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ENGL 1010: English Composition-Student Version: Radtke, Michelle Spring 2020 TTH

ENG 1010: English Composition-Student Version

Course Overview, Objectives

 

Description: Workshop in expository writing: strategies of, and practice in, analytical reading and writing about texts. Fundamentals of grammar and syntax. Frequent assignments in writing summaries, analyses, comparisons of texts, and such other expository forms as narration, description, and argumentation. Emphasis on writing as a process: invention, revision, editing. Satisfies Pathways Required Core English composition requirement. (Not open to students who have completed English 1.7.)

 

Discussion: This class will serve as an introduction to college-level composition. In this course students will be asked to consider writing as a process, and to consider the end written product as an expression of meaning. Students will practice strategies for close, active reading, summary and analysis, paraphrasing and the synthesis of sources using MLA. Students will become familiar with the style, form and structure expected in college level expository essays, and will learn to write a thesis and develop supporting arguments. Writing will be completed both in and out of class, with an emphasis on drafting, revision and editing, and the correct usage of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Class will be split between writing, working in groups, and discussion of readings and student work.

 

Course Objectives

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

  • Read and think critically
  • Summarize and analyze
  • Understand the writing process
  • Understand how language operates
  • Express ideas and arguments - both orally and in writing – clearly, persuasively, and in conformity with the conventions of the discipline

 

Course Requirements and Policies

 

Course Requirements & Policies

Materials

  1. Freshman Common Reading: Becoming, Michelle Obama (required)
  2. Course Packet (required) at OER: https://libguides.brooklyn.cuny.edu/1010/radtke_michelle

Attendance & Punctuality: If you miss more than four classes, you will receive no credit for participation.  If you are late for three classes, it will count as one absence.  Arriving more than 10 minutes late counts as an absence.  A pattern of lateness will affect your grade.

Participation: Participation includes completing and commenting on the assigned reading, contributing to class discussion through listening and responding to classmates or the instructor, bringing required materials to class, and engaging in peer review and group activities.

NOTE: Cellphones must be silenced and put away in your bag during class. The use of cellphones is not permitted in the classroom. Under exceptional circumstances where a student must have access to a phone, the student should inform the instructor of these circumstances prior to class beginning.

Reading: Class discussion is a critical element of this course, and participation is essential. Students are expected to have closely read, and be prepared to discuss, all readings on the day they are assigned. There will be unannounced reading quizzes. Students must bring a marked-up hardcopy of the assigned reading to every class.

Assignments:

Essays & Other Writing: Students will write the following: a personal narrative (750-1000 words), two summaries (250-500 words each), an argumentative essay (1000-1250 words), and a compare and contrast essay (1000-1250 words). These essays must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font, and formatted with one-inch margins.   In addition, students will have an in-class essay exam.  Students will be asked to complete other assignments, such as quizzes, in-class writing, and reading responses.

NOTE: Essays are due at the beginning of class.  Essays will not be accepted via email. 

Final Exam: English 1010 students must take a final exam. The exam is based on responses to two pieces of writing: one, 5-7-page essay, distributed one week before the end of the term, and a second 1-2-page piece, distributed along with the question on the day of the exam. The exam will count for 20% of the final grade for the class. The instructor will discuss the test format in class.

LOOP workshop: The Brooklyn College Bulletin states the following:

All students in English 1010 will complete the required Brooklyn College library orientation, which will introduce them to the services and resources of the library, including access to and ethical use of its print and electronic resources.

Grading: The Brooklyn College policy on grading for English 1010 is as follows:

Grades for English 1010 are: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, NC or F. Note that the minimum passing grade is C-. Students who have completed all the course work but are not yet writing at the college level will receive a grade of NC; students who have not completed the course work will receive a grade of F.

                                  

Students who do not pass English 1010 must repeat it the following semester. The course may not be taken more than three times; students who receive three grades of F, NC and/or WU may be dismissed from the college.

 

NOTE: Essays turned in late will be penalized half a letter grade for each class meeting they are late. Late work will not be accepted after one week has passed from the original due date.  If students miss a class during which an essay is to be submitted, students are still responsible for submitting (e-mailing) the essay on the same day AND bringing a hard copy of it the next time they attend class.

 

 

Possible grades are as follows:

A

A-

B+

B

B-

C+

C

C-

D+

D

D-

F

93-100

90-92

88-89

83-87

80-82

78-79

73-77

70-72

68-69

63-67

60-62

Below 60

 

 

Grading Breakdown:

 

Essays: 60%

Personal Narrative: 10 %

Summaries: 10%

Argumentative Essay: 20%          

Compare and Contrast: 20%         

 

Final Exam: 20%

 

Other Assignments: 10%

This includes take-home assignments, in-class writing, and quizzes.

