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.......................Skyline
College
............................English
110: Composition, Literature & Critical
Thinking
................................................................Spring
2003
Course
Theme: Crossing Countries, Crossing
Cultures
Course Meetings: T Th 12:35-1:50pm
Room 7312, Units 3.0
Schedule #33490 - Engl 110AI
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................................."We
all go through various transformations in the course of
growing older,
............and
become several different people even in our own brief lives.
The soul is a process, not a thing;
........therefore
you cannot put it in a box (or a book) and close the lid. It
will crawl out and keep changing."
........................................................................................................
--
Erica Jong How to Save Your Own Life
Course
Prerequisites: Completion of English 100 or 105
with a letter grade of "C" or better.
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:
"The only
good thing you can say about banning certain books is it
gets kids to read them" - Dennis Miller, The
Rants. Here are the books you'll be reading
this semester:
Russia -- Best Russian Short Stories
ed. Thomas Seltzer
China -- The Other Shore plays by Gao
Xingjian
El Salvador -- The Country Between Us
poetry by Carolyn Forche
Africa -- Things Fall Apart by Chinua
Achebe
Cuba -- Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina
Garcia
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.
........................
"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 2/4, Revised 2/11
...................................
Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250
words).........Draft due 2/20,
Revised 2/27
...................................
Paper #3: Midterm essay exam Thursday, March 13th
12:35-1:50pm
Collaborative Research Paper #4: (4-6 pages, 1000-1500
words)......Draft due 4/10,
Revised 4/24
...................................
Paper #5 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500
words).......Draft due 5/13,
Revised 5/21
...................................
Paper #6: Final essay exam-2 ½ hours on
Wednesday, May 21st 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: Tues
2/4................................
Workshop for Paper #4: Thurs 4/10
.............................
Workshop for Paper #2: Thurs
2/20.............................
Workshop for Paper #5: Tues 5/13
(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--In Class
3/13........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--Final Exam
5/21.....15%...........................Score
for Paper
6...______
x .15 = _____
Class
Presentations.............10%...........................Presenation
score....______
x .10 = _____
Quizzes............................
5%...........................Average
Quiz
.........
______ x .5 = _____
*
Participation...................10%...........................Participation............______
x .10 = _____
* Participation includes being prepared each day,
meeting.....*TOTAL:...(convert
total to %) ________
with me at least once during the course of the
semester,..........*
Deduct 1% for each absence over allowed 5.
adding to daily discussion, and giving your
classmates................Scoring
as follows: A=100-90, B=89-80,
thoughtful responses to their writing in
workshops............................C=79-70,
D=69-60, F=59-0
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