Breakthrough Writer

McMahon English 1A Syllabus Summer 2016: May 31-July 11

McMahon English 1A Syllabus Summer 2016

Office H121P; Office Hours: Monday through Thursday: 5-6 PM; Email: [email protected]   

Course Catalog Description:    

This course is designed to strengthen the students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments, including a required research paper.  

Course Objectives:  

1. Recognize and revise sentence-level grammar and usage errors.
2. Read and apply critical-thinking skills to numerous published articles and to college-level, book-length works for the purpose of writing and discussion.
3. Apply appropriate strategies in the writing process including prewriting, composing, revising, and editing techniques.
4. Compose multi-paragraph, thesis-driven essays with logical and appropriate supporting ideas, and with unity and coherence.
5. Demonstrate ability to locate and utilize a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites.
6. Utilize MLA guidelines to format essays, cite sources in the texts of essays, and compile Works Cited lists.  

Student Learning Outcomes: 

Upon completion of this course, students will: 

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.

Students with Disabilities:  

It is the policy of the El Camino Community College District to encourage full inclusion of people with disabilities in all programs and services.  Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class should contact the campus Special Resource Center (310) 660-3295, as soon as possible.  This will ensure that students are able to fully participate.     

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism:  

El Camino College places a high value on the integrity of its student scholars.  When an instructor determines that there is evidence of dishonesty in any academic work (including, but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, or theft of exam materials), disciplinary action appropriate to the misconduct as defined in BP 5500 may be taken.  A failing grade on an assignment in which academic dishonesty has occurred and suspension from class are among the disciplinary actions for academic dishonesty (AP 5520).  Students with any questions about the Academic Honesty or discipline policies are encouraged to speak with their instructor in advance.  

Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend their classes regularly. Students who miss the first class meeting or who are not in regular attendance during the add period for the class may be dropped by the instructor. Students whose absences from a class exceed 10% of the scheduled class meeting times may be dropped by the instructor. However, students are responsible for dropping a class within the deadlines published in the class schedule. Students who stop attending but do not drop may receive a failing grade.  

You’re not allowed to “tailgate” a class, attending without doing the work. If you’re behind and no longer getting a viable grade based on expected Student Learning Outcomes, I will have to drop you.

Student Resources:

• Reading Success Center (East Library Basement E-36)
  Software and tutors are available for vocabulary development & reading comprehension.  
• Library Media Technology Center - LMTC (East Library Basement)
  Computers are available for free use. Bring your student ID # & flash drive.  There’s a charge for printing.  
• Writing Center (H122)
  Computers are available for free use. Free tutoring is available for writing assignments, grammar, and vocabulary.  Bring your student ID & flash drive to save work.  Printing is NOT available.  
• Learning Resource Center - LRC (West Wing of the Library, 2^nd floor)
  The LRC Tutorial Program offers free drop-in tutoring.  For the tutoring schedule, go to www.elcamino.edu/library/lrc/tutoring .The LRC also offers individualized computer adaptive programs to help build your reading comprehension skills.    
• Student Health Center (Next to the Pool)
  The Health Center offers free medical and psychological services as well as free workshops on topics like “test anxiety.” Low cost medical testing is also available. 
• Special Resource Center – SRC (Southwest Wing of Student Services Building)

The SRC provides free disability services, including interpreters, testing accommodations, counseling, and adaptive computer technology. 

Books You Need to Buy for This Class

Book One:  Acting Out Culture, 3rd edition, edited by James S. Miller

Book Two: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Book Three: Rules for Writers, 8^th edition by Diana Hacker

Other Materials You Need: 4 large size blue books for in-class exams 

Total Words Written in Semester: 8,000

Four In-Class Essays, 500 words, 75 points each, 300 points total

Essay 1 from Acting Out Culture is 1,500 words for 100 points

Essay 2 from Acting Out Culture is 1,500 words for 100 points

Essay 3 from Acting Out Culture is 1,500 words for 100 points

Essay 4 is your Final Capstone Essay based on Man’s Search for Meaning and online short story “Gooseberries” by Chekhov is 1,500 words and 200 points

Peer Edit Rough Draft for Final is the essay's first 1,000 words (of 1,500) Failure to bring the rough draft to peer edit class day results in 25-point deduction from essay. 

Attendance 

Two tardies equal a complete absence. You can miss no more than 2 classes in summer school; otherwise, you won’t have the number of class-contact hours issued by the state of California. You will have to be dropped.

Grand Point Total: 800

Late papers reduced a full grade. No late papers accepted a week past due date.   

You Must Use turnitin to submit essay and bring hard copy on due date

Each essay must be submitted to www.turnitin.com where it will be checked for illegal copying/plagiarism. I cannot give credit for an essay that is not submitted to this site by the deadline.   

The process is very simple; if you need help, detailed instructions are available at http://turnitin.com/en_us/training/student-training/student-quickstart-guide   

You will need two pieces of information to use the site: 

Class ID and Enrollment Password, which I will give you first week of class

Classroom Decorum: No smart phones can be used in class. If you’re on your smart phone and I catch you, you get a warning the first time. Second time, you must leave the class and lose 25 points. Third time, you must leave the class and lose 50 points.  The above also applies to talking and doing homework from other classes. 

Essay Options for Essay 1: Choose one of the following for your 1,500-word essay:

Refute, support, or complicate Asma’s assertion that green guilt is not only a relative to religious guilt but speaks to our drive to sacrifice self-indulgence for the drive of altruistic self-preservation and social reciprocity. See Elizabeth Anderson’s online essay “If God Is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?”

Develop a thesis that supports, refutes, or complicates the assertion Debra J. Dickerson, who wrote the “The Great White Way,” would find Michael Eric Dyson's essay "Understanding Black Patriotism" a complement to Dickerson's ideas about race, power, and hierarchy.

Support, refute, or complicate Debra J. Dickerson's argument that race in America is more of a social fantasy than a reflection of objective reality. 

Develop a thesis that analyzes the human inclination for staying within the tribe of sameness as explained in David Brooks’ “People Like Us.”

Support, refute, or complicate Nicholas Kristof’s assertion that slashing food stamps is morally indefensible.

Develop a thesis that compares or contrasts (or both) the social pathologies that inform the type of eating disorders and neuroses described in “The Wages of Sin” and “Add Cake, Subtract Self-Esteem.”  

Support, refute, or complicate the argument that “Against School” and “Preparing Minds for Markets” persuasively evidence that American education is more about protecting private business interests, maintaining class bias, and asserting mass control than it is about promoting real empowerment such as critical thinking, independence, and freedom. 

Develop an analytical thesis that compares the themes of learned helplessness and the vicious downward spiral of poverty as they are evident in “The Consequences: Undoing Sanity” and “How the Poor Are Made to Pay for Their Poverty.”

Essay 2:

The essays in Chapter 6 address the alleged pathologies resulting from social media. These pathologies include an empathy deficit, narcissism, shortened attention span, online shaming, and even altered brain development. In an argumentative essay, support, refute, or complicate the assertion from Sherry Turkle’s “The Flight from Conversation” (online essay) that social media is harmful for our social, cultural and intellectual development.

Essay 3: Choose one of the following:

Support, refute, or complicate Alfie Kohn’s assertion from “Degrading to De-grading” that grading is an inferior education tool that all conscientious teachers should abandon.

Support, refute, or complicate the inferred lesson from bell hooks’ essay, “Learning in the Shadow of Race and Class” that upward mobility requires a betrayal of one’s economic class and even family.

In the context of “Unspeakable Conversations,” defend, refute, or complicate Peter Singer’s position that there are moral grounds for infanticide or “mercy killings.” 

In the context of “Our Baby, Her Womb,” support, defend, or complicate the argument that surrogate motherhood is a moral abomination.

Your Final Essay

Option One

In a 1,500-word essay, defend, support, or refute the argument that Man’s Search for Meaning gives us a cogent, appropriate and insightful analysis for evaluating Nikolai’s moral dissolution in the Chekhov short story “Gooseberries.”

Second Alternative Option:

In a 1,500-word essay, defend, support, or complicate the argument that the determinism evident in the 1999 Alexander Payne film Election is a compelling refutation of Frankl's notion that we are free to find meaning as a cure for our despair and self-destruction. Recommended Research Link for Alternative Option: http://sensesofcinema.com/2012/feature-articles/chance-and-choice-biology-and-theology-in-alexander-paynes-election/

Third Alternative Option

In a 1,500-word essay, defend, support, or complicate the argument that even though Frankl’s philosophy is informed by his religious faith, one need not be religious to embrace Frankl’s precepts and principles. You can concede that Frankl’s book is “religious” but not in the narrow sense of the word. Rather, it is universally religious. On the other hand, some will argue that the theistic religion that informs Frankl’s philosophy is too narrow to accommodate secular and atheist thinkers. Take a position and explain. You may want to consult Elizabeth Anderson’s “If God Is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?”

Fourth Alternative Option

In a 1,500-word essay, defend, support, or complicate the argument that Groundhog Day character Phil Connors’ spiritual malaise and eventual spiritual transformation can be analyzed through the lens of the principles in Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning.

Fifth Option:

Defend, refute, or complicate the argument that Man’s Search for Meaning is the greatest anti-self-help self-help book ever written.

Consider these distinguishing qualities of traditional self-help books:

1. They deny suffering as the central feature of human existence
2. They play into reader’s narcissistic fantasy of being special and at the center of the universe.
3. They promise easy solutions based on gimmicks intended to look like “insights.”
4. They promise easy solutions using common sense dressed up in jargon and pretentious language.
5. They tend to condescend to the reader, treating him like a child. There is an infantile, dumbed-down quality to them.
6. They make false promises about happiness and self-fulfillment.
7. They make being a selfish self-centered lout acceptable and “noble.”
8. They place selfish self-interest and self-indulgence over responsibility to oneself and others.

Your guidelines for your Final Research Paper are as follows:   

This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   

You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.   

You need to research and cite from at least five sources.  You must use at least 3 different types of sources.     

At least one source must be from an ECC library database.    

At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook.    

At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.  

The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.     

This paper will be approximately 5-7 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  This means at least 5 full pages of text.  The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.     

You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.   

You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.  

You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. 

Your paper must be logically organized and focused.    

Reading and Writing Schedule

May 31: Introduction, “Green Guilt” page 25 from Acting Out Culture

June 1 “Black Patriotism” 52 and “The Great White Way” 68

June 2 “People Like Us” 62 and “Prudence or Cruelty” 172

June 6 “The Wages of Sin” 181 and “Add Cake, Subtract Self-Esteem” 188

June 7 “Against School” 271 and “Preparing Minds for Markets” 301

June 8 “The Consequences: Undoing Sanity” 342 and “How the Poor Are Made to Pay for Their Poverty” 380

June 9 In-Class Writing Exam 1 (500 words)

June 13 Essay 1 Due (1,500 words with Works Cited page and 3 sources)

June 14 Turkle’s online essay “The Flight from Conversation” and “The Quagmire of Social Media Friendships” 444

June 15 Turkle continued and “The Empathy Deficit” 464

June 16 In-Class Writing Exam 2 (500 words)

June 20 Essay 2 Due (1,500 words with Works Cited page and 3 sources) “From Degrading to De-Grading” 238

June 21 “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong” 252

June 22 “Learning in the Shadow of Race and Class” and “Our Baby, Her Womb”

June 23 In-Class Writing Exam 3 (500 words)

June 27 Essay 3 Due (1,500 words with Works Cited page and 3 sources) “Gooseberries” (listen to YouTube video) and “Gooseberries” explication

June 28 Frankl Lesson 1

June 29 Frankl Lesson 2

June 30 Frankl Lesson 3

July 4 Holiday

July 5 Frankl Lesson 4

July 6 In-Class Exam (500 words)

July 7 Typed first draft for peer edit

July 11 Essay (1,500 words with Works Cited page and 5 sources)

McMahon Syllabus English 1A Spring 2016

McMahon Syllabus English 1A Spring 2016

Office H121P

Office Hours: Mon and Wed: 2:30-3:45; Tuesday and Thursday: 12:30-1 and 3:30-4:15

Email: [email protected]   

Course Catalog Description:       

 

This course is designed to strengthen the students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments, including a required research paper. 

