Spring 2010 Syllabus, English 090: Basic Composition

ENG 090 (3 credits) Basic Composition
Spring, 2010

COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF DENVER

Instructor: Nancy Stohlman
Instructor’s Office: South Classroom Room 230
Instructor’s Mailbox: South Classroom Room 313
Faculty email: nancystohlman@gmail.com
Class blog: www.profstohlman.blogspot.com
Office Hours: 9:00-10:00 Tuesdays and Thursdays or by appointment


Educational Case Manager: Rosie Sanchez
Help with advising, financial aid, academic and related personal issues
Office: SO 312 E
Phone: (303) 556-2790
Email: rosie.sanchez@ccd.edu
Email for appointment or stop by her office

Required Course Materials:

A Reader for Writers, 2nd Developmental English
Sin and Syntax, Constance Hale
One 8.5x11 spiral-bound notebook that will be periodically turned in for review
Additional handouts provided

Recommended:
A Writer’s Reference, 6th ed., Hacker
A paperback college-level dictionary
A paperback college-level thesaurus


Course Description

This course emphasizes critical thinking as students explore writing for specific purposes and audiences. Students will develop skills required for college-level writing while reviewing paragraph structure and focusing on essay development.

Course Objectives

To make you a better writer, of course! Upon completion of this course, students should demonstrate knowledge and/or skill in the following areas. The student should be able to
• understand and develop writing as a process in paragraphs and essays
• apply knowledge of the writing process
Topical Outline View:
I. The Composition
A. Planning
B. Generating/Exploring Ideas (Invention)
C. Purpose
D. Audience
E. Point of View
F. Thesis
G. Organization/Outline
II. Writing/Revising/Editing
A. Strategies of Development
B. Introduction, Body, Conclusion
III. Critical/Logical Thinking
IV. Paragraph and Sentence Review (as needed)


Evaluation Methods and Class Management

To complete this course successfully you must finish all work with a C or better, turn your work in on time and in the proper format, conform to class attendance policies, and participate regularly in class.

Late Work: I will accept no late work. If you are sick, you may turn in work to me by email no later than the end of your scheduled class time on the day it is due. If you have an emergency, please contact me.

Class Blog: www.profstohlman.blogspot.com I will update the class blog with specifics of the day, daily prompts, etc. Please consult the blog (or another student) if you missed class and need to know what you missed.

Absolutely no texting or cell phone use during class. I will ask you to leave. If you must take a call, inform me of this before class and exit quietly to take your call.

Attendance

In keeping with CCD’s Attendance Policy: “Faculty may give a failing
grade to any student who has a 15% or greater absence from a course, starting
from the first class meeting.”

Since much of our work will be done in class, your attendance is crucial for your learning. Any student missing more than three classes will lose one grade level per additional absence: A will become a B, B will become a C, etc.

Students will be held responsible for any and all information missed due to absence, including assignments. I suggest that you exchange contact information with one or two other students in the class in case you miss a class and need to know what you have missed. Also please consult the Class Blog, as I will post changes to the syllabus and writing prompts there. I reserve the right to change the assignment dates and/or descriptions at any time during the semester. I will always announce any changes in class, so it is the student’s responsibility to keep informed of any changes.

Tardy Policy: While sometimes being late is unavoidable, tardiness is disruptive to the class and should be avoided. Three tardies (more than 10 minutes) will equal one absence.


Grading
Final Portfolio 18 points
Journal 12 points
Assignments 10 points
Essays 40 points
Participation 10 points
Writing Center 10 points
________________________________
Total Possible 100 points
(Instructor may award 5 bonus points to any student showing exceptional effort)
Instructor may offer bonus assignments at her discretion.

