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 begin to think about writing as a process of thinking and expression of meaning. Students will practice 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, revision and editing. 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:
Course Requirements & Policies
Materials
Attendance & Punctuality: If you miss more than four classes, you will receive no credit for participation. If you are late for two classes, it will count 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 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 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), two summaries (250-500 words each), an argumentative essay (1000-1250 words), 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.
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
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.
Instructor: Michelle Radtke
Michelle.Radtke@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Phone: 917 846 3875
Office Hours: Wednesday, 12:15-1:15
Room: Boylan 2311
English 1010
Fall 2018
M & W 11:00-12:15
Room: Boylan 4311
Course Schedule
(Subject to Change)
Week 1
Monday 8/27 – Introduction
Wednesday 8/29 – Americanah
Week 2
Monday 9/3 – Labor Day, No Class
Wednesday 9/5 Americanah
Summary 1 Due
Week 3
Monday 9/10 – No class
Wednesday 9/12 – Cristina Henriquez “Lunch” and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “Real Food”
Summary 2 Due
Week 4
Monday 9/17 – Colson Whitehead “City Limits”
Personal Narrative draft due – in class peer reviews
Summary 1 Due
Wednesday 9/19 – No Class
Week 5
Monday 9/24 –George Orwell "Politics and the English language".
Wednesday 9/26 – George Saunders “Braindead Megaphone.”
Week 6
Monday 10/1 - Rachel Carson “The Obligation to Endure.”
Personal Narrative Essay due
Wednesday 10/3 – Roxane Gay “Peculiar Benefits.”
Week 7
Monday 10/8 – No Class
Wednesday 10/10 - Stephen Marche “We Are Not All Created Equal: The Truth About the American Class System”, Lars Eighner, “On Dumpster Diving.”
Week 8
Monday 10/15 - David Foster Wallace “Consider the Lobster”
Wednesday 10/17 – Anthony Appiah “The Case for Contamination”
Week 9
Monday 10/22 Argumentative Essay Draft Due – in class peer reviews
Wednesday 10/24 Brent Staples "Confederate Memorials as Instruments of Racial Terror"
Week 10
Monday 10/29 – Ta-Nehisi, Coates, “The Case for Reparations.”
Wednesday 10/31 – Martin Luther King Jr “I have a Dream.”
Week 11
Monday 11/5 – Solomon, Akiba “Thugs, Students, Rioters, Fans: Media’s Subtle Racism in Unrest Coverage”
Wednesday 11/7 Rebecca Solnit “Men Explain Things to me.”
Argumentative Essay Due
Summary 2 Due
Week 12
Monday 11/12 – Susan Sontag “Regarding the Pain of Others”
Wednesday 10/14 – Errol Morris “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire”
Week 13:
Monday 11/19 – Nicholas Carr “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains”
Wednesday 11/21 - Mona Eltahawy "Twitterholics Anonymous"
In Class Compare and Contrast Essay Due
Week 14:
Monday 11/26 – Compare and Contrast draft due – in class peer reviews
Wednesday 11/28 - Lakshmi Chaudhry “Mirror, Mirror on the Web”
Week 15:
Monday 12/3 – Ernest B. Furgurson “The End of History”
Wednesday 12/5 – Crawford, Matthew, “The Case for Working with Your Hands”
Compare and Contrast Essay Due
Week 16:
Monday 12/10 – In-class preparation for exam
Wednesday 12/12 – In-class preparation for exam*
*Exam date TBD
