Paper
Guidelines and Topics for English 110 –Fall 2014
Theme: Outward and Inward
Journeys
All the writing you will be doing in this course is reading-based. This
means that every essay you write will be
a response to and analysis of the reading arguing a point of view about
the reading. If you write an essay that
does not mention the reading or directly examine the reading, it will be
considered off topic and will receive
little to no credit. You will not be writing plot summaries. You will summarize
parts of the reading to support
your argument, but summary should not take over your paper. Each paragraph
should serve to prove a clear
and specific point and all paragraphs should work together to prove one
unifying, thesis (opinion on the reading).
For all papers, except the midterm and final exam, you will be creating your
own argument about the assigned
reading so that you are writing from a place of interest rather than duty. You
cannot pass this course if you fail
to turn in one of the assigned papers.
Follow standard paper guidelines and know expectations as
described in Chapter 3: Paper Topics:
http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/3Papertopics.htm
Paper topics come in all shapes and sizes, but in general for an English class,
you can expect to find the following requirements:
·
Meet stated page length requirements. Turning in papers that are under the required page length
sends a message
that the assignment was not taken seriously and that a lack of time, effort,
and consideration was put into the project.
·
Adhere to due dates. Plan ahead and break down the project into
manageable stages, so you don’t cause yourself
undue stress by doing things “last minute” or by hurting your grade through
missing due dates and not being able to
turn in assignments.
·
Use the stated paper formatting standards. In an English class,
the most common paper formatting approach is MLA.
See Chapter 5 on MLA Conventions.
·
Follow the assignment.
It is essential that you follow the
guidelines of the assignment or else you risk receiving little to
no credit for your work. English classes
are also teaching students how to successfully complete college-level tasks, so
take some time in the beginning to ensure you are doing what was asked.
·
Apply writing standards in your paper. This Rhetoric walks
you through the fundamental essay components, so apply these
concepts to your writing. There is also
an Essay Checklist in Chapter 4 that you can use to ensure you have covered
all the
bases your instructor will be expecting in an academic paper:
·
Seek opportunities for additional help. Writing can be an
isolating experience but it does not have to be. Use campus
resources to help you formulate your writing plan and to get outside
perspective and feedback on your writing.
You can visit
your instructor during office hours at any stage in the writing process. You can also use the tutoring services
offered in the
Learning Center: http://www.skylinecollege.edu/learningcenter/index.php. Getting feedback
is one of the most effective ways
to focus and improve your writing.
Use the Essay Checklist
to make sure you have all the necessary essay elements but here is also a
quick guide of things not to forget:
·
MLA formatting: on the first page, include your own title centered at the top, the
course info (your name, the class, the instructor,
the date) in the top left corner and in the top right corner of each page, your
last name next to the page number.
Typed, double
spaced throughout, font 12, one inch margins and be sure to meet the page
minimum (Please
note: 10 pts are removed for each
page the paper is under the required minimum length and 5 pts for half a
page under. Don’t go solely by word count but by actual length).
MLA Conventions (Rhetoric 172-176): http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/5MLA.htm
·
Creative title: Creating a strong, clear, appealing title is
an important part of any writing task.
The title is the reader’s first
introduction
to your piece of writing, and first impressions matter. Therefore, you want to create a title which
pulls in your reader’s interest and
makes him or her want to keep reading.
Make your essay stand out from the others and draw in your reader.
The Writing Process (Rhetoric 153-154): http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/4Writing.htm
·
Integrating Sources: When writing about texts,
you will want to include quotes and paraphrases and you want to make sure to
smoothly integrate and properly document all your sources. Connect all quote to phrases that introduce
them (don’t drop quotes)
and follow quotes with the source information in parenthesis (usually the
author’s last name and the page number).
Also, follow
quotes with your own analysis explaining their significance.
Sources (Rhetoric 253-273): http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/10IntegratingSouces.htm
·
Works Cited: when
you are writing about a text, you will always include a Works Cited even if you
are only citing the text you wrote about.
If you did research, include all your outside sources on the Works Cited page
as well. List the sources alphabetically
by author last name
or by title if there is no author.
MLA Conventions (Rhetoric 177-181): http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/5MLA.htm
·
Revising and Editing: the best writing is rewriting so before turning in an
essay for a grade, use the advice on revising (making larger
global changes) and editing (making sentence level corrections) to ensure that
you have submitted your best work.
Revising (Rhetoric 143-152) & Editing (Rhetoric
155-161):
http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/4Writing.htm
·
Grading standards: every student should
be striving for the ‘A’ paper so know
what criteria make an excellent paper by reviewing the
English department grading standards that your instructor will be using when
assessing your essay. Use the criteria
as the standard you
are using as you revise your essay.
Grading Standards (Rhetoric 197-198): http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/GradingMenu.htm
Five major papers will be written for this class:
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Paper #1 (worth 10% of grade): 2-4
pages, 500-1000 words
Analyzing ONE POEM from American
Diaspora: Poetry of Displacement editors Suarez and Cleave
Draft
due 9/9, Revision 9/16
MLA Title page and Works Cited required
Choose ONE of the assigned
poems (do not select one that was not assigned) from American Diaspora: Poetry of Displacement edited
by Suarez and Cleave, and write an essay that puts forth an argument about the
poem asserting your interpretation of its significance.
Use the advice in Chapter 12
in the Rhetoric on poetry on pages 293-299 and in particular, use the Poetry
Chart on page 297 for a deeper
analytical approach to the poem you select.
