Skyline
College
Instructor: Rachel Bell
Web
page: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/bellr
Office Hours: M 3:30-4:30pm and T Th 1-3pm, Room
7306
(office hours are done by
half hour appointments—call or email to book)
”What progress
we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me.
Now they are content with burning my books.” ~Sigmund Freud, 1933
Course
Prerequisites: Writing Prereq: Completion of ENGL
826, ESOL 840 or ESOL 841/842 with a grade of C or better, or eligibility for
ENGL 836, ENGL 846 or ESOL 400 on approved college placement test.
Reading
Prereq: Completion of READ
826, ESOL 840 or ESOL 841/842 with Credit or a grade of C or better, or
eligibility for READ 836, ENGL 846 or ESOL 400 on approved Reading Placement
Test and multiple measures.
Course
Objectives: The
objective of this course is to integrate the teaching of reading and writing
skills. This course will guide students toward becoming more critical readers,
writers, and thinkers through recognizing the effective writing strategies of
other writers, through becoming aware of their own processes of writing, and
through learning to discern logical relationships between words, ideas, and
arguments. The course will also guide students toward becoming more active,
purposeful, and confident readers. To achieve this goal, we will work on strengthening
and developing study skills as well as reading strategies. By the end of this
course, students will be able to read and write more effectively, distinguish
the main ideas from supporting details, apply strategies to increase retention,
evaluate a writer's argument or reasoning, and draw from a larger vocabulary.
“Without
censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind.” General William C. Westmoreland
Required Materials: Course
Reader (at Skyline's Bookstore) and the following texts…
Censorship: Opposing
Viewpoints
editor Andrea C. Nakaya
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Am I Blue?:
Coming Out from the Silence
editor Marion Dane Bauer
The
Color Purple by Alice Walker
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) 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 9/20, Revised 9/27
Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250 words) Draft due 10/25, Revised 11/1
Paper #3 Midterm essay exam on Monday,
November 15th 4:30-6pm
Collaborative Research Paper #4 (4-6 pages,
1000-1500 words) Draft 12/8, Revised 12/17
Paper #5
Final essay exam—2 ½ hours on Fri, December 17th 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: Mon, 9/20 Paper #2 Workshop: Mon, 10/25 Paper #4 Workshop: Weds, 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.
Reading
Journals: A series of informal written responses will
be collected on the course readings.
“I
suppose that writers should, in a way, feel flattered by the censorship laws.
They show a
primitive fear and dread at the fearful magic of print.”
–John Mortimer
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 12/14 20% Score for Paper
5 ______ x .20 =
_____
Reading Journals 10% Reading
Journals ______ x .10 =
_____
Presentation 5% Presentation
score ______ x .05 =
_____
* Participation 5% Participation ______ x .05 =
_____
TOTAL:
(convert total to %) ________
* Participation includes being prepared
each day, meeting
with me at
least once during the course of the semester,
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