Welcome to English 1A, Spring 2012.
This blog is exclusively for my two sections of 1A, Sections 7 and 9.
Below you will find a copy of the course outline and grade worksheet. In case you misplace the hard copy distributed to you in class on the first day, you will always be able to access a copy here on the blog.
SPRING 2012, CSU SACRAMENTO
COURSE: English 1A: College Composition I
Section 7, MWF, 10-10:50 AM (Douglass Hall 206)
Section 9, MWF, 11-11:50 AM (Douglass Hall 206)
INSTRUCTOR: Catherine Fraga
E-mail: sacto1954@gmail.com
Office Hours: CLV 149, MWF 12-1:00 PM or by appointment
CLASS BLOG: http://English1ASpring2012Fraga.blogspot.com
Prerequisites: Placement by examination OR successful completion of English 1 or its equivalent.
************************************************************************
REQUIRED TEXTS & MATERIALS
• Made for You and Me: Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home—A Memoir
By Caitlin Shetterly
Publisher: Voice
• The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood
by Kien Nguyen
Publisher: Bay Back Books
• Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers—8th Edition
by Jay Silverman, Elaine Hughes, Diana Roberts Wienbroer
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• 8 1/2” x 11” lined notebook paper (paper that is torn out of a notebook without a straight edge will not be accepted).
• Stapler
• Reliable access to a computer and a printer.
• Two (2) Blue (or Green) Books for the two in-class essays
(these can be found in the university’s bookstore or at the Student Union store—they are available in two different sizes—either size is acceptable)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
English 1A is a freshman writing course that offers students the opportunity to learn and develop the reading and writing skills that will be most useful to them during a four-year college program. The course is designed to help students improve their ability to understand and critically judge reading material and to write an essay which has a single controlling idea and which is coherently developed using idiomatically and grammatically correct English.
The heart of the course is readings that require a range of narrative, analytical, reflective and research writing skills.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attendance and punctuality are required. I have designed this course so that it depends on your presence and participation. If you’re absent, you are still responsible for finding out what you’ve missed (including lecture notes, handouts, changes in due dates, etc.) Refer to your class phone list.
2. Having more than three absences will seriously alter your final grade. This is not because I do not consider you mature enough to make a commitment to a class; it is because if you do miss more than 3 classes, you miss group work, or in class writing, or a journal assignment, or a quiz, or an in class essay assignment, and/or a bevy of other possible events, all of which affect the grade you earn. Please communicate with me. I am very understanding and reasonable.
If you must miss a class on a day an assignment is due, you are still responsible for getting the assignment to me on time. Again, use the phone list, call your mother, or??? This is merely a fairness issue; we all have life situations that are often difficult and unexpected, and if others manage to still get their work in on time, I cannot give special exceptions to just a few.
3. There will be numerous reading and writing assignments in this course. I expect you to complete them on time and come prepared to class. We may not get an opportunity to discuss everything we read for class, but that is inevitable in any college course.
4. You will complete a question and comment assignment for several of the reading assignments. The question is optional, but the commentary is not. Your commentary must be a minimum of eight sentences in length. (I know ALL the shortcuts students may try. Be assured that if you write eight very short, simple sentences you will not receive credit for the assignment. A thorough explanation of what is required for these question and comment assignments and a sample will be provided.) No late homework will be accepted.
5. Out of class essays may be handed in late, but there is a stiff penalty. For every day your essay is late, the grade for that essay will drop a full ten points. This includes weekends. Points subtracted for lateness cannot be made up during the revision process.
6. Journal writing assignments are assigned and completed in class and are not allowed to be made up.
7. Quizzes: There will be three scheduled quizzes on the Handbook and five unannounced, unscheduled quizzes during the semester. If you come prepared to class the quizzes should present no problems for you.
8. A note on classroom etiquette:
If you feel you cannot survive each class session without the use of your cell phone, iPod, iPad, laptop computer or other similar devices, please do not enroll in this class. (I own three of these devices, and value each of them, but I do not plan on using them during my classroom time with you. Simply, it is the highest degree of rudeness and disrespect.) If I see you busy texting, etc. I will not hesitate to ask you to leave. (IF THERE IS A COMPELLING REASON THAT YOU MUST KEEP YOUR PHONE ON VIBRATE FOR AN EMERGENCY PHONE CALL THAT MAY OCCUR DURING CLASS HOURS, PLEASE INFORM ME BEORE CLASS.) Each cIass session is a mere 50 minutes long and plan to give you my full attention for 50 minutes and I expect the same from all my students. (Of course, if you have documented paperwork from the university indicating the need for a computer in the classroom, that is perfectly fine!)
