permitted in this class can only be used for the student’s personal educational use. Students are not permitted to copy, publish, or redistribute audio or video recordings of any portion of the class session to individuals who are not students in the course or academic program without the express permission of the faculty member and of any students who are recorded. Distribution without permission may be a violation of educational privacy law, known as FERPA as well as certain copyright laws. Any recordings made by the instructor or university of this course are the property of Temple University.”

Student and Faculty Academic Freedom

Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. I have the freedom and responsibility to design and facilitate our learning environment to best achieve the promise of the course as outlined in its official description. You have the responsibility to engage with the course in good faith and freedom from mistreatment when your opinion differs from mine. Note that it is not an abuse of this freedom for me to require that you support relevant opinions with clear argumentation and solid evidence. For more on academic freedom, consult the official Temple policy on the matter.

Policy on Academic Honesty

To protect yourself from engaging in academic misconduct, please read Temple University Statement on Academic Honesty for Students in Undergraduate Courses. 

In general, all sources of information that you use in your papers must be identified as clearly, accurately, and thoroughly as possible. Plagiarism occurs when sources are used but not acknowledged and appear to be presented as your own original ideas. Of course, we do not want to discourage you from using other people’s ideas or data. Our aim is exactly the opposite – academic writing often involves a conversation with other writers. But you must always make clear your sources and you must always be sure that the work you submit is your own. Academic cheating, in general terms, is the breaking of the general rules of academic work and/or the specific rules of individual courses. It includes falsifying data or sources; submitting work in one course that was done for another course without the instructor's approval; having someone else complete your papers or any of your course work for you; or actually doing another person’s work. 

If you plagiarize on a draft of a paper submitted before the final portfolio, I will give you one very serious warning and you will have a chance to revise the paper right away so that I can re-read it and see that you’ve corrected the errors. But if you plagiarize a second time or if plagiarism is found in your final portfolio, you will fail the course and will be reported to the University for academic misconduct. This policy is not negotiable. If you are uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, ask before you hand in the work. It will be too late afterwards.

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