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
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