Office H121P
Office Hours: Mon and Wed: 2:30-3:45; Tuesday and Thursday: 12:30-1 and 3:30-4:15
Email: jmcmahon@elcamino.edu
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, 2nd 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
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