.......................Skyline College

......English 100: College Composition -- Fall 1999

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Useful Information:

English Office and Faculty Mailboxes:

Room 5130

Phone #650-738-4202

Learning Resource Center

Building 5

Phone #650-738-4241--EAL Lab


Course Meetings: MWF 10:10am-11am
Room: Building 8, Room 8220.
.............We will also meet on specified Mondays
..............in the Computer Lab, bottom floor of Bldg 2
Schedule #80298 - Engl 100AF, Units 3.0
Dates: August 23rd to December 20th
English 853: Get help from English teachers writing your essays and earn college credits
.

......"If there is a God who created this world, he should scrap it and try again" (35).
................................................................................--- Athol Fugard Master Harold and the Boys


......................."'Gringos good-looking? Mujer!' I made a face. All I could
....................think of was how they had deserted Vinas and his men. 'They look
.......................like somebody stuck them in a bucket of bleach and forgot they
................................were there. That goes for their passions, too!'" (277).
....................................................................--Julia Alvarez In the Time of the Butterflies


Course Prerequisites: ENGL 800 or 400 with a C or better or appropriate skill level indicated by English/Reading placement tests and other measures as necessary.

Course Classification: Applicable to AA. Meets A2 & A3 for CSU GE and Area 1, Group A for IGETC.

Course Objectives: The purpose of this course is to help students develop their ability to write thoughtfully and effectively. The premise of this course is that writing is an integral part of the thinking process and that successful essay writing depends on a mixture of creative thinking and an awareness of writing styles and forms. The objective of this course is to guide students toward becoming critical readers, writers, and thinkers through recognizing the effective writing strategies of other writers, through becoming aware of their own processes of writing, and through learning to discern logical relationships between words, ideas, and arguments.

Required Materials:

Master Harold and the Boys by Athol Fugard......................In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Farewell To Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston........Savages by Joe Kane

The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor..................$5 Materials Fee Computer Card


....................."It was the charge of disloyalty. For a man raised in Japan,
...............there was no greater disgrace. And it was the humiliation. It brought
.............him face to face with his own vulnerability, his own powerlessness" (52).
.....................--Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston Farewell to Manzanar

Course Policies:

(1) Attendance-- Your active participation is necessary for you and your classmates to realize the objectives of this course. Therefore your attendance is crucial. A maximum of 5 (five) absences is permitted; each absence after the fifth will significantly lower your grade.

(2) Late Assignments-- No late work will be accepted. All due dates are given well in advance; therefore I feel that it is unfair to the students who complete their work on time to accept the work from those who do not. However, because "life happens," each student will be allowed two "late tickets" during the semester; twice students may choose to turn an assignment in the following class period after the due date. Late assignments beyond this will not be accepted.

(3) Plagiarism-- Paraphrasing or directly copying any text and using it as your own without proper attribution, done intentionally or not, is plagiarism and is unacceptable and can result in failure.

(4) Class participation--- Remember that participation counts--both for your grade and in your life. It is essential that
you become consciously involved in class by participating in discussions and contributing thoughtful comments, questions,
and answers.


.................."Dear God, she thought, she's dying, and right in front of our faces.
.............'Merciful Father, no!' she bellowed. There was no prayer, no bended knee
................or sackcloth supplication in those words, but a blasphemous fireball
.....................that shot forth and went smashing against the gates of heaven,
............................raging and kicking, demanding to be heard" (102).
...........................................................--Gloria Naylor The Women of Brewster Place


Papers: Six major papers will be written for this class. The requirements are as follows:

(1) Due Dates--Paper #1 (2-4 pages, 500-1000 words).........Draft due 9/3, Revised 9/10
...........................Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words).........Draft due 9/27, Revised 10/4
...........................Paper #3 Midterm essay exam on 10/18
......Collaborative Paper #4 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words).......Draft due 11/15, Revised 11/22
............Research Paper #5 (5-7 pages, 1250-1750 words).......Draft due 12/8, Revised 12/20
...........................Paper #6 Final essay exam-2 ½ hours on Monday, Dec 20th 8:10am-10:40am

(2) Revision-- E.B. White said, "The best writing is rewriting." Because revising or "re-seeing" a piece of writing is such an important aspect of the writing process, each of the papers has two due dates. Each student will receive feedback and suggestions on each of his/her papers through class workshop/discussion groups; then each student will be asked to revise each paper based on peer feedback. Please note: if the first due date for a paper is missed, the paper cannot be turned in at all.

(3) Workshopping-- This class will serve as a sort of a writing community in which each student can draw, as well as contribute, valuable ideas, insight, and advise on writing and presenting arguments. Each paper will be read, discussed, and commented upon by student workshop groups. Workshop days are very important, and therefore a missed workshop day will count as two (2) absences and a late paper will not be accepted. Students without a completed paper (meeting page and format requirements) will not be allowed to participate in the workshop. Below are the workshop dates--students must bring a copy of their paper for themselves as well as for the other members of their group:

Workshop for Paper #1: Fri 9/3.........................................Workshops for Paper #4: Mon 11/15 & Weds 11/17

Workshops for Paper #2: Mon 9/27 & Weds 9/29...........Workshops for Paper #5: Weds 12/8 & Fri 12/10

(4) Format-- Papers must meet the required minimum length or run the risk of not being accepted. All papers must be typed, double-spaced, have 1" margins, and have a font of 12.


............."One day he told me that the Huaorani who lived there were 'uncivilized.'
...........'What do you mean?' I asked. 'They have no radio,' he said, 'and they do not
.........play volleyball.' What he actually meant was that he was afraid. Raised on radio
.............and volleyball and El Senor (the Christian God), the Condorito now found
..................himself immersed in what the missionaries had taught him was the
...........................dark and demonic side of the Huaorani culture" (40)
................................................................................................ ---Joe Kane Savages

Course Grade:................................Record Your Own Grades:

Paper 1................................10%...........Score for Paper 1......______ x .10 = _____
Paper 2
................................10%...........Score for Paper 2......______ x .10 = _____
Paper 3--In Class 10/18
...............10%...........Score for Paper 3......______ x .10 = _____
Paper 4
................................15%...........Score for Paper 4......______ x .15 = _____
Paper 5
................................20%...........Score for Paper 5......______ x .20 = _____
Paper 6-In Class 12/20
................15%...........Score for Paper 6......______ x .15 = _____
Quizzes & Homework
.................10%...........Avg. Quiz/HM score ______ x .10 = _____
* Participation
.........................10%............Participation.............______ x .10 = _____

* Participation includes being prepared each day, meeting
......*TOTAL: (convert total to %) ________
with me at least once during the course of the semester,
............* Deduct 1% for each absence over allowed 5.
adding to daily discussion, and giving your classmates
...............Scoring as follows: A=100-90, B=89-80,
thoughtful responses to their writing in workshops.
...........................C=79-70, D=69-60, F=59-0


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