Seattle Central Community College s3

Seattle Central Community College Humanities and Social Science Division English 101: Composition Winter Quarter 2007 ------Instructor: Larry Silverman Office: Room 4125 Office Hours: 12:00-1:00 Mon-Fri; other times by appointment Office Phone Number: 206-587-2915 Special Situations Phone Number: 206-383-3945 E-mail: [email protected] Required Texts: The Bedford Reader (Ninth Edition) by Kennedy(s) and Aaron; A Writer’s Reference (Sixth Edition) by Hacker Recommended Text: a college-level dictionary Materials: a three-hole loose-leaf notebook for class notes and in-class writings; folder for submitting essays

Course Description English 101 is a college transfer composition course that focuses on writing essays that other adults will find interesting to read. We will work as a whole class, in small groups, in pairs, and as individual writers to develop ideas, draft, revise, proofread and edit essays using a variety of strategies and models. Our reading activities will involve essays with cross-cultural themes that explore issues surrounding diversity. We will look at various cultures by seeing it through the perspective of the writers in our text and also through the students in our class. You will be free to choose any topic as the basis for your personal essays this quarter.

Overall Course Goals/Intentions 1. Become knowledgeable about the process of writing. 2. Gain confidence as a writer. 3. Improve overall writing skills. 4. Improve critical reading skills. 5. Improve ability to work in small groups. 6. Understand cross-cultural issues. Specific Course (Composition) Outcomes 1. Has a thesis/purpose and sense of audience. 2. Uses specific strategies, such as facts, details, and examples to support a thesis. 3. Demonstrates critical thinking. 4. Produces coherent prose. 5. Chooses an appropriate organizational pattern. 6. Writes clear, grammatically and mechanically correct prose. 7. Integrates sources and avoids plagiarism.

Course Requirements and Grading There will be a total of five major essays assigned during the quarter. The first essay will be descriptive and should be 750-900 words; the second essay will be a narrative and should be 850-1000 words; the third will be an expository essay of 950- 1100 words, the fourth will also be an expository with an outside source and should be 1000-1200 words, and the fifth essay will be argumentative and/or persuasive based on research and should be 1200-1500 words. Each essay must be word

2 processed with pages numbered, titled, and turned in with accompanying drafts, peer comments from fellow students in our class, a word count, and a self-evaluation--all in a folder. I will not accept e-mailed versions of your essays. I will comment on and assign a point value for each essay that you submit. I will deduct 10 points per day for late essays. If you submit an essay more than a week after the due date, the essay can receive a maximum of only 50 points. At the end of the quarter you may submit two of your five essays in revised forms for possible new point totals. Revision means to substantially alter the essay and not merely make proofreading and editing corrections. We will discuss this notion of revision throughout the quarter and focus on this concept in more detail during our last week. If you decide to revise any two of the five essays you have written, you must turn in the original essay that I read along with my comment sheet, an explanation of the changes you made, and your revised version in order to receive full credit. I strongly urge you to meet with me in my office before you submit a revised essay. The first four essays are worth 150 points each; the fifth essay is worth 200 points. The total is 800 points for five essays. During the quarter we will have daily homework assignments. The assignments may include readings from one or both of our textbooks and written exercises based on those readings. I will

3 not accept e-mailed versions of homework, nor will I accept homework that is more than a week late, and I will make a note that the homework has been turned in late. We will also have in-class, individual writing exercises as well as small group and whole class activities. All of these assignments merit your attention and are worth a maximum of 250 points. Please complete each assignment and submit it by the due date so as not to lose any points due to lateness. Attendance and punctuality will count for 200 points. I expect you to be present—with your cell phone on silent or vibrate--and on time for all of our classes. You should contact me in the unlikely event that you are absent. This does not excuse the absence, however. You are still responsible for all homework and related assignments. Your final essay will be a self-evaluation examining your development as a writer and is worth a maximum of 100 points. I will give you more specific information about this final toward the end of the quarter. You can earn a maximum of 50 points (25 points per visit) for meeting with me in my office two times during this quarter to discuss either a specific essay you have written for our class or other issues related to your work in English 101.

Thus you can earn up to 1400 points as previously described. If you earn your grade will likely be between 95-98% of the total 3.7 and 4.0 90-94% 3.2 and 3.6 4 85-89% 2.7 and 3.1 80-84% 2.2 and 2.6 75-79% 1.7 and 2.1 70-74% 1.2 and 1.6 65-69% 0.7 and 1.1 Below 65% 0.0

Special Information on Essays I will present criteria for grading essays based on factors related to content, organization, form, writing style, and mechanics. When you turn in each essay to me, you must submit all your brainstorms, free writes, notes, drafts and student comments in your folder. I need to see evidence of all the work you have done to complete your essay. That will be part of the total number of points you can receive for each essay. Please be sure to save all the work you have done for our class until the quarter is over as proof of your work. Weekly Course Overview Week 1, January 2-5: Introductory material on the course; hopes and fears; understanding the essay form and description in particular; "The Writing Process" in Rules for Writers; “Reading and Writing Effectively” in The Bedford Reader. Week 2, January 8-12: Selected descriptive essays in The Bedford Reader; developing ideas for a draft; forming writing groups; FIRST ESSAY--DESCRIPTION--IS DUE ON JANUARY 12. Week 3, January 16-19 (January 15 is the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday):"Paragraphs" in Rules for Writers; Selected narrative essays in The Bedford Reader. Week 4, January 22-26: Continuation of selected narrative essays 5 in The Bedford Reader. SECOND ESSAY--A NARRATIVE--IS DUE ON JANUARY 26. Week 5, January 29-February 2: Selected expository essays in The Bedford Reader. Paragraph development assignment. Week 6, February 5-9: "Clarity" in Rules for Writers; Continuation of selected expository essays in The Bedford Reader; THIRD ESSAY--EXPOSITION--IS DUE ON FEBRUARY 9. Week 7, February 12-16: Selected expository essays in The Bedford Reader with small groups as discussion leaders. Week 8, February 20-23 (February 19 is the President’s Day Holiday): FOURTH ESSAY--EXPOSITION--IS DUE ON FEBRUARY 23. Week 9, February 26-March 2: Activities related to argumentative and persuasive essays based on research. “Punctuation and Mechanics" in Rules for Writers. Library visitation. Week 10, March 5-9: Selected argumentative essays in the Bedford Reader. Continuation of research work. Week 11, March 12-16: Revision process; FIFTH ESSAY-- ARGUMENTATION/PERSUASION--IS DUE ON MARCH 14. Week 12, March 19-21: FINAL SELF-EVALUATION ESSAY IS DUE ON MARCH 20; TWO REVISED ESSAYS (optional) ARE DUE BY MARCH 21.

Disclaimer Notice Please note that I do reserve the right to make alterations in our schedule and overall procedures as the need may arise. Special Assistance Notification

6 If you need accommodation because of a disability, or have other particular information that I should know, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, let me know.