Here are guidelines you can use for your notes.

A Reading Journal
from Reading to Write: Composition in Context by Peter Elias Sotiriou (9)

Critical Reading Framework

1. What is the selection saying, or what is it trying to prove?

2. What details are used to support what the selection is saying?

3. Are these details convincing?

4. If these details are not convincing, what is missing?

Critical reading is not passive reading. You should be reading with a pencil or highlighter in hand; underlining important words, phrases, sentences and making comments in the margins.


In your reading journal include some of the following:

1. List questions you may have about the reading

2. Discuss what you liked about the about the selection

3. State what you disliked about the selection

4. Comment on how this reading compares with other readings on this topic that you have read

5. List words or other terms that need defining, also terms that you can define but still don't understand the context used in the passage. Some words carry connotations connected to the culture of the characters and /or author which one might not appreciate or understand unless one is also an "insider."

6. Briefly summarize key concepts in the selection. One can also list themes.

7. List characters or key persons introduced in the section. A profile of the character is also helpful, one you can add to as the story develops.

In Diana Hacker's Rules for Writers see 5 (70-83) in 7th Ed. or 50c pages 401-402 (6th Ed.) The newer text is a better resource.

1. Freewrite

From The Rose That Grew from Concrete For Jada (89). Use in-text citation for the poem and a works cited for the post. For in-text citations, give the Line and the page number (Line 3, 89). I am not sure this is correct MLA, but it will help readers locate the quote.

Works Cited

Shakur, Tupac. "Jada." The Rose That Grew from Concrete. New York: First MTV Book/Pocket Book hardcover printing, 1999. 89.

2. MCE 1

3. On Respect Revisions

4. Guy book: Guy's Evolution of a Revolutionary--Notes, Literature Circles, Logs.

5. Homework: email me the scores for the MCE 1. give me the total score and scores by sections. Also make a proposal re: study using Hacker this semester.

You can also buy SPHE and come to my workshops.

Secondly, revise your On Respect essays. They are due to me Tuesday. Bring in a copy of the revised essay, your IPS and attached to the first draft. Write a short narrative--also attached that explains what you did and how you approached the revision.

Today in the early class we read from Guy's book and talked about the work. We meet tomorrow in A-232. Make sure if, you need a Permission Number that I give you one tomorrow. They expire Sunday, Sept. 2. If I forget, remind me.

Homework for the early class is to complete the chapter we started and write a reading log for the chapter. I mentioned that the log is notes and as long as it makes sense to you that's fine. Include vocabulary, passages you enjoy, questions, and when we separate into Literature Circles, notes for contribution to that dialogue.

Today in the early class we talked about the qualities of good writing. Homework was to use the Global Revision handout, which is from Hacker, to reflect on your in-class essays. Students are to complete an Initial Planning Sheet from the completed essay. We will talk more about this tomorrow.

In the second class, students shared their Adler essays, reviewed the questions together and then worked on the Writing with a Thesis package. On the exercises where students were to identify whether or not the prompt was a "good" thesis or not, if the group decided it was "not a good thesis," they had to craft a recommendation that was. We will share these tomorrow.
We covered pages 14-19--up to the letter of complaint.

Homework is to complete the assignments on the syllabus. Bring your books to class tomorrow--Guy and Shakur, oh and Hacker. The dictionary is also needed at each class.

Today we met in A-232 to make sure everyone knew how to access the blog and post. We completed or started Homework Assignment 2, which is a response to the syllabus. I told students that if they didn't finish they could post the response by the due date in the syllabus.

There was no special homework. I returned the essays written in-class last week to English 1A 8-8:50 AM. Tomorrow English 1A 11-11:50 AM will get theirs back. I didn't record the grades yet, so make sure you keep the original. I really liked some of them (smile).

The highest grade possible was check-plus. A check means the student is in the right place. A check minus means check with me, because the writing is weak.

Grading is subjective. I try to be objective, so even when I do not agree with an argument, as long as the evidence supports the claim or thesis and it is logical, the student gets a passing grade. Race, class and gender are all hot topics. Often it is hard to see beyond one's experience(s), especially when one has not had the experiences depicted in an argument, which was the case for a few students re: Chideya's "On Race."

Empathy is hard when one cannot fathom the depth of a certain experience. In such cases, especially when someone is credible like Farai Chideya--I would just give it to her. Do a background search and read her credentials, if you doubt me. Barnard College is in the Ivy League category of private institutions. She wouldn't make up stuff just to sound fantastical, so those students who want to argue with her conclusions, the evidence such students sited just wasn't strong enough to sway the argument their way.

See Farai.com

Just as Chideya chose her battles; as writers one should also choose one's battles and know when one can agree to disagree--because you really don't know what she is talking about and might not ever have to experience what she relates to us in her story.

We will meet in C-113 and A-202 in the morning. I am going to see if A-232 is available on Thursdays so we can meet there beginning this week.

Adler is the topic of discussion in the morning and perhaps Michael Jackson, whose birthday is Wednesday. Hurricane Katrina is the topic on Wednesday. I wish I could show you the film, Trouble the Water, but we don't have enough time.

We spoke briefly about what to do about the books and also about Permission Numbers. Buy the books. If you own the books, bring them to class tomorrow. If you don't have money, rent the books and those you can't rent, try the public library. You cannot take the class if you don't the materials. I can't make those who are already in the class buy the books, but I can fail them (smile).

