Course Description: English 1010 is designed to involve you in methods of organizing your thoughts into written compositions. It emphasizes the writing process including selecting and narrowing the topic, and formulating, analyzing, and developing the thesis statement to provide unity, coherence, and correct emphasis. To stimulate your writing, you will be reading texts in four genres--short stories, poems, plays and essays. Part of the goal of the course is to encourage you to write in connective, imaginative, and analytical ways that will intensify your experience of reading and of life. You must obtain a grade of C or better to enroll in English 2010.

 

 

Texts: Reading and Writing from Literature 3rd edition, by John Schwiebert
The Pocket Wadsworth Handbook by Kirszner & Mandell

Other Materials: A good dictionary
A loose leaf notebook or other writing material with paper for class notes and reflections.
A device to hold your saved computer files created for the class
A folder that will hold printouts of the reading journal to be submitted and those returned. Keeping track of papers I return is very important.
A small notepad that will serve as a "commonplace book."

Tasks for this course:
Writing:
1. Textual annotations. Write responses to your text in the margins. Periodically, without warning, I will spot check your copies of the assigned readings about 4 times during the semester to see how actively you are using this device. This is tough work, but very important for your whole college experience. Failure to do sufficient annotating will result in a lowered grade at the end of the course. No excuses will be accepted, including absences. If you have a used book, you must enter your name at the front of the book in a color different from the colors used by past owners and annotate in that color. If the color isn't apparent and consistent, credit won't be given.

 

2. Reading notebook. Although your submitted pieces will be typed on computer, see Chapter 3 in your text for details and adapt as necessary. Set up a folder called course reading notebook on your computer hard drive or on a save device. You will use it for the weekly writings you do outside of class and supplement it with handwritten work done inside class. In it create a file for each week of the course; collect and revise the following as computer files:

•   Writings prompted by readings in Part VI of your text
•   Writings prompted by literary readings done outside the text,
•   Writings done in response to any other nonliterary or nonprint texts (situations open to interpretation, not simple life experiences of your own) such as movies, theater, tv programs, concerts, songs, pictures,
•   Notes on class or small-group discussions or sharing sessions, and
•   Writings on other topics that interest you. (This is for personal enjoyment only. They are not to be submitted.)

I'll expect one writing each week in response to either of the first two suggestions and a one writing from any of the first three kinds of writing described above with a note on the total number of words.

• The heading for the piece will include your name, this course number and section, the date on which the writing is due, and (unless noted in the piece) the specific texts that inspired the writings.
• These will be collected and one piece will be commented on every week.
• For the beginning of the course you will not be graded on quality of writing but on quantity and on the extent you experiment with a diversity of ways of writing (see Chapter 3 and Appendix A in your text.)
• To earn a "B" aubmit a minimum of 600 words per week. Less will earn you a "C," "D," or "E." To obtain an "A" you must substantially exceed (800 or more) the minimum word requirement and experiment with a diversity of writing (see Chapter 3).
• If the piece does not meet the criteria listed, it will receive a grade of E.
• A missed notebook must be made up by the end of the following week. Only two such makeups are allowed under any circumstances for the whole course.
  The weekly notebook submission is the backbone of the course. Its importance is reflected in the final grading. Your final grade in the course can only be as high as your final average grade on your weekly submissions. For example, to get a "B" in the course, you must have at least a "B" average on your notebook.

3. "Hurry Notes." These are described in Chapter 4 of your text. Use a small spiral notepad to record short (three typed lines or fewer) observations on events, people, or places around you or to jot down a quote that strikes you from another author.

 Participation and Attendance: We will function in a workshop environment--writing, collaborating in pairs or small groups, and discussing as a class. Therefore, attendance is crucial. You have two excused absences. All other absence is unexcused. A total of three absences will lower your final grade by one third letter; four absences will lower it by a full letter, five absences by another third and so on. If you must be absent, contact a classmate to find out what you missed and get the assignment. You will be expected to come to the next class meeting prepared. This week come to our next class with your email address to exchange with a class mate.