 

Course Objectives: 

 

1. Recognize and revise sentence-level grammar and usage errors.
2. Read and apply critical-thinking skills to numerous published articles and to college-level, book-length works for the purpose of writing and discussion.
3. Apply appropriate strategies in the writing process including prewriting, composing, revising, and editing techniques.
4. Compose multi-paragraph, thesis-driven essays with logical and appropriate supporting ideas, and with unity and coherence.
5. Demonstrate ability to locate and utilize a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites.
6. Utilize MLA guidelines to format essays, cite sources in the texts of essays, and compile Works Cited lists. 

 

Student Learning Outcomes:

 

Upon completion of this course, students will:

 

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.

 

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.

 

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use. 

 

Students with Disabilities:  

It is the policy of the El Camino Community College District to encourage full inclusion of people with disabilities in all programs and services.  Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class should contact the campus Special Resource Center (310) 660-3295, as soon as possible.  This will ensure that students are able to fully participate.     

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism:  

El Camino College places a high value on the integrity of its student scholars.  When an instructor determines that there is evidence of dishonesty in any academic work (including, but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, or theft of exam materials), disciplinary action appropriate to the misconduct as defined in BP 5500 may be taken.  A failing grade on an assignment in which academic dishonesty has occurred and suspension from class are among the disciplinary actions for academic dishonesty (AP 5520).  Students with any questions about the Academic Honesty or discipline policies are encouraged to speak with their instructor in advance.  

Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend their classes regularly. Students who miss the first class meeting or who are not in regular attendance during the add period for the class may be dropped by the instructor. Students whose absences from a class exceed 10% of the scheduled class meeting times may be dropped by the instructor. However, students are responsible for dropping a class within the deadlines published in the class schedule. Students who stop attending but do not drop may receive a failing grade.  

Student Resources:

• Reading Success Center (East Library Basement E-36)
  Software and tutors are available for vocabulary development & reading comprehension.  
• Library Media Technology Center - LMTC (East Library Basement)
  Computers are available for free use. Bring your student ID # & flash drive.  There’s a charge for printing.  
• Writing Center (H122)
  Computers are available for free use. Free tutoring is available for writing assignments, grammar, and vocabulary.  Bring your student ID & flash drive to save work.  Printing is NOT available.  
• Learning Resource Center - LRC (West Wing of the Library, 2^nd floor)
  The LRC Tutorial Program offers free drop-in tutoring.  For the tutoring schedule, go to www.elcamino.edu/library/lrc/tutoring .The LRC also offers individualized computer adaptive programs to help build your reading comprehension skills.    
• Student Health Center (Next to the Pool)
  The Health Center offers free medical and psychological services as well as free workshops on topics like “test anxiety.” Low cost medical testing is also available. 
• Special Resource Center – SRC (Southwest Wing of Student Services Building)

The SRC provides free disability services, including interpreters, testing accommodations, counseling, and adaptive computer technology. 

Books You Need to Buy for This Class

Book One: Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, by Paul Fussell

Book Two: Acting Out Culture, 3rd edition, edited by James S. Miller

Book Three: Rules for Writers, 8^th edition by Diana Hacker

Other Materials You Need: 3 large size blue books for in-class exams 

Total Words Written in Semester: 8,000

Three In-Class Essays, 500 words, 75 points each, 225 points total

Essay 1 from Acting Out Culture is 1,000 words

Essay 2 from Acting Out Culture is 1,000 words (we’ll discuss options during lectures)

Essay 3 from Acting Out Culture is 1,000 words (we’ll discuss options during lectures)

Essay 4 Class: A Guide Through the American Status System is 1,000 words

Peer Edit Rough Draft for Final is the essay's first 1,000 words (of 1,500) Failure to bring the rough draft to peer edit class day results in 25-point deduction from essay. 

Essay 5: Final Argumentative, 1,500-Word Research Paper Based on Chapter 4 “How We Learn” from Acting Out Culture (approx. 5 pages) 150 points

Attendance 

Gold Standard: You miss one class or less; you are tardy once or less, and you show up to class prepared to discuss the readings because you are keeping up with the readings. 50 points. 

Silver Standard: You miss two classes; you are tardy once or less, and you show up to class and show evidence of keeping up with the readings. 40 points. 

Bronze Standard: You miss three classes; you are tardy once or less, and you show up to class and show evidence of keeping up with the readings. 30 points. 

Students who miss more than 3 classes and/or consistently show up to class without doing the reading get ZERO attendance points. 

Grand Point Total: 825

Late papers reduced a full grade. No late papers accepted a week past due date.   

You Must Use turnitin to submit essay and bring hard copy on due date

Each essay must be submitted to www.turnitin.com where it will be checked for illegal copying/plagiarism. I cannot give credit for an essay that is not submitted to this site by the deadline.   

The process is very simple; if you need help, detailed instructions are available at http://turnitin.com/en_us/training/student-training/student-quickstart-guide   

You will need two pieces of information to use the site: 

Class ID and Enrollment Password, which I will give you first week of class

Classroom Decorum: No smart phones can be used in class. If you’re on your smart phone and I catch you, you get a warning the first time. Second time, you must leave the class and lose 25 points. Third time, you must leave the class and lose 50 points.  The above also applies to talking and doing homework from other classes. 

Essays 1-3 will be based on options discussed in class.

Essay 4 based on Class by Paul Fussell

In a 4-page typed essay, support or refute the argument that your matriculation through college, and the major you have chosen (or not), is inextricably entwined with the class status anxieties analyzed in Paul Fussell’s Class. In other words, argue for or against the idea that fear of falling short of America’s status system—a code system that is much more complicated than income level alone—is a significant driving force in your college studies. What evidence is there, or not, that you are beholden to class status codes? What evidence is there, or not, that you have rejected America’s class status script and have carved your own path, so that you love learning for its own sake? Are you an aspiring bourgeois consumer? Are you an “X person”? Explain. Successful essays will show a clear and accurate reading comprehension of Paul Fussell's Class by integrating the book's major principles into your essay. You must have a Works Cited page referring to Class, and two other sources.  

Alternative Option: 

In a 4-page essay, defend, refute, or complicate Fussell’s assertion that class is not as mobile as the American Dream purports it to be; rather, social class is more fixed like a caste system. Successful essays will show a clear and accurate reading comprehension of Paul Fussell's Class by integrating the book's major principles into your essay. You must have a Works Cited page referring to Class, and two other sources.  

Essay 5, Your Final Research Paper: Chapter 4 “How We Learn” from Acting Out Culture (Choose One Below) 

First Option 

In a 5-page essay, not including Works Cited page, support, refute, or complicate the argument that the assigned selections from Chapter 4 evidence that American education is more about protecting private business interests, maintaining class bias, and asserting mass control than it is about promoting real empowerment such as critical thinking, independence, and freedom. 

Second Option 

In a 5-page essay, not including Works Cited page, support, refute, or complicate Alfie Kohn’s argument from “Degrading to De-grading” that the American grading system is a travesty of education that kills learning, compromises teaching, and entails other kinds of abuses. 

Your guidelines for your Final Research Paper are as follows:   

This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   

You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.   

You need to research and cite from at least five sources.  You must use at least 3 different types of sources.     

At least one source must be from an ECC library database.    

At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook.    

At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.  

The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.     

This paper will be approximately 5-7 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  This means at least 5 full pages of text.  The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.     

You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.   

You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.  

You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. 

Your paper must be logically organized and focused.    

Reading and Writing Schedule

1-18 Holiday

1-20 Introduction, syllabus, turnitin.com, Essay 1 Writing Options (START NOW), importance of critical thinking

1-25 Acting Out Culture selections from 1-25 to 3-21: “Markets and Morals 40-49” and “Our Baby, Her Womb”418-430 ; writing your thesis, fragments

1-27 In-Class Essay of 500 words in bluebook for 75 points.

2-1 “How the Poor Are Made to Pay for Their Poverty” 380-385 and “Why I Make Terrible Decisions” online essay by Linda Tirado; paragraphs and PEEL method, MLA in-text citations, comma splices

2-3 Typed Essay 1 Due. “People Like Us” 62-67; types of thesis; pronoun errors

2-8 “The Great White Way” 68-70; “Flip Side of Internet Fame” 90-92; Top 20 Writing Errors

2-10 “Unspeakable Conversations” 96-112; Methods of Introductions and Conclusions

2-15 Holiday

2-17 “Green Guilt” 25-30; “Understanding Black Patriotism” 52-55; importance of brainstorming, dangling modifiers

2-22 “How Companies Learn Your Secrets” 134-149; signal phrases, PEEL paragraphs, clauses and phrases

2-24 Typed Essay 2 due; “Prudence Or Cruelty?” 172-175; counterarguments, paragraph transitions, parallelism

2-29 “Wages of Sin” and “Eat Cake, Subtract Self-Esteem” 181-202; essential and nonessential clauses

3-2 “Is Anorexia a Cultural Disease” online essay by Carrie Arnold; “The Repugnant Myth of the Poor’s Unhealthy Eating Habits” online essay by Kali Holloway; “Obesity-Hunger Paradox” 219-222; subordination and coordination

3-7 “The Quagmire of Social Media Friendships” 444-448; “The Flight from Conversation” online essay by Sherry Turkle; mixed sentence structure, appositives

3-9 “The Empathy Deficit”; “Sherry Turkle’s ‘Reclaiming Conversation’” online book review by Jonathan Franzen; 464-469; possessive case

3-21 “The Touch-Screen Generation” 484-499; comma rules

3-23 Typed Essay 3 due; Paul Fussell’s Class 15-23; review grammar errors

3-28 Paul Fussell’s Class 24-75; who and whom

3-30 Paul Fussell’s Class 76-127; subject-verb agreement

4-4 Paul Fussell’s Class 128-188; passive and active verbs

4-6 In-Class Essay 2 for 75 points

4-11 Typed Essay 4 due; Acting Out Culture “From Degrading to De-Grading” 238-249; argumentative thesis and the dialectical method; beginning your research

4-13 Acting Out Culture “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong” 252-270; writing a draft, invention, prewriting, research, planning, and composing; finding database sources

4-18 Acting Out Culture “Against School” 271-279”; evaluating sources; constructing arguments and effective thesis statements

4-20 Acting Out Culture; “Learning in the Shadow of Race and Class” 287-295; annotating, summarizing, and paraphrasing sources; framing the debate in your introduction 

4-25 Acting Out Culture; “Blue-Collar Brilliance” 280-286; integrating sources into your research paper; using signal phrases

4-27 Acting Out Culture “Preparing Minds for Markets” 301-314; documenting sources in MLA format; revising

5-2 Acting Out Culture Chapter 6 Review; research paper checklist; Works Cited format; revise thesis statements in class

5-4 In-class writing exam #3 based on Acting Out Culture, Chapter 6

5-9 Peer Edit: Your first 1,000 words of Final Essay Due; evaluating database sources

5-11 Final 1,500-word essay due

 

 

 

 

 

McMahon English 1A Syllabus Fall 2015

Office H121P

Office Hours: Mon and Wed: 2:30-3:45; Tuesday and Thursday: 12:30-1 and 3:30-4:15

Email: [email protected]  

Course Catalog Description for English 1A:    

This course is designed to strengthen the students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments, including a required research paper.  