We will also look at revision strategies for those essays tomorrow as well. Type the essay and resubmit with the original for Thursday. I asked some of you to expand the essay. Others were told to finish it. Still other students had grammar problems to correct. Then there were the students who didn't do the assignment.

Checks are like Credit/No Credit, they are passing grades or Cs.

If you want a Permission Number, get the books: Guy's Afeni Shakur, Tupac's Rose, Hacker's Rules for Writers, and They Say, I Say. We will make Pidd optional. I am going to offer a special workshop for those whose grammar is weak. For those who would like to run the book, get it.

I am ready to start. I am reviewing this week, but we start reading Guy this weekend.

Re: Pidd (I am skipping around), if you are excelling in the writing, I'll make copies of the quizzes which you will take. If you make any grammatical errors on the essays you submit you will have to write a correction essay not a narrative. Hacker is the resource for these essays, as she gives us the rules (smile).

I am going to give you the weekly schedule by Monday via Internet or sooner if I get it together. I am tailoring the class to who is in it. If there is anything you need re: writing skills, let me know if it isn't covered.

When you email me, identify the assignment in the subject line and always paste and attach the document. You can use any email address you like, just remember, I only have the college issued email address in my on-line roster, so check it or have it captured by your personal email. Gmail.com can do this.

I am very good at what I do, that is, write and if you take my advice, which is individualized, you will leave a better reader and writer than when you entered COA.

COA ENG 1A Fall 2012 Syllabus
Professor Wanda Sabir

English 1A Composition and Reading (2 classes)
Class code: 400002 Lec 08:00-8:50 AM MTWTh Sabir meets in A 202 at COA
Class code: 400008 Lec 11:00-11:50 AM MTWTh Sabir meets in C113 at COA

Class Meetings: August 20-Dec. 6; Holidays: 9/3; 11/12; 11/22-25
Final Exam Week: Dec. 10-14 (Portfolios due via e-mail by Dec. 14)
Last Day to file for PASS/NO PASS Grading Option for Regular Session Classes: Sept. 10
Drop dates: Sept. 1 (w/refund); Nov. 17 (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 in 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. In the past, if we used Pidd, students didn’t need to buy Hacker. This semester, you need both. Pidd will not suffice for the documentation portion of the course. Students 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. I will have a drop-in writing workshop beginning Monday, Sept. 8 for four (4) weeks running from 9:30-10:30 AM in the suite outside my office D-219. 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 beginning the week of Sept. 3. If you are struggling, come to the drop-in workshop and/or come by my office for extra assistance. 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 who 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.


Cyber-Assignments

These often daily assignments are posted on the class blog: http://professorwandasposse.blogspot.com/ To post comments select “ANONYMOUS,” and then type your name in the post. Students do not need to get Gmail accounts. I read the cyber-assignments. If a student wants specific feedback from me ask. For many of the assignments, students are to engage each other (min. 2) in conversation.

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 students, 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. 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 in the Literature Circles: 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 Evolution of a Revolutionary, Holler If You Hear Me, and Student Choice, 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.

Homework Assignment 1 due August 30, 2012:

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:

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?

Homework Assignment 2:

This is a Cyber-Assignment. Post on the blog by August 31, 2012 9 AM: Respond to the blog on the syllabus, so I have a record of your reading it. Make sure to include examples from the syllabus to support your points. Include your impressions, whether you think it is reasonable, any questions, and/or suggestions. This is our contract. I need to know that you read it and understand the agreement.


Grading
Writing Assignments: 20 percent (includes: Stewart Pidd essay assignments, Daily-Weekly journals and/or freewrites posted on blog ; SPHE assignments in book)
Evolution Essay: 10 percent
Midterm: 15 percent (Dyson)
Final: 25 percent (Social Entrepreneur Essay Portfolio, plus presentation)
Student Choice Book Report Essay/Presentation: 15 percent
Class 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

Reading:

Apply strategies for understanding and evaluating a range of professional and public writing and be able to express and synthesize the main ideas.

Writing:

Assess clearly in writing the tools and materials in the workplace and in the community and be able to suggest changes in order to increase personal and institutional effectiveness.

Critical Thinking:

Recognize messages and arguments in speech and text, analyze and critique such messages, and act accordingly.

Diverse Perspectives:

Expand and deepen understanding of diverse life experiences and differing perspectives, identify their impact on written and spoken communication, and express sensitivity toward the values and ideas of coworkers, family members, and local and global neighbors.

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, 9:30-10:50 AM and on MW by appointment. I am also available after 3:30 PM Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment. My office, D-219 is located in the D-216 suite. My campus number is (510) 748-2286. Leave messages on my cell number.

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.

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 and Hacker.

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 Peralta College Catalog.

Textbooks Recap:

Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler If You Hear Me. Basic Civitas Books, 2001. Print. ISBN: 0-465-01756-8 (or latest edition)

Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birenstein. They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, Second Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2010. Print.

Guy, Jasmine. Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary. Atria Books, 2004. Print. ISBN: 0-7434-7054-0

Hacker, Diane. Rules for Writers. 6-7th Editions. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins. Print.

Pollitt, Gary, and Craig Baker. Stewart Pidd Hates English: Grammar, Punctuation, and Writing Exercises. Fullerton: Attack the Text Publishing, 2011. Print.

Shakur, