COA ENG 1A Fall 2011
Professor Wanda Sabir
40008 Lec 11:00-11:50 MTWTh Sabir C 211 Alameda
Class Meetings: August 22-Dec. 7; No classes: 9/5; 11/24
Final Exam: 10-12, Wednesday, Dec.14 (Portfolios due via e-mail)
Drop dates: Sept. 2 (w/refund), Sept. 17 (w/out a W), Nov. 23 (w/W).
Syllabus for English 1A: College Composition and Reading
http://professorwandasposse.blogspot.com/
English 1A is the first transferable college writing course. Don’t get nervous, hopefully you took English 201 and passed with a B or better. Perhaps you’re fresh out of high school, did okay on the placement exam and voila wound up here. Maybe you’re returning to college after a significant hiatus and aren’t confident in your writing, yet once again passed that placement exam, which, if you recall, tested grammar not writing.
Hang in there and you’ll do fine in the class if you:
1. Know what an essay is
2. Have written one before
3. Are ready to commit yourself to the task of writing
Plan to have a challenging, yet intellectually stimulating 18 weeks, which I hope you begin by setting goals for yourself. Make a schedule and join or create a study group. Writing is a social activity, especially the type of writing you’ll be doing here. We always consider our audience, have purpose or reason to write, and use research to substantiate our claims, even those we are considered experts in.
I believe we’re supposed to write about 8000 words or so at this level course. This includes drafts. What this amounts to is time at home writing, time in the library researching, reading documents to increase your facility with the ideas or themes your are contemplating, before you once again sit at your desk writing, revising, and writing some more.
Writing is a lonely process. No one can write for you. The social aspect comes into play once you are finished and you have an opportunity to share.
I thought it might be interesting to look at the life of one of rap’s more well-known artists, Tupac Amaru Shakur (25), who died before we had a chance to know the fullness of his genius. We’ll be reading a memoir about his mother Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary by Jasmine Guy; a scholar’s research: Holler if You Hear Me by Michael Eric Dyson, Ph.D.; and a collection of poetry by the subject: The Rose That Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur. We will look at his music as well in a collection pulled from some of his more popular songs. Students can suggest others.
The questions and analysis will come out of the discussions and listening parties as we look for themes in the work and try to reconstruct the artist’s life through his songs which were quite autobiographical. Tupac loved his mother, but he was angry with her too. We will describe this relationship and how mother and son were able to mend it. Forgiveness is preached, however, it takes a certain kind of personality to actually let bygones be bygones. Tupac personified “thug life.” He had old ladies tattooing his TL on their arms. What is a thug and why did Tupac celebrate it? Questions of heredity certainly come up when one looks at Tupac’s trajectory. Was the man he became his choice or were there other issues at play such as heredity? What about his environment? We will look at the concept: nature vs. nurture.
Reading Logs for Analysis
Keep a reading log for all books. Discussion groups will meet each week. Students will also keep a reading log/journal/notes with key ideas outlined for each discussion section, along with vocabulary and key arguments listed, with primary writing strategies employed: description, process analysis, narration, argument, cause and effect, compare and contrast, definition, problem solving.
We will write an essay based on the themes from each book. You will also write a research essay. In the past, I have recommended Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers as the grammar style book of choice. I still like the text, but Stewart Pidd Hates English also has the same information, so for this semester, you will not need to purchase Hacker, Pidd will suffice. You will also need a notebook for in-class writing with a folder for handouts. You also need a couple of ink pens, a pencil with an eraser, a hole puncher, and a stapler.
Stewart Pidd will provide a context for essay writing which will hopefully allow students the opportunity to become conversant about the writing process and use grammar in context, as well as, employ MLA documentation. Keep a reading log for the Dyson book noting key ideas, themes, vocabulary, questions and an analysis of primary writing strategies employed: description, process analysis, narration, argument, cause and effect, compare and contrast, definition, problem solving.
For English 1A SPHE is a review of grammar and essay writing skills students should be familiar with already. I hope we can wiz through the book in six weeks, 1-essay per week. If you are struggling, come by my office for extra assistance. We have a study hour each Thursday 12-1 p.m. in D-216. Students can also get help in the Writing Center and Tutoring Center in the Learning Resources Center (LRC), located on the second level of the L-bldg. where the library is located. To use these services students have to enroll in the free class LRNE 501 (Supervised Tutoring). It takes 24 hours for the class to become effective, so enroll now.
For students have already completed SPHE in another course, you only have to take the quizzes and write essay exams. If said students make errors on their class essays: Dyson, Guy, etc., they have to complete correction essays in addition to revising the essay due.
Research Project
Your research project will entail finding a person here in Northern California who is a social entrepreneur. The person has to be alive. I would like you, if possible to look at an artist, who is using their creative work for social change. The paper will be about 4-5 pages. This will include a works cited page and bibliography.
New Heroes
Visit http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/ to read about social entrepreneurs. PBS.org has another program call: Frontline World which also explores social entrepreneurship. Visit: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/socialentrepreneurs.html. We will explore this assignment more, later in the course.
Why socially responsible economics?
Too often people feel helpless or hopeless when there is a lot you can do as an individual as soon as you realize the answer lies inside of you. If possible choose an entrepreneur who lives in Northern California, someone you’d like to interview and perhaps meet. Students can work on the project together, share resources. Each person has to write his or her own paper, but you can make a group presentation if you like. (If you have taken a class from me in the past, chose another subject.)
We will keep a reading log. We’ll develop Literature Circles and see how that works this semester. Discussion groups will meet each week. Students will also keep a reading log/journal/notes with key ideas outlined for each discussion section, along with themes which arise, vocabulary and key arguments, along with primary writing strategies employed: description, process analysis, narration, argument, cause and effect, compare and contrast, definition, problem solving. There are roles for the participants: Discussion Director, Vocabulary Enricher, Summarizer, Literary Luminary, and others. The roles are fluid and each week students can switch roles, so that by the end of the text, everyone will have had an opportunity to try several if not all performance hats.
At the completion of each text Holler If You Hear Me and Evolution of a Revolutionary we will write a short essay about the work using the books as a primary source plus minimally 2-3 other sources utilizing other mediums. The Rose That Grew from Concrete will give us material for freewrites and discussions.
Jot down briefly what your goals are this semester. List them in order of importance.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Email the following data to me: coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com
Your name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail answer, along with answers to the following questions. This is also due Tuesday, August 24, 2011:
What strengths do you bring to the class? What skills or knowledge would you like to leave with once the class ends? What can I do to help you achieve this? Is there anything I need to know, such as a hidden disability, childcare issues, etc., which might jeopardize this goal?
Grading
Essays: 25 percent (including Stewart Pidd essay assignments)
Daily-Weekly journals and/or freewrites posted on blog: 15 percent
This includes SPHE assignments in book
Midterm: 15 percent (SPHE)
Final: 15 percent (Social Entrepreneur Essay Portfolio, plus presentation)
Research Essay/Presentation: 15 percent
Portfolio: 15 percent
The Writing Center
The cyber-essays posted on the class blog are practice analytical essays. Initially, plan to visit the Writing Center (L-234-231, (510) 748-2132) weekly. Have a teacher evaluate your essays for form and content; the aim is lucid, precise, and clear prose.
This is a portfolio course, so save all of your work. You can average the grades to see how to weigh the various components. Participation is included in the daily exercises and homework portion of the grade, so if your attendance is exemplary, yet you say nothing the entire 18 weeks, you lose percentage points.
Each book will have collected writings or essays. This in itself is its own “portfolio.” The essays which take their themes from the books are practice essays, and are about a fourth of your grade, your midterm and final are another fourth and your portfolio is the final fourth. (Save all of your work.) You can average the grades to see how to weigh the various components.
The Writing Center is a great place to get one-on-on assistance on your essays, from brainstorming and planning the essays, to critique in areas like clarity, organization, clearly stated thesis, evidence or support, logical conclusions, and grammatical problems. In the Writing Center there are ancillary materials for student use. These writing programs build strong writing muscles. The Bedford Handbook on-line, Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers on-line, Townsend Press, and other such computer and cyber-based resources are a few of the many databases available. There is also an Open Lab for checking e-mail, a Math Lab. All academic labs are located in the Learning Resource Center (LRC) or library. The Cyber Café is located in the F-bldg.
Again, students need a student ID to use the labs and to check out books. The IDs are free. Ask in Student Services (A-bldg.) where photos are taken.
Have a tutor of teacher sign off on your essays before you turn them in; if you have a “R,” which means revision necessary for a grade or “NC” which means “no credit,” you have to go to the lab and revise the essay with a tutor or teacher before you return both the graded original and the revision (with signature) to me. Revise does not mean “rewrite,” it means to “see again.”
When getting assistance on an essay, the teacher or tutor is not an editor, so have questions prepared for them to make best use of the 15-20 minute session in the Lab. I will give you a handout which looks at 5 areas of the essay you can use as a guide when shaping your questions for your peer review sessions. Please use these guidelines when planning your discussions with me also.
For more specific assistance, sign up for one-on-one tutoring, another free service. For those of you on other campuses, you can get assistance at the Merritt College’s Writing Center, as well as Laney College’s Writing Labs.
Correction Essays & Essay Narratives
All essay assignments you receive comments on have to be revised prior to resubmission; included with the revision is a student narrative to me regarding your understanding of what needed to be done, that is, a detailed list of the error(s) and its correction; a student can prepare this as a part of the Lab visit, especially if said student is unclear over what steps to take. Cite from a scholarly source the rule and recommendations for its correction.
