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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "EN 105-2"
COURSE NAME: "English Composition"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2014
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Joan E. Westley
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 1:30 PM 2:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: Placement via JCU English Composition Placement Exam
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed to enable students to write coherent, grammatically correct responses to written texts. By the end of the course students will be able to summarize essays they have read, to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of these essays, to compare essays. Above all, students will be able to respond to what we have read in clear, conceptually precise, grammatically correct English.

 

Learning to write is an ongoing process, and gets better when people actually do a lot of it. The more you write, the better your writing becomes. You will therefore be required to do a great deal of writing: summaries and critical analysis, as well as longer essays. These will be reviewed by me and revised by you.

 

This course focuses on developing your critical thinking and writing skills to improve the organization, clarity, coherence and elegance of your writing.


SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
The most important aspect of the course will be your actual writing assignments, including especially four in class and another three at home, generally around 500-700 words. You will be required to revise almost all of your writing; this may involve anything from correcting awkward or ungrammatical sentences to rewriting the entire essay. You will work at crafting clear, elegant sentences. A good deal of time will also be spent reading, discussing and summarizing essays. The readings serve to exemplify the various rhetorical modes (process, cause and effect, argument, etc.) and to generate material for writing assignments. More importantly, we will use them to develop your ability to read critically (that is, learning to analyze the content and structure of an essay) and to appropriately demonstrate that knowledge in effective analytical summaries – skills you will need throughout your academic career. Grammar and structural problems will be reviewed as needed.   
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of the course you will be a more perceptive reader with a clearer understanding of what actually makes good writing. In your own writing, you will find yourself using a broader vocabulary and more varied sentence structures, taking advantage of various rhetorical modes to improve essay organization and clarity. All this should increase your confidence and make writing more enjoyable for you as well. 

Required Textbook

Alice Oshima and Anne Hogue. Writing Academic English, Fourth Edition; Longman ISBN 0-201-83410-3

Readings will be provided in the form of handouts. You must bring the handout to class when that handout is scheduled for discussion. All handouts should be kept in your folder.  Many of the handout readings are taken from Rhetorical Choices: A Reader for Writers (Gilyard, Holdstein, Schuster), which can be found in the reserve section in the library.  If you should not have a copy of the handout, you can photocopy from that text.

 

Students are encouraged to buy and bring to class a mono-language dictionary of American English. These may be used for in-class writing and for mid-term and final exams. Students are also encouraged to make extensive use of a thesaurus.

Materials for class: You should come to class with a notebook of A4 lined paper used often in class for writing short responses and reactions.
These will be collected by me from time to time.


TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Writing Academic English Alice Oshima and Anne HogueLongman0-201-83410-3      
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
mid-term examination  15
final examination  20
In-class essays and take-home essays  40
homework, attendance and participation  25

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Attendance is mandatory and not optional. Frequent absences (more than 3 classes missed) could lead to a lowering of your grade or dismissal from the course, and you will be required to repeat the course. In the case of illness, a doctor’s note is required or the absence is unexcused. If you are seriously ill and will be out for more than one class, please contact the professor via email. Late arrivals are very disruptive. Habitual late arrivals will not be tolerated and three late arrivals (after the class has already started) will be counted as one absence. If, for whatever reasons, a student cannot attend classes regularly, the student may be invited to withdraw from the course. It is the student’s responsibility to contact a classmate to find out what was missed and to come to the next class fully prepared. Attendance is mandatory to all graded in-class writings which you will be told about in advance. Make-ups of in-class writings will not be given. Please refer to the University catalog for the attendance and absence policy.


ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Week 1: January 14, 16
a) Discuss syllabus, in class writing 
b) Simplicity by William Zinsser, academic versus informal writing; writing tips

Week 2: January 21, 23
a) Introduction, Conclusion, Titles, MLK Dream Speech
b) Ways of Meeting Oppression, audio Dream speech, On Not Getting From There to Here L. Inturrisi

Week 3: January 28, 30
a) Paraphrase, Summary Exercises (Paranoia), Handouts: A Poor African, We Need to Harness 
b) Classification, Potato Scale handout, College Pressures by Wm. Zinsser, A. Lamott Shitty First Drafts, in class essay

Week 4: February 4, 6
a)  Caring for Your Introvert J. Rauch, The Meanings of a Word G. Naylor
b) Plagiarism, Definition exercises , writing tips, in class essay

Week 5: February 11, 13
a)  Narration and Description exercises, Shooting an Elephant G. Orwell, I Want a Wife J. Brady
b)  The Chase A. Dillard, What I’ve Learned From Men B. Ehrenreich

Week 6: February 18, 20
 a) Exemplification, The Same Difference A. Wang, Sex, Lies and Conversation D. Tannen, Compare Contrast
 b)  in class essay

Week 7, February 26, 28
a) Gender issues, Handouts by N. Kristoff, Rana Faroohar
b) Gender issues, Women in the Boardroom, When Women Rule

Week 8: March 4, 6
a) Midterm Exam
b) MLA parenthetical citations , Bibliography, Why I Crave Horror Movies S. King, writing Humor 

Week 9: March 11, 13
a) Compare and Contrast Two Ways to Belong to America B. Mukhergee
b) Cause and Effect, A Black Man Ponders B. Staples, Process, My First Conk Malcolm X

Spring Break

Week 10: March 25, 27
a) Argument, The Tyranny of the Majority L. Guinier
b) Who Killed Benny Paret? N. Cousins, Handout on Mohammed Ali

Week 11: April 1, 3
a)  A. Quindlin, The Penalty of Death, Thoughts on Abortion
b) 
in class essay

Week 12: April 8, 10
a) internet handouts, folders, conferences
b) same as above

Week 13: April 15, 17
a) internet handouts, folders
b) review 

Week 14: April 22, 24
a) Evaluations and feedback

Final Exam: See University schedule for date and time.