Office PE4; Work Phone: 5673; email: [email protected]
Students with Disabilities:
If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible.
Essay Assignments
Essays should have a 12 font Times New Roman, be double-spaced, have headers (page numbers in the upper right corner) and MLA Works Cited page.
Essay 1: Cooked by Jeff Henderson
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 2: A Good Fall by Ha Jin
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.
Essay 3: Back in the World by Tobias Wolff
Describe 4 types of irony that you identify from the assigned stories. Use 2 personal interviews to give more in-depth examples for your 6-page essay. Your sixth page, your Works Cited page, should have 4 sources, the book, my blog, and your 2 personal interviews.
Essay 4: The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol:
Write a 6-page extended definition of the chimera, analyzing no fewer than 3 of the 4 chimera types, citing the story, "The Overcoat," and two other chimera types from two personal interviews.
You must have a Works Cited page with a minimum of 4 sources, the book, my blog, and 2 personal interviews.
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.
Grading (Based on a Total of 8,000 Words)
Four 6-page Essays (1,500 words): 205 each, for 820.
Six in-class, closed-book quizzes (333 words; 1.5 pages) (can't make them up no matter the excuse): 40 each, 180
Grand Total: 1,000 points
Reading and Writing Schedule
August 27 Introduction
August 29 Cooked, read first 75 pages
September 3 Holiday
September 5 Cooked, read to page 200
September 10 Cooked, finish
September 12 Quiz 1
September 17 Essay 1 (A-M)
September 19 Essay 1 (N-Z) (Next book: A Good Fall by Ha Jin)
September 24 “The Beauty,” “Temporary Love,” “Choice”
September 26 Quiz 2
October 1 “A Composer and His Parakeets” (discuss with “Choice”)
October 3 “Weeping Cherry,” “A Good Fall”
October 8 “In the Crossfire”
October 10 Quiz 3
October 15 Essay 2 (N-Z)
October 17 Essay 2 (A-M) (Next book: Back in the World by Tobias Wolff)
October 22 “The Missing Person,” “Say Yes”
October 24 Quiz 4
October 29 “The Rich Brother,” “Desert Breakdown”
October 31 “Our Story Begins”
November 5 Quiz 5
November 7 Essay 3 (A-M)
November 12 Holiday
November 14 Essay 3 (N-Z) (Next book we read one story, “The Overcoat” by Gogol)
November 19 The Overcoat
November 21 The Overcoat
November 26 The Overcoat
November 28 The Overcoat
December 3 Quiz 6
December 10 Essay 4 (N-Z)
December 12 Essay 4 (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:
Students will complete a research-based essay that has been written out of class and undergone revision. The essay must use multiple sources and be focused on a particular topic. It should demonstrate the student’s ability to thoughtfully support a single thesis by integrating sources using analysis and synthesis. Citations must be in MLA format and include a Works Cited page. The final draft should be organized and technically correct in terms of paragraph composition, sentence structure, 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
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