Skyline
College
Instructor: Rachel Bell
Web
page: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/bellr
Office
Hours: T Th 1-3pm & M 6-7pm, Room 7306
"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…
Spain – The
Selected Poems of Federico Garcia Lorca eds Lorca and Allen
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. Perfect attendance will raise your overall
grade 1%. A maximum of 4 (four) absences
is permitted; each absence after
the fourth 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 will result in failure. We will carefully look at how to integrate
and properly document outside 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 9/8, Revised 9/15
Research
Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words) Draft
due 10/6, Revised 10/13
Paper #3 Midterm essay exam on Thursday,
November 5th 11:10-12:25pm
Collaborative Research Paper #4 (4-6 pages,
1000-1500 words) Draft
12/8, Revised 12/15
Paper #5
Final essay exam—2 ½ hours on Tues, December 15th 11:10-1:40pm
(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 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: Tues, 9/8 Paper #2
Workshop: Tues, 10/6 Paper #4 Workshop: Tues, 12/8
(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 12/15 20% Score for Paper 5 ______ x .20 =
_____
Presentation 10% Presentation
score ______ x .10 =
_____
* 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
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
For an online grade calculator, go
to: http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/ReaderGradingMenu.htm