A: 90-100
B: 80-90
C: 70-80
D: 60-70
F: 59 or lower

Classroom Methods

Kinds of Writing we’ll be doing:

In-class writings and prompts
Description
Narration
Expository
Argumentative
Drafts
Critiquing
Revisions
Bibliography
Process/Self-Assessment Essay
Final Portfolio

SAVE ALL WRITING DONE FOR THIS CLASS; THIS INCLUDES PREWRITING, DRAFTS OF ESSAYS, WRITE NOW ENTRIES, READER RESPONSE ENTRIES, AND ALL OTHER WRITTEN WORK. This will affect your final grade.

Your journal will consist mostly of in-class exercises and other handwritten work. It will be turned in for review 2 times during the semester.

There will be 5 major assignments:
Descriptive Essay
Narrative Essay
Expository Essay
Persuasive Essay
Final Portfolio

Each of these assignments will be preceded by rough drafts and in-class workshopping, so don’t panic!

Essay Formatting

Each time you submit a final essay, all previous brainstorming, outlining, and early drafts must also be submitted with the final draft. Drafts, final drafts, and essays must be turned in typed. THIS MEANS everything but your notebook needs to be turned in TYPED. No exceptions.

All work should be double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12 point font Times New Roman. Please put page numbers if more than one page (either top or bottom). All work should be formatted as follows and given a title:

Name
Date
Class Name and Time (English 090-)
Instructor Name
Assignment (i.e. Descriptive Paragraph First Draft, Narrative Essay Final Draft, etc.)


Final Portfolio

Your final portfolio will be an 8-10 page polished compilation of the work you’ve been doing this semester plus a Process/Self-Assessment Essay. You’ll have a chance to workshop it with a colleague, but this portfolio should be error-free. I’ll expect you to use all formatting guidelines. Also, I’ll expect that each piece will have been revised again since I saw it last—I will be able to tell! Think of this as a final art exhibit of your work. Details when we get closer.


Plagiarism

Plagiarism is literary theft of another author’s ideas and/or exact words, without giving proper credit to the source in both the text of your essay and on the Works Cited sheet. This rule is true of direct quotes, paraphrases, and summaries. Plagiarism is a serious ethical offense and may be grounds for the student’s failure in this class. Cheating of any kind is forbidden.


Writing Center

All ENG 090 students must attend Writing Center sessions based on the requirements in the Daily Calendar. If you cannot attend the Writing Center to have a tutor advise you on them before turning them in to me, you may use the OWL to submit papers on line. This requires planning ahead since the return time is 48 hours. Owl.ccd.edu

AAA 099 requirements: 25 hours in the Academic Support Center Labs

Cell Phones and Pagers should be TURNED OFF while you are in class.

Please take advantage of the FREE tutors in the Writing Lab—students who take that kind of initiative always turn in stronger work and get higher grades.



Tentative Course Schedule and Weekly Assignments:
(subject to change)

**Every day we will do in-class exercises—you will need a spiral-bound notebook for just this class. Please bring your readings for the day and spiral notebooks to every class.

Week One: Introductions. Descriptive Writing
Tuesday, 1/19: Introductions, Syllabus, Course Objectives
In-class writing prompt #1: Creative Monsters


*Thursday, 1/21: Turn in Creative Monster prompt in correct formatting (see above).
In class writing prompt #2: (please have notebooks)
Discussion: “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
Discussion: Ten Things to Stop Misspelling


Week Two: Descriptive Writing
Tuesday, 1/26: Discussion: Chapter 1 “Nouns” from Sin and Syntax
Discussion: Nouns in Description (Self-Editing)
Thesaurus
Writing Lab?
In-class writing #3: Description

Take Home Descriptive Prompt: Sit in a public place for 5-10 minutes with your journal, just watching. Then write for 10 minutes describing in great detail what you saw, witnessed, etc. Think about using strong nouns and sensory description.


