Office PE 4; Classes meet in H209; Email: jmcmahon@elcamino.edu
Website: Breakthrough Writer: http://herculodge.typepad.com/breakthrough_writer/
Required Texts: Cooked by Louis Jeff Henderson; Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead by Frank Meeink; The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier; Back in the World by Tobias Wolff; Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker.
Students with Disabilities:
If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible.
Student Learning Objective
Given an out-of-class writing task in which students find multiple sources related to a particular topic, students will write a research report, which shows the ability to support a
thesis using analysis, to synthesize and integrate materials effectively from a variety of sources, and to cite sources in MLA format (including a works cited page). The report is
organized, technically correct in paragraph composition, sentence structure, grammar, spelling and word use, and demonstrates thoughtful treatment of the topic.
Success in McMahon’s Class Is Predicated on Three Major Components:
One. Turn in 4 five-page research papers with correct MLA format ON TIME. Research Papers (all 4 of your essays) have a minimum of 4 sources, which can include Signs of Life in the USA, my lecture notes, interviews, and online sources.
Two. Do the reading assignments so that you can write a one-paragraph response that is cohesive, coherent and well developed in the five surprise closed-book reading tests.
Three. Show up on time to 90% of the classes. Missing 3 out of 30 classes is 90%.
Grading (ba
Four Essays: 225 for 900
Four Reading Exams that are a 1-page 250-word paragraph, 25 each c
Grand Total: 1,000 points based on a total of 6,000 words of writing.
Policies:
You cannot make-up exams.
Late Papers: Reduce one full grade ; no late papers accepted AFTER ONE WEEK. Since not turning in a paper will probably fail you, I’ll drop you at that point.
Research Papers should be approximately 1,000 words, 12 font, Times New Roman, page numbers, name, and essay title in upper right hand corner (headers in Microsoft View) and Works Cited should have minimum 3 sources and spacing using MLA format.
Revisions: You may revise one paper for 10-30 pts. depending on the quality of the rewrite. Revision must be turned in one week after original due date.
If your research paper has no headers, your last name and page number on every page, your essay will be deducted 20 points.
If your research paper has no Works Cited page, you’ll lose 40 points.
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
Reading and Writing Schedule for 1A Fall of 2010
August 30 Introduction
September 1 Cooked: Read pages 1-100
September 6 Holiday
September 8 Cooked: Read pages 100-165
September 13 Cooked: Read 165 to the end.
September 15 Cooked: In-class paragraph quiz for 40 points.
September 20 and 22 Essay 1 due in consult room, PE 4
September 27 Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead 1-75
September 29 Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead 77-133
October 4 Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead 135-210
October 6 Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead 211-256
October 11 Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead 257-end
October 13 Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead: Reading Quiz for 40 points.
October 18 and 20 Essay 2 due in consult room, PE 4
October 25 The Chocolate War: Read pages 1-60
October 27 The Chocolate War: Read pages 61-120
November 1 The Chocolate War: Read pages 121-180
November 3 The Chocolate War: Read pages 181-220
November 8 The Chocolate War: Read 220-end
November 10 The Chocolate War: Reading quiz for 40 points
November 15 and 17 Essay 3 due in consult room, PE4
November 22 Back in the World: “The Missing Person” 17
November 24 Back in the World: “Say Yes” 53
November 29 Back in the World: “Desert Breakdown” 117
December 1 Back in the World: “The Rich Brother” 189
December 6 Quiz for 40 points
December 8 Consultation for Essay #4 in PE4
December 13 and 15 Essay 4 due in consult room, PE4
1A Writing Assignments for Fall 2010
Essay One: The Fall, Perdition, and Redemption in Cooked
In 1-1.5 pages, write a salient, concrete, colorful profile of someone you know who experienced a fall, perdition, and redemption. If you don't know such a person, find a character in a film or a work of literature.