 4. Individual Conferences. These are part of the grade. You and I will meet one-on-one once or twice during the term to talk about your progress and experience with the course and our mutual assessment of your work.

 5. A final portfolio of your best writings from the term. While the reading notebook determines your maximum grade, this determines a major portion of the grade. Portfolio Description

Evaluation of the Portfolios and Final Grading
In draft stages you will receive written and oral feedback on your portfolio pieces from me and from other members of the class. During the semester you and I will also meet individually to discuss your work. The portfolio wil consist of highly revised pieces from your reading notebook and introductions to those pieces. For inclusion in the notebook, a draft of the pieces must have been seen and commented on by me. Criteria for grading portfolios.

Your final grade for the course will be determined holistically from your participation and attendance, textual annotations, reading notebook, individual conferences, and especially your portfolio. If you are missing any major work for the class, the grade will be an E. Most students who fail this course do so by omitting parts of the final portfolio. Most who receive a grade lower than they want, do so because they fail to annotate their texts.

Flu Emergency Instructions

In the event of an extended campus closure I will continue to provide instruction and interaction via email and my online syllabus. My email address is dkrantz@weber.edu; you can expect an email message from me on Monday and Thursday of each week during the closure. The message will contain a Word file attachment that will provide a supplement to the syllabus links, directions for any written assignments and readings, and any other relevant information. You are to complete assignments during that same week and submit them as an attachment (if you have Microsoft Word) or pasted into an email message back to me by the following Sarturday evening. It is imperative that you provide an email address linked to an email account that you plan to access on a regular basis and which has adequate storage capacity for transmitting documents. I will collect your email address and verify its availability during the first week of class. Please let me know by the end of the first week of the semester if you do not have access to a computer and/or the Internet from your home.

Syllabus

Disclaimer: This is a contract between us for the work needed to pass this class. Unavoidable circumstances may necessitate adjustment of the syllabus, but I will try to adhere to it as given.

Students with Disabilities: Any student requiring accommodations or services due to a disability must contact Services for Students with disabilities (SSD) in room 181 of the Student Service Center. SSD can also arrange to provide course materials (including this syllabus) in alternative formats if necessary.

Ethics: Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, falsification, accessing unauthorized course or test information, using unauthorized resources, or breaching copyright law. The penalty for such dishonesty will be an E in this course, and it may result in charges issued, hearings held, and/or sanctions imposed.

Weekly Notebook Work: For each fiction and essay reading except the poems, do steps 1, 2,and 3 of the Four Step Process for Writing from Reading (see Chapter 2). You can then choose one or two works of fiction each week and write an entry of at least 300 words in your notebook. (See Reading Notebook above for details). When several poems are assigned for a particular day, read and annotate all of the poems; then choose one poem and write at least 300 words in response to that poem. The reading assignments are very short. I encourage you to do more reading of pieces in the appendix: browse, read, enjoy and write as your individual tastes and instincts dictate.

The Wadsworth Handbook will be used for exercises each Thursday. Please bring it to class. Also Note: Links on the course page are to material that should help with your writing. In some cases the links allow you to select among a number of help pages by following further links.

Week 1: Writing And Reading: Interrelated Activities

Assigned readings: Tues: Introductions and Computer Room (tent); Chapters 1; Thursday: Chapters 2-3; skim sample writings in Appendix A, 1143-1153
Special topics and activities: Conversational writing and reading; introduction to the Four-Step Process for Writing from Reading.

WEEK 2

Assigned readings: Tuesday Chapter 14, Kate Chopin, "The Story of an Hour" (p. 221); Thursday: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" (p. 224); Doris Lessing," A Woman on A Roof" (p. 240).
Special topics and activities: Reading short fiction and The Four-Step Process (Chapter 2).

WEEK 3

Assigned readings: Tuesday: Chapter 4, 11; and Grammar Lesson; Thursday: Ray Bradbury, "[A Story About Love]" (p. 247); .
Special topics and activities: Your reading notebook thus far; writing and "originality." Also, keeping a commonplace book.