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Research Paper #2 (worth 10% of
grade): 3-5 pages, 750-1250 words
Analyzing ONE SHORT STORY from The
Best Women's Travel Writing edited by Lavinia Spalding
Draft
due 10/14, Revision 10/21
MLA Title page and Works Cited required with a minimum of ONE outside source
Choose
ONE of the assigned short
stories (do not select one that was not assigned) from The Best Women’s Travel Writing edited by
Lavinia Spalding, and write an essay that puts forth an argument about the
short story asserting your interpretation of its significance.
Use the advice in Chapter 12
in the Rhetoric on literature on pages 289-292.
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Paper #3 (worth 10% of grade): Midterm
75-minute essay exam
Analyzing the
play The Overwhelming by J.T. Rogers
Tuesday,
November 11th between 6am and midnight (the latest you can begin the exam is
midnight)
Open
book, timed essay exam on the play The Overwhelming by J.T Rogers. In 75 minutes, you will compose an essay to a
prompt about
the reading that will be given to you on the day of the exam. You will not need to include a Works Cited or
outside research. There is no
required page length but you will want to fully answer all parts of the exam
question in a focused, organized and well-developed essay
using Rogers’ play as the basis of your response.
Preparing for the midterm exam:
Before taking the exam, review the advice in the
Rhetoric, Chapter
11: Timed Writing (pages 274-285,
http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/11TimedWriting.htm). The best way to prepare is to
annotate your text and take a practice
75 minute exam before the midterm. There
is a non-graded practice exam you can take in WebAccess. Click on the link that says:
“PRACTICE MIDTERM (75 min)
opens 11/4: non-graded writing practice.”
Take the
75-Minute Midterm Exam on Tuesday, November 11th
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Collaborative Research Paper #4 (worth
20% of grade): 4-6 pages, 1000-1500 words
Analyzing the
novel A Woman in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua
Draft
12/4, Revision 12/11
MLA Title page and Works Cited required with a minimum of TWO outside sources
Choose
an issue or aspect in the novel A Woman
in Jerusalem by A.B. Yehoshua, and write an essay that puts forth an
argument about an
aspect of the story asserting your interpretation of its significance. Use the advice in Chapter
12 in the Rhetoric on literature on pages 289-292.
What
is a collaborative paper?
Students will select a partner (or we can assign partners in class) and write
the paper together in teams of two. I've
assigned this type of paper
in my classes for many years and consistently these are the strongest papers I
get over the semester. Working with another person can show you
your strengths and weaknesses and help you produce an excellent paper. As you work with a partner, is it vital that
you each work collaboratively
and equally. Also remember that you will
be completing a Collaborative Paper Evaluation on your partner and on yourself. Also, on the essay you
turn in for a grade, you will indicate who wrote which part of the paper to
ensure that the work was shared. If you
have any difficulties with your
partner, let me know immediately and we can have you write the paper
separately. I want this to be a positive
experience for everyone.
Names on the Paper
You and your partner need to
only upload one copy of the paper and it does not matter whose name you submit
it under. Just be sure that both of
your names are on the paper. As
this is a collaborative paper, you and your partner will write the paper
together but you will indicate which body
paragraphs each was the principle writer for (each student must write a minimum
of 2 pages each of the final paper). Indicate this information next
to your names on the first page. For example, the top left header will contain
the following information:
John
Ramirez (wrote paragraphs 1-4 & 7)
Jun
Chan (wrote paragraphs 5-6 & 8-10)
English
100
21
May 2014
And
for the page numbers in the upper right corner of each page, you will hyphenate
the last names of the authors, i.e. Ramirez-Chan 1
Uploading the Collaborative Partner
Evaluation on 12/11 before midnight:
(1)
Download the Collaborative Partner Evaluation:
http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/bellr/ReaderWorkshoppingCollaborativeMenu.htm
Complete both pages: assign both you and
your partner a grade on the project and then answer the questions.
If you did not have a partner,
submit a written reflection on your experience in writing the paper to get
credit.
(2) Log into WebAccess, click where it says “SUMBIT by 12/11: Collaborative
Partner Evaluation” and upload the completed file.
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Paper #5 (worth 20% of grade): Final essay exam—2 ½ hours
Connecting the 4 course texts under the
course theme “Outward and Inward Journeys”
Friday,
December 12th between 6am and midnight (the latest you can begin the exam is
midnight)
Open
book, timed essay exam on the assigned readings in American Diaspora: Poetry of Displacement edited by Suarez and
Cleave,
The Best Women’s Travel Writing edited
by Lavinia Spalding,
The
Overwhelming by J.T Rogers, and A
Woman in Jerusalem by
A.B. Yehoshua.
In 2 ½ hours (150 minutes), you will compose an essay to a prompt about the
reading that will be given to you on the day of the exam. You will
not need to include a Works Cited or outside research. There is no required page length but you will
want to fully answer all parts of the exam
question in a focused, organized and well-developed essay using the assigned
texts as the basis of your response.
Preparing for
the final exam:
Before taking the exam, review the advice in the
Rhetoric, Chapter 11: Timed
Writing (pages 274-285,
http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/11TimedWriting.htm). The best way to prepare is to
annotate the texts and take a practice 150 minute
exam before the midterm. You can create possible
final exam questions for yourself which connect the works we have read through
the course theme:
“Listening to the Music Inside Us.” Take
at least one practice essay exam before the actual final exam. There is a non-graded practice exam you can
take in WebAccess. Click on the link
that says:
“PRACTICE FINAL EXAM (2.5
hours) opens 12/5: non-graded writing practice.”
Taking the 2
½ hours Final Exam: Friday, December 12th