|
English 905, Spring 2006 Section/Meeting: #41195 T 9:20-10:45
LA40 Th 9:20-10:45 CAW |
Instructor Leslie Saito phone: 408-741-4010 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: LA/SS 3C T
12:30-2, W 11-12, Th enhancement |
Course Description:
The
purpose of this course is to highlight the role of writing in the university
and familiarize you with academic composition.�
As a student of West Valley College, you are part of an academic
community that invites you to participate in a dialogue among its members:
instructors, students, authors, lecturers, and various types of texts.� As a member of this community, you are
expected to actively engage in a variety of tasks and contribute your thoughts
and ideas.
��������������� Specifically, we will work on various components of
the essay and strive toward mastery of the skills needed and required for
college writing.� Through assigned
reading and course work, we will also reflect upon our past and what life has
taught us thus far to investigate issues of identity and diversity.� These tasks will be challenging but will also
have great rewards in the end.
��������������� During the semester, you will be required to do a
good amount of reading, writing, and revision.�
You will be encouraged to think critically and analytically, recognize
your role in your education, voice your opinions and experience, and, above
all, keep an open mind to the viewpoints presented in this class.
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's
best friend.� And inside of a dog, it's
too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
Required texts:
1.
Harris, Muriel. Prentice Hall Reference Guide.� 6th ed.�
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006.
2.
Minor,
Dorothy.� Patterns. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005. This
text should be packaged with Harris� text
3.
Albom, Mitch.� Tuesdays with Morrie.� Any edition is fine
4.
Floppy disks for
computer lab work
5.
Folder (to serve
as a writing portfolio)
Note: plan to spend about
$5-$10 on photocopy costs for papers
Course resources:
To assist you in your
learning and classroom activities, please regularly visit our online course
resources.� To learn how to access these
resources, go to http://instruct.westvalley.edu/saito and then click on English
1B: 41151. Step-by-step instructions on this page will enable you to log on to
our ANGEL course pages.
NOTE: ANGEL is the course
management system that WVC uses for online course materials.
�
For Windows OS,
you will need to have at least IE 6.0 OR Netscape Navigator 7.1
�
For Mac OS, you
will need to have either of the browsers noted for� Windows users or Mozilla
1.4 or higher
"Writing and reading mean being
aware of the writer's notions of risk and safety, the serene achievement of, or
sweaty fight for, meaning and response-ability." - Toni Morrison
Assignment Descriptions:��
1.
Reading assignments: see assignment schedule for list of readings.�
2.
Mini-Portfolios: For each unit, you will be asked to organize a portfolio of completed
work.� Your assignment schedule lists the
dates the portfolio is due. You are responsible for retaining all required
materials until they are submitted in your portfolio.� Once I receive the portfolio, I will evaluate
the materials and record points.� This
packet of information helps me determine how you are progressing, what steps
you've gone through to get to your final draft, and what I can do to help you
succeed and be proud of your work.� Your
portfolio will be graded on its completeness, adherence to established
guidelines, and quality. Each portfolio will include the following:
�
Self-evaluation: �On the date a portfolio is due,
you will be asked to evaluate the work you have completed and discuss your
current writing strengths/weaknesses/difficulties. Each evaluation is worth 5
points.�
�
Journal assignments: Journal assignments will ask you to respond to the assigned reading,
address specific writing prompts, or discuss open-ended topics.� Unless I assign journal work to be done in
class, these assignments are due at the
start of class on the date listed on your assignment schedule.� Journal assignments that are late,
incomplete, or not completed will cause you to have points deducted from your
grade.� If you would like to revise a
journal assignment after you have completed it the first time, by all means
feel free to do so.�
From the journal assignments completed for a given
unit, select your 2 �best� journal assignments to submit as part of your
portfolio.�� Each of these submitted
journal assignments is worth 10 points.��
Full credit will be given to assignments that were turned in when
originally due and are at least 1 page (250 words).� If you have journal assignments that are
complete but late, please turn these in and label them as late (I�ll give you
partial credit). Reading responses may be handwritten (please write legibly)
but use blue or black ink only.� For the
most part, I will not put any kind of comments on these assignments (but I will
definitely read them!), so you should not feel that they need to be polished
and perfected writing samples.
�
Prewriting:� Prewriting includes work such as freewriting, brainstorming, clustering, outlining, or any
other work you do prior to writing a draft of your paper.� We will be doing several of these activities
during class, and you are asked to submit at least one example of the
prewriting you have completed as part of your portfolio. Your prewriting work
is worth 5 points per portfolio.
