How to write ENG 101.

In this course your grade does not track what you know about a topic.

Start writing →Examples and measured patterns →

At a glance

7graded taskstwo essays, two oral tasks, two written assignments, one final

600-1100words, roughlyThat is what 2.5-4 double spaced pages come to. The binding number is the one on your own assignment sheet, and it changes from section to section.

45%the two essaysEssay 1 is 20% and Essay 2 is 25%

25%final exam3 hours, common exam, no dictionary

2essays written in classThe first draft of Essay 1 and all of Essay 2 are written in class, in three fifty minute blocks each

30 / 75threshold to sit the finalyou need at least 30 of the 75 points handed out before the final

90%attendance5 hours a week x 14 weeks = 70 hours; the limit is 7 hours and a medical report does not erase an absence

How the assignment runs

Start to finish. Every step says what you hand in.

01Read the text, build a text mapsyllabus: weeks 2-4your own note set or text map, PDFMain argument, sub arguments, a page number for each one, your own critical response. It is graded on being accurate, complete and usable: three weeks later, can you write an essay from this sheet?
02Academic Summary and Critical Responsesyllabus: input in weeks 2-3, then submissionPart A the summary, Part B a critique of two arguments; the handwritten in class version and the typed version go in together10% of the grade. The written part goes through Turnitin. The notes you take here get half of Essay 1 done.
03Outlinesyllabus: input in weeks 4-5planning template, PDFNot graded, but the deadline is hard, because the tutorial and the written feedback hang on it. Even if you skip the tutorial, the plan still gets uploaded.
04Outline tutorialsyllabus: weeks 5-6nothing to submit, something to prepareYou get the written feedback before the meeting. Walk in with your essay, the texts, your note sheet and two questions ready. Anyone who walks in asking what should I do burns the fifteen minutes.
05Essay 1 first draft, in classsyllabus: week 5typed up draft, PDFThree fifty minute blocks. How much you have to write in class changes from section to section: the syllabus says a full first draft, the task sheet can say the introduction and the first body paragraph at minimum. Do not guess, read your sheet.
06Essay 1 final draftsyllabus: weeks 6-7the final draft plus the first draft carrying your instructor's written feedback, Turnitin20% of the grade. A final draft that arrives without the earlier draft gets a zero without being read. What is expected is a real revision, not polishing.
07Student led discussion and Essay 2syllabus: discussions from week 6 on, Essay 2 in week 105-8 discussion questions; all of Essay 2 in class, then typed up and sent to TurnitinEssay 2 is 25%, the discussion is 7%. Essay 2 has to refute counterarguments, and you cannot add new content while typing it up. The self-progress reflection (5%) is written the same week.
08Presentation and final examsyllabus: presentations in weeks 13-14, final after thatpresentation with visuals; an essay in the final examThe presentation is 8%, the final 25%. In the final you are handed 3-5 page texts on the spot, and you cannot cite anything outside those texts.

What the grade is made of

The heaviest item is highlighted. Spend your time there.

Academic Essay 2%25

written entirely in class, refuting counterarguments is required

Final Exam%25

common exam, 3 hours, no dictionary

Academic Essay 1%20

first draft in class, final draft typed up at home

Academic Summary and Critical Response%10

the first graded task of the term; half of Essay 1 gets done here

Oral Presentation%8

counts as an exam, miss it and it is a zero

Student Led Discussion%7

counts as an exam; the participation score comes from every discussion

Self-progress Reflection%5

your own analysis of Essay 2; self assessment without examples is not accepted

Where points actually go

None of this is about writing well. Most people lose these points because nobody told them.

Rule	What it costs	Source
The final draft is submitted without the earlier draft and your instructor's written feedback	the paper is not read at all, the grade is zero	the program's writing criteria
The paper is completely off topic; or it is on topic but does not answer the question asked	the first is a zero without being read, the second is a zero on the task requirements item	the program's writing criteria
Citing a source incorrectly, or presenting material someone else produced as your own work	zero, plus the university's disciplinary process	the program's writing criteria, university regulations
Late submission; even a few hours late counts as a full day	in the section we looked at, 5% a day, and anything more than five days late is a straight zero	section syllabus
Going over the absence limit; a medical report does not erase an absence	automatic FZ, you cannot sit the final	STARS syllabus, university regulations

Raw material

Not buried in the page, one click away. Plain text files open on a phone too.

txtSyllabus (raw text)The official ENG 101 syllabus on STARS: catalog description, assessment items, passing requirement, the 14 week plan, learning outcomes. It is not your section's own syllabus.list25 item checklist to run before you submitThesis, paragraphs, quotations, citation, format and the mechanics of submitting. Go through it in order.listEight learning outcomes, turned into check questionsEvery row of the Course Learning Outcomes table in the syllabus, rewritten as a question you can check against your own draft by hand.listTopic bank with 57 entriesUnder each entry: the angle you would take, why it is arguable, and books. Every book was searched one by one in the Bilkent catalog, and the ones that were not there got dropped.textNine ready promptsPrompts to paste into your own AI account. There is no model on our server.

Which door has the detail

Real examples and the patternMeasured numbers from one student's own ENG 101 file, the feedback the instructor wrote, and a ten step walkthrough from a topic to an outline.What you are graded onSeven graded tasks, what each item wants, where the weight sits in the rubric, and 25 things to check before you submit.From the question to a thesis, from a thesis to a topicTurning the assigned question into a thesis, testing that thesis against the hardest objection, and finding a topic for a discussion, a presentation or ENG 102.Where you find sources, and how you tie them into your textWhich door of the library does what, how you use a source as a summary, a paraphrase or a quotation, and where citation points get lost.Prompts to paste into your own AIThere is no model on our server. These prompts do not write for you, they ask questions about what you wrote. Copy one, paste it into your own account, then verify what comes back.

Sections, instructors, letter grades

This page is about the assignment. The course has its own page.

ENG 101 course page →

Sources: the course syllabus, the coordinator's own pages and numbers measured from the archive. If something here is wrong or missing, write and I'll fix it.