Course Objectives: 

1.   Recognize and revise sentence-level grammar and usage errors.  

2.   Read and apply critical-thinking skills to numerous published articles and to college-level, book-length works for the purpose of writing and discussion.  

3.   Apply appropriate strategies in the writing process including prewriting, composing, revising, and editing techniques.  

4.   Compose multi-paragraph, thesis-driven essays with logical and appropriate supporting ideas, and with unity and coherence.  

5.   Demonstrate ability to locate and utilize a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites.  

6.   Utilize MLA guidelines to format essays, cite sources in the texts of essays, and compile Works Cited lists.  

Student Learning Outcomes:   

Upon completion of this course, students will:   

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.   

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.   

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.   

Students with Disabilities:  

It is the policy of the El Camino Community College District to encourage full inclusion of people with disabilities in all programs and services.  Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class should contact the campus Special Resource Center (310) 660-3295, as soon as possible.  This will ensure that students are able to fully participate.     

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism:  

El Camino College places a high value on the integrity of its student scholars.  When an instructor determines that there is evidence of dishonesty in any academic work (including, but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, or theft of exam materials), disciplinary action appropriate to the misconduct as defined in BP 5500 may be taken.  A failing grade on an assignment in which academic dishonesty has occurred and suspension from class are among the disciplinary actions for academic dishonesty (AP 5520).  Students with any questions about the Academic Honesty or discipline policies are encouraged to speak with their instructor in advance.  

Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend their classes regularly. Students who miss the first class meeting or who are not in regular attendance during the add period for the class may be dropped by the instructor. Students whose absences from a class exceed 10% of the scheduled class meeting times may be dropped by the instructor. However, students are responsible for dropping a class within the deadlines published in the class schedule. Students who stop attending but do not drop may receive a failing grade.  

Student Resources:

• Reading Success Center (East Library Basement E-36)
  Software and tutors are available for vocabulary development & reading comprehension.  
• Library Media Technology Center - LMTC (East Library Basement)
  Computers are available for free use. Bring your student ID # & flash drive.  There’s a charge for printing.  
• Writing Center (H122)
  Computers are available for free use. Free tutoring is available for writing assignments, grammar, and vocabulary.  Bring your student ID & flash drive to save work.  Printing is NOT available.  
• Learning Resource Center - LRC (West Wing of the Library, 2^nd floor)
  The LRC Tutorial Program offers free drop-in tutoring.  For the tutoring schedule, go to www.elcamino.edu/library/lrc/tutoring .The LRC also offers individualized computer adaptive programs to help build your reading comprehension skills.    
• Student Health Center (Next to the Pool)
  The Health Center offers free medical and psychological services as well as free workshops on topics like “test anxiety.” Low cost medical testing is also available. 
• Special Resource Center – SRC (Southwest Wing of Student Services Building)

The SRC provides free disability services, including interpreters, testing accommodations, counseling, and adaptive computer technology.   

Total Words Written in Semester: 8,000

Three In-Class Essays, 500 words, 75 points each, 225 points total

Night Essay 1 is 1,000 words and based on evaluation, literary analysis, or argument for 100 points

Acting Out Culture Essay 2 is 1,000 words and based on Chapters 1 and 2 based on causal analysis, extended definition, or argument

Acting Out Culture Essay 3 is 1,000 words and based on Chapters 3 and 4 based on causal analysis, extended definition, or argument

Acting Out Culture Essay 4 is 1,000 words and based on Chapter 5 based on causal analysis, extended definition, or argument

Rough Draft for Final is the essay's first 1,000 words (of 1,500) Failure to bring the rough draft to peer edit class day results in 25-point deduction from essay. 

Final Argumentative, 1,500-Word Research Paper (approx. 5 pages) 150 points

Attendance 

Gold Standard: You miss one class or less; you are tardy once or less, and you show up to class prepared to discuss the readings because you are keeping up with the readings. 50 points. 

Silver Standard: You miss two classes; you are tardy once or less, and you show up to class and show evidence of keeping up with the readings. 40 points. 

Bronze Standard: You miss three classes; you are tardy once or less, and you show up to class and show evidence of keeping up with the readings. 30 points. 

Students who miss more than 3 classes and/or consistently show up to class without doing the reading get ZERO attendance points. 

Grand Point Total: 825

Late papers reduced a full grade. No late papers accepted a week past due date.   

You Must Use turnitin to submit essay and bring hard copy on due date

Each essay must be submitted to www.turnitin.com where it will be checked for illegal copying/plagiarism. I cannot give credit for an essay that is not submitted to this site by the deadline.   

The process is very simple; if you need help, detailed instructions are available at http://turnitin.com/en_us/training/student-training/student-quickstart-guide   

You will need two pieces of information to use the site: 

Class ID and Enrollment Password, which I will give you first week of class

Classroom Decorum: No smart phones can be used in class. If you’re on your smart phone and I catch you, you get a warning the first time. Second time, you must leave the class and lose 25 points. Third time, you must leave the class and lose 50 points.  The above also applies to talking and doing homework from other classes. 

Books You Need to Buy for This Class

Book One: Acting Out Culture, third edition, James S. Miller

Book Two: Night by Elie Wiesel

Book Three: How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference, by John J. Ruszkiewicz

Final Research Paper: Chapter 6: How We Connect 

The essays in Chapter 6 address the alleged pathologies resulting from social media. These pathologies include an empathy deficit, narcissism, shortened attention span, online shaming, and even altered brain development.

In an argumentative essay, support, refute, or complicate the assertion that social media is harmful for our social, cultural and intellectual development. Be sure to address at least two essays from Chapter 6. One of the essays can be used as a source. You will need at least 4 other sources for a total of 5 sources. 

The general prompt above has many variations in our text Acting Out Culture. Specific variations can be found on page 452, prompt 6; page 457, prompt 6; page 461, prompt 6; page 469, prompts 5 and 6; page 477, prompt 6; page 499, prompt 6; and page 503, prompt 6. You can formulate your thesis on one of these specific prompts or use the more general prompt above.

Your guidelines for your Final Research Paper are as follows:   

This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   

You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.   

You need to research and cite from at least five sources.  You must use at least 3 different types of sources.     

At least one source must be from an ECC library database.    

At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook.    

At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.  

The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.     

This paper will be approximately 5-7 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  This means at least 5 full pages of text.  The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.     

You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.   

You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.  

You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. 

Your paper must be logically organized and focused.    

Reading and Writing Schedule

8-24 Introduction, Night Lecture 1

8-26 Night Lecture 2; HTWA 100-118

8-31 Night Lecture 3; HTWA 184-205; 252-257

9-2 Night In-Class Essay of 500 words in bluebook for 75 points.

9-7 Holiday

9-9 Essay Night 1 Essay due; AOC 25-39; HTWA 334-342; 128-146

9-14 AOC 40-49, 52-55; HTWA 343-359

9-16 AOC 62-71; HTWA 362-373

9-21 AOC 90-112; Top Twenty Writing Errors

9-23 AOC 113-125; HTWA 391-397

9-28 AOC 134-149; HTWA 400-418

9-30 Essay 2 due; AOC 172-180; HTWA 571-576

10-5 AOC 181-202; HTWA 577-585

10-7 AOC 210-222; HTWA 587-594

10-12 AOC 238-249, 301-314; HTWA 595-597

10-14 AOC 252-279; HTWA 597-598

10-19 AOC 280-295; work on recurring grammar problems

10-21 Essay 3 due; AOC 342-352; continue addressing recurring grammar problems

10-26 AOC 353-367; explore the life of Linda Tirado online.

10-28 AOC 368-385

11-2 AOC 388-391; 394-410; 418-430

11-4 In-Class Essay 2 for 75 points

11-9 Essay 4 due; AOC 444-452; HTWA 66-100 (argumentation)

11-11 Holiday

11-16 AOC 453-461; HTWA 377-382; 428-432

11-18 AOC 464-471; HTWA 434-450 (research)

11-23 AOC 484-499; HTWA 451-470 (research continued)

11-25 "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" (online essay); HTWA 470-472 (documenting sources); nonessential vs. essential clauses

11-30 "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" (online essay) "The Flight from Conversation": Literary analysis of Turkle's essay

12-2 In-class writing exam #3 based on AOC Chapter 6

12-7 Peer Edit: Your first 1,000 words of Final Essay Due

12-9 Final 1,500-word essay due

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English 1A Syllabus for Jeff McMahon Summer 2015

English 1A Syllabus for Jeff McMahon Summer 2015

Office H121P

Office Hours Monday through Thursday 5-6

Email: [email protected]  

Course Catalog Description for English 1A:    

This course is designed to strengthen the students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments, including a required research paper.  

Course Objectives: 

1.   Recognize and revise sentence-level grammar and usage errors.  

2.   Read and apply critical-thinking skills to numerous published articles and to college-level, book-length works for the purpose of writing and discussion.  

3.   Apply appropriate strategies in the writing process including prewriting, composing, revising, and editing techniques.  

4.   Compose multi-paragraph, thesis-driven essays with logical and appropriate supporting ideas, and with unity and coherence.  

5.   Demonstrate ability to locate and utilize a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites.  

6.   Utilize MLA guidelines to format essays, cite sources in the texts of essays, and compile Works Cited lists.  

Student Learning Outcomes:   

Upon completion of this course, students will:   

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.   

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.   

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.   

Students with Disabilities:  

It is the policy of the El Camino Community College District to encourage full inclusion of people with disabilities in all programs and services.  Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class should contact the campus Special Resource Center (310) 660-3295, as soon as possible.  This will ensure that students are able to fully participate.     

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism:  

El Camino College places a high value on the integrity of its student scholars.  When an instructor determines that there is evidence of dishonesty in any academic work (including, but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, or theft of exam materials), disciplinary action appropriate to the misconduct as defined in BP 5500 may be taken.  A failing grade on an assignment in which academic dishonesty has occurred and suspension from class are among the disciplinary actions for academic dishonesty (AP 5520).  Students with any questions about the Academic Honesty or discipline policies are encouraged to speak with their instructor in advance.  

Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend their classes regularly. Students who miss the first class meeting or who are not in regular attendance during the add period for the class may be dropped by the instructor. Students whose absences from a class exceed 10% of the scheduled class meeting times may be dropped by the instructor. However, students are responsible for dropping a class within the deadlines published in the class schedule. Students who stop attending but do not drop may receive a failing grade.  