Students can also visit me in office hours for assistance; again, prepare your questions in advance to best make use of the time. Do not leave class without understanding the comments on a paper. I don’t mind reviewing them with you.
Student Learning Outcomes
English language fluency in writing and reading; a certain comfort and ease with the language; confidence and skillful application of literary skills associated with academic writing. Familiarity if not mastery of the rhetorical styles used in argumentation, exposition and narration will be addressed in this class and is a key student learning outcome (SLO).
We will be evaluating what we know and how we came to know what we know, a field called epistemology or the study of knowledge. Granted, the perspective is western culture which eliminates the values of the majority populations, so-called underdeveloped or undeveloped countries or cultures. Let us not fall into typical superiority traps. Try to maintain a mental elasticity and a willingness to let go of concepts which not only limit your growth as an intelligent being, but put you at a distinct disadvantage as a species.
This is a highly charged and potentially revolutionary process - critical thinking. The process of evaluating all that you swallowed without chewing up to now is possibly even dangerous. This is one of the problems with bigotry; it’s easier to go with tradition than toss it, and create a new, more just, alternative protocol.
More on grades, and portfolio
We will be honest with one another. Grades are not necessarily the best response to work; grades do not take into consideration the effort or time spent, only whether or not students can demonstrate mastery of a skill – in this case: essay writing. Grades are an approximation, arbitrary at best, no matter how many safeguards one tries to put in place to avoid such ambiguity. Suffice it to say, your portfolio will illustrate your competence. It will represent your progress, your success or failure this session in meeting your goal.
In past semesters, students have skipped the portfolio and/or the final. Neither is optional.
Office Hours
I’d like to wish everyone much success. I am available for consultation on Wednesdays, 9:30-11:00 AM and on MW by appointment. I am also available after 3:30 PM Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment. My office is located in the D-216 suite. My campus number is (510) 748-2131, however, I don’t have an office number yet. I will share that with students later this month or next. My email again is: coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com. Let me know the day before, if possible, when you’d like to meet with me. I am more of a phone person. Texts are fine. Ask me for my cell phone number. I do not mind sharing it with you.
I am a phone person, especially on weekends, so take time to exchange email and phone numbers with classmates (2), so if you have a concern, it can be addressed more expeditiously. Again study groups are recommended, especially for those students finding the readings difficult; don’t forget, you can also discuss the readings as a group in the Lab with a teacher or tutor acting as facilitator.
More on Logs
Keep a vocabulary log for the semester and an error chart (taken from comments on essay assignments). List the words you need to look up in the dictionary, also list where you first encountered them: page, book and definition, also use the word in a sentence. You will turn this in with your portfolio.
Students are expected to complete their work on time. If you need more time on an assignment, discuss this with me in advance, to keep full credit. You lose credit each day an assignment is late and certain assignments, such as in-class essays cannot be made up. All assignments prepared outside of class are to be typed, 12-pt. font, double-spaced lines, indentations on paragraphs, 1-inch margins around the written work. See SPHE.
Cheating
Plagiarism is ethically abhorrent, and if any student tries to take credit for work authored by another person the result will be a failed grade on the assignment and possibly a failed grade in the course if this is attempted again. This is a graded course. There might be an option to take this course C/NC. See Admissions and Records.
Textbooks Recap:
Pollitt, Gary. Craig Baker. Stewart Pidd Hates English: Grammar, Punctuation, and Writing Exercises. California: Attack the Text Publishing, 2008. ISBN: 13: 978-0-9755923-4-2
Shakur, Tupac Amaru. The Rose that Grew from Concrete. Pocket Books. 1999. ISBN: 0-671-02844-2
Jasmine Guy. Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary. Atria Books. 2004. ISBN: 0-7434-7054-0
Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler If You Hear Me. Basic Civitas Books. 2001. ISBN: 0-465-01756-8 (or latest edition)
Hacker, Diana. Rules for Writers. Fourth or Fifth edition. Bedford/St. Martins.
(Required for those students who have completed Pidd.)
Students also need a dictionary. I recommend: The American Heritage Dictionary. Fourth Edition.
The Prepared Student also needs...
Along with a dictionary, the prepared student needs pens with blue or black ink, along with a pencil for annotating texts, paper, a stapler or paper clips, a jump drive to save work from college computers, a notebook, three hole punch, a folder for work-in-progress, and a divided binder to keep materials together.
Also stay abreast of the news. Buy a daily paper. Listen to alternative radio: KPFA 94.1 FM (Hard Knock), KQED 88.5, KALW 91.7. Visit news websites: AllAfrica.com, Al Jazeera, CNN.com, AlterNet.org, DemocracyNow.org, FlashPoints.org, CBS 60Minutes.
The syllabus and course schedule is subject to change, at the instructor's discretion, so stay loose and flexible.
