Course Overview
Welcome to college-level composition. In this course we will be exploring a variety of texts, granting as much weight to form as to content. What we mine from this exploration you will then use to craft vehicles for your own thoughts and ideas, using the texts that we read as platforms for the essays that you will be writing in conversation with those texts. In the arena of the written word, you will sharpen your critical thinking skills and discover within new tools and modes of analysis that will serve you as well inside the halls of academia as they will in the world at large.
Course Objectives
A successful completion of this course means that you will be able to:
Required Texts
Course Work for the Semester
Submission Guidelines
With the exception of the journal and the in-class essay, all written work that you submit must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman (or similar) font, double-spaced, and formatted with one-inch margins.
Course Requirements and Policies
A Note on Reading
I neither expect nor require that everyone in this class necessarily agrees with or likes all of the texts that we read throughout. That is ok. What I do expect and require is that you actively engage with each of the texts that we read. If you like it, say why, and if you don’t, say why. If you agree with a text, or even just certain points in a text, craft an argument for why that text or those certain points are right. If you disagree with a text or certain points in a text, craft an argument for why you disagree. With each text, examine why it succeeds or fails, why the text works for what the author has set out to accomplish with it, or why it falls short. We are interested in the ideas in these writings, and those ideas will be given plenty of discussion, but we are also interested in the mechanics of these texts—in the craft of the written word—and we will be giving equal consideration to both form and content.
A Note on Discussions
It is my hope and expectation that we will be having many lively, in-depth discussions regarding the texts that we have read and about which we will write. In the course of these discussions, different opinions and opposing arguments may arise. It is my requirement that participation in classroom discussion is respectful, reasoned and logical to the best of your abilities, and embraces the knowledge that is born of the dialectic—that is, a method of examining and discussing opposing ideas in order to find the truth. As you craft arguments around the texts, I welcome passionate defenses of those arguments, but any rhetoric that is hateful, bigoted, and vitriolic not only creates a threatening atmosphere that suppresses the growth of knowledge, it is also unreasoned, will absolutely not be tolerated, and could lead to a diminished grade and failure of the course.
Grading
C- is the lowest possible passing grade for the course. English Department policy states that a student with a final grade below a C- receive an N/C (no credit); the student may take the course up to three times. An F grade will be given in the case of too many absences or failure to complete assignments. A grade of NC may be given if the student’s work is not at a passing level, but the student has good attendance and has completed all assignments. Students receiving an F or an NC grade must retake English 1010; students may take English 1010 up to three times.
|
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 |
|
|
How your grade for the class is determined:
Essays: 60% of your grade
Essay 1 – 10% Essay 2 – 15%
Essay 3 - 15% In-class Essay- 10%
Summaries-10%
Final Exam: 20% of your final grade.
Journal and Other Assignments: 10% of your final grade
Participation and Effort: 10% of your final grade
Resources
Office Hours: I encourage you to use my office hours so that we can discuss your work and any questions you have. I am also happy to find another time to meet with you if you are unable to come to my office hours.
Help with Writing: The Learning Center (1300 Boylan) has writing tutors available to help you with your writing on both a drop-in and ongoing basis.
Students with Disabilities: In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with the Center for Student Disability Services. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at 718-951-5538. If you have already registered with the Center for Student Disability Services, please provide me with the course accommodation form and discuss your specific accommodation with me.
CUNY Citizenship Now: If you have questions about immigration status or DACA for yourself or for someone else, please visit the website of CUNY Citizenship Now: http://www1.cuny.edu/sites/citizenship-now/
“CUNY Citizenship Now! provides free, high quality, and confidential immigration law services to help individuals and families on their path to U.S. citizenship. Our attorneys and paralegals offer one-on-one consultations to assess participants’ eligibility for legal benefits and assist them in applying when qualified.”
English 1010
Instructor: Joshua Wright
Fall 2018
Room: 4315B
MW 8:00- 9:15 A.M.
email: joshuacwright23@gmail.com
Office 2311B
Office Hours: Wednesday 10-11 A.M.
Class Schedule
(Please note: Class schedule is subject to change)
Week One
Mon. Aug. 27 In Class:
-Introductions
-Syllabus overview
-First Journal Free-write
Wed. Aug. 29 Reading Due: First third of Americanah
Week Two
Mon. Sept. 3 ***No Class***
Wed. Sept. 5 Reading Due: Second third of Americanah
Week Three
Mon. Sept. 10 ***No Class***
Wed. Sept. 12 Reading Due: Last third of Americanah
Assignment Due: First Draft of Essay 1: Personal Narrative (Bring Two Copies for Peer Discussion)
Week Four
Mon. Sept. 17 Reading Due: Rachel Carson: “The Obligation to Endure”
Cormac Cullinan: “If Nature Had Rights”
Wed. Sept. 19 ***No Class***
Week Five
Mon. Sept. 24 Reading Due: Errol Morris: “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire”
Susan Sontag: “Regarding the Pain of Others”
Wed. Sept. 26 Assignment Due: Final Draft of Essay 1
Week Six
Mon. Oct. 1 Reading Due: Akiba Solomon: “Thugs, Students, Rioters, Fans: Media’s Subtle Racism in Unrest Coverage”
Brent Staples: “Confederate Memorials as Instruments of Racial Terror”
Wed. Oct. 3 Reading Due: David Foster Wallace: “Consider the
Lobster”
Assignment Due: Summary 1
Week Seven
Mon. Oct. 8 ***No Classes***
Wed. Oct. 10 Reading Due: Edwidge Danticat: “Another Country”
Anthony Appiah: “The Case for Contamination”
Week Eight
Mon. Oct. 15 Reading Due: Mona Eltahawy: “Twitterholics
Anonymous”
Sherry Turkle: “Stop Googlng. Let’s Talk”
Wed. Oct. 17 Assignment Due: First Draft of Essay 2: Argument
Week Nine
Mon. Oct. 22 Reading Due: Jonathan Swift: “A Modest Proposal”
Martin Luther King Jr.: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Wed. Oct. 24 Assignment Due: Summary 2
Reading Due: Ta-Nehisi Coates: “The Case for Reparations”
Week Ten
Mon. Oct. 29 Reading Due: George Saunders: “The Brain-dead Megaphone”
Wed. Oct. 31 Assignment Due: Final Draft of Essay 2
Week Eleven
Mon. Nov. 5 Reading Due: George Orwell: “Politics and the English Language
Wed. Nov. 7 Reading Due: Matthew Crawford: “The Case for Working with Your Hands”
Week Twelve
Mon. Nov. 12 Reading Due: Jean Anyon: “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”
Wed. Nov. 14 Reading Due: Gloria Anzaldua: “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
Week Thirteen
Mon. Nov. 19 Reading Due: John Taylor Gatto: “Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids and Why”
Wed. Nov. 21 Assignment Due: Outline for Essay 3
Week Fourteen
Mon. Nov. 26 Reading Due: Manuel Munoz: “Leave Your Name at the Border”
Wed. Nov. 28 Assignment Due: First Draft of Essay Three: Compare and Contrast (Bring two copies for peer discussion)
Week Fifteen
Mon. Dec. 3 Assignment Due: In-class Essay (Be prepared to compare/contrast two related texts of your choosing—we will discuss this further)
Wed. Dec. 5 Final Exam Prep
Week Sixteen
Mon. Dec. 10 Assignment Due: Final Draft of Essay 3
Wed. Dec 12 Assignment Due: Class Reflection
Final Exam Prep/Group discussion