Goucher College English 104.04   MWF 9:30 Sports & Rec. Center 211

Fall 2001 Semester Ms. Elizabeth Leik, eleik@earthlink.net

Office Hours MWF 10:30 to 12, and by appointment

 Required Text: The Writing Process: A Concise Rhetoric, John M. Lannon   (Seventh Edition)

The other required texts: The Elements of Style, 4^th edition,  Strunk and White

A Blank Journal

Planning the Essay

August 31  Introduction to Writing - Why we need to write; in-class writing;

            Handout “TV Without Guilt,” by David Finkel

 September 3 (No class, but still read Lannon pp. 8-17)           

5  Forming an opinion, in-class writing on television; Lannon pp. 20-25, start

            class discussion on “TV Without Guilt”

7  Small group work, plan draft of Essay #1 (opinion of television);

            Lannon pp. 25-39

 10  Components of an Essay; writing collaboratively in-class exercise;

            Lannon pp. 44-53

12  Drafting an Essay;  pp. 55-67   

14  Working on the Computer; Lannon pp. 73-83 Discuss early revision process, computer benefits/drawbacks; computer writing assignment/evaluation

            Essay #1 Due

 17  Library Day  -  Meet at the Ref Desk in Julia Rogers Library at 9:25 a.m.

19  The Details of Structure - The paragraph, Lannon pp. 87-107; Paragraph

            Assignment (Assign Essay #2 - improving paragraphs and sentences,

            Pp. 18, options 2, 3 or 4)

21  Transitions and Building through paragraphs; Lannon pp. 107-121

24  The Details of the Paragraph - The sentence; Lannon pp. 107-121; Sentence

            structure assignment - Application 7-7, 7-8, 7-9 

26  Reading for writing, “Don Foster Has a Way With Words,”

            by David Roberts, handout; Lannon Ch. 9, p. 151-164

28   Begin Lannon Ch. 10, pp. 166-182, Description and

            Narrative, writing from experience

 October - Writing the Essay

1 Responding to others with your experiences; Lannon, Ch. 10 Essay #2 Due

3 Lannon Ch. 10 continued

5 Lannon Ch. 11, pp. 184-193, examples that improve paragraphs

 8  Begin Essay #3, an essay on experience and learning

10 Discuss examples that support experiences from Ch. 10/11 readings

12 In-class readings - experiences

 15  Division and Classification, the big difference, Ch. 12 pp. 195-206;

            Research assignment - topic to divide or classify

17  Division and Classification - Research shared in class;

            structure to emphasize a point

19 - Mid-semester holiday - No class

 22 - Collaboration exercise on dividing or classifying; Essay #3 Due; background

            reading on urban legends (on reserve at library).

24 - Discuss handout “The Chromium Hook,” by Ron Carlson, handout;

            audience, voice, and tone through a character  (Ch. 8)

26 - Computer use - finding out the truth, more research on American Folklore

29 - Process Analysis - How do you . . .? (Ch. 13, pp. 208-220)

31 - Give me instructions, directions, just tell me how. Assign Essay #4 (Cause

            and Effect, with research)

Nov. 2 - Cause and Effect writing - topics to work through in class

            (Ch. 14, pp. 222-236)

 November - Revising the Essay

5 - Cause and Effect - writing to predict

7 - Cause and Effect - creating a chain, cause to effect or effect to cause

9 - Building a better essay - fine-tuning with precision, for use with Essay 4

 12 - Building a better essay - fine tuning with visual details, for use with Essay 4

14 - Comparison and Contrast (Ch. 15), selections in text;  Essay #4 Due

16 - Comparison through Analogy; Assign Essay #5 (research involved)

 19 ***Grammar quiz ***

21 - OFF Thanksgiving

23 - OFF Thanksgiving

26 Back to the beginning - How an Argument Works, voicing your opinion (Ch. 266-290) “VW Day,” by Gerald Posner hand-out, persuasion within an argument

28 - Continue with Argument; Revise - what to save and what to cut; begin            practice revision of TV essay

30 - The depths of Research

December 3 - More on research process, Ch. 19, 314-323; Essay #5 Due

5 - In-class readings

7 - Additional research

Week of December 10 - Final Examinations  Portfolio Due

 Maintenance and upkeep

The following is a separation to determine how you will get ahead in class. Keep track of what you miss, and never be afraid to ask a question.

