Email: jmcmahon@elcamino.edu
Office: PE4; extension 5673
Website: Breakthrough Writer: Easiest way to find blog is to go to Google and type “breakthrough writer.” My blog will be your first hit.
http://herculodge.typepad.com/breakthrough_writer/
Essay Assignments and Texts:
Night by Elie Wiesel.
Major Themes in Night
1. Denial and acclimation to evil
2. Danger of silence
3. Theodicy: The problem of reconciling evil to an all-powerful, all-loving God. There are many parallels to Job.
4. Remembering what happened and keeping vigilant; we must take responsibility for our apathy and indifference to what happened in the past.
5. Dehumanization and scapegoating throughout history.
6. Loss of innocence:
You lose your faith in the world as you once knew it. God will not or cannot protect you from evil. Nor can your parents. Before his experience in the concentration camp, Elie assumed these two propositions were true.
You lose your orientation to the world as you once knew it. The boundaries of common decency that keep evil in check do not exist.
You lose the image of yourself you once valued. You no longer believe in the common decency of humanity and recognizing the human capacity for evil you change so radically that you can not even recognize your old self.
You are overcome with the fear that God does not exist and fear that without a god anything--no matter how vile--is permissible. "If God doesn't exist, then everything is permitted," is taken from the Brothers Karmazov by Dostoyevsky.
7. Enduring suffering comparable to Job
Essay 1:
Essay Options for Night: You must have a Works Cited page with a minimum of 5 sources.
One. Open-ended: Take one of the above themes and develop a thesis for a 6-page research paper. You must use at least 5 sources, the book Night, my blog and at least 3 other sources.
Two. In a 5-page essay, compare Wiesel’s ordeal with that of Job’s, especially in the context of theodicy.
Three. In a 5-page essay, argue whether or not Wiesel has salvaged a moral code from his ordeal or has he succumbed to nihilism.
Four. In a 5-page essay, analyze the effects of Wiesel's loss of innocence and how he deals with those effects.
Five. Analyze the false logic behind the deniars of the Holocaust.
Essay 2
A Good Fall by Ha Jin: In a 6-page research paper, develop a thesis about freedom as this theme applies to no fewer than 3 stories in the collection.
Essay 3
Back in the World by Tobias Wolff: In a 6-page research paper, use no fewer than 3 stories from the book to write an extended definition of the word irony. You must chronicle an ironic experience you had in a personal narrative for the first 2 pages.
Essay 4
The Overcoat and Other Short Stories by Nikolai Gogol: In a 6-page research paper write an extended definition of the word chimera by comparing the "overcoat" to an “overcoat” from your personal life.
Research and Grammar Book: A Writer’s Resource El Camino College Handbook 3rd Edition
Grading
4 Research Papers: 6 pages with correct MLA format Works Cited page: 200 each for 800 points
4 Take-Home Quizzes (posted on blog a few days before due date) 50 points for 200 points.
Grant Total: 1,000 points. 900 is A. 800 is B. 700 is C. 600 is D.
You Can’t Revise Essays or Quizzes for Higher Grade
In the past, revisions have been the equivalent of me correcting student papers, essentially playing the role of proofreader so that I’m giving higher grades for my corrections. I have concluded that such a process is a complete farce so instead of revisions you can give me the first 2 or 3 pages of your essay anytime before it’s due, including on the day you turn in the quiz and I will identify patterns of grammar errors and content problems so that I can hopefully get you on the right track.
Late Essays Are Deducted a Full Letter Grade
Because getting into the lax habit of finding excuses for turning in late work is anathema to succeeding in the real world, late essays are discouraged by deducted full letter grade. If essay is more than a week late, you cannot get any points and mathematically you will fail the class so most likely you will be dropped.
Plagiarism, the act of trying to deceive your instructor by turning in work that is NOT your own writing, will result in zero points and will seriously endanger your possibility of passing the course.
Pressure to Get an A and Things That Disqualify a Student from Receiving an A Grade
I know a lot of students are under excruciating pressure to get A grades in their classes. I appreciate that and because I do, I need to explain two things that disqualify a student from getting an A grade:
One: Turning in a late essay more than a week after its due date. These late essays get ZERO points and will mathematically eliminate the chances of an A grade.
Two. Cheating, plagiarising, trying to deceive me by turning in work that you didn't write will render a ZERO grade.
Three. Using social media to distract yourself and others in class. This includes texting, surfing internet, playing computer games, leaving class frequently to take calls, etc.
Writing and Reading Schedule
February 13 Introduction, Grading Policy
February 15 Night; read first third
February 20 Holiday
February 22 Night; read second third
February 27 Night; read last third
February 29 Quiz 1 due in my office
March 5 Essay 1 due in my office
March 7 Essay 1 due in my office
March 12 A Good Fall: “The Beauty” and “Temporary Love”
March 14 “A Composer and His Parakeets” and “Choice”
March 19 “The House Behind a Weeping Cherry” and “A Good Fall”
March 21 “In the Crossfire”
March 26 “The Bane of the Internet”
March 28 Quiz 2 due in my office
April 2 Essay 2 due in my office
April 4 Essay 2 due in my office
April 16 Back in the World: “The Missing Person”
April 18 “The Rich Brother”
April 23 “Desert Breakdown, 1968”
April 25 “Say Yes”
April 30 “Our Story Begins”
May 2 Quiz 3 due in my office
May 7 Essay 3 due in my office
May 9 Essay 3 due in my office
May 14 “The Overcoat”
May 16 “The Overcoat”
May 21 “The Overcoat”
May 23 Quiz 4 due in my office
May 28 Holiday
May 30 Consultation in my office (bring your thesis)
June 4 Essay 4 due in my office
June 6 Essay 4 due in my office
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