FALL 2003 Instructor

FALL 2003 Instructor: Dr S. Selina Jamil

ENG 104: Academic Writing I Office Hours: MWF 8.30-9.30

Section 1 MWF 9.30-10.30 Office: Van Meter 107

Section 11 MWF 2.30-3.30 Office Phone (410) 337 e-mail: selinajamil@juno.com

Course Description and Objectives: This is a writing course designed to develop your facility in analytical reading and writing. It is aimed to help you express your ideas with clarity in written form and to understand the relationships between reading and writing, discussing and thinking, thinking and writing. Writing is not simply a way of communicating but also a way of exploring and learning about yourself, others, and your environment. This course is aimed to help you understand the processes of drafting and revising, that is, of presenting, developing, organizing and reshaping your ideas intelligently and logically. Our aim is to develop the following skills:

· Writing with a sense of purpose by articulating a thesis statement and using specific examples and details for support;

· Maintaining unity and coherence by showing the relationship between the main point (thesis statement) and sub-points (topic sentences);

· Writing with a sense of the significance of the content;

· Writing with energy and grace;

· Writing with a sense of the audience;

· Writing with a sense of the conventions of grammar, usage, and mechanics.

You will spend most of your time discussing and writing in the classroom. We will build a community of cooperative and collaborative readers and writers in the classroom.

The Work and Grades: You will write four major argumentative essays. Also, you will write in the class as instructed. The in-class writing (I-C W) will generally be analyses and arguments or rough drafts which you will revise into essays. Late papers receive lower grades. (I will deduct five points for each day after the due date.) On the days of peer responding you will bring a copy of your essay (second draft) to share with your group, and you will also bring the outline of your essay to share with me. Your second and final drafts must be typed, double-spaced, collated, and stapled. On the day you turn in the final draft of an essay you will be expected to read it out and listen to the others as they read out their essays. As a listener you are expected to make constructive comments after the writer finishes reading her or his essay. Also attach the in-class writing with your final draft. You may email me your questions, confusions, etc. as frequently as you wish, but never email me your assignments. Always turn your work in hard copies in class on the due date. Further, be prepared for quizzes on all class days, albeit all the quizzes will not be unannounced. I expect you to take part in class discussions regularly and intelligently. Hence come prepared with questions and comments. Plagiarism is an unpardonable offence and hence will not be tolerated in any form.

Essays 1 & 2 200 points (100 for each)

Essays 3 & 4 400 points (200 for each)

In-Class Writing (I-C W) 200 points (20 for each)

Quizzes 100 points (10 for each)

Class Discussion 100 points

1000 points

Attendance: Attendance and participation are essential in this class. Roll will be taken at the beginning of the hour. A lateness will be considered an absence unless you tell me after class to change it, but the 4th lateness will be considered an absence. Any exhibition of irrelevant behavior will affect your grade adversely.

Text and Materials:

1. Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference. Boston & New York: Bedford/ St Martin's Press,

2003.

2. Sayers, Kari. Views and Values: Diverse Readings on Universal Themes. Fort Worth:

Harcourt College Publishers, 2001.

In addition, you will need a dictionary and a thesaurus. I expect you to read the assigned reading before coming to class. Failure to do so will have a severely adverse effect on your class participation grade. Further, I expect you to bring your assigned text or textbook(s) regularly to class. Failure to do so will also jeopardize your class participation grade. In addition, always bring a notebook for the in-class writing, notes, and quizzes. To keep track of all your writing, store all drafts in a folder. I may collect all folders during the last few days of class.

Grading Criteria:

A 100% - 93%

A- 92% - 90%

B+ 89% - 87%

B 86% - 83%

B- 82% - 80%

C+ 79% - 77%

C 76% - 73%

C- 72% - 70%

D+ 69% - 67%

D 66% - 63%

D- 62% - 60%

Standards for Grading Essays:

A Excellent work. Exceptional and masterful handling of content. Impressively thought-provoking thesis statement, sub-points, and specific support. Exceptionally organized structuring of ideas and skilful explanation of support. Exemplary unity. Remarkable smoothness of transitions. Diction and sentence structuring revealing a brilliantly articulate, impressive, and refreshing voice. Flawless grammar and mechanics.

B Good work. Interesting, clear, and well-developed thesis statement, sub-points, and specific support. Well-organized structuring of ideas and support. Effective unity and coherence. Diction and sentence structuring revealing an articulate voice. Flawless grammar and mechanics.

C Average work. Although there is a thesis statement, and it is shown through sub-points and specific support, the content lacks depth of thought. Organized structuring of ideas and support. Tolerable unity and coherence. Diction and sentence structuring revealing accuracy. Minor grammatical and mechanical errors.

D Poor work. No depth of thought. Lacking a clear thesis statement. Weak sub-points and specific support. Awkward voice. Grammatical and mechanical errors.

F Unacceptable work. Lacking thesis statement. Confusion of thought. Incoherence and digression. Serious contradiction.

TENTATIVE CALENDAR

3 Sep Introduction to the course.

UNIT ONE: THE ALIENATED INDIVIDUAL

5 Sep Claim and Support. Hacker's C. Kinds of Arguments.

8 Sep Rawlings' "A Mother in Manville" (V & V). Cause and Effect. Labeling and Chunking.

10 Sep Andersen's "The Little Match Girl" (V & V). I-C W.

12 Sep Hughes' "Salvation" (photocopy).

15 Sep Gregory's "Shame" (photocopy).

17 Sep Comparison and Contrast, Definition. I-C W.

19 Sep Staples' "Night Walker" (photocopy).

22 Sep Peer responding (1^st Essay). Hacker's G.

24 Sep 1^st Essay due. Quiz (Hacker's G).

UNIT TWO: GAINING AWARENESS

26 Sep Kaufman's "Of My Friend Hector and My Achilles Heel" (photocopy).

29 Sep Hinchman's "Perseus and the Gorgon's Head" V & V).

1 Oct Evaluation, Process. I-C W.

3 Oct Maupassant's "The Necklace" (V & V).

6 Oct Maupassant's story. I-C W.

8 Oct Heker's "The Stolen Party" (V & V).

10 Oct Peer responding (2^nd Essay). Hacker's G.

13 Oct 2^nd Essay due. Quiz (Hacker's G).

UNIT THREE: CULTURE AND IDENTITY

15 Oct Santiago's "Black and Latino" (photocopy).

20 Oct Rau's "By Any Other Name" (V & V).

22 Oct I-C W. Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" (photocopy).

24 Oct. Chopin's story. I-C W.

27 Oct Jen's "An Ethnic Trump" (photocopy).

29 Oct I-C W. Angelou's "Mary" (V & V).

31 Oct Hoffman's "Lost in Translation" (photocopy).

3 Nov Library Session

5 Nov Peer responding (3^rd Essay). Hacker's S.

7 Nov 3^rd Essay due. Quiz (Hacker's S).

UNIT FOUR: MORAL DILEMMA

10 Nov Gansberg's "38 Who Saw Murder Didn't Call Police" (photocopy).

12 Nov I-C W. Chekhov's "The Confession" (V & V).

14 Nov Chekhov's story. Hacker's S.

17 Nov Shiga's "Han's Crime" (V & V).

19 Nov I-C W. Quiz (Hacker's S).

21 Nov I-C W. Hemingway's "Old Man at the Bridge" (V & V).

24 Nov Conference.

1 Dec Conference.

3 Dec Cankar's "Children and Old Folk" (V & V).

5 Dec Quiz (Hacker's M).

8 Dec Peer responding (4^th Essay). Revising.

10 Dec. 4^th Essay due.