Student Resources:

• Reading Success Center (East Library Basement E-36)
  Software and tutors are available for vocabulary development & reading comprehension.  
• Library Media Technology Center - LMTC (East Library Basement)
  Computers are available for free use. Bring your student ID # & flash drive.  There’s a charge for printing.  
• Writing Center (H122)
  Computers are available for free use. Free tutoring is available for writing assignments, grammar, and vocabulary.  Bring your student ID & flash drive to save work.  Printing is NOT available.  
• Learning Resource Center - LRC (West Wing of the Library, 2^nd floor)
  The LRC Tutorial Program offers free drop-in tutoring.  For the tutoring schedule, go to www.elcamino.edu/library/lrc/tutoring .The LRC also offers individualized computer adaptive programs to help build your reading comprehension skills.    
• Student Health Center (Next to the Pool)
  The Health Center offers free medical and psychological services as well as free workshops on topics like “test anxiety.” Low cost medical testing is also available. 
• Special Resource Center – SRC (Southwest Wing of Student Services Building)

The SRC provides free disability services, including interpreters, testing accommodations, counseling, and adaptive computer technology.   

Total Words Written in Semester: 8,100

Four In-Class Essays, 500 words, 75 points each, 300 points total

Three Typed essays 1,200 words each (approx. 4 pages), 100, 300 total points

Tentative outline (approx. 2 pages) and 5-source annotated bibliography (approx. 2 pages) for Final Research Paper 75 points (1,000 words)

Final 1,500-word research paper (approx. 5 pages) 150 points

Attendance based on absences (no more than 2) tardies (no more than 2), participation, reading preparedness, staying off smartphones, not doing homework from other classes: Violation of attendance and class participation policy can result in the loss of 50-100 points.

Grand Point Total: 825

Late papers reduced a full grade. No late papers accepted a week past due date.   

You must use turnitin to submit essay and bring hard copy on due date

Each essay must be submitted to www.turnitin.com where it will be checked for illegal copying/plagiarism. I cannot give credit for an essay that is not submitted to this site by the deadline.   

The process is very simple; if you need help, detailed instructions are available at http://turnitin.com/en_us/training/student-training/student-quickstart-guide   

You will need two pieces of information to use the site: 

Class ID and Enrollment Password, which I will give you first week of class

Classroom Decorum: No smart phones can be used in class. If you’re on your smart phone and I catch you, you get a warning the first time. Second time, you must leave the class and lose 25 points. Third time, you must leave the class and lose 50 points.  The above also applies to talking and doing homework from other classes. 

Books You Need to Buy for This Class, Writing Assignments and Grading 

Book One: Acting Out Culture, third edition, James S. Miller

Book Two: Alone Together by Sherry Turkle

Book Three: Rules for Writers, Seventh Edition, by Diana Hacker

Writing Assignment Options for 1,200-Word Typed Essay 1, worth 100 points:

For all options for Typed Essay 1, your essay must have a minimum of three legitimate sources for your Works Cited page and you must use MLA format.

For Essay 1, Choose One from Chapter 4: How We Learn

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate Kohn's argument that grading is inimical to effective teaching. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate the notion that Rizga's essay provides evidence to support the argument that standardized testing is a canard that hurts students' education. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate John Taylor Gatto's argument that school is not about education but rather about indoctrinating students into being malleable sheep, non-thinkers, and childish consumers who are sorted into "their rightful place" in the social and economic hierarchy. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that explains how Gatto and Rose are attempting to rewrite the conventional norms regarding class, learning, and intelligence. In making your thesis, consider how the two essays complement the other. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that supports, refutes, or complicates the notion that the triumph we learn of in Bell Hooks' essay "Learning in the Shadow of Race and Class" is that Hooks overcame Alexander Inglis's six basic functions (mentioned in John Taylor Gatto's essay) and instead of becoming indoctrinated became truly enlightened. Is it possible that she was both indoctrinated and enlightened? Explain. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that analyzes, in the context of Rachel Toor's 'Unconscious Plagiarism," the difference between legitimate modeling that is a form of healthy plagiarism and immoral plagiarism. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that explains how Kozol's essay "Preparing Minds for Markets" supports John Gatto's main argument in his essay "Against School." 

For Essay 2, Choose One from Chapter 3: How We Eat

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate Kristof's argument in "Prudence Or Cruelty?" that in spite of the food stamp abuses cited by opponents of the food stamp program, providing food stamps for the poor is moral and economic imperative over the long-term. Be sure to have a counterargument and rebuttal section at the end of your essay. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate the notion that eating meat is morally defensible in the context of evolution and biology and that ethical objections to meat eating are not born of eating meat but the abuses that result in the factory farming of animals. Be sure to have a counterargument-refutation section. 

Addressing Francine Prose's "The Wages of Sin," write a 4-page essay with 3 sources that supports, refutes, or complicates the notion that overeating is not an illness but a moral flaw and a vice. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that addresses the claim that Francine Prose and Caroline Knapp are criticizing cultural norms about eating that in truth are not normal at all but pathological and that these norms create a toxic eating environment in our culture.  

Both McMillan and Kristof (172) use their examinations of public attitudes toward food as a platform to argue for specific changes in our official food policy. In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that explains how these recommendations compare. Can you imagine Kristof citing points McMillan raises here as evidence or support for the argument he makes about food stamps? If so, how specifically?

Both Dolnick and Francine Prose address the mythical narrative of obesity and overeating by deconstructing the myth. In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that analyzes how Dolnick and Prose deconstruct the myth of fatness. 

For Essay 3, Choose One from Chapter 5, 1, or 2

Chapter 5: How We Work

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that compares the way Louis Uchitelle (342) and Matthew Crawford (368) explore the emotional life of work and how work affects our happiness, contentment, and self-esteem. To what extent does Uchitelle's argument about the psychological damage wrought by unemployment recall or help reinforce Crawford's claims about the emotional satisfactions afforded by working with your hands?

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, write a review of DePalma's essay that you think Uchitelle might offer. To what extent would Uchitelle's review find parallels in the social and economic hardships profiled here and his argument regarding the emotional costs of unemployment?

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, write an assessment of how the messages in Catherine Rampell's essay (388) and Matthew Crawford's (368) compare with one another. Does Rampell's attempt to explode the myth of the "slacker generation" remind you in any way of Crawford's desire to rewrite the boundary between white-collar and manual labor? Do these writers challenge such stereotypes in order to say similar or different things about the meaning and value of work?

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that compares the way DePalma (353) profiles immigrant workers with the way Ehrenreich (380) explores the working poor. Based on the argument she makes here, which specific aspects of DePalma's essay do you think Ehrenreich would find most persuasive? Why? 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, show how McClelland's examination of the psychological pressures she experienced on the job (394) compare to the portrait of the unemployed Louis Uchitelle (342) presents? Do you find any similarities or parallels in the ways each essay explores this issue?

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop an argumentative thesis that addresses whether it is appropriate, or not, to use the business model described in Hochschild's essay (418) as a way of making the "mutually beneficial transaction" between parents and a surrogate mother. Consider Barbara Ehrenreich's essay (380) about how the experience of being poor complicates this business model. 

Chapter 1 How We Believe

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate the notion that Stephen Asma's "Green Guilt" and Michael Eric Dyson's "Understanding Black Patriotism" provide a convincing indictment of "isms" evidenced by their dogmatic zeal, myopia, tribalism, and Groupthink. If you want, you can include Schwennesen's "The Ethics of Eating," which addresses vegetarianism. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate the argument that Ty Burr's "Faces in the Mirror" and Michael Sandel's "Markets and Morals" complement the theme of human degradation and "moral vacancy" in an age of excessive marketing and pathological self-promotion. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate the notion that Michael Eric Dyson has written an convincing argument about the crucial differences between nationalism and patriotism. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that addresses the cultural stereotypes discussed in Michael Eric Dyson's essay and Katie Roiphe's "In Defense of Single Motherhood."

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that addresses the tribalism discussed in David Brooks' essay "People Like Us" and the "scientific racism" discussed in Debra J. Dickerson's "The Great White Way."

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, defend, refute, or complicate Debra J. Dickerson's argument that race is not an objective reality but rather a social fantasy.

Chapter 2: How We Watch

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, defend, refute, or complicate the argument that Jessica Bennett's "The Flip Side of Internet Fame" evidences a need to make new freedom of speech restrictions in the age of social media. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, develop a thesis that analyzes the causes of cultural stereotypes evidenced in Harriet McBryde Johnson's "Unspeakable Conversations" and Heather Havrilesky's "Some 'Girls' Are Better Than Others."

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate the argument made by Virginia Heffernan's "The Attention-Span Myth" and Don Tapscott's "Should We Ditch the Idea of Privacy?" that the digital age has, rightly, abolished certain cultural norms and values. 

In a 4-page essay with 3 sources, support, refute, or complicate the argument that Charles Duhigg's "How Companies Learn Your Secrets" affirms Virginia Heffernan's examination of the attention-span myth. 

Final Essay Is 1,500 words, about 5 pages, and Based on Alone Together by Sherry Turkle

In a 5-page essay with 5 sources, support, refute or complicate the notion that Sherry Turkle's Alone Together is a technophobic screed that exaggerates and twists information to create an unfair nightmare portrait of social media. 

Your guidelines for your Final Research Paper are as follows:   

This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   

You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.   

You need to research and cite from at least five sources.  You must use at least 3 different types of sources.     

At least one source must be from an ECC library database.    

At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook.    

At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.  

The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.     

This paper will be approximately 5-7 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  This means at least 5 full pages of text.  The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.      

You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.   

You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.    

You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.   

Your paper must be logically organized and focused.    

Reading and Writing Schedule Summer 2015

May 26 Introduction and John Taylor Gatto read in class from 271-279

May 27 Acting Out Culture 238-270 Kohn and Rizga

May 28 Acting Out Culture 280-314 Rose, Hooks, Toor, Kozol

June 1 In-Class Essay 1 for 75 points

June 2 Typed Essay 1 due for 100 points; Acting Out Culture 172-180 Kristof, Schwennesen

June 3 Acting Out Culture 181-202 Prose and Knapp

June 4 Acting Out Culture 203-222 Buhler, Kendall, McMillan, Dolnick

June 8 In-Class Essay 2 for 75 points

June 9 Typed Essay 2 Due for 100 points; Acting Out Culture 342-367 Uchitelle, DePalma

June 10 Acting Out Culture 368-385 Crawford and Ehrenreich

June 11 Acting Out Culture 388-410 Rampell and McClelland; 418-430 Hochschild

June 15 Acting Out Culture 31-49 Burr, Sandel; 52-55 Dyson

June 16 Acting Out Culture 58-71 Roiphe, Brooks, Dickerson

June 17 Acting Out Culture 90-112 Bennet and Johnson

June 18 Acting Out Culture 113-121 Heffernan and Tapscott; 134-149 Duhigg

June 22 In-Class Essay for 75 points

June 23 Essay 3 due for 100 points; Alone Together 1-22

June 24 Alone Together 151-170

June 25 Alone Together 171-end

June 29 Review Alone Together; Outlining and Annotated Bibliography

June 30 In-Class Essay 4 for 75 points

July 1 In-class consultation with outline and annotated bibliography due for 75 points

July 2 Final Essay 4 due for 150 points

 

 

English 1A Syllabus for Jeff McMahon Spring 2015

English 1A Syllabus for Jeff McMahon Spring 2015

Office H121P; Work Phone: 5673; email:[email protected]  

Office Hours M and W: 2:45-3:45; T and TH: 12:30-1, 3:30-4:15

Course Catalog Description for English 1A:    

This course is designed to strengthen the students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments, including a required research paper.  

