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ENGL 1010: English Composition-Student Version (2018-19 Archive): Duckworth, Katherine

2018-2019 Archive Copy of ENG 1010: English Composition-Student Version

Course Objectives

Bulletin 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. During this course students will practice and perfect strategies for writing expository essays and for engaging with different kinds of texts. Students will read actively and think critically about course reading and assigned writing. Students will write both in and out of class, with an emphasis on drafting and revision. Class will be split between writing, working in groups, and discussing readings and student work. Students will focus on the following: reading critically and writing analytically; developing and supporting theses and arguments; summarizing, paraphrasing, and synthesizing information from a variety of sources; structuring persuasive and cohesive essays; incorporating and integrating evidence into their writing using MLA documentation; editing and revising; using appropriate conventions of language, including correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Course Objectives

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

  • Read and think critically
  • Understand how language operates
  • Express ideas–both orally and in writing–correctly, cogently, persuasively, and in conformity with the conventions of the discipline
  • Conduct research

Course Requirements and Policies

Course Requirements & Policies 

Materials

  1. Freshman Common Reading: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah (required)
  2. Course Packet (Available Online)

Attendance & Punctuality: If you miss more than four classes, you will receive no credit for participation. Two latenesses 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 during class. The use of cellphones and other electronics is not permitted in the classroom, except under exceptional circumstances.

Students should inform the instructor about these circumstances.

 

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

Assignments:

 

Essays & Other Writing: Students will write the following: a personal narrative (750-1000 words), three summaries (250-500 words each), an argumentative essay (1000-1250 words), and a compare and contrast essay (1000-1250 words). Students will revise each of these essays. 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 journal entries, in-class writing, and reading responses. You will have the opportunity to replace one essay grade at the end of the term with an essay topic of your choice based on any readings assigned throughout the semester.

NOTE: Essays are due at the beginning of class. The instructor will not accept essays submitted 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-

 

93-100

90-92

B+

B

B-

88-89

83-87

80-82

C+

C

C-

78-79

73-77

70-72

D+

D

D-

68-69

63-67

60-62

F

 

 

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

 

  • Monday, August 27                 Weekday classes begin
  • Sunday, September 2               Last day to add a course
  • Wednesday, September 5         Conversion Day; Classes follow a Monday Schedule, Last day to file for elective course Pass/Fail
  • Saturday, September 8 Weekend classes begin
  • Sunday, September 16 Last day to drop a course without a grade.
  • Tuesday, November 6 Last day to withdraw from course with a W (non-penalty) grade.

 

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

Brooklyn College, The City University of New York

English 1010: Fall 2018                                                  

Professor Katherine Duckworth

katherine.aduckworth@gmail.com

3 hours and conference; 3 credits Office Hours: W, 5:00-6:00pm

Course Schedule

Course Schedule

Syllabus subject to change

* hw listed on the syllabus is due on the following class meeting, not the listed date.

Mon Aug. 27: Introduction to course and In-Class Essay hw: Americanah pages tbd, summary

Wed Aug. 29: Class discussion on Adichie’s Americanah

hw: Americanah pages tbd

Mon Sept. 2: NO CLASS

Wed Sept. 4: Americanah continued/ introduction to personal narratives / in class reading: Excerpt from Solnit’s Men Explain Things to Me

hw: essay draft 1 (personal narrative)

Mon Sept. 10: No Class

Wed Sept. 12: Due: Essay Draft 1 / in-class peer review

hw: 1 page summary of Peculiar Benefits, 1 page summary We Are Not All Created Equal

Mon Sept. 17: Class discussion - Peculiar Benefits, We Are Not All Created Equal

hw: final draft essay 1, read Soto’s Looking for Work

Wed Sept. 19: NO CLASS

Mon Sept. 24: Discuss Soto’s Looking for Work hw: Cormac’s If Nature Had Rights summary Due: Essay 1

Wed Sept. 26: Cormac’s If Nature Had Rights

Mon Oct. 1: Morris’s Liar Liar Pants on Fire

Wed Oct. 3: Sontag’s Regarding the Pain of Others

hw: Anyon’s Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work summary

Mon Oct. 8: No Class

Wed Oct. 10: Analytical Writing / Discussing Anyon’s Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work

hw: essay 2 draft/ Read Coates’ The Case for Reparations

Mon Oct. 15: Coates’ The Case for Reparations

Wed Oct. 17: Due: essay 2 draft, peer review & revisions

Mon Oct. 22: Comparative Essay Structures / in-class documentary Triple Hate 

hw: final draft essay 2

Wed Oct. 24: Due: final draft essay 2, Furgurson’s The End of History

hw: read Staples’ Confederate Memorials as Instruments of Racial Terror, short analysis of Staples and Furgurson

Mon Oct. 29: Discuss Staples and Furgurson, in-class reflections, revisit Coates

Wed Oct. 31: In-class writing strategies / begin essay 3 in class

Mon Nov. 5: Due: Essay 3 draft, peer review/group work with quotations Wed Nov. 7: Finish Triple Hate Documentary / Explanation vs. Persuasion Mon Nov. 12: work on essay 3 final draft in class

Wed Nov. 14: Due: essay 3 final draft / in-class writing Mon Nov. 19: Introduction to research & MLA citation hw: Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son summary

Wed Nov. 21: NO CLASS

Mon Nov. 26 Discuss Notes of a Native Son

Wed. Nov. 28: – In class comparative essay

Mon. Dec. 3: Peer review and revisions/ Conferences

Wed. Dec. 5: Sample student essays Mon Dec. 10: Final Exam Prep Mon Dec. 15: Final Exam Prep

FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE TBD