9. HOW YOUR GRADE IS EARNED:
See attached grade roster. At no time should you wonder how you are “doing” in the course. The grade worksheet makes it very easy to keep track. Simply record your scores as you receive back your graded work. Do not discard any assignments that are graded and returned to you until the semester is over.
10. English 1A is graded A, B, C, D, or F. Do not assume that because you have not submitted an out of class essay assignment, you will still be able to pass the course. Even though you have missed the due date, and have an automatic “F” for that assignment, YOU STILL MUST WRITE AND SUBMIT ALL THREE OUT OF CLASS ESSAYS TO PASS THE COURSE, as well as earning passing scores on your other work.
Theme: The Significance of Home
• We will consider home as our course-long theme. The significance of home – as a place of beginnings, as a starting point, as a place of comfort, regret, anguish, joy, personal growth, and loss – fuels a meaningful, intriguing collection of themes. Home is a base from which all of us emerge.
• Most of us have pre-conceived notions of home as a place of love, comfort, security. For millions of children, however, these definitions do not fit their reality of home as a place to escape: escape from cycles of poverty, mistrust, abuse.
• The course will explore not only home as a safety net, but also the illusions we have of home perpetuated by Madison Avenue advertising agencies.
• What are our expectations of home? Again, does our “real” home live up to the expectations society has created? How do different cultural values and priorities play a role in determining what home should and should not be? Attempting to answer these questions is the task I have set for us during this semester.
• What does it mean to leave home for the first time? What does it mean to be rootless, without a home?
• Finally, how can we reconnect to the earth as home, knowing full well that the lives we have created for ourselves impact the finite planet all of us call home?
• We view at least two films which explore the theme of home. These films will allow us to observe and witness concepts we have read about and discussed.
COURSE OUTLINE
(Please note: Bring this outline to class each session; changes could occur at a moment’s notice. Also, most reading and writing assignments are noted -- other class exercises and lectures may not be noted specifically)
ALL OUT OF CLASS ASSIGNMENTS (HOMEWORK, ESSAYS, ETC) MUST BE TYPED AND DOUBLE SPACED UNLESS INSTRUCTED OTHERWISE. PLEASE USE TIMES NEW ROMAN, 12 POINT FONT.
Week One (January 23-27)
• Introduction to the Course (course theme explained)
• Course Outline Distributed (handout)
• Question/Comment Homework Explained
• Unacceptable Errors (handout)
• Oral Presentation Assigned (for last week of class)
• Discussion: Reading and Evaluating Poetry
Week Two (January 30-Feb. 3)
STAPLER CHECK ON MONDAY--BE SURE YOU HAVE IT IN YOUR POSSESSION TODAY AND FROM NOW ON...:-)
• In class Demonstration/Discussion on the Writing Process
• Read Packet 1 (Wednesday)
• In class Journal #1 (Wednesday)
• Read Packet 2 (Friday) Q & C #1 due today
• Group Work #1 (Friday)
Week Three (Feb. 6-10)
• Quiz based on pgs. 2-60 in Rules of Thumb (Monday)
• Discussion: How to Evaluate a Documentary Film (Wednesday)
• Out of Class Essay #1 assigned today (Wednesday)
• Discussion: Reading and Evaluating Short Fiction (Friday)
Week Four (Feb 13-17)
• View 1st half of film in class (Monday)
• View 2nd half of film in class (Wednesday)
• Preparation for in-class writing next week (Friday)
• IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU START READING MADE FOR YOU AND ME. THE FIRST 65 PAGES IS DUE TO BE READ BY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7TH.
Week Five (Feb. 20-24)
• In-class Essay #1 (Monday)
• Out of Class Essay #1 due today (Wed.)
• Read Packet #3 (Wed.) Q & C #2 due today
• Out of Class Essay #2 assigned today (Friday)
• Discuss MLA Documentation in class (Friday)
Week Six (Feb. 27-March 2)
• Read pgs. 112-134 in Rules of Thumb (Monday)
• Quiz on pgs. 112-134 (see above) (Monday)
• Read Packet #4 (Wednesday)
• Group Work #2 (Friday)
Week Seven (March 5-9)
• Read pages 136-149 in Rules of Thumb (Monday)
• Quiz on pages 136-149 (see above) (Monday)
• Read pages 1-65 in Made for You and Me (Wed.)
• In class Journal #2 (Wed.)
• Group Work #3 (Friday)
Week Eight (March 12-16)
• Read pages 66-152 in Made for You and Me (Monday)
• Discussion: How to Read and Evaluate Essays (Wed.)
