Skyline College      http://skylinecollege.net          

      English 110: Composition, Literature & Critical Thinking--Fall 2006

                 Course Theme: Crossing Borders, Crossing Cultures

 

                                               Instructor:  Rachel Bell     

                                            Webpage: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/bellr

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

                                Office Hours: T Th 11-12:30pm in Building 5, Room 5108

                                                                    

English office & mailboxes:  Room 5130, 738-4202                 Course Meetings:  T Th  12:35-1:50pm

Computers and Tutoring in TLC: Bldg 5, Room 5100    Room 7312, Course Dates: 8/17 – 12/14

Engl 853: Get help writing papers—enroll now CRN #87409           Schedule #80319  – Engl 110AE, Units 3.0

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                         "A person needs at intervals to separate from family and companions and go to new places.

         One must go without familiars in order to be open to influences, to change" --Katharine Butler Hathaway

         "As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep,
                 so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily,
                                      to appreciate more lovingly, our own.  --Margaret Mead

                                       


Course Prerequisites:

Completion of English 100 or 105 with a letter grade of “C” or better.  Transfer: UC; CSU (A2, A3, C2).

Course Objectives:  By the end of the semester, you will have developed a strong understanding of what it means to think, read, and write critically as these skills apply to the analysis of fiction, poetry, drama, and literary criticism.  Through the writing and reading you do in this course, you will be able to understand the relationship between meaning in literature and language; to evaluate and analyze the relationship between meaning and the use of sophisticated literary forms and strategies; to identify unstated premises and hidden assumptions in writing; to recognize the similarities and differences between arguments of an author and his/her character(s); to evaluate arguments in literary criticism; and to properly integrate source material into essay writing.

 

Required Materials:

Course Reader and HBA folder (both can be purchased at Skyline's Bookstore)

Books required for the course:

 

                 Philippines -- The Umbrella Country by Bino Realuyo

                        Britain -- Cloud 9 play by Caryl Churchill

            Latin America -- These Are Not Sweet Girls: Poetry by Latin American Women eds. Marjorie Agosin

                         Africa -- Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

                          India -- Diamond Dust: Stories by Anita Desai

 

Course Policies:  

(1) Attendance-- Your attendance is crucial to realize the objectives of this course. A maximum of four absences is permitted; each absence after the 4th will significantly lower your grade. 

(2)  Late Assignments-- 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 has 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, whether you’ve done it intentionally or not, is plagiarism and is unacceptable and can result in failure.  During the course of this semester, we will carefully look at how to use outside sources and at the proper ways in which to document those sources.

(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.

(5)  Disabled Students-Reasonable accommodation will be provided for eligible students with

      disabilities. Contact the DSPS office for an accommodation letter (650) 738-4280.


       “I’ll find my father through words.  I’ll bring him back to life with words.  I will build a cathedral of words.  

           I’ll create a country with my words.  In my words I’ll find the universe and I’ll understand the eternal

             present though my words.  In my words, I will find, I will end, I will become the words themselves,

                become words, words, words, I will incarnate words, words, words.”      -- Arturo Arias After the Bombs

         
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 9/7, Revised 9/14

                                    Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words)    Draft due 9/26, Revised 10/3

                                    Paper #3:  Midterm essay exam on Thursday, October 12th in computer lab--bldg 2

 Collaborative Research Paper #4: (4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words) Draft due 11/7, Revised 11/14   
                        Research Paper #5 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words)           Draft due 12/7, Revised 12/14

                                   Paper #6:  Final essay exam—2 ½ hours on Thursday, Dec 14th 11:10am-1:40pm



“A play should give you something to think about.  When I see a play and understand

it the first time, then I know it can’t be much good.”  -- T.S. Eliot

 

(2)  Revision-- Louis Brandels said, “There is no such thing as good writing, only good 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 on each of his/her papers through class workshop 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 of three.  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: Thurs, Sept 7th           Workshop for Paper #4: Tues, Nov 7th

Workshop for Paper #2: Tues, Sept 26th           Workshop for Paper #5:  Thurs, Dec 7th

 

(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. 

 

”The West thinks of itself as masculine—big guns, big industry, big money—so the East [the Orient]

                   is feminine—weak, delicate, poor…but good at art, and full of inscrutable wisdom—the feminine

         mystique.  Her  mouth says no, but  her eyes say yes.  The West believes the East, deep down, wants to be

                  dominated—because a woman can’t think for herself”    –David Henry Hwang M. Butterfly

 

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

Paper 4                                                            15%                 Score for Paper 4      ______ x .15  =  _____ 

Paper 5                                                            15%                 Score for Paper 5      ______ x .15  =  _____ 

Paper 6—In Class Final 12/14              10%                 Score for Paper 6      ______ x .10  =  _____

Presentation                                                      10%                 Presentation score     ______ x .10  =  _____

Quizzes & Homework                          10%                 Avg. Quiz/HM score ______ x .10  =  _____

HBA Folder                                                       5%                 % of HBAs completed  ____ x   .5  =  _____

* Participation                                                     5%                 Participation              ______ x .5  =  _____


                        *TOTAL:      (convert total to %)   ________

* Participation includes being prepared each day, meeting   

with me at least once during the course of the semester,      * Deduct 1% for each absence over allowed 4.

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