�
Rough draft(s):
On the date your rough draft is due, you will need to bring multiple (usually
3) copies of that draft to class in order to participate in a writing
workshop.� As you develop your writing,
you will probably find that multiple drafts of a given assignment will be
necessary.� Of all the rough drafts you
generate for a given assignment, you will need to submit at least one as part
of your portfolio.� Each rough draft is
worth 10 points. In order to receive full credit, you must:
�
Turn it in on
time
�
Address the
prompt in a responsible manner (i.e. use appropriate texts, consider audience,
and demonstrate some thought about the issues at hand.)
�
Produce a
complete draft (e.g. 1 paragraph is NOT a complete rough draft)
�
These papers will
receive comments and criticism from your writing workshop group (I will assign
students to groups). I will review and comment on the rough draft for paper #1
only. You are always welcome to discuss your paper with me during office hours.
�
Writing workshop comments: Your classmates will complete worksheets or provide
written comments about your rough draft.�
For each set of worksheets or comments you complete for someone else,
you will receive 5 points.� In order to
receive full credit, you must:
�
Submit your
comments to your classmate by the due date
�
Offer thoughtful,
meaningful, and constructive criticism
- Revision
work: Both in and out of class,
we�ll work on revising your essay assignments.� Demonstration of your revision process
is worth 5 points per essay.
�
Final drafts: During
the semester, you will complete 4 essays of different lengths and different point
values. One of the great things about this class is that it's credit/ no
credit, so you can concentrate on writing and not so much on letter grades.
Your papers will be evaluated on a 4-point scale that is similar to the way
your midterm and final exams will be graded.�
A score of 3 or higher is considered a passing grade.� The following chart will be used to translate
your essay grades to total points for the class.��
|
|
4 |
3.5 |
3 |
2.5 |
2 |
1.5 |
1 |
|
Essay 1� (2-4 pages; 500-1000 words) 125 points
possible |
125 points |
110 |
95 |
80 |
65 |
45 |
30 |
|
Essay 2� (2-4 pages; 500-1000 words) 150 points possible |
150 |
130 |
115 |
100 |
75 |
55 |
35 |
|
Essay 3 (3-5 pages;
750-1250 words ) 150 points possible |
150 |
130 |
115 |
100 |
75 |
55 |
35 |
|
Essay 4 (3-5 pages;
750-1250 words) 175 points possible |
175 |
150 |
130 |
115 |
85 |
65 |
45 |
3.
In-class assignments (100 points): From time to time, we'll have particular
tasks to complete during class.� These
assignments may include writing exercises, timed computer assisted writing
tasks, or other assignments and will be due at the end of the class
period.�
4.
In-class essay exams (100 points): On Thursday, March 23rd, an in-class timed essay will be
assigned and will count as your midterm
(30 points).� The English department final exam will be on Thursday, May 18th
(50 points).� The final exam will be
graded by members of the English department and will serve as a tool to assess
your ability to move forward to English 1A. Lastly, I will issue a final class
exam activity on Thursday, May 25th from
5.
Attendance/participation (50 points): You are responsible for attending class
and being prepared with all assigned reading completed, all assignments
finished, and all required materials and texts present.� You are also expected to focus your attention
on this class, as everyone's contribution is vital to the success of this
class.� If you fail to meet these
standards, you may be asked to leave and your attendance "grade" will
be affected.�� See note that follows re:
attendance policy.�
Total points for the semester: 1050
Course Policies:
1.
Attendance: �It is very important that you attend class, as
assignments will be designated and worked upon during this time.� It has been my experience that those students
who are diligent about attending class are more successful than those who only
come on an occasional basis. You are responsible for coming to class on time
with all assigned reading completed, all assignments finished, and all required
materials and texts present.� You are
also expected to focus your attention on this class, as everyone�s contribution
is vital to the success of this class.�
Please do not skip class just because you are late or have to leave
early, but do not make partial attendance/absence a habit.� Your attendance/participation grade will be
affected and you may be asked to drop the class if you repeatedly miss parts or
whole class meetings or are regularly unprepared for class.�� Your attendance grade is calculated as
follows:
0-5
absences 40-50 points
6-7 absences 30-35 points
8-9 absences 20-25 points
10-11 absences 10-15 points