• Read Packet #5 --Q & C #3 due today (Friday)
• Review all Sentence Level Errors (Friday)
MARCH 19-23—SPRING RECESS…CAMPUS CLOSED
Week Nine: (March 26-30)
• Read pages 152 through to the end of the book Made for You and Me (Monday)
• In class Journal #3 (Wednesday)
• Read Packet #6--Q & C #4 due today (Wednesday)
• FRIDAY, MARCH 30, CESAR CHAVEZ BIRTHDAY…CAMPUS CLOSED
Week Ten: (April 2-6)
• If you have not already, begin reading The Unwanted. Please have pages 5-136 read by Wednesday of this week.
• Out of class essay #3 assigned (Monday)
• Discuss The Unwanted, pages 5-136 (Wednesday)
Week Eleven: (April 9-13)
• View film in class (Monday)
• Complete viewing of film in class (Wednesday)
• In class essay #2 on film viewed this week (Friday)
Week Twelve: (April 16-20)
• Read Packet #7 (Monday)
• In class Journal #4 (Wednesday)
• A Reading Day (Friday)
Week Thirteen: (April 23-27)
• By today you will have read the entire memoir, The Unwanted (Monday)
• Out of class essay #3 due today (Wed.)
• Discuss The Unwanted in class (Wed.)
• Group Work #4 (Fri.)
• Take home test on The Unwanted distributed today (Friday)
Week Fourteen(April 30-May 4)
• In class Journal #4 (Monday)
• Take home test on The Unwanted due today (Wednesday)
• Complete my specially designed evaluation for this course (Friday)
Week Fifteen (May 7-11) LAST WEEK OF CLASSES
• Oral Presentations (Monday and Wednesday)
• Grade Worksheet Check and last day of class (Friday)
Week Sixteen (May 12-18) FINALS WEEK
There is no scheduled final exam for this class.
***A NOTE ABOUT REVISIONS***
Since this is a composition course, where the goal is to become a better writer and a more sophisticated thinker, you are invited to revise one of the three out of class essays. If you choose to revise an essay, the revision along with the original, is due no later than one week after you receive the graded essay back. You MUST highlight all changes and additions you make on your revised essay.
***A NOTE ABOUT HOW TO SUBMIT OUT OF CLASS ESSAYS #2 AND #3***
Please read these instructions carefully because I will not accept out of class essay 2 or 3 unless these instructions are followed. You do not want to end up submitting an essay late.
When submitting out of class essays 2 and 3, you must MAKE A COPY of the editing reminders I attached to your previous out of class essay and attach it to the one you are submitting.
This is to assure that you have READ and EDITED the current essay based on errors from your previous essay. I will not accept out of class essays 2 or 3 without it. Your grade on the submitted essay will obviously be evaluated partially based on your improvements in editing and proofreading from your previous essay.
English 1A, Spring 2012, Prof. Fraga
GRADE WORKSHEET-----1975 POINTS POSSIBLE
Stapler Check (25 pts.)
Monday, January 30—stapler in your possession!______
Oral Presentation=(100 pts.)
Oral Pres._____(100)
Out of Class Essays (400 points)
Out of Class Essay 1_____(100 pts.) Out of Class Essay 2_____(200 pts.) Out of Class Essay 3_____(100 pts.)
Rules of Thumb Quizzes (300 points)
Pgs. 1-60 (100)_____ Pgs. 112-134 (100)_____ Pgs 136-147 (100)_____
Unannounced Quizzes (250) (50 points each)
Quiz 1____Quiz 2_____Quiz 3_____Quiz 4_____Quiz 5_____
Journals=(100 pts.)
Journal 1 (25) _____Journal 2 (25)_____Journal 3 (25)_____Journal 4 (25)_____
Homework=(200 pts.)
Q and C #1 (50)_____Q and C #2 (50)_____Q and C #3 (50)_____Q and C #4 (50)_____
In Class Group Work (200 pts.)
Group Work 1 (50 pts)_____Group Work 2 (50 pts)_____Group Work 3 (50 pts)_____Group Work 4 (50 pts)_____
In Class Essays (200 pts.)
In class essay #1 (100)_____In class essay #2 (100) _____
Take home essay on The Unwanted (200)_____
**************************************************************************************
How to assess your grade earned: Divide the points you earn by 1975 to find the percentage. Then see chart below.
100-94=A 63-60=C-
93-90=A- 59-54=D
89-84=B+ 53-0=F
83-80=B
79-74=B-
73-70=C+
69-64=C
No comments:
Post a Comment