Course Objectives: 

1.   Recognize and revise sentence-level grammar and usage errors.  

2.   Read and apply critical-thinking skills to numerous published articles and to college-level, book-length works for the purpose of writing and discussion.  

3.   Apply appropriate strategies in the writing process including prewriting, composing, revising, and editing techniques.  

4.   Compose multi-paragraph, thesis-driven essays with logical and appropriate supporting ideas, and with unity and coherence.  

5.   Demonstrate ability to locate and utilize a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites.  

6.   Utilize MLA guidelines to format essays, cite sources in the texts of essays, and compile Works Cited lists.  

Student Learning Outcomes:   

Upon completion of this course, students will:   

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.   

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.   

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.   

Students with Disabilities:  

It is the policy of the El Camino Community College District to encourage full inclusion of people with disabilities in all programs and services.  Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class should contact the campus Special Resource Center (310) 660-3295, as soon as possible.  This will ensure that students are able to fully participate.     

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism:  

El Camino College places a high value on the integrity of its student scholars.  When an instructor determines that there is evidence of dishonesty in any academic work (including, but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, or theft of exam materials), disciplinary action appropriate to the misconduct as defined in BP 5500 may be taken.  A failing grade on an assignment in which academic dishonesty has occurred and suspension from class are among the disciplinary actions for academic dishonesty (AP 5520).  Students with any questions about the Academic Honesty or discipline policies are encouraged to speak with their instructor in advance.  

Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend their classes regularly. Students who miss the first class meeting or who are not in regular attendance during the add period for the class may be dropped by the instructor. Students whose absences from a class exceed 10% of the scheduled class meeting times may be dropped by the instructor. However, students are responsible for dropping a class within the deadlines published in the class schedule. Students who stop attending but do not drop may receive a failing grade.  

Student Resources:

 

      Reading Success Center (East Library Basement E-36)
Software and tutors are available for vocabulary development & reading comprehension. 

 

      Library Media Technology Center - LMTC (East Library Basement)
Computers are available for free use. Bring your student ID # & flash drive.  There’s a charge for printing. 

 

      Writing Center (H122)
Computers are available for free use. Free tutoring is available for writing assignments, grammar, and vocabulary.  Bring your student ID & flash drive to save work.  Printing is NOT available. 

 

      Learning Resource Center - LRC (West Wing of the Library, 2^nd floor)
The LRC Tutorial Program offers free drop-in tutoring.  For the tutoring schedule, go to www.elcamino.edu/library/lrc/tutoring .The LRC also offers individualized computer adaptive programs to help build your reading comprehension skills.    

      Student Health Center (Next to the Pool)
The Health Center offers free medical and psychological services as well as free workshops on topics like “test anxiety.” Low cost medical testing is also available. 

      Special Resource Center – SRC (Southwest Wing of Student Services Building)

The SRC provides free disability services, including interpreters, testing accommodations, counseling, and adaptive computer technology.   

Grading:  (725 total)

Four In-Class Essays, 500 words, 75 points, 300 points total

Two typed essays 1,500 words each, 100, 200 total points

Tentative outline (approx. 3 pages) and 5-source annotated bibliography (approx. 3 pages) for Final Research Paper, approx. 1,500 words, 75 points

Final 1,500-word research paper 150 points

Attendance based on absences (no more than 2) tardies (no more than 2), participation, reading preparedness, staying off smartphones, not doing homework from other classes: Violation of attendance and class participation can result in the loss of 50-100 points.

Extra credit assignment for 70 maximum points.

Grand Point Total: 725

8,000-word total for writing assignments and in-class essays

Essays cannot be rewritten for a higher grade. However, you can earn extra credit, up to 50 points.

Late papers reduced a full grade. No late papers accepted a week past due date.   

You Must Use turnitin to submit essay and bring hard copy on due date

Each essay must be submitted to www.turnitin.com where it will be checked for illegal copying/plagiarism. I cannot give credit for an essay that is not submitted to this site by the deadline.   

The process is very simple; if you need help, detailed instructions are available at http://turnitin.com/en_us/training/student-training/student-quickstart-guide   

You will need two pieces of information to use the site: 

Class ID and Enrollment Password, which I will give you first week of class

Classroom Decorum: No smart phones can be used in class. If you’re on your smart phone and I catch you, you get a warning the first time. Second time, you must leave the class and lose 25 points. Third time, you must leave the class and lose 50 points.  The above also applies to talking and doing homework from other classes. 

Books You Need to Buy for This Class, Writing Assignments and Grading 

Book One: Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff
Book Two: Acting Out Culture, third edition, James S. Miller

Book Three: Rules for Writers, Seventh Edition, by Diana Hacker

Writing Assignment Options for 1,500-Word Typed Essay 1:

Choose One for Typed 1,500-word Essay 1 (100 points)

For all options for Typed Essay 1, your essay must have a minimum of three legitimate sources for your Works Cited page and you must use MLA format.

Option One

We read in Judith Shulvit's Slate book review of Our Story Begins the following: 

To read a collection of Wolff's work that spans the years is to realize that he is obsessed with the act of lying. Asked in an interview why so many of his characters lie, Wolff replied, "The world is not enough, maybe? … To lie is to say the thing that is not, so there's obviously an unhappiness with what is, a discontent." A recent outbreak of faked memoirs has set off a storm of outraged pontification about why people pass off false histories as their own, so it's satisfying to read about liars who lie for interesting reasons rather than the usual despicable ones. Wolff is, in fact, a genius at locating the truths revealed by lies—the ancient and holy tongues, you might say, the otherwise inexpressible inner realities that lies give voice to. 

In a 5-page paper (1,500 words), typed and double-spaced, develop a thesis that analyzes the characters' need to lie in Tobias Wolff's collection Our Story Begins. Address at least 4 stories in your essay. For your Works Cited, use Wolff's collection, my blog, and a book review.

Option 2

In one of his darker moods, our instructor McMahon said this about the human race:

"We are a lost and sorry lot, hopelessly imprisoned by self-deception: false narratives we rely on to define our identities; tantalizing chimeras that assuage the boredom of our banal existence, and willed ignorance that prevents us from seeing the grotesqueries roiling just underneath the facade that we present to the world and to ourselves. As a result, we are crazed and deformed creatures forever lost in a world of solipsism."

In a 5-page essay (1,500 words), analyze McMahon's remarks in the context of no fewer than 4 stories from Tobias Wolff's collection Our Story Begins. 

For your Works Cited, use Wolff's collection, my blog, and a book review.

Option 3

Develop a cause and effect thesis that compares the theme of self-deception in Tobias Wolff’s stories and the 2013 David O. Russell film American Hustle. For your Works Cited page, you may want to consult various film reviews of the Russell’s film. Your essay should be 1,500 words.

Option 4

One camp of readers argue that Wolff's fiction is redemptive in that its characters are delivered from their delusions through life-changing epiphanies that propel them back into the world of reality and personal accountability. Another camp of readers say the epiphanies come too little too late and only serve to speak to the characters' lives, which can be defined by endless cycles of futility and as such Wolff's stories are not redemptive but nihilistic.

What camp are you in? Develop an argumentative thesis that defends your position in a 5-page essay (1,500 words). For your Works Cited, use Wolff's collection, my blog, and a book review. 

Typed 1,500-word Essay 2 (100 points) From Chapters 3 and 5 from Acting Out Culture

Addressing at least one assigned essay from Chapter 3, develop an argumentative thesis about “how we eat.” Or addressing at least one essay from Chapter 5, develop an argumentative thesis about “how we work.” Be sure to have a counterargument section at the end of your essay.

Final 1,500-Word Typed Essay 3 (150 points and another 750 points for the tentative outline and annotated bibliography)

Support, defend, or complicate the assertion that social media and the Internet are degrading our intellect, attention span, relationships, and empathic powers in a 1,500-word essay with a counterargument section. Be sure to address at least one essay from Chapter 6.

Your guidelines for your Final Research Paper are as follows:   

This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   

You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.   

You need to research and cite from at least five sources.  You must use at least 3 different types of sources.     

At least one source must be from an ECC library database.    

At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook.    

At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.  

The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.     

This paper will be approximately 5-7 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  This means at least 5 full pages of text.  The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.      

You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.   

You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.      

You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.   

Your paper must be logically organized and focused.    

Reading and Writing Schedule Spring 2015

January 19 Holiday

January 21 Syllabus, requirements, grading, plagiarism, turnitin.com, Final Paper

January 26 From Our Story Begins: “The Rich Brother”; "The Other Miller"; crafting a thesis, prewriting

January 28 “Desert Breakdown,” “The Liar,” “The Deposition”; writing introductions, prewriting and thesis

February 2 “Say Yes,” “Mortals”; prewriting, thesis, Toulmin model; signal phrases

February 4 “Firelight,” “Deep Kiss”; paraphrase, summary, quotations, critical reading

February 9 In-class exam (open-book; bring blue book) 75 points

February 11 Typed 5-Page (1,500-words) Essay One is due for 100 points; Chapter 4 of Acting Out Culture 238-250; 280-287; fragments

February 16 Holiday

February 18 Chapter 4 301-314; 316-327; comma splices and run-ons

February 23 Chapter 4 252-279; pronoun errors

February 25 Chapter 4 287-301; phrases and clauses

March 2 In-class Exam 2 for 75 points (open-book; bring blue book)

March 4 Chapter 3 172-175; 178-180; essential and nonessential clauses

March 9 Chapter 3 181-187; 188-202; parallelism

March 11 Chapter 3 203-207; 210-222; dangling modifiers

March 23 Chapter 5 342-367; subordination and coordination

March 25 Chapter 5 368-387; mixed sentence structure

March 30 Chapter 5 394-414; comma rules

April 1 Typed 4-Page (1,500 words) Essay 2 Due for 100 points; Chapter 1 31-49; 52-55

April 6 Chapter 1 62-76

April 8 Chapter 2 90-93; 96-112

April 13 Chapter 2 134-149; 113-116; see online essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”

April 15 In-Class Exam 3 for 75 points (open-book, bring blue book)

April 20 Chapter 6 444-452; discuss Alone Together Ted Talk

April 22 Chapter 6 453-461 (go over outline and annotated bibliography)

April 27 Chapter 6 464-483

April 29 Chapter 6 484-503; writing introduction, counterargument, and conclusion

May 4 Two-page tentative outline and two-page annotated bibliography due for 75 points consult.  Students with last names that start with A-M will have the conference. All students must attend the class and work on their thesis and essay.

May 6 Two-page tentative outline and two-page annotated bibliography due for 75 points consult. Students with last names that start with N-Z will have the conference. All students must attend the class and work on their thesis and essay.  

May 11 In-class Exam 4 for 75 points (open-book and bring blue book)

May 13 Final 6-Page (1,500 words) Typed Essay for 150 Points Is Due

 

 

McMahon English 1A Fall 2014 Syllabus

McMahon Fall 2014 English 1A Syllabus 

Office H121P; Work Phone: 5673; email:[email protected]  

Office Hours M and W: 2:00-3:00; T and TH: 12:30-1, 3:30-4:15

Course Catalog Description:    

This course is designed to strengthen the students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments, including a required research paper. 

Course Objectives: 

 

1.     Recognize and revise sentence-level grammar and usage errors. 

 

2.     Read and apply critical-thinking skills to numerous published articles and to college-level, book-length works for the purpose of writing and discussion. 

