Skyline College
|
Professor:
Rachel Bell |
Course Numbers:
40878 and 42069 |
|
Office
Location: 7306 and Office Phone: 738-4349 |
Class Meeting
online: http://smccd.mrooms.net/ |
|
Web Address: http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/
|
Office
hours: Tues/Thurs 12:30-3pm |
|
E-mail: bellr@smccd.edu
and bellrachel@hotmail.com |
Course dates: 1/22/15 to 5/21/15 |
|
|
Take
advantage of campus support services: |
"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 ENGL 846 with a grade of C or higher, or
eligibility for 400-level Reading courses on approved Reading placement test.
Course
Description:
Course
designed to help the student recognize and critically evaluate important ideas
in short and book length texts, and express facts and thought logically
and gracefully in clear and correct prose. Students will write critical
expository essays dealing with a variety of ideas at a skill level appropriate
to a college
transfer level class. Transfer credit: UC; CSU (A2, 3).
The Online Environment:
Online is not easier than the
traditional educational process. In fact, many learners say it requires
much more time and commitment, so be prepared for
this as you take an online English course.
Be willing to commit 5 to 10 hours per week per online course. Also, you will need a "Plan B" in
case your home
computer experiences any difficulties.
The Skyline campus has computers for student use in the Library (bldg.
5), in the Learning Center (bldg. 5), and in
the Business Lab (rooms 8119-8121, bldg. 8): http://www.skylinecollege.edu/academics/technology.php. Missing any online quizzes, exams, or
postings
due to technical difficulties will not be a valid excuse. With that said, taking an online course can
open up new ways of learning for you and often increases
student participation with the pressures of public speaking in the traditional
classroom removed.
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.
Student Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the semester,
students will be able to do the following:
1. ESSAYS: Write focused,
organized, well-developed, and text-based essays appropriate to the college
transfer level using effective paragraphs, which support
a clear thesis statement, and demonstrate
competence in standard English grammar and usage.
2. CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Demonstrate critical reading, writing, and thinking
skills through analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of important ideas.
3. SOURCES: Effectively evaluate and fluidly integrate relevant sources, using
appropriate research strategies and tools, and documenting them according to
according to MLA guidelines.
Required
Textbooks and Materials: "We read to
know we're not alone" -- C.S. Lewis
"One must be careful
of books, and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us."
—Cassandra Clare, The Infernal Devices
(1)
SMCCD
EMAIL ACCOUNT: All the
course emails (about 2 to 5 per week) will be sent to your smccd.edu email account
so you
must set it up (activate your account by logging in at http://my.smccd.edu/) and then check it daily
throughout the semester.
If you prefer,
there are directions in our online classroom on how to forward your smccd email
to another email account.
(2) Philippines – The
Oracles: My Filipino Grandparents in America by
Pati Navalta Poblete
(3) Vietnam – The
Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars by Andrew X. Pham
(4) Pakistan – In the
Name of Honor by Mukhtar Mai
(5) Honduras – Enrique's
Journey by Sonia Nazario
(6) Department Rhetoric--Optional: Unless you prefer a print version (which you
can purchase in Skyline’s Bookstore), you
are not required
to purchase the course reader as it
will be provided for you electronically at: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/
Course Policies:
(1) 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 48 hours after
the initial due date. Late assignments
beyond this will not be accepted.
Late tickets cannot be used for timed online exams. When
you post a late assignment, you must email me to let me know, so I know to go
back and give you credit.
Please note: technical difficulties will not be accepted as an excuse
for late work. Due dates are given well
in advance so don't wait
until the last minute and risk a blackout or computer crash that occurs right
on a deadline.
(2) Class
participation—In an online classroom,
it is essential that you become consciously involved by participating in forum
discussions
and peer review contributing thoughtful
comments, questions, and answers.
(3) Saving and
Submitting Work—You must create a
back up file of every piece of work you submit for grading. All files should be in
DOC or RTF file formats (note: Do not post .docx files as not all students can
open this type of file). When sending any email, identify
yourself fully by name. I will check email frequently and will respond to
course-related questions within 24-48 hours.
(4) Disabled Students— In coordination with the Disability Resource Center
office, reasonable accommodation will be provided for
eligible students with disabilities. For
more assistance, please contact the DRC Bldg 5, Room 5132 or call 650-738-4228.
(5) Plagiarism-- The work you submit/present must be your own. All paraphrases and quotations must be cited
appropriately. The Skyline
College Student Handbook has a complete statement defining cheating and
plagiarism, available online. If you are
caught cheating or
plagiarizing another person’s work, you may be disciplined in one or more of
the following ways:
1.
You will be given an F on the assignment;
2.
Your name will be submitted to the dean and your name will be added to a list
of students
who have been guilty of plagiarizing and this list can be shared with
your current and future instructors.
3.
You may be referred to the College Disciplinarian for further sanctions which
range from a warning to expulsion
from Skyline
College.
Please
note: if you have any questions about appropriate ways to cite sources or
if you are unsure how to incorporate your own ideas
with ideas you read, please ask.
“The more you have thought and written
on a given theme, the more you can still write.
Thought
breeds thought. It grows under your
hands” -- Henry David Thoreau
Papers:
Five major papers will be written for this class. The requirements are as follows (all due by
12am on due date):
(1) Due Dates-- Paper
#1 (2-4 pages, 500-1000 words) Draft
due 2/17, Revised 2/24
Research
Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words) Draft
due 3/17, Revised 3/31
Paper #3
Midterm 75-minute essay exam on Thursday, April 16th
Collaborative Research Paper #4 (4-6
pages, 1000-1500 words) Draft 5/12,
Revised 5/19
Paper #5
Final essay exam—2 ½ hours on Thursday, May 21st
For detailed paper guidelines and topics, visit: http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/papertopics100S15.htm
(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
online 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 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 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: 2/17 Paper #2 Workshop: 3/17 Paper #4 Workshop: 5/12
(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 20% Score
for Paper 5 ______ x .20 =
_____
Forum
postings 10% Average
of Forum Posts ______ x .10 =
_____
Quizzes 10% Average
Quiz score ______ x .10 =
_____
Peer Paper Review 5% Average
Peer Review ______ x .05 =
_____
Homework 5% Average of homework ______ x .05 =
_____
TOTAL:
(convert total to %) ________
Scoring as follows:
100-90=A, 89-80=B
79-70=C,
69-60=D, 59-0=F
For an online
grade calculator, go to: http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/GradingMenu.htm
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. Building 8—rooms 8119 &
8121 has computers and printers for
student use.