 

Attendance & Participation: 10%

This includes attendance, promptness, participation in class discussions and group work, etc.

 

Plagiarism: Brooklyn College's statement on plagiarism is as follows:

The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for implementing that policy can be found at this site: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies.

Non-attendance Because of Religious Beliefs: Brooklyn College’s statement on non-attendance because of religious belief is located on page 66 of the Brooklyn College Undergraduate Bulletin: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/off_registrar/2017-2018_Undergraduate_Bulletin.pdf

Student Bereavement Policy: Brooklyn College’s statement on non-attendance because of religious belief is located here: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/initiatives/policies/bereavement.php

Important Dates:

  • August 27th First day of class
  • September 2nd College closed
  • September 5th Conversion day
  • September 30th – October 1st No classes scheduled
  • October 8th – 9th No Classes scheduled
  • October 14th College closed
  • October 16th Conversion day, classes follow Monday schedule
  • November 28th – 29th College closed
  • December 13th Reading day
  • December 13th – 20th Final examinations

 

 

NOTE: English 1010 is an Academic Foundations course.  Brooklyn College’s policy on withdrawing from English 1010 is as follows:

 

Students are not permitted at any time to delete, drop, or withdraw from an assigned Academic Foundations course without obtaining permission of the academic department involved and consulting the Center for Academic Advisement and Student Success.

 

The full academic calendar, including many other important dates, and the undergraduate final exam “grid” are available on the Office of the Registrar’s website.

 

Course Information

Instructor: Michelle Radtke

Michelle.Radtke@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Office Hours: Tuesday, 9:30-10:30

Room: Boylan 2311

English 1010

TR8AFall 2019

T & Thurs 8:00-9:15

Room: 3153

 

Readings

Schedule

Course Schedule

(Subject to Change)

 

Week 1

Tuesday 8/27 – Introduction

Thursday 8/29 – Becoming

 

Week 2

Tuesday 9/3 – Becoming

Thursday 9/5 – No Class

 

Week 3

Tuesday 9/10 – Becoming

Summary 1 Due

Thursday 9/12 – Becoming

 

Week 4

Tuesday 9/17 - Colson Whitehead “City Limits”      

Summary 2 Due

Thursday 9/19 – Personal Narrative draft due – in class peer reviews

            LOOP Tour form of completion due (Library Online Orientation Program)

 

Week 5

Tuesday 9/24 –George Orwell "Politics and the English language".

Thursday 9/26 – George Saunders “Braindead Megaphone.”

 

 

 

Week 6

Tuesday 10/1 – No Class

Thursday 10/3 – Rachel Carson “The Obligation to Endure.”

Personal Narrative Essay due

 

Week 7

Tuesday 10/8 – No Class

Thursday 10/10 - David Foster Wallace “Consider the Lobster”

 

Week 8

Tuesday 10/15 – David Foster Wallace “Consider the Lobster”, Errol Morris “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire”

Thursday 10/17 – Susan Sontag “Regarding the Pain of Others”

 

Week 9

Tuesday 10/22 - Lars Eighner, “On Dumpster Diving.” Stephen Marche “We Are Not All Created Equal: The Truth About the American Class System.”

Thursday 10/24 - Argumentative Essay Draft Due – in class peer reviews

 

Week 10

Tuesday 10/29 – Roxane Gay “Peculiar Benefits.”

Thursday 10/31 – Ta-Nehisi, Coates, “The Case for Reparations.”

 

Week 11

Tuesday 11/5 –– Ta-Nehisi, Coates, “The Case for Reparations.”

Thursday 11/7 - Martin Luther King Jr “I have a Dream.” Brent Staples "Confederate Memorials as Instruments of Racial Terror"

Argumentative Essay Due

 

Week 12

Tuesday 11/12 – Roxane Gay “The Careless Language of Sexual Violence.”

Thursday 10/14 - Rebecca Solnit “Men Explain Things to me.”

 

Week 13:

Tuesday 11/19 – Nicholas Carr  “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains”

Thursday 11/21 – In Class Compare and Contrast Essay Due

 

 

Week 14:

Tuesday 11/26 - Compare and Contrast draft due – in class peer reviews

Thursday 11/28 – No Class

 

Week 15:

Tuesday 12/3 – Compare and contrast essay help

Thursday 12/5 –Lakshmi Chaudhry “Mirror, Mirror on the Web” Mona Eltahawy "Twitterholics Anonymous"

            Compare and Contrast Essay Due

 

Week 16:

Tuesday 12/10 – In-class preparation for exam

Thursday 12/12 – In-class preparation for exam*

*Exam date TBD