Rigolino sww syllabusfall2012sec03

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Course: Composition I

Course Number: ENG160-03—GEIII / Fall 2012

Course time and Location:

Days and Times: M/R: 12:15-1:30

W: 12:15-1:15

Location: LC110 (Computer Lab)

Instructor: Prof. Rigolino Email: [email protected] (I am easiest to reach via email.)

Office Location: JFT 802a Office hours: M/: 11:00-12:00 T/F: 11:00-12:30

Phone extension: x2731 (Try email first.)

Required Texts (available at Campus Bookstore)

Course Description

Course Description

Training in critical reading, the process of composing, academic forms of writing, and computer

literacy. Movement from expressive to expository writing. Papers assigned to develop particular

writing techniques. A first-semester English course.

Objectives By semester’s end, students will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Write well in different rhetorical situations and modes, i.e., for different purposes, occasions,

and audiences.

2. Understand and reflect on key concepts about writing and rhetoric (style, exigence, voice,

invention, etc.).

3. Craft well-developed, well-organized, clear, and grammatical sentences, paragraphs, and

essays.

Jin, Ha. A Good Fall. New York: Vintage, 2010. Print (Paperback).. ISBN: 978-

0307473943.

Blakesley, David and Jeffrey L. Hoogeveen. Writing: A Manual for the Digital Age, Brief

Second Edition. Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. ISBN 1-2853-3571-6.

(In our campus book store the handbook is packaged with New Voices, New

Visions.)

Composition Program Handbook. 2012-2013. Web. Found on our class Blackboard site.

Mercury Reader NY: Pearson, 2012. Print. ISBN 1-2565-8037-6. (Custom edition; red

with apple on cover; can be purchased only at SUNY New Paltz bookstore.)

mailto:[email protected]

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4. Think and write as college students (reflecting, observing, explaining, comparing,

summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, evaluating, and interpreting).

5. Approach writing as a process (planning, shaping, drafting, revising, and editing).

6. Critique one’s own writing and the writing of others through reflection on important

concepts and issues in composition studies.

7. Evaluate sources of information using criteria such as currency, authority, objectivity,

accuracy, specificity, and relevance.

8. Use information ethically and legally.

9. Develop oral presentation skills.

10. Develop computer and library information literacy skills.

Course Overview:

Composition I develops students’ abilities to write grammatical and coherent sentences and to

develop ideas fully an in an organized fashion. The course will develop students’ abilities to

produce distinctive pieces of writing based upon individual thinking and experience. It also will

stress and lead students through the composing process as they develop better understanding of

their own writing processes. (Composition Program Handbook 12).

NOTE: THERE ARE NO WITHDRAWALS OR INCOMPLETES FOR COMPOSITION I AND II. THIS IS A

COLLEGE POLICY.

Procedures

1. Students are expected to engage in all levels of the writing process: prewriting, drafting,

revising, editing, and proofreading. Students will receive ample time to work on their

writing and will receive feedback from both the instructor and their peers.

2. Essays 1-3 may be revised once after the initial grade has been recorded. In most cases,

editing and proofreading alone will not count as a revision. Revision is more substantial,

sometimes requiring the addition of text, deletion of text, and reorganization of text. If a

student chooses to revise an essay, the revision must be submitted by the deadline I

set, often within one or two weeks of the day it is returned to him or her. The original

grade will be averaged in with the second grade; however, there is no guarantee that the

revision will receive a higher grade.

3. Students receive a grade and feedback on each assignment before the next assignment is

due so that students can learn from the comments. Students are reminded that they can

come visit me during my office hours (and by appointment) to discuss their writing at any

time during the semester.

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ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT

Class attendance and participation are expected. For absences less than three and failure to

participate in class, I will deduct points from your class work grade (see last item in list above).

For absences in excess of three, please read below.

Attendance and Participation

For English Composition I SWW you are required to attend a writing

workshop one time a week. This is an important part of your English

Composition class requirement, and failure to attend will result in failing the

course. Also, you are required to meet with our in class tutor once a week

outside the classroom. If you are dismissed from tutoring because you do

not regularly attend and/or have more than two unexcused absences, you

will not be able to pass this course.

Absences from class, workshop and tutoring (including those excused) in

excess of three will result in an automatic failing grade.

