Skyline College     

                        English 100: College Composition—Fall 2012

           Course Theme— Controversies in Healthcare and Cultural Ideas of Illness

 

                                                                            
                                                          Instructor:  Rachel Bell     

                          Web page: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/bellr
            Online class orientation: http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/Orientations.htm

                                Email: bellr@smccd.edu, Voice Mail: (650) 738-4349
                       Office Hours: T Th 2-4pm in Room 7306 (book an appointment)       
                                               

English office & mailboxes: Room 8112-8114, 738-4202    Course Dates: 8/21 – 12/13, Room 7307    
Course Meetings: Tues & Thurs 11:10-12:25pm                  Schedule #88926 – Engl 100BA, Units 3.0

           


                          It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”       --Mahatma Gandhi

                                 What is called genius is the abundance of life and health.”  --Henry David Thoreau

Course Prerequisites and Credits: 
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.  Credit: Applicable to AA Degree.  Partially satisfies Specific Area E2, GE Requirements 4A, and courses required for the English major. Meets Skyline College information literacy requirement.  Transferable to CSU in GE Areas A2 and A3. Transferable to UC and IGETC Area 1A.

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:                     "We read to know we're not alone"  -- C.S. Lewis             
         
Course Reader (at Skyline's Bookstore). Also available online: http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/Reader.htm

             Key Debates in Healthcare by Gary Taylor and Helen Hawley

             Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

             28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen

            The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman     

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

(5)  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.

(6)  Technology Policy—These policies are made with this idea in mind…

You’re in college to gain knowledge from the classes you have signed up for.  This information is going to help you be successful in many areas.  Ideally you will excel in these classes, achieve your goals, and earn a degree that you will have for life.  To accomplish this you need to not just be physically present but also mentally present which means don’t text, surf the net, take calls in the hallway or in any other way use technology to be “elsewhere” during class time.
 
Laptops and iPads:  Can be used in the classroom and can be a very effective learning tool.  However, if you are suspected of misusing the laptop and using it for non-class related activities (checking email, posting on Facebook, instantly messaging, completing homework for another class), you will be required to email your class notes to the instructor 10 minutes after the conclusion every class session.  If you are not able to produce the requested notes, you will lose in-class laptop/iPad privileges.

Cell phones:  You do not need cell phones for any reason during class time.  Before you enter the classroom, turn your cell phones off.  This does not mean put them on vibrate; it means to turn them off.  Nothing is more distracting than phones ringing during class.  There is also no need to ever be texting during class, and yes the instructor can see you when you are texting under the desk.  Going out in the hallway to answer a call or make a call is also unacceptable during class time.  Students guilty of any of these activities will be marked absent for the day.

IPods or other listening devices:  These are inappropriate in the classroom.  Before you enter the classroom, turn off and put away any such device.
 



Papers:  Five major papers will be written for this class:

(1)  Due Dates--           Paper #1 (2-4 pages, 500-1000 words)           Draft due 9/18, Revised 9/25
                       Research Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words)          Draft due 10/23, Revised 10/30

                                     Paper #3  Midterm essay exam on Thursday, November 8th 11:10-12:25pm
 Collaborative Research Paper #4 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words)  Draft 12/6, Revised 12/13

                       Paper #5 Final essay exam—2 ½ hours on Thursday, December 13th 11:10-1:40pm

                                   

(2) Revision--  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:  9/18                     Paper #2 Workshop:  10/23                   Paper #4 Workshop: 12/6


(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.  If you email me any assignments as attachments, they must be in .DOC or .RTF format or else I will not be able to open your document and your work will not be counted as on time.

             Without health life is not life; it is only a state of languor and suffering - an image of death.”
                                                               
                                                                                                                                 --Buddha




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                         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,          Scoring as follows:  100-90=A, 89-80=B
adding to daily discussion, and giving your classmates               79-70=C, 69-60=D, 59-0=F

thoughtful responses to their writing in workshops.                      


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


                                Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”       --Mark Twain


                   “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”    --Jiddu Krishnamurti


Additional campus information:


Available Support Services: The Learning Center (Building 5) provides support for writing, reading, math, and other subjects.  Sign up for LSKL 800 for general tutoring, or for LSKL 853 for reading and writing support through the Writing & Reading Lab in the Learning Center.  Librarians, on the 2nd floor of building 5, can assist with research projects and library questions. Academic counselors, health services, and other student support services are available in the Student Services Center in Building 2.