*Thursday, 1/28: DUE: Descriptive Prompt in correct formatting
Discussion: “Death of A Moth” by Annie Dillard
“Death of The Moth” by Virginia Wolfe
In-class writing prompt#4: Description
Discussion: Sensory Description


Week Three: Descriptive Writing
Tuesday, 2/2: In class writing prompt #5: Description
Discussion “Adjectives” from Sin and Syntax
“Shitty First Drafts” from Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Discussion: Cliches


Thursday, 2/4: DUE: Rough Draft Descriptive Essay with 4 copies
Discussion of workshopping
In-class workshop
In class writing prompt #6


*Week Four: Narrative Writing
Tuesday, 2/9: DUE: Final Descriptive Essay with all attachments
Discussion of Narrative Writing—in class handout TBA
In class writing #7: Narrative
Six Word Memoirs



Thursday, 2/11: Discussion
“Salvation” by Langston Hughes
“The Monkey Garden” by Sandra Cisneros
Discussion: Story Arc
In class writing #8: Narrative


Week Five: Narrative Writing
Tuesday, 2/16: Discussion: Handout: Fredrick Douglas
“A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X
“Verbs” from Sin and Syntax
Discussion: Dictionaries
In-class writing #9: Narrative

Take Home Narrative Prompt: Eavesdrop for at least 5 minutes on someone else’s conversation, either in public or not. Then attempt to write the entire conversation verbatim, but making sure to use the “voice” of the people speaking.


*Thursday, 2/18: DUE: Narrative Prompt in proper formatting

Discussion of Flash Fiction and Fictional Narratives
Handout TBA
In-class writing #10: Narrative


Week Six: Narrative Writing
Tuesday, 2/23: In class writing #11: Narrative
Discussion: “The Toughest Indian in the World” by Sherman Alexie
Discussion: "Adverbs" from Sin and Syntax


Thursday, 2/25: DUE: Rough Draft Narrative Essay with 4 copies
DUE: Journals
In-class writing #12: Narrative
In-class workshop



Week Seven: Expository Writing
*Tuesday, 3/2: DUE: Final Narrative Essay with all attachments
Discussion of Expository Writing
In class writing prompt #13: Expository
In class handouts: “Why I Write” by Joan Didion
Mid-Term evaluations/discussion

Take Home Expository Prompt: Read at least one newspaper article, paying attention to the style of journalistic writing: straight expository information answering the questions who, what, when, where, and how. Note the "lead" sentence format: who, what, when, where, and how all answered in the first sentence. Write a newspaper article about some event in your life this week (I prefer something that just happened rather than something from the past). Give it a headline, lead sentence, etc. One page.

Thursday, 3/4: NO CLASS


Week Eight: Expository Writing
Tuesday, 3/9: Turn in Expository Prompt in Proper Formatting
In class prompts #14: Expository
Discussion of “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady
"On Dumpster Diving" by Lars Eightner
"Pronouns" in Sin and Syntax

*Thursday, 3/11: In class writing #15: Expository
Discussion “Just Walk On By” by Brent Staples
handout “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell
Discussion: Cliches


Week Nine: Expository Writing
Tuesday, 3/16: Discussion: “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose
In-class writing #16: Expository


Thursday: 3/18: DUE: Rough Draft Expository Essay with 4 copies
In-class workshopping
In-class writing #17: TBA
Handout: "Someone to Read Your Drafts" by Anne Lamott


No School Monday 3/22-Friday 3/26—Happy Holiday!


Week Ten: Persuasive/Argumentative Writing

Tuesday, 3/30: DUE: Final Draft Expository Essay with all attachments
Discussion of Persuasive Writing: Audience
Handout TBA
In-class writing #18: Argumentative

Thursday, 4/1: Discussion “Are the Homeless Crazy?” by Johathan Kozol, p. 154-157
“The Smurfette Principle” by Katha Politt
In-class writing #19: Persuasive



Week Eleven: Persuasive/Argumentative Writing

Tuesday, 4/6: Discussion “Thoughts Interrupted” by Amy Joyce
“The Blogs Must be Crazy” by Peggy Noonan
In-class writing #20: Persuasive

Take Home Persuasive Prompt: TBA


Thursday, 4/8: DUE: Persuasive Prompt in proper formatting
Discussion of “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift (handout)
In-class writing #21: Persuasive