Writing Requirements and Grade Distribution

Four essays (3-4 pages each) 75%

2 in-class essays; 10%

Journals; quizzes; oral reports; homework including Ha Jin Collection 15%

Required Final Portfolio (P/F)

Class Participation* & Library Assignment (P/F)

*Class attendance and participation is expected. Failures in these areas will result in a deduction to your overall course grade of at least half a grade.

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Portfolios

Students will be required to submit portfolios of their work in order to receive passing

grades in the course. Keep all of your work. Do not throw anything you write away.

You will need to assess all of your work for possible inclusion in the portfolio. To be

eligible to submit portfolios, students must demonstrate competency in grammar and usage

through an editing exercise and must be passing the course with a D or better.

Composition I: Portfolio Checklist

Assessment sheet (student, instructor, and reader’s name; oral component met).

Table of contents.

A self-assessment of your writing regarding this semester; this may be formatted as a

letter to the reader of the portfolio (also called: cover or reflective letter).

Diagnostic essay (not graded; clean copy).

Two essays written and revised outside of class with all drafts; attach an unmarked clean

copy on top of the drafts. This must include one argument or analysis essay with

MLA documentation and a Works Cited page. Midterm exam or second-timed writing (not graded; clean copy).

Common final exam (not graded; clean copy).

Portfolios will be graded as passing if they are deemed a level 4 on the placement and

proficiency scale. Portfolios that do not contain the required work will not be graded.

Students who do not fulfill the portfolio requirement will receive a grade of R (Repeat) for

the course, which does not affect the student’s Grade Point Average or financial aid. The

student must repeat the course and successfully complete all assignments before a grade will

be determined.

Statement on Academic Integrity

“Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty in their academic work.

Cheating, forgery, and plagiarism are serious offences, and students found guilty of any form of

academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action” (Faculty Handbook 33).

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged (intentionally or unintentionally) use of summary, paraphrase,

direct quotation, language, statistics, or ideas from other sources, including Internet sources.

You must cite according to the Modern Language Association (MLA) format found in Writing:

A Manual for the Digital Age, Brief Second Edition. If you plagiarize all or part of a writing

assignment, you will be reported to the Department of English Chair and/or the Academic Dean.

Statement on Americans with Disabilities Act

“Students with disabilities are entitled to the right to accommodation under Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Ace and ADA of 1990. ADA students are responsible for self-identifying to the

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Disability Resource Center, who will inform me of your needs of accommodation related to the

structure of the course” (Faculty Handbook 30).

Schedule of Assignments

Please note: This schedule is tentative and will change based on the needs of the class.

MR = Mercury Reader

WDA = Writing for a Digital Age

Date Assignment is DUE

WEEK 1 M 8/27 Diagnostic Essay

W 8/29 Writing Workshop: Various Class

Activities: Introduction to course

R 8/30 Essay 1 Assigned / Oral Report

Groups Assigned

WEEK 2 M 9/3 NO CLASS


Activities: Work on Essay #1

Proposal and on Journal #1

Descriptive Paragraph

with Photograph Due

R 9/6 Discuss Journals and Essay

Proposals

Essay 1 Proposal Due/

Journal 1 Due “Theme for

English B.” / “My Name”/

in Mercury Reader

WEEK 3 M 9/10 Peer Critiques of Essay #1 Rough Draft of Essay #1

Due


Activities: Peer Critiques of Essay

Drafts (Continued Work)/ Review

Chapters 1-4 and 6 & 7 in WDA

Ha Jin Collection:

Entry #1

R 9/13 Revision Strategies/ Review Chapters

1-4 and 6 & 7 in WDA

Reading “Shitty First

Drafts”(MR); Due with

Response


W 9/19 New Voices, New Visions Reception

R 9/20 Trip to Museum

Final Copy of Essay #1

WEEK 5 M 9/24 Introduction to Essay #2

Introduction to Journal #2:

Malcolm X (Overview of Oral

Reports)

W 9/26 NO CLASS Ha Jin Collection:

Entry #2

R 9/27 Journal #2 Discuss and

Oral Report Group #2

Journal #2 Due/

“Homemade Education” in

MR

F 9/28 HA JIN TALK EXTRA CREDIT EVERYONE PLAN TO

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WEEK 6 M 10/1 Review Chapter 16 in WDA


Activities: Work on Proposal for

Essay #2 and on Journal #3

R 10/4 Oral Report Group #1

Journal #3 Due / “College

Pressures” MR/ Oral

Report Group #1

Also, Essay #2 Proposal

Due


T 10/9 MONDAY CLASSES MEET


Activities: Work on Journal #4 and

on Essay #2

Ha Jin Collection: Entry

#3

R 10/11 Journal #4 Due / “School v.

Education” / “What Is

Intelligence, Anyway?”/

MR/ Oral Report Group

#2

WEEK 8 M 10/15 Peer Critiques of Essay #2 Rough Draft of Essay #2

Due


Activities: Final Editing of Essay #2

R 10/18 Intro to Fresh Perspectives/

Midterm/ Essay #3

Final Copy of Essay #2

Due

WEEK 9 M 10/22 Library Session


Activities: Work on Essay #3

Proposal / Fresh Perspectives / (Ha

Jin) / Journal #5

R 10/25 Oral Report Group #3 and

Discussion of Journal #5/ WDA

Chapters 8-11

Essay #3 Proposal Due

Journal #5 Due / “The

Case Against College” /

MR / Oral Report Group

#3

WEEK 10 M 10/29 Midterm: PT I


Activities: Midterm: PT 2

R 11/01 WDA Chapters 17-21 Fresh Perspectives

Submission is Due

WEEK 11 M 11/05 Black Solidarity Day


Activities: WDA Chapters 8-11

R 11/08 Oral Report Group #4/ WDA

Chapters 17-21

Journal #6 Due/ “Public

and Private Language” /

“Spanglish”/ (MR)

Oral Report Group #4

WEEK 12 M 11/12 Peer Critique of Essay #3 Rough Draft of Essay #3

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Activities: Final Editing of Essay #3/

WDA Chapters 17-21

R 11/15 Introduction to Essay #4 Project Final Copy of Essay #3

Due

WEEK 13 M 11/19 Sample Project Review

Rubric Discussed

Freewrite on Project Assignments

W 11/21 NO CLASS

R 11/22 NO CLASS

WEEK 14 M 11/26 Project Assignments Shared

Outlines

Essay #4 Project Proposal

is Due


Activities: Final Portfolio Workshop

and Workshop for Final

Presentations for Essay #4 Project

R 11/29 Oral Report Group #5 Journal #7 Due/ “Serving

in Florida” / Oral Report

Group #5

WEEK 15 M 12/03 In-Class Essay Exam II Today


Activities: Final Portfolio Workshop

and Workshop for Final

Presentations for Essay #4 Project

R 12/06 Presentations

WEEK 16 M 12/10 Presentations

W 12/12 LAST CLASS Final Portfolios Due/ Essay

#4 Project Due

F 12/14 Common Exam Day (8:30 AM)

JOURNAL #1

“Theme for English B” by Langston

Hughes and “My Name” by Sandra

Cisneros

Assignment: Write 350+ words, total, in response to

the following questions in the textbook. Your total

word count is 350+ words.

Questions on Rhetorical Strategy and Style: p. 72.

Question 2 (“Rewrite this poem...”)

AND

Writing Assignments: p. 75 / Topic 2 (Write an

essay...)

JOURNAL #2

“Homemade Education” by Malcolm X


the following questions:

List of Journal Readings and Writing Assignments: From The Mercury Reader

Note: You will read other selections from MR in addition to these.

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Questions on Meaning: p. 58 #1 and #2

AND

Questions on Rhetorical Strategy and Style: p. 58 #2

JOURNAL #3

“College Pressures” by William Zinsser



Writing Assignments: Questions 1 and 2 on pp. 24

and 25

JOURNAL #4

“School vs. Education” by Russell Baker

and “What Is Intelligence, Anyway?” by

Isaac Asimov



Writing Assignment Questions on p. 137 (Choose

either question 1 or 2)

AND

Writing Assignment Question #1 on p. 3

JOURNAL #5

“The Case Against College”

By Caroline Bird



Questions on Meaning: #1 on p. 142

AND

Writing Assignments: Choose either question #1 or

#2 on p. 142

JOURNAL #6

“Public and Private Language” by

Richard Rodriquez and “Spanglish” by

Janice Castro and Dan Cook



Questions on Meaning: #1 and #2 on p. 47

AND

Writing Assignments: #3 on p. 79

JOURNAL #7

“Serving in Florida” by Barbara

Ehrenreich



Questions on Meaning: #1 on p.107

AND

Writing Assignments: #2 on p. 108

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Rigolino sww syllabusfall2012sec03