 

3.     Apply appropriate strategies in the writing process including prewriting, composing, revising, and editing techniques. 

 

4.     Compose multi-paragraph, thesis-driven essays with logical and appropriate supporting ideas, and with unity and coherence. 

 

5.     Demonstrate ability to locate and utilize a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. 

 

6.     Utilize MLA guidelines to format essays, cite sources in the texts of essays, and compile Works Cited lists. 

 

Student Learning Outcomes:  

 

Upon completion of this course, students will:  

 

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.  

 

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.  

 

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.  

 

Students with Disabilities: 

 

It is the policy of the El Camino Community College District to encourage full inclusion of people with disabilities in all programs and services.  Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class should contact the campus Special Resource Center (310) 660-3295, as soon as possible.  This will ensure that students are able to fully participate.    

 

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism: 

 

El Camino College places a high value on the integrity of its student scholars.  When an instructor determines that there is evidence of dishonesty in any academic work (including, but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, or theft of exam materials), disciplinary action appropriate to the misconduct as defined in BP 5500 may be taken.  A failing grade on an assignment in which academic dishonesty has occurred and suspension from class are among the disciplinary actions for academic dishonesty (AP 5520).  Students with any questions about the Academic Honesty or discipline policies are encouraged to speak with their instructor in advance. 

 

Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend their classes regularly. Students who miss the first class meeting or who are not in regular attendance during the add period for the class may be dropped by the instructor. Students whose absences from a class exceed 10% of the scheduled class meeting times may be dropped by the instructor. However, students are responsible for dropping a class within the deadlines published in the class schedule. Students who stop attending but do not drop may receive a failing grade.

 

Important Dates:                       

 

 Last day to add a class   9/5/2014; Last day to drop with no notation   9/5/2014; Last day to drop with a “W”   11/14/2014 

 

Student Resources:

 

·      Reading Success Center (East Library Basement E-36)
Software and tutors are available for vocabulary development & reading comprehension. 

 

·      Library Media Technology Center - LMTC (East Library Basement)
Computers are available for free use. Bring your student ID # & flash drive.  There’s a charge for printing. 

 

·      Writing Center (H122)
Computers are available for free use. Free tutoring is available for writing assignments, grammar, and vocabulary.  Bring your student ID & flash drive to save work.  Printing is NOT available. 

 

·      Learning Resource Center - LRC (West Wing of the Library, 2^nd floor)
The LRC Tutorial Program offers free drop-in tutoring.  For the tutoring schedule, go to www.elcamino.edu/library/lrc/tutoring .The LRC also offers individualized computer adaptive programs to help build your reading comprehension skills.   

 

·      Student Health Center (Next to the Pool)
The Health Center offers free medical and psychological services as well as free workshops on topics like “test anxiety.” Low cost medical testing is also available. 

 

·      Special Resource Center – SRC (Southwest Wing of Student Services Building)
The SRC provides free disability services, including interpreters, testing accommodations, counseling, and adaptive computer technology. 

 

Grading:

 

Four in-class 300-word quizzes, including one given on the final day of class: 50, 200  

Attendance based on absences (no more than 2) tardies (no more than 2), participation, reading preparedness, staying off smartphones, not doing homework from other classes: 50 

Typed draft of final paper for peer edit review: 20 points deducted if not brought to class 

First Three 1,200-word essays: 150, 450 

Final 1,500 word essay: 400 

Extra Credit (see assignment and due date below) 50 points

 Grand Point Total: 1,100

990-1,100 is an A

880-989 is a B

770-879 is a C

660-769 is a D

Paper 4 is a “Final” in that it tests your ability to adhere to grading rubric, so you cannot, like the first 3 essays, do a rewrite. 

Papers 1 through 3 cannot be rewritten for a higher grade. However, you can earn extra credit, up to 50 points, by writing a 3-page essay with 2 sources in which you explain the pessimism in Tobias Wolff's "Deep Kiss." The extra credit essay must be submitted to turnitin by December 1.

Late papers reduced a full grade. No late papers accepted a week past due date.   

You Must Use turnitin to submit essay and bring hard copy on due date

Each essay must be submitted to www.turnitin.com where it will be checked for illegal copying/plagiarism. I cannot give credit for an essay that is not submitted to this site by the deadline.   

The process is very simple; if you need help, detailed instructions are available at http://turnitin.com/en_us/training/student-training/student-quickstart-guide 

 

 You will need two pieces of information to use the site: 

Class ID and Enrollment Password, which I will give you first week of class

Classroom Decorum: No smart phones can be used in class. If you’re on your smart phone and I catch you, you get a warning the first time. Second time, you must leave the class and lose 25 points. Third time, you must leave the class and lose 50 points.  The above also applies to talking and doing homework from other classes.

 

Books You Need to Buy for This Class, Writing Assignments and Grading 

Essay 1: Cooked by Jeff Henderson, 150 points  

A wise man once said that when we think we're rising in life, we're really falling and when we think we're falling, we're really rising. In a 5-page essay, apply this wisdom, in all of its psychological complexity, to Jeff Henderson's journey and compare to someone from a personal interview. Use blog, book, and personal interview for your sixth page, your Works Cited page. 

Essay 2: A Good Fall by Ha Jin, 150 points

In a 5-page essay, contrast learned helplessness and its resulting recurring cycle of futility with the Third Eye and its resulting effective action in at least 2 of the stories. Use personal interviews to give further depth to your contrast of helplessness and the Third Eye. Your sixth page, your Works Cited page, should have my blog, the book, and your personal interview.  

Essay 3, Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff, 150 points

Option One

We read in Judith Shulvit's Slate book review of Our Story Begins the following: 

To read a collection of Wolff's work that spans the years is to realize that he is obsessed with the act of lying. Asked in an interview why so many of his characters lie, Wolff replied, "The world is not enough, maybe? … To lie is to say the thing that is not, so there's obviously an unhappiness with what is, a discontent." A recent outbreak of faked memoirs has set off a storm of outraged pontification about why people pass off false histories as their own, so it's satisfying to read about liars who lie for interesting reasons rather than the usual despicable ones. Wolff is, in fact, a genius at locating the truths revealed by lies—the ancient and holy tongues, you might say, the otherwise inexpressible inner realities that lies give voice to. 

In a 5-page paper, typed and double-spaced, develop a thesis that analyzes the characters' need to lie in Tobias Wolff's collection Our Story Begins. Address at least 4 stories in your essay. For your Works Cited, use Wolff's collection, my blog, and a book review.

Option 2

In one of his darker moods, our instructor McMahon said this about the human race:

"We are a lost and sorry lot, hopelessly imprisoned by self-deception: false narratives we rely on to define our identities; tantalizing chimeras that assuage the boredom of our banal existence, and willed ignorance that prevents us from seeing the grotesqueries roiling just underneath the facade that we present to the world and to ourselves. As a result, we are crazed and deformed creatures forever lost in a world of solipsism."

In a 5-page essay, analyze McMahon's remarks in the context of no fewer than 4 stories from Tobias Wolff's collection Our Story Begins. 

For your Works Cited, use Wolff's collection, my blog, and a book review.

Option 3

One camp of readers argues that Wolff's fiction is redemptive in that its characters are delivered from their delusions through life-changing epiphanies that propel them back into the world of reality and personal accountability. Another camp of readers say the epiphanies come too little too late and only serve to speak to the characters' lives, which can be defined by endless cycles of futility and as such Wolff's stories are not redemptive but nihilistic.

What camp are you in? Develop an argumentative thesis that defends your position in a 5-page essay. For your Works Cited, use Wolff's collection, my blog, and a book review. 

Essay Final 4: The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley, 400 points 

McMahon said in class that “Malcolm X was an autodidactic genius who showed us that literacy could be used as a vital tool for two essential undertakings: The first was to strip away the façade of a false America, replace the mythic America with a sobering reality, that of a country that relied on white supremacy as the foundation of its economy and identity and that this false religion, white supremacy, continues to metastasize across the country, in different forms, today; the second was to use literacy to reinvent the self, one from ignorance, degradation, learned helplessness, victimization, and moral dissolution into a person of knowledge, dignity, critical thinking, purpose, and effective action.”   

But some people disagree with McMahon’s "exalted view" of Malcolm X and argue that Malcolm X was a hustler and a demagogue who reinvented himself through fabrication, contrivance, exaggeration of racism, and myth-making to reinvent his view of America, and himself, and that this view of America is unjustly skewed, pessimistic, and hellish in its rendering.  

Which camp do you belong to, McMahon’s or McMahon’s critics? Defend your position in a thesis that generates a 6-page research paper of about 1,500 words.  Remember you don’t have to agree with McMahon to write a successful paper. However, you do need to devote a section of your essay to refuting your opponents if your essay is to be A-grade.  

Your guidelines are as follows:   

This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   

You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.   

You need to research and cite from at least five sources.  You must use at least 3 different types of sources.

At least one source must be from an ECC library database.    

At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook. 

At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.  

The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them. 

This paper will be approximately 5-7 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  This means at least 5 full pages of text.  The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.  

You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.   

You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.  

You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  

Your paper must be logically organized and focused.    

Reading and Writing Schedule for Fall Semester 2014

August 25 Introduction, policies, grading, common writing errors  

August 27 Cooked 1-50; clauses and phrases

September 1 Holiday

September 3 Cooked 51-150; sentence fragments

September 8 Cooked 151-end; signal phrases, comma splices

September 10 Cooked; topic sentence; paragraph unity and cohesiveness

September 15 Reading Exam 1 for Cooked in class: bring blue book or college-ruled paper

September 17 Ha Jin "The Beauty"; essential and nonessential clauses; Essay 1 due for Cooked 

September 22 Ha Jin: “Temporary Love”; pronoun errors

September 24 Ha Jin: “Choice”; paragraph transitions

September 29 Ha Jin: “A Composer and His Parakeets”; analytical vs. argumentative thesis; basic comma rules

October 1 Ha Jin: “The House Behind a Weeping Cherry” and “A Good Fall”; parallelism

October 6 Ha Jin “In the Crossfire”; faulty subordination

October 8 Ha Jin “The Bane of the Internet”; envy, consumer addiction,  Hunger for More; subject-verb agreement

October 13 Reading Exam 2 for A Good Fall in class

October 15 Wolff "The Rich Brother"; possessive case; Essay 2 due for A Good Fall

October 20 Wolff: “Desert Breakdown,” and “Nightingale”

October 22 Wolff: “Say Yes” and “Mortals”; paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting

October 27 Wolff: “The Chain” and “The Other Miller”

October 29 Wolff: “Firelight” and “A White Bible”

November 3 Wolff: “The Deposition,” and “The Liar.” 

November 5 Wolff: “In the Garden of North American Martyrs” See "Our Quiet Tragedies."; revisit signal phrases and integrating quotations in your essay.

November 10 Reading Exam 3 for Our Story Begins in class

November 12 Malcolm X Chapter 1; Toulmin argument; Essay 3 due for Our Story Begins

November 17 Malcolm X Chapters 2-3; Rogerian argument

November 19 Malcolm X Chapters 4-9; counterarguments

November 24 Malcolm X Chapters 10-12; logical fallacies

November 26 Malcolm X Chapters 13-15; Four Pillars of Argument

December 1 Malcolm X Chapters 16-end, Counter-Myth analysis by Marable; argumentative thesis

December 3 Malcolm X Review; Research Paper checklist and methods review, annotated bibliography 

December 8 Reading Exam 4 in class on Malcolm X

December 10 Final Research Paper Due in class

 

McMahon Summer 2014 1A Syllabus

McMahon Summer 2014 Syllabus for English 1A Second Session

 

Office H121P; Work Phone: 5673; email:[email protected]   

Office Hours Monday through Thursday 3:15-3:45    

 

Students with Disabilities:  If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible.   

