Skyline College     

                                  English 110: College Composition—Spring 2015

                                    Course Theme—Outward & Inward Journeys

 

Professor: Rachel Bell

Class Meetings: Tues/Thurs 11-12:25pm, room 7307

Office Location: 7306 and Office Phone: 738-4349

Course Number 41607, 3.0 units

Web Address: http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/

Office hours:  Tues/Thurs 12:30-3pm
                         Call or email to book an appointment

E-mail:  bellr@smccd.edu and bellrachel@hotmail.com

Course dates: 1/22/15 to 5/21/15


English office & mailboxes: Room 8112-8114, 738-4202

Online course orientation:
http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/Orientation.htm

Take advantage of campus support services:
Bldg 5: Tutoring in Learning Center (1st floor) and Librarian assistance (2nd floor).  Bldg 2: Academic counselors, health services, and other support services.  Bldg 8—rooms 8119 & 8121: Computers and printing for students.


                                "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. 

 

Course Description: 
Transfer-level course introduces students to major imaginative genres of poetry, drama, and fiction from diverse cultural sources and literary
critical perspectives. Students will write analytical essays, employing methods of literary analysis and research and demonstrating critical thinking
skills appropriate to a college-level writing class. 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.

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
                advanced college transfer level using the conventions of literary analysis and criticism, and 
                demonstrate competence in standard English grammar and usage.

            2. CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Demonstrate critical reading, writing, and thinking skills through synthesis and
                evaluation of important ideas and through analyzing major themes and literary techniques.

            3. SOURCES: Effectively evaluate and fluidly integrate relevant sources, using appropriate research
                strategies and tools, and documenting them 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:  Course emails 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/).  If you prefer, there are directions in our online classroom on how to forward your smccd email to another email account.

(2)Poetry: American Diaspora: Poetry of Displacement  eds. V. Suarez and R. Van Cleave

(3)Short stories: The Best Women’s Travel Writing: 2011 ed. Lavinia Spalding

(4)Play: The Overwhelming by J.T. Rogers

(5)Novel: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

         (6)  Department Rhetoric (at Skyline's Bookstore). You can use the electronic version in
                class if you bring a laptop or iPad: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/

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— 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-- 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 for non-class
related activities (checking email, posting on Facebook, instant messaging, completing homework for another class), you will be required to email your class notes
10 minutes after the conclusion every class session or lose 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. 

                    “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: 

(1)  Due Dates--          Paper #1 (2-4 pages, 500-1000 words)         Draft due 2/10, Revised 2/17

                       Research Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words)      Draft due 3/10, Revised 3/17

                                     Paper #3  Midterm 75-minute essay exam on Tuesday, April 14th 11:10-12:25pm
 Collaborative Research Paper #4 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words)  Draft 5/19, Revised 5/26

                       Paper #5 Final essay exam—2 ½ hours on Thursday, May 28th 11:10-1:40pm

For detailed paper guidelines and topics, visit: http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/papertopics110S15.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 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 bring 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:  2/10       Paper #2 Workshop:  3/10        Paper #4 Workshop: 5/19

(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. 
When you email me assignments as attachments or post assignments in WebAccess, 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.

                        “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                        20%                                         Score for Paper 5         ______ x .20  =  _____           

Quizzes                                   10%                                         Average Quiz score      ______ x .10  =  _____
Homework                              10%                                         Average of homework  ______ x .10  =  _____

* Participation                         10%                                         Participation                  ______ x .10  =  _____

 

* Participation includes being prepared each day,           TOTAL:      (convert total to %)   ________

  adding to daily discussion, and giving your classmates          
  thoughtful responses to their writing in workshops.                      


Scoring as follows:  100-90=A, 89-80=B, 79-70=C, 69-60=D, 59-0=F 
Departmental Grading Standards: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/6EvaluatingWriting.htm
Grading Rubrics:  http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/6Rubrics.htm              
Online grade calculator:  http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/GradingMenu.htm