McMahon Fall 2014 English 1C Syllabus

English 1C Fall 2014 Syllabus for Jeff McMahon

Office: H121P; extension 5673

Office Hours: M and W: 2:45-3:45 and 5:30-6; T and TH 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.

Grading

Four in-class essays, 100 points each

Attendance based on absences (no more than 2) tardies (no more than 2), participation, reading preparedness, staying off smartphones, not doing homework from other classes: 50

Two Typed 1,000-word Research Papers, 200 points each

Final 1,200-word Student Learning Outcome Essay: 350

Annotated Bibliography with 5 sources (you need at least 3 for your final essay) 100

Extra Credit (see below) 50; Due no later than December 1

Grand Point Total: 1,300

Essays cannot be revised for higher grade; however, you can earn extra credit, up to 50 points, by writing a 3-page essay that analyzes the pessimism in the James Lasdun story “Oh, Death.” The essay must be submitted to turnitin no later than December 1.

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. I will use turnitin to investigate plagiarism.

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’ll give you first week of class.

If you plagiarize in the form of stolen work or get “help” from tutors, friends, and family that is deemed to be not the work of your own, you will receive ZERO points for the submitted paper. Sometimes students who submit in-class writing with basic verb and diction errors miraculously turn in a sterling, shimmering piece of prose in their typed paper that evidences a disparity in writing samples that points to cheating. These situations compel me to do further investigation into possible plagiarism.

Late Essays Are Deducted a Full Letter Grade

Typed Research Paper 1 for 200 points based on It's Beginning to Hurt by James Lasdun

Five Options for Essay: 1,000 words for all choices and 3 credible sources

Option 1

Develop a thesis that answers the following question: How do characters in Lasdun's "love stories" reach the demonic state? Consider, the Faustian Bargain, settling, the dream of eternal adolescence, and the chimera for a comparison essay that includes at least 3 stories, "The Half Sister," "The Natural Order," and "Peter Khan's Third Wife." Be sure your essay is 1,000 words and includes a Works Cited page with a minimum of 2 sources.

Option 2

Analyze the dream of eternal adolescence and its corruption of the soul by comparing this dream to "The Natural Order" or "The Half Sister" and Joseph Epstein's essay "Perpetual Adolescence." Be sure your essay is 1,000 words and includes a Works Cited page with a minimum of 2 sources.

Option 3

Analyze the corruption of fatherly love in "Cleanness" or "Caterpillars" (or both) with Erich Fromm's notion of the Authoritarian Personality. Be sure your essay is 1,000 words and includes a Works Cited page with a minimum of 2 sources.

Option 4

Compare the theme of the chimera (idealized love) and its resulting futility as it occurs in the "Peter Kahn's Third Wife" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Winter Dreams." Be sure your essay is 1,000 words and includes a Works Cited page with a minimum of 2 sources. Here's another link to "Winter Dreams."

Option Five

Compare the Faustian Bargain in "The Half Sister" to the H.G. Wells short story, "The Country of the Blind."

Option Six

Analyze "An Anxious Man" in terms of the Faustian Bargain described in the essay "Love People, Not Pleasure," by Arthur C. Brooks.

Essay 2 for 200 points based on Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl: Argumentation, Refutation

In a 1,000-word essay (4 pages), address the following in an argumentative essay:

Option 1

Develop a thesis that argues for "Frankl Lite" or "Full Potency Frankl" in a 4-page essay. Include no fewer than 3 research sources for your Works Cited page.

Option 2

Develop a thesis that shows how Man's Search for Meaning can be applied to an analysis of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Silver Linings Playbook in a 4-page essay. Include no fewer than 3 research sources for your Works Cited page.

Final Student Learning Outcome Essay for 350 points

In a 1,200-word essay defend, critique, or outright refute Michelle Alexander's argument that mass incarceration represents the "New Jim Crow" by analyzing the legitimacy of her claims, the quality of her rhetoric and moral appeals, and by examining possible opposition to her logic and reasoning. Be sure you have a thesis statement with mapping components that will direct the organization of your essay.