 Grading Template (updated)

 

One. 4 quizzes, 500 words each, 50 points each, 200 total

 Two. Attendance based on tardies, participation, reading preparedness, staying off smartphones, not doing homework from other classes: 50

 Three. First Three 1,200-word essays: 150 points each, 450 total

 Four. Final 1,500-word essay: 400

 Grand Point Final 1,100

 

Policy on Plagiarism   

The software turnitin will be used to investigate any writing suspected of plagiarism. Any attempt to commit fraud, misrepresenting someone else’s writing as your own, including turning in essays from previous semesters, will result in an automatic F grade, zero points, which mathematically, will disqualify you from earning a grade higher than a C for the semester. You will not be allowed to rewrite for a higher grade and because of the breach of trust it will be preferred that you drop the class.  

 

 No rewrites since peer edit is your chance to rewrite your essay.  However, you can do an extra credit paper to earn additional points. 40 points maximum.

 

Late papers lose 30 points.

 

 Books You Need to Buy for This Class, Writing Assignments and Grading   

 

 Essay 1: Back in the World by Tobias Wolff, 150 points   

 

 Option One

 

 We read in Judith Shulvit's Slate book review of Our Story Begins the following:

 

 To read a collection of Wolff's work that spans the years is to realize that he is obsessed with the act of lying. Asked in an interview why so many of his characters lie, Wolff replied, "The world is not enough, maybe? … To lie is to say the thing that is not, so there's obviously an unhappiness with what is, a discontent." A recent outbreak of faked memoirs has set off a storm of outraged pontification about why people pass off false histories as their own, so it's satisfying to read about liars who lie for interesting reasons rather than the usual despicable ones. Wolff is, in fact, a genius at locating the truths revealed by lies—the ancient and holy tongues, you might say, the otherwise inexpressible inner realities that lies give voice to. 

 

In a 5-page paper, typed and double-spaced, develop a thesis that analyzes the characters' need to lie in Tobias Wolff's collection Back in the World. Address at least 4 stories in your essay. For your Works Cited, use Wolff's collection, my blog, and a book review.

 

Option 2

 

 In one of his darker moods, our instructor McMahon said this about the human race:

 

 "We are a lost and sorry lot, hopelessly imprisoned by self-deception: false narratives we rely on to define our identities; tantalizing chimeras that assuage the boredom of our banal existence, and willed ignorance that prevents us from seeing the grotesqueries roiling just underneath the facade that we present to the world and to ourselves. As a result, we are crazed and deformed creatures forever lost in a world of solipsism."

 

 In a 5-page essay, analyze McMahon's remarks in the context of no fewer than 4 stories from Tobias Wolff's collection Back in the World. 

 

 For your Works Cited, use Wolff's collection, my blog, and a book review.

 

Option 3

 

One camp of readers argue that Wolff's fiction is redemptive in that its characters are delivered from their delusions through life-changing epiphanies that propel them back into the world of reality and personal accountability. Another camp of readers say the epiphanies come too little too late and only serve to speak to the characters' lives, which can be defined by endless cycles of futility and as such Wolff's stories are not redemptive but nihilistic.

 

What camp are you in? Develop an argumentative thesis that defends your position in a 5-page essay. For your Works Cited, use Wolff's collection, my blog, and a book review.

 

Essay 2: Cooked by Jeff Henderson, 150 points    

 

A wise man once said that when we think we're rising in life, we're really falling and when we think we're falling, we're really rising. In a 5-page essay, apply this wisdom, in all of its psychological complexity, to Jeff Henderson's journey and compare to someone from a personal interview.  Use blog, book, and personal interview for your sixth page, your Works Cited page.  

 

 Essay 3: A Good Fall by Ha Jin, 150 points 

 

In a 5-page essay, contrast helplessness and its resulting recurring cycle of futility with the Third Eye and its resulting effective action in at least 2 of the stories. Use personal interviews to give further depth to your contrast of helplessness and the Third Eye. Your sixth page, your Works Cited page, should have my blog, the book, and your personal interview. 

 

 

 

Final Essay 4, Worth 400 Points: The Healing of America by T.R. Reid   

 

 In a 6-page research paper, not including your Works Cited page, address the following proposition with an argumentative thesis:  

 

 One camp of readers would praise T.R. Reid’s book as a heavy dose of sanity counteracting a sick American public health care policy shackled by greedy politicians and insurance functionaries, polarized pundits, fear tactics, close-mindedness, and other pathologies. Another camp of readers would repudiate Reid’s book as an ideologically fueled polemic sodden with biases, fantasies, and socialistic excesses. Which camp are you in? Support your position in a thesis with mapping components that defend your assertion. Be sure to address your opponents to show why they’re misguided in at least a page of your essay.

 

 Your guidelines are as follows:  

 

 This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   

 

 You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.     

 

 You need to research and cite from at least five sources.   

 

 You must use at least 3 different types of sources.    

 

 At least one source must be from an ECC library database.   

 

 At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook.   

 

 At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.   

 

The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.    

 

This paper will be approximately 5-7 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  This means at least 5 full pages of text.  The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.     

 

You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.     

 

You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.     

 

You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.    

 

 

 

Your paper must be logically organized and focused.  

 

Reading and Writing Schedule from July 7 to August 14  

 

 July 7 Introduction   

 

 July 8 Back in the World: “The Missing Person”; Critical Thinking and Critical Reading; Signal Phrases and Clauses  

 

 July 9 “Desert Breakdown” and “Say Yes”; Revising and Editing; Comma splices, run-ons  

 

 July 10 “The Rich Brother,” “Our Story Begins”; thesis-driven essays with paragraph unity and coherence; essential/non-essential clauses 

 

 July 14 Reading Exam 1: 500 words in class for 50 points

 

 July 15 Cooked 1-50, Lexicon of big ideas; using databases and peer-reviewed scholarly websites; fragment types, Essay 1 due in class 

 

 July 16 Cooked 51-100; MLA guidelines; Pronoun shifts and noun-pronoun agreement 

 

 July 17 Cooked 101-160; analysis and synthesis; parallelism  

 

 July 21Cooked 160-210; integrate multiple sources; dangling modifiers  

 

 July 22 Cooked 211-end; MUGS; appositives;  (Review, thesis workshop, parallelism, Henderson's current status) 

 

 July 23 Reading Exam 2: 500 words in class for 50 points

 

 July 24 Ha Jin, "The Beauty," Lexicon; Literary present; Signal phrases; Essay 2 due in class  

 

 July 28 Ha Jin "Temporary Love” and "The Bane of the Internet"; Paragraph transitions, unity, and coherence (review)

 

 July 29 “Choice,” “A Composer and His Parakeets”; Basic Comma Rules

 

 July 30 “A House Behind the Weeping Cherry,” “A Good Fall”; Who and Whom  

 

 July 31 “In the Crossfire”; Paragraph Unity and Cohesiveness Review, appositive, pronoun usage, and fragment review

 

 August 4 Reading Exam 3: 500 words in class for 50 points

 

 August 5 The Healing of America, Prologue, the debate; Subject-verb agreement; Four Pillars of  Argument; Essay 3 due in class  

 

August 6 The Healing of America Chapter 4; possessive case; gerunds, participles, infinitives; fallacies, evidence  

 

 August 7 The Healing of America Chapters 5-7; mixed structure or faulty subordination; Toulmin and Rogerian argument  

 

August 11 The Healing of America Chapters 8-11; integrating quotations review; gathering evidence, detecting bias  

 August 12 The Healing of America Chapters 12 and 13 and review,  counterarguments, working material into argument; refuting opposing arguments, grade rubric

 

August 13 Reading Exam 4: 500 words in class for 50 points

 

 August 14 Essay 4 due in class 

 

 Course Catalog Description:    

 

This course is designed to strengthen the students’ ability to read with understanding and discernment, to discuss assigned readings intelligently, and to write clearly. Emphasis will be on writing essays in which each paragraph relates to a controlling idea, has an introduction and a conclusion, and contains primary and secondary support. College-level reading material will be assigned to provide the stimulus for class discussion and writing assignments, including a required research paper. 

 

Course Objectives: 

 

 

 

1.     Recognize and revise sentence-level grammar and usage errors. 

 

2.     Read and apply critical-thinking skills to numerous published articles and to college-level, book-length works for the purpose of writing and discussion. 

 

3.    Apply appropriate strategies in the writing process including prewriting, composing, revising, and editing techniques. 

 

4.    Compose multi-paragraph, thesis-driven essays with logical and appropriate supporting ideas, and with unity and coherence. 

 

5.    Demonstrate ability to locate and utilize a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. 

 

6.   Utilize MLA guidelines to format essays, cite sources in the texts of essays, and compile Works Cited lists. 

 

Student Learning Outcomes:  

 

Upon completion of this course, students will:  

 

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.  

 

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.  

 

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.  

 

 

 

 

 

Spring 2014 English 1A Syllabus Update for Second Half of Semester

Reading and Writing Schedule

 

March 24 Ha Jin “The Beauty,” Temporary Love”

 

March 26 “Choice”

 

March 31 “A Composer and His Parakeets”

 

April 2 “A House Behind the Weeping Cherry,” “A Good Fall”

 

April 7 “In the Crossfire”

 

April 9 Quiz 4 in class

 

April 14 Essay 3 (bring your typed draft to class) Peer Review (see questions below)

 

April 16 Essay 3 due in class

 

April 21 Alone Together Introduction 1-20; 151-171

 

April 23 Quiz 5 due in class

 

April 28 Alone Together 172-228

 

April 30 229-end

 

May 5 Quiz 6 due in class

 

May 7 Bring first 2 or 3 typed pages of Essay 4 to class for Peer Review Questions

 

May 12 Essay 4 due in my office PE4 (N-Z)

 

May 14 Essay 4 due in my office PE4 (A-M)

 

Peer Review Question Have Been Culled from Dartmouth Institute for Writing and Rhetoric

 

Peer Review Questions

 

•  
• Summarize the argument. If a reader has trouble summarizing the writer's argument, it's likely that the argument has a gap, or that its logic is unclear. Summarizing can help students to see where and how an argument has gone awry.
• Predict the argument. After reading only the paper's introduction and thesis, can a reader predict the argument to follow? If not, then perhaps the introduction has failed to frame the argument, or the thesis has failed to make its point. This exercise is fruitful because it helps students to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a paper's introduction and thesis sentence. They will also see the link between a good, clear introduction and the overall structure of an argument.
• Ask questions. The most important aims of the peer review are to get the student writer to understand how it is that her paper needs to be revised, and to determine strategies for that revision. Questions are a good way to encourage this process. Students can ask questions about parts of the paper that they don't understand; they can ask questions about the writer's process; they can ask questions about a writer's intention; they can ask about the writer's rhetorical strategies. All will get the conversation started and keep it lively.
• Reflect what the writer is trying to say. If a particular point is unclear, it can be useful to try to reflect that point back to the writer: "What you seem to be saying here is..." The writer will usually see that his point is unclear and can then consider how to communicate the point more effectively to the reader.
• Label problems. Student writers appreciate it when their peers take the time to find and to name the problems in their papers. Student reviewers can make a list of the problems they find on their peers' papers and can then work together with the writer to correct these problems. In this case, students are teaching good writing to their peers. If students need additional help they can consult a grammar handbook, confer with you, or see an RWIT tutor.
• Make suggestions. Student writers seek advice. They don't simply want to know what's wrong with their writing; they want to know how to fix it. Their peers should therefore be prepared to make suggestions for improvement. Note that we use the word "suggestions" in the plural: a peer reviewer should not insist on one solution to a problem. Rather, reviewers should offer several strategies for solving the problem, allowing the writer to determine which of these solutions might work best.

 

 

 

 English 1A SLOs

 

English 1A Reading and Composition

 

Upon completion of this course, students will:

 

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.

 

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.

 

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.

 

 

 

Grading Template: Based on 8,000 words and 1,000 points

 

Three 1,500-word essays: 180

 

Final Essay 1,500 words: 300

 

Four 500-word in-class quizzes: 40 each for 160

 

First two pages for in-class review (failure to do this results in loss of half grade)

 

Grand Point Total: 1,000

 

Policy on Plagiarism

 

Any attempt to commit fraud, misrepresenting someone else’s writing as your own, including turning in essays from previous semesters, will result in an automatic F grade, zero points, which mathematically, will disqualify you from earning a grade higher than a C for the semester. You will not be allowed to rewrite for a higher grade and because of the breach of trust it will be preferred that you drop the class.

 

 Reading and Writing Schedule from July

 

Classroom Decorum

 

 No smart phones can be used in class. If you’re on your smart phone and I catch you, you get a warning the first time. Second time, you must leave the class and lose 25 points. Third time, you must leave the class and lose 50 points. Same with subsequent violations.

 

 The above also applies to talking and doing homework from other classes.

 

SLO in brief:

 

Upon completion of the course, the students will:

 

One. Students will complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student's ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.

 

Two. Integrate mutiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.

 

Three. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.

 

Student Learning Objectives:

 

I. Review of Grammar and Usage 

The student will locate and demonstrate the ability to correct the following errors in a composition: 

A. sentence fragments 
B. comma splices 
C. misused commas 
D. fused sentences 
E. misplaced and dangling modifiers 
F. incorrect pronoun case 
G. faculty pronoun references 
H. pronoun-antecedent disagreement 
I. subject-verb agreement 
J. wrong tense 


II. Instruction in Reading 

A. Essays 

The student will 

1. locate and paraphrase the thesis/preposition 
2. identify the basic types of support used to develop the thesis or proposition: examples, facts, details, reasons, illustrations, anecdotes 
3. indicate the shift from general to specific levels of support 
4. distinguish statements of fact from statements of opinion 
5. identify the method of development/strategy used: comparison, contrast, classification, definition, cause/effect, process, persuasion 
6. summarize the idea and content 
7. advocate or challenge the author's opinions 

B. Short fiction and poetry 

The student will 

1. paraphrase the work 
2. identify and define the central theme or metaphor 
3. assess the aesthetic qualities of the work 
4. compare the work with another, drawing conclusions based on appropriate criteria 

C. Book-length nonfiction 

The student will 

1. summarize the work in its separate units and as a complete entity 
2. identify the central theme or themes 
3. judge the value of the information 
4. advocate or challenge the author's opinions 

D. Novels 

The student will 

1. summarize the plot 
2. identify the central themes 
3. indicate the functions of characters, plot, and setting in relation to the themes 
4. judge the aesthetic value of 2 or 3 and of the whole work 


III. Instruction in Composition 

The student will 

1. compose theses/topic statements of a proper scope for the composition 
2. delimit subjects by brainstorming and outlining 
3. organize the content of a composition using spatial, climatic, and/or chronological principles 
4. use a range of general and specific levels of support with proper transitions to signal shifts from one level to another 
5. compose introductory and concluding paragraphs for a composition 
6. compose a timed essay 
7. perform research techniques (use library resources, cite and document sources) and compose a formal research paper of at least 1250 words, utilizing parenthetical documentation  

 

McMahon English 1A Spring 2014 Syllabus

 

Office PE4; Work Phone: 5673; email:[email protected]

Office Hours MW: 2:30PM-3:45; TTH: 12:30-1 and 3:30-4:15 

Students with Disabilities:

If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible.

Writing Assignments and Grading

Essay 1: Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden, 180 points

Write a 6-page research paper that develops a thesis about the forces that impede Shin Dong-hyuk from achieving psychological freedom. Consider PTSD, Stockholm Syndrome, and the book Trauma and Recovery by Judith Lewis Herman (see page 181 in the book).

Essay 2: Cooked by Jeff Henderson, 180 points 

A wise man once said that when we think we're rising in life, we're really falling and when we think we're falling, we're really rising. In a 6-page essay, apply this wisdom, in all of its psychological complexity, to Jeff Henderson's journey and compare to someone from a personal interview.  Use blog, book, and personal interview for your sixth page, your Works Cited page.

Essay 3: A Good Fall by Ha Jin, 180 points

In a 6-page essay, contrast freedom and imprisonment in 2 of the stories. Use 2 personal interviews to give further depth to your contrast of mental freedom and imprisonment. Your sixth page, your Works Cited page, should have my blog, the book, and your 2 personal interviews.

Final Essay 4, Worth 280 Points (28% of Your Semester Grade): Alone Together by Sherry Turkle

In a 6-page research paper, not including your Works Cited page, address the following question with an argumentative thesis:

In Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together, does she argue convincingly about the personal destruction resulting from our growing dependence on social media technology or is her argument sodden with luddite paranoia, one-sided bias, too much reliance on personal anecdotage (as opposed to research), and any other fallacies you see? Your guidelines are as follows: 

This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.  

You need to research and cite from at least five sources.  You must use at least 3 different types of sources. 

At least one source must be from an ECC library database.

At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook.

At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.

The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them. 

This paper will be approximately 5-7 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  This means at least 5 full pages of text.  The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.  

You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page. 

You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.  

You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. 

Your paper must be logically organized and focused. 

 

Your final essay is the instrument for testing your Student Learning Objectives:

 

English 1A SLOs

English 1A Reading and Composition

Upon completion of this course, students will:

1. Complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.

2. Integrate multiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.

3. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.

 

Grading Template: Based on 8,000 words and 1,000 points

Three 1,500 word essays: 180

Final Essay 1,500 words: 280

Six 333-word take-home quizzes : 30 each for 180

 

Policy on Plagiarism

Any attempt to commit fraud, misrepresenting someone else’s writing as your own, including turning in essays from previous semesters, will result in an automatic F grade, zero points, which mathematically, will disqualify you from earning a grade higher than a C for the semester. You will not be allowed to rewrite for a higher grade and because of the breach of trust it will be preferred that you drop the class.

 Reading and Writing Schedule from January 22-May 14

January 22 Introduction

January 27 Escape from Camp 14 1-84

January 29 Escape from Camp 14 85-196

February 3 Escape from Camp 14 196-end

February 5 Quiz 1 due in my office PE4

February 10  Essay 1 due in my office PE4 (A-M)

February 12 Essay 1 due in my office PE4 (N-Z)

February 17 Holiday

February 19 Cooked 1-100

February 24 Cooked 101-160

February 26  Quiz 2 due in my office PE4

March 3 Cooked 160-end

March 5 Quiz 3 due in my office PE4

March 10 Essay 2 due in my office PE4 (N-Z)

March 12 Essay 2 due in my office PE4 (A-M)

March 24 Ha Jin “The Beauty,” Temporary Love”

March 26 “Choice”

March 31 “A Composer and His Parakeets”

April 2 “A House Behind the Weeping Cherry,” “A Good Fall”

April 7 “In the Crossfire”

April 9 Quiz 5 due in my office

April 14 Essay 3 due in my office PE4 (A-M)

April 16 Essay 3 due in my office PE4 (N-Z)

April 21 Alone Together Introduction 1-20; 151-171

April 23 Quiz 5 due in my office PE4

April 28 Alone Together 172-228

April 30 229-end

May 5 Quiz 6 due in my office PE4

May 7 Thesis and Works Cited page due in my office PE4

May 12 Essay 4 due in my office PE4 (N-Z)

May 14 Essay 4 due in my office PE4 (A-M)

Classroom Decorum

 No smart phones can be used in class. If you’re on your smart phone and I catch you, you get a warning the first time. Second time, you must leave the class and lose 25 points. Third time, you must leave the class and lose 50 points. Same with subsequent violations.

 The above also applies to talking and doing homework from other classes.

SLO in brief:

Upon completion of the course, the students will:

One. Students will complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. It should demonstrate the student's ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis using analysis and synthesis.

Two. Integrate mutiple sources, including a book-length work and a variety of academic databases, peer-reviewed journals, and scholarly websites. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page.

Three. Demonstrate logical paragraph composition and sentence structure. The essay should have correct grammar, spelling, and word use.

 

Student Learning Objectives:

I. Review of Grammar and Usage 

The student will locate and demonstrate the ability to correct the following errors in a composition: 

A. sentence fragments 
B. comma splices 
C. misused commas 
D. fused sentences 
E. misplaced and dangling modifiers 
F. incorrect pronoun case 
G. faculty pronoun references 
H. pronoun-antecedent disagreement 
I. subject-verb agreement 
J. wrong tense 


II. Instruction in Reading 

A. Essays 

The student will 

1. locate and paraphrase the thesis/preposition 
2. identify the basic types of support used to develop the thesis or proposition: examples, facts, details, reasons, illustrations, anecdotes 
3. indicate the shift from general to specific levels of support 
4. distinguish statements of fact from statements of opinion 
5. identify the method of development/strategy used: comparison, contrast, classification, definition, cause/effect, process, persuasion 
6. summarize the idea and content 
7. advocate or challenge the author's opinions 

B. Short fiction and poetry 

The student will 

1. paraphrase the work 
2. identify and define the central theme or metaphor 
3. assess the aesthetic qualities of the work 
4. compare the work with another, drawing conclusions based on appropriate criteria 

C. Book-length nonfiction 

The student will 

1. summarize the work in its separate units and as a complete entity 
2. identify the central theme or themes 
3. judge the value of the information 
4. advocate or challenge the author's opinions 

D. Novels 

The student will 

1. summarize the plot 
2. identify the central themes 
3. indicate the functions of characters, plot, and setting in relation to the themes 
4. judge the aesthetic value of 2 or 3 and of the whole work 


III. Instruction in Composition 

The student will 

1. compose theses/topic statements of a proper scope for the composition 
2. delimit subjects by brainstorming and outlining 
3. organize the content of a composition using spatial, climatic, and/or chronological principles 
4. use a range of general and specific levels of support with proper transitions to signal shifts from one level to another 
5. compose introductory and concluding paragraphs for a composition 
6. compose a timed essay 
7. perform research techniques (use library resources, cite and document sources) and compose a formal research paper of at least 1250 words, utilizing parenthetical documentation 

 

 

Grading Template for Spring 2014 English 1A

English 1A Fall and Spring: Based on 8,000 words and 1,000 points

Three 1,500 word essays: 180

Final Essay 1,500 words: 280

Six 333-word quizzes : 30 each for 180

English 1A Summer: Based on 8,000 words and 1,000 points

Three 1,600-word essays: 180 each

Final 1700-word essay: 280

Three 500-word quizzes: 60 each