Skyline College     

                     English 100: College Composition—Fall 2010

Course Theme—Exploring Memoir: Overcoming Adversity and Journeying to Selfhood

 

                                                                                    Instructor:  Rachel Bell     

                                    Web page: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/bellr

                                    Email: bellr@smccd.edu, Voice Mail: (650) 738-4349

                          Office Hours: M 3:30-4:30pm and T Th 1-3pm, Room 7306
                 (office hours are done by half hour appointments—call or email to book)

                                                           

English office & mailboxes:  Room 8112, 738-4202         Course Dates: 8/19 – 12/14 in Room 7307
Course Meetings:  Tues & Thurs 11:10-12:25pm            Schedule #88926 – Engl 100AY, Units 3.0

           


                                                                "Memoirs are the backstairs of history." –George Meredith

           “We weave our memories into narrative, from which we construct our identities.  -- Leonard Shengold

                                       

Course Prerequisites:  Writing Prereq: Completion of ENG 836 or ESOL 400 or ENGL 846 with a grade C or higher or appropriate scores on approved college placement tests. Reading Prereq: READ 836 or ESOL 400 or ENGL 846 with a grade of C or higher, or eligibility for 400-level Reading courses on approved Reading placement test, or other means measures as necessary.  Transfer: UC; CSU (A2).


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.

                                         "We read to know we're not alone"  -- C.S. Lewis


Required Materials:  Course Reader (at Skyline's Bookstore) and the following texts…

 

         Philippines – The Oracles: My Filipino Grandparents in America by Pati Navalta Poblete

          Vietnam – The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars by Andrew X. Pham
          Pakistan – In the Name of Honor by Mukhtar Mai

         Honduras – Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario

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 4 (four) absences is permitted over the course of the semester.  Exceeding these absences will adversely affect your participation 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. You cannot use late tickets on in-class exams.

(3)  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. 

(4)  Plagiarism-- Paraphrasing or directly copying any text and using it as your own without proper attribution, whether you’ve done it intentionally or not, is plagiarism and is unacceptable and will result in failure.  We will carefully look at how to integrate and properly document outside sources.

(5)  Disabled Students—Reasonable accommodation will be provided for eligible students with disabilities. Contact the DSPS office for an accommodation letter (650) 738-4280.


Papers:
  Five 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 9/14, Revised 9/21

                       Research Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words)          Draft due 10/19, Revised 10/26

                                     Paper #3 Midterm essay exam on Thursday, November 11th 11:10-12:25pm

 Collaborative Research Paper #4 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words) Draft 12/7, Revised 12/14

                       Paper #5 Final essay exam—2 ½ hours on Tues, December 14th 11:10-1:40pm

                                   

(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 in class workshop groups of three; 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 and will not receive a grade.



(3) Workshopping--Each paper will be read, discussed, and commented upon by student workshop groups.  Students without a completed paper on the day of the workshop will not be allowed to participate in the workshop.  Students not participating in workshops will lose their peer participation points for that activity, they will not receive the benefit of commentary on their writing, and if they do not turn a paper in on the workshop date, they cannot turn in a revised paper a week later for a grade.  You cannot pass the course if you fail to turn in one of the five (5) major papers for the course.  Below are the workshop dates--students must upload a copy of their paper for their group members and comment on the writing of their group members on the day specified:

 

     Paper #1 Workshop: Tues, 9/14       Paper #2 Workshop:  Tues, 10/19        Paper #4 Workshop: Tues, 12/7



(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. 

           Autobiography is the most fascinating thing you can do because you get to touch the human condition.
      And in the end, what else is there? To me, it's the ultimate affirmation of life, and a miracle of this transient,
                   extremely fragile organism. To celebrate that, I think, is a noble thing to do.”
-- Jim Dine



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—Midterm                                           10%                             Score for Paper 3         ______ x .10  =  _____

Paper 4                                                            20%                             Score for Paper 4         ______ x .20  =  _____           

Paper 5—Final on 12/14                                  20%                             Score for Paper 5         ______ x .20  =  _____           

Presentation                                                     10%                             Presentation score        ______ x .10  =  _____

Quizzes                                                              5%                             Average Quiz score      ______ x .05  =  _____
Homework                                                       5%                               Average of homework  ______ x .05  =  _____

* Participation                                                  10%                            Participation                  ______ x .10  =  _____

 

                                                                                                TOTAL:      (convert total to %)   ________


* Participation includes being prepared each day, meeting   

with me at least once during the course of the semester,          
adding to daily discussion, and giving your classmates       Scoring as follows:  100-90=A, 89-80=B

thoughtful responses to their writing in workshops.                       79-70=C, 69-60=D, 59-0=F


       For an online grade calculator, go to: 
http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/ReaderGradingMenu.htm