English 1C SLO-aligned Assignment (Spring 2014)

The assignment designed using these criteria will be used to assess the course SLOs and should be assigned as a later (or last) essay.

Students will express critical viewpoints and develop original thesis-driven arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory. This argumentative essay will be well organized, demonstrate an ability to support a claim using analysis and elements of argumentation, and integrate primary and secondary sources.

The paper should use at least three sources and not over-rely on one secondary source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.

This paper will be approximately 4-5 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required. The Works Cited page does NOT count toward length requirement.

Within your argument, address issues of bias, credibility, and relevance in primary and secondary sources.

Demonstrate understanding of analytical methods and structural concepts such as inductive and deductive reasoning, cause and effect, logos, ethos, and pathos, and the recognition of formal and informal fallacies in language and thought.

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.

English 1C SLOs

English 1C Critical Thinking and Composition Students will:

1. Compose an argumentative essay that shows an ability to support a claim using analysis, elements of argumentation, and integration of primary and secondary sources.

2. Identify and assess bias, credibility, and relevance in their own arguments and in the arguments of others, including primary and secondary outside sources.

3. Organize an essay in proper MLA format and will also be technically correct in

paragraph composition, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and usage.

Essay Requirements:

One. Students will express critical viewpoints and develop original thesis-driven arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory. This argumentative essay will be well organized, demonstrate an ability to support a claim using analysis and elements of argumentation, and integrate primary and secondary sources.

Two. The paper should use at least three sources and 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.

Three. This paper will be approximately 5-6 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required. The Works Cited page does NOT count toward length requirement.

Four. Within your argument, address issues of bias, credibility, and relevance.

Five. Analyze and employ logical structural methods such as inductive and deductive reasoning, cause and effect, logos, ethos, and pathos, and demonstrate understanding of formal and informal fallacies in language and thought.

Six. You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.

Seven. You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.

Eight. You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Course Catalog Description:

This course focuses on the development of critical thinking skills. Students will apply these skills to the analysis of written arguments in various forms and genres, both classic and contemporary, and to the writing of effective persuasive essays. Students will learn to evaluate and interpret data, to recognize assumptions, to distinguish facts from opinions, to identify and avoid logical fallacies, to employ deductive and inductive reasoning, and to effectively assert and support argumentative claims.

Course Objectives:

Evaluate arguments in terms of bias, credibility, and relevance.
Assess an argument's claims by examining assumptions, by differentiating between facts and inferences, by recognizing errors in logic, by analyzing support, and by identifying both explicit and implied conclusions.
Recognize and assess argumentative claims embedded in literary works, advertisements, political tracts, and presentations in other media.
Express critical viewpoints and develop original arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory.
Demonstrate the ability to evaluate electronic sources and databases, to incorporate research from on-line and print media, and to compose unified, coherent, fully supported argumentative essays that advance their claims by integrating primary and secondary sources, and by employing the tools of critical interpretation, evaluation, and analysis.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, students will:

Compose an argumentative essay that shows an ability to support a claim using analysis, elements of argumentation, and integration of primary and secondary sources.
Identify and assess bias, credibility, and relevance in their own arguments and in the arguments of others, including primary and secondary outside sources.
Organize an essay in proper MLA format and will also be technically correct in paragraph composition, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and usage.

Reading and Writing Schedule for Fall Semester 2014

August 26 Introduction

August 28 Weiner 1-60

September 2 Weiner 61-120

September 4 Weiner 121-200

September 9 Weiner 201-244

September 11 Weiner 244-end

September 16 Reading Exam 1 for Weiner in class: bring blue book or college-ruled paper

September 18 Intro to Lasdun options and themes

September 23 Lasdun “The Half Sister”

September 25 Lasdun “The Natural Order”

September 30 Lasdun “Peter Khan’s Third Wife” and “It’s Beginning to Hurt”