Week Twelve: Persuasive/Argumentative Writing

Tuesday, 4/13: Discussion: “Hers; Provider” by Alice Hoffman
“Gay Marriages” by Elizabeth Armstrong
In-class writing #22: Persuasive


Thursday, 4/15: DUE: Rough Draft Persuasive Essay with 4 copies
In-class workshop
In class writing #23: Persuasive



Week Thirteen: Portfolios
Tuesday, 4/20: DUE: Final Draft Persuasive Essay with all attachments
Discussion of Final Portfolio
In-class prompt #24: Process

Thursday, 4/22: Discussion of Portfolios
Reading: “On Writing” by Stephen King (handout)
Discussion: Reading
In-class writing #25: Process



Week Fourteen: Portfolio Workshop/Conferences
Tuesday, 4/27: Discussion of Portfolios, Readings TBA
In class prompt #26: Process

Thursday, 4/29: DUE: Rough Draft Portfolio with 1 copy (partners will be assigned)
DUE: Journals
In-class Portfolio workshopping


Week Fifteen: Wrap up
Tuesday, 5/4: Individual Conferences
Thursday, 5/6: Individual Conferences


Final Portfolios Due 5/6 by 4:00 pm MST


Have a great summer!



Important dates:

Last day to drop and receive a refund for 15-week classes is February 5
Last day to drop the class with a W is April 19
Spring Break: March 22-28—NO CLASSES
Grades available to students: 5/17



Student Code of Conduct and Academic Integrity Admission to the Community College of Denver implies that you agree to respect the rights of others and observe moral and civil laws. Interference with the normal processes of education in the classroom or elsewhere on the campus will be regarded as unacceptable conduct, warranting suspension or dismissal. Complete Student Code of Conduct is at this web site: http://www.ccd.edu/search.aspx?WebID=63204&&View=0&Search=student%20code%20of%20conduct


Americans with Disabilities Act Students with a documented disability who need reasonable accommodations to achieve course objectives should notify the instructor and apply for services at the Center for Persons with Disabilities within the first week of classes. NOTE: All students who identify themselves to faculty as having a disability or suspect that they have a disability should be encouraged to contact the Director of the Center for Persons with Disabilities (CPD), Room 134, South Classroom Building, 1st Floor. Faculty is not obligated to provide accommodations without proper notification from the Center for Persons with Disabilities Office. You may also contact CPD staff by telephone to make an appointment: (303) 556-3300.
More information is available at http://www.ccd.edu/Disabilities/Disabilities.aspx

Grade of Incomplete
Incomplete: An "I" indicates that the course objectives are not yet fulfilled. It is the responsibility of the student to request, if needed, the assignment of an incomplete grade. The instructor's decision to authorize or not authorize an incomplete grade is final. The student must have completed 75% of the class with a C or better, and must complete the rest of the work with the same instructor. Arrangement for the completion of the course must be made with the instructor prior to the assignment of the "I" grade. This agreement must be written on a Contract for Incomplete Grade Form. The instructor may allow up to one full semester for the student to complete missing requirements. "I" grades not changed by the end of the following semester will automatically become failing grades (F).
Grade of SP You can receive an SP grade only if you
• attended the full term (missing no more than 5 classes and completing all 15 hours of lab work)
• have shown satisfactory progress by completing all assigned course work
• but have not yet mastered the skills that will give you the opportunity to be successful in the next class in the sequence.
If the SP grade is received, you must complete the course within the next 15 week semester, or the grade will change to NC (no credit). If the SP grade is received, you may attend the same course the following semester (without registering or paying again for the course) with the same instructor or a different instructor (with her/his permission). You must show the instructor the proper paperwork (from the instructor who graded you SP) to be allowed into the class. If you earn a C or better at the completion of the course, the instructor will submit a grade change to change the SP to a C or better. Then you will be allowed to register for the next course in the sequence. A D, F, AW, I, or SP will not allow you to enter the next course in the sequence.