WEEK 4

Assigned readings: Tuesday Chapter 15 ; Walt Whitman, "I Heard You Solemn-Sweet Pipes of the Organ" and I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing" (p. 271); Thursday: Tomioka Taeka, "Just the Two of Us" (p. 281); Diane Wakoski, "Belly Dancer" (282); Chapter 16.
Special topics and activities: Reading poetry and Introduction to portfolio building; using your notebook recursively, writing in quantity and revising selectively.

WEEK 5

Assigned readings: Tuesday: Chapter 10 (pp. 116-122 only) and Francine du Plessix Gray, "On Friendship" (p. 285); Thursday: Scott Russell Sanders, "Looking at Women" (p. 291); Chapter 6.
Special topics and activities: Reading essays; Writing summaries and paraphrases .

WEEK 6

Assigned readings: Tuesday: Chapter 7 ; writing a thesis; Chapter 18; Thursday: Chapter 8 and Appendix B
Special topics and activities: Notebooks and Journals; Reading and writing recursively; developing a topic and thesis for first essay about literature (I.e., #5d in the description of the course portfolio); drafting your essay .

  WEEK 7

Assigned readings: Tuesday Inter chapter II pp. 443ff; a draft workshop. Parts of an essay. Bring in a copy of your paper and notes from your reading of your classmates papers to the conference. Conferences Tuesday and next Tuesday will replace class Thursday and the last 1/2 hour of Class on Tuesday.
Special topics and activities: Revision; studying sample essays about literature; postdraft outlining your own and groupmates' drafts; notebooks and journals.

Weeks 8-10; Unit on the Genre of Drama

 WEEK 8

Assigned readings: Tuesday: Terrence McNally, Andre's Mother (p. 311); Thursday chapter 17; Susan Glaspell, Trifles (p. 300); Chapter 12 and Interchapter IV.
Special topics and activities: Reading plays; the functions of dialogue in drama and in life; reading and writing dialogue.

WEEK 9

Assigned readings: Tuesday and Thursday: William Shakespeare, "The Tragedy of Othello" (p 708).
Special topics and activities: Drama (continued); writing in quantity and revising selectively revisited items; notebook review (reread your notebook and revise selected favorite entries).

WEEK 10

Assigned readings: Eugene O'Neill, The Hairy Ape (p 554).

 WEEK 11

Assigned readings: Tuesday: D. H. Lawrence, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" (p. 452); Katherine Mansfield, "Miss Brill" (p. 464); Thursday, continue Miss Brill; Visual Insert (between p 600 and 601): "A Gallery of Pictures."
Special topics and activities: The Topic/Form Grid (Chapter 5); "reading pictures" (the gallery)

WEEK 12

Assigned readings: Tuesday: William Faulkner, "Barn Burning," (p. 467); Toni Cade Pbambara, "The Lesson" (p. 492); Thursday: The Portfolio Pyramid; beginning to plan your course portfolio
Special topics and activities: The Portfolio Pyramid.

WEEK 13

Assigned readings: Tuesday: Interchapter III (p. 595)and Mary Oliver, "The Black Snake" and "Some Questions You Might Ask" (p. 513-514); Thursday: Audrey Lorde, "Hanging Fire" (p. 512); Gary Soto, "Oranges" (p. 516).

WEEK 14

Assigned readings: Tuesday: Edward Hoagland, "Learning to Eat Soup" (p. 529); Judith Ortiz Cofer, "Primary Lessons" (541).
Special topics and activities: Developing topic, thesis (if needed), and draft of second portfolio piece (#5d in the description of the course portfolio); Portfolio preparation

Week 15: Final Portfolios
Assigned readings: Tuesday, Chapter 13; Interchapter V (p. 964); draft workshop; Thursday: Coda: "Literature, So What?"
Special topics and activities: Prepare final course portfolio. Why "bother" with literature?
Final Portfolios may be submitted to my office anytime from Tuesday after class to Tuesday, Dec. 8, 9:30 am. THEY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AFTER THAT.