Attendance 10%        Participation 10 % (Both of these grades include in-class work and homework)

Essay 1 - 10%                                                           

Essay 2 - 10%

Essay 3 - 10%

Essay 4 - 15 %

Essay 5 - 20 %

Revised Portfolio - 15%   (consisting of three revised essays with which you are familiar, comfortable and proud to submit, along with a letter addressed to me about why you chose these essays)

 The blank journal is designed to help you be a writer, in class and other places. Keep track of your notes and free writings for projects in your journal, and please jot down ideas that you have outside of class as well, whether they pertain to the assignment at the time or not. Over time, you will see how your thinking develops, and how some of your outside ideas really do relate to events in the classroom, and vice versa. Although it will not be graded individually, your journal  needs to come with you to class to be used as material for writing assignments and is a part of your Attendance/Class Participation grade.

 The guidelines for grading come directly from the College Writing Proficiency Criteria, and will be covered before each assignment to determine which criteria need to be met for a particular essay.  You must meet certain criteria to earn a certain grade for that essay, and eventually in the course.  In time, the majority of the CWP Criteria need to be met in order for you to pass the course.

 Rules and Regulations

I direct your attention to the college’s Campus Handbook for this year, The Criteria of Academic Dishonesty subheading, pp. 105-106, under the Academic Honor Code section. I strictly adhere to these policies, especially II. Plagiarism, Cheating and Academic Misconduct, wherein you are to produce work that is yours, in your voice, tone, and writing style that you and I become familiar with over the semester. Considering that the majority of this course is personal essay or reflection with research for support, this should not be an issue. However, when work that you turn in, whether it be personal essay or researched paper, causes me to wonder, “Who really wrote this?” I may confer with you and beyond for the true answer.

 Turning In work

 All Essays are due on the date listed in the syllabus. E-mail submissions are allowed if they are sent return-receipt, in proper format (pasted in the e-mail may work best), and in their entirety. You are responsible for the assignments to reach me at the designated time, regardless of using e-mail or bringing a paper to class. All Essays and most class work will be typed. Please consult with me for exceptions to the above.

All reading assignments listed need to be read prior to that day in class, since that is the material we will discuss and work with on that particular day.

Fall Lessons

 Paragraph Lesson - Everyone writes a few paragraphs at home about a few assigned topics, choosing one topic to write about. Then the students chooses one topic and brings it in to class, to read out loud. Class then tries to determine what other areas the student covered, and offers information and details that would make the paragraphs cohesive and informative. 
 Sentence Lesson - in book, Applications

 Collaboration Exercise Give the class topics, then have them research the topics. They must reveal this info in class, then combined to write one short essay that fits well together, deciding what info to keep and to cut, in the classify and ? Section.

 TV lesson

 Chromium Hook lesson - audience, voice, tone - separate and identify the characters, how they each have their own voice, how they have a different tone, who is the audience? The manner of convincing who? The reader?

Separate them by characters, identify who they are and what is their purpose - have students do this for homework.

  Research, bring the variety of different types of research MLA, APA, Chicago, New York Times, Gray’s (? for anatomy?) examples in to class and show them how it is used. This would be throughout the year, and during the time frame.

Spring 2002  English 105.   Ms. Elizabeth Leik

 Due November 1, 2001  Getting to know the city in which we live

 Using the web, libraries, historical centers, citizens of Baltimore, and the city itself, you will determine what kind of paper you can write to help you better understand a certain aspect of Baltimore.

Exploring Baltimore, you will see it’s diversity in ethnicity, architecture, and writing history