Skyline College     

  English 110: Composition, Literature & Critical Thinking—Spring 2009

                 Course Theme: Crossing Countries, Crossing Cultures

 

                                                                                    Instructor:  Rachel Bell     

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

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

                                    Office Hours: T Th 2-4pm & M 6-7pm, Room 7306

                                                         


English office & mailboxes:  Room 8110, 738-4202                                      Course Meetings:  Mondays 7-10pm

Computers and Tutoring in TLC: Bldg 5, Room 5100                                   Room 7303, Course Dates: 1/20 – 6/1

LSKL 800: Get help writing papers—enroll now CRN #41721                    Schedule #37219  Engl 110JA, Units 3.0




                              "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 (at Skyline's Bookstore) and the following texts…

 

              Mexico – Mexican Poetry: An Anthology complied by Octavio Paz, trans. Samuel Beckett

                 India – The White Tiger: A Novel by Aravind Adiga

               Russia – Chekhov: The Essential Plays by Anton Chekhov, trans. Michael Henry Heim

      Middle East – Arab Women Writers: An Anthology of Short Stories by Dalya Cohen-Mor


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 2 (two) absences is permitted; each absence after the second 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. 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 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.

(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 2/23, Revised 3/2

                       Research Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words)         Draft due 3/23, Revised 3/30

                                     Paper #3 Midterm essay exam on Monday, April 20th

 Collaborative Research Paper #4 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words)  Draft 5/18, Revised 6/1

                       Paper #5 Final essay exam—2 ½ hours on Mon, June 1st 7-10pm

                                   

(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.



(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: Mon, 2/23         Paper #2 Workshop:  Mon, 3/23          Paper #4 Workshop: Mon, 5/18



(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. 


                            Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat
                                 worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other,
                                                                  we may even become friends.
  --Maya Angelou


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 6/1                                     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,            * Deduct 1% for each absence over allowed 2.

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