Then using an appropriate paragraph transition such as "Similarly" or "Likewise," you might start your thesis paragraph this way:
Likewise, we read in Cooked about the extraordinary Jeff Henderson who undergoes his own Fall into the abyss of insanity and a redemption born from necessity. JH's Fall is caused by ___________________, _________________________, and _____________________________. Only after sinking to the rotten depths of nihilism does he begin his journey toward redemption. This salubrious journey is born from _____________________________, ____________________________, _____________________________, and ______________________________________.
Your body paragraphs will correspond to the components you use to fill in the above blanks. Your conclusion will be one sentence, a brief, dramatic restatement of your thesis. Your final page, your Works Cited page, will show the sources you used from Cooked, from my blog, from interviews, or from other helpful sources you find. Your Works Cited page and manuscript must conform to MLA format. Be sure to make your own catchy, creative title.
Open-Ended Option for Essay #1:
Analyze the causes behind Jeff Henderson's fall into the moral abyss and his eventual redemption by comparing his journey to someone you know or someone from a book or film. Same research required as described above.
Essay 2: True Believers and Misguided Love Quest in Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead
Option #1: In a 5-page research paper, analyze the conditions that made Frank Meeink ripe for racist brainwashing and the forces that unshackled him from the chains of his racist ideology.
Option #2: In a 5-page research paper, compare the Fall and Redemption of Frank Meeink and Jeff Henderson.
Essay 3: Tribalism, Symbiosis, Obedience, Conformity, Determinism, and Individual Conscience in The Chocolate War
In page one, analyze the forces in the novel that would compel us to call it a “dark vision of the human condition.”
Then in the second page, start your thesis paragraph in which you connect the themes to the dangers of obedience as it relates to power, authority, and symbiosis. Because this is your multiple-source research paper, you will need to connect the novel’s themes to themes outside the text. You may, for example, look at the theme of obedience in the context of Stanley Milgram’s famous experiments or the abuse of power in the Stanford Experiment.
A thesis might look like this: The Chocolate War shows the demands of tribalism, which compromises our humanity by ________________________, _____________________________, _________________________, and _______________________________.
In your final page, you will write about how you or someone you know had a conflict between individual conscience and conformity during a “peer pressure” situation that revealed the “tiger’s claw of tribalism.” You conclusion will tie in your personal account with your novel analysis.
Your body paragraphs will correspond to the components you use to fill in the above blanks. Your conclusion will be one sentence, a brief, dramatic restatement of your thesis. Your final page, your Works Cited page, will show the sources you used from The Chocolate War, from my blog, from interviews, or from other helpful sources you find. Your Works Cited page and manuscript must conform to MLA format. Be sure to make your own catchy, creative title.
Open-Ended Option for Essay #3
Analyze the conflict between the demands of conformity and individual conscience as they play out in the novel by comparing this conflict to someone you know. Same research requirements as above.
Essay 4 When Our World Turns Upside Down: The Terrifying Character Awakenings in Back in the World
In your first two pages, profile someone (your or anyone else) who had lived too long “removed from the world” and narrate the incident that re-connected this person to reality.
Then using an appropriate paragraph transition such as "Similarly" or "Likewise," you might start your thesis paragraph this way:
Similarly, the characters (drawn from no fewer than 3 stories) in Tobias Wolff’s masterful stories go on their own “Back in the World” journey, an arduous, excruciating passage that is characterized by ____________________________, _______________________, _____________________________, and _____________________________.
Your body paragraphs will correspond to the components you use to fill in the above blanks. Your conclusion will be one sentence, a brief, dramatic restatement of your thesis. Your final page, your Works Cited page, will show the sources you used from Where I’m Calling From, from my blog, from interviews, or from other helpful sources you find. Your Works Cited page and manuscript must conform to MLA format. Be sure to make your own catchy, creative title.
Open-Ended Essay Option for Essay #4
Using no fewer than 2 stories, analyze the meaning of the book's title Back in the World. Same research requirements as above.
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