Fall 2013 Los Medanos College

Syllabus English 100 Fall 2013 Los Medanos College

Tues/Thurs 9:30-10:50 Instructor: Georgie Ziff Core Building Room 226 email: [email protected] Section 0998 www.georgiesenglishwiki.pbworks.com

Course Description: This college-level course will help you to improve your critical reading, thinking and writing skills-skills that are essential for future success. Students will analyze course readings and write organized and well-developed essays based on the assigned texts and their own research. Students will also read, analyze and write about one book- length work. This course is required for AA degree and transfer to CSU or UC. LR LMC:DA Transfer: CSU, UC

Student Learning Outcomes: 1. Comprehend, summarize, respond thoughtfully to, analyze, critique, and synthesize college-level readings. 2. Write clear, organized, convincing, in-depth thesis-driven academic essays which synthesize several sources. 3. Think critically at a college level. Describe and evaluate arguments, recognize bias, identify and avoid logical fallacies, and think critically as part of their own readings and writing process. 4. Conduct basic research using library tools.

Required Texts and Materials:  Exploring Language, 13 th edition by Gary Goshgarian  I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson (Click on the titles for links to Amazon.com) Texts are available in the campus bookstore, as well as on reserve at the campus library.  Blank lined composition book for your Writing Journal  Stapler and paper clips  A folder for your final Group Portfolio

Suggested Materials:  Dropbox.com is a free online storage site that also synchronizes your documents; useful for work in the computer lab  a flash drive on which to save your work as a backup  Engrade.com is the online grade book into which I will post grades and attendance. You will want to register once you get the access code from me at Engrade.com/student. It is your responsibility to hang onto that code to monitor your own progress in the course.

Email and Internet Requirements: You will be using email, accessing websites for articles, interactive quizzes, writing exercises and other issues. You will be printing out documents, so you must have 2 reliable and consistent access to a computer and a printer in order to pass the course. We will also have sessions in the computer lab during which you will be able to work on your essays and assignments.

Course Web page: The class syllabus, schedules, essay information and assignments will be posted on on your class page on my website: http://georgiesenglishwiki.pbworks.com/w/page/55833366/Los %20Medanos%20College%20English%20100 You will be downloading and printing out course materials and handouts. You are responsible for keeping track of the schedule and assignment information.

Course Assignments:

Essays – There will be four out of class essays assigned this quarter that count for 60% of the grade. You will write multiple drafts of each essay that will be peer-reviewed in class. You are encouraged to work with a tutor and prepare the final draft based on the feedback. All previous drafts, exploratory notes and other feedback must be in the final essay packet, with the final essay draft on top. In addition, there must be noticeable difference between the three drafts as a result of constant revision and editing. Click on the Essay Guideline Page on the class webpage for essay details. Grading is based on overall writing quality and improvement. To better understand what a good essay is, read the Essay Grading Rubric.

Essay due dates are on the Class Schedule available online on the class webpage. Late work is discouraged, and thus will receive a full letter grade deduction.

MLA Formatting Guidelines:  typed  double spaced throughout with no extra spaces between paragraphs  no title page, but an informative title  one inch margins  size 12 standard fonts – Arial is preferred  your name in the upper left corner of your first page  page numbers in the upper right corner.

Homework - The weekly homework assignments are linked articles on the Schedule online. Click control/enter to open the link and access the article. Your task is to read each the assigned articles and write one typed page consisting of a two paragraph response and summary for each article:

Paragraph one summarizes the article, identifying the main points and discussing what the article is about. Paragraph two is your response, framed in terms of how the ideas relate to you and your writing experience. 3

You may submit your work in hard copy in class by Thursday, or you may email me your work in Word format by Friday 5 pm. (Make sure the document attachment can be opened. If you have a Mac, make sure the document is in Word). Homework MUST be typed, not handwritten.  Late work receives partial credit.  Full credit = 5 points if submitted by Friday of the week they are due.  The following week = 3 points  1 point any following weeks  NOTE: the instructor reserves the right to drop a student who fails to submit any work.

Presentations:

1) Individual Presentation Each student will read one story aloud to the class from Bill Bryson's I'm a Stranger Here Myself and present a story analysis to the class following the analysis guidelines on the course webpage.

2) Group Grammar/Writing Presentation In small groups of 3 or 4 students, you will select and research a grammar/writing issue to present to the class as a learning tool. You can use my website and the Learning Center for resources in preparing your presentation. Each group will then prepare and teach a 20 minute mini-lesson on the issue: the theory will be explained with the help of visuals (a poster or a power point) and the class will be assigned to do an exercise/quiz or a game. Detailed instructions on group presentations are available through the link on your class webpage. Dates are randomly selected throughout the semester.

3) Group Linguist Analysis Presentation In response to Chapter 9 of Exploring Language by Gary Goshgarian - Language and the Brain - you will select the work of one linguist mentioned in the chapter, and in a small group of no more than 4 or 5 students, you will research, summarize, and present to the class his or her theories, contributions to the field of language, and the connection between language and thought, providing clear examples and demonstrations. These can be verbal or visual; a power point presentation; a video; a series of images, etc. In addition, you will also respond as a group to the theory, agreeing or disagreeing, with supporting evidence. Presentations will be during the last week of school; practice them in advance so they are, on average, about 20 minutes. In addition, each group will submit a collaborative Group Portfolio. Details are provided on the Group Presentation page online.

Writing Journal: Get a blank composition book in which to keep your journal entries. Your entries will be both free writing and in response to specific questions and in-class writing exercises that you do. During the quarter, you will be responsible for keeping track of all your work, including homework, journals, and in-class work. 4

Grading in this course:

* Four Essays are worth 60% of your grade. * Homework is worth 15%. * Individual Presentation is 5% * Group Presentations are worth 10% * Portfolio is 5% * Writing Journal is 5%

Grading Scale 90 – 100 = A 80 - 89 = B 70 – 79 = C 60 – 69 = D 0 - 59 = F

Policy on Deadlines: The homework is due in hard copy at the beginning of the class period, or by email no later than Friday at 5 pm. Email must have the school, class, name and assignment in the subject line of the email to be opened and graded. Late essays are discouraged and will receive a full grade deduction. The deadline for submitting work is the last day of class – NO EXCEPTIONS. Work will not be accepted after the last class is over, and final grades are NOT negotiable.

Attendance and Participation Attendance is your job as a student; it is not my business about whether you attend class or not, as such, do not feel it is necessary to inform me about absences or tardy issues. It is not my job to judge and decide the validity of your attendance issues. That said, consistent attendance is very important, as the work we do in class is directly related to your success in English 100. As this class meets two days per week, a student who misses four classes, regardless of the reason, will have their grade reduced by one full grade. Missing five classes will result in being dropped from the class. In addition, as participation is required, the instructor reserves the right to drop a student who fails to submit any assignments and essays in a timely manner, i.e. more than a week late

Computer Lab attendance is required and you must have your draft available either through Dropbox.com, in your email, or on a flash drive. We will be meeting at the regular class time in the Computer Lab as indicated on the Schedule. You are responsible for keeping up with the due dates and schedule.

In-Class Etiquette In this class, there will be a lot of discussion. We will all be attempting to answer questions, voice opinions, agree and/or disagree with each other, and present findings. None of this is possible unless we create a comfortable environment. To do this, a few rules apply: 1. Cell phones: Turn off or silence your phones while in class. Do not text message or make personal phone calls during class. In case of emergencies, please leave the classroom for cell phone use. If you persist in playing with your phone you will be asked to leave. 2. Be on time! If you are late, enter quietly and do not disrupt the class. 3. Show respect for your classmates and their ideas. During discussions, many different opinions will be expressed. All are welcomed and none are to be ridiculed. 4. Use appropriate language during discussion. 5

5. Refrain from expressing disgruntlement during class. See me outside of class about any concerns. 6. Avoid unnecessary chatting during class lectures, videos or presentations; this is distracting to other students and to the teacher. You will be asked to leave if you are disruptive.

Academic honesty and plagiarism policy: Any content in any sentence in essays that you did not discover through first- hand experience, or that is common knowledge, you will need to provide:  correct in-text citations in parentheses  on the works cited page

You are responsible for learning what constitutes plagiarizing, both intentional and accidental. Cheating or plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in severe disciplinary action. Students are required to attend the class on plagiarism. Cheating is defined as possessing unauthorized sources of information during an exam; copying the work of another student during an exam; completing an assignment for another student; submitting out-of-class work for an in-class assignment; retaining exams or other materials after they were supposed to be returned to the instructor; submitting the same paper for two different classes without approval of both instructors; and inventing data or falsifying an account of data collection. Plagiarism is taking the words of another and either copying or paraphrasing those words without giving credit to the source (through parenthetical citations, quotation marks, reference citations, all of which we will go over in class). This includes using material from the Internet without citing correctly. I am required to file a report of academic dishonesty with the Department of Academic Affairs should an act of plagiarism occur.

Grievance Policy English Department Grievance Policy: All student grievances concerning grading or other areas are to be brought to the attention of the course instructor before any other action can be. If you cannot find a resolution to your grievance, then you and your instructor will meet with Chair of the English Department.

Disability Accommodations If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, or if you would need assistance in the event of an emergency, please contact me as soon as possible.

Final notes: This syllabus is subject to change as needed. I may also assign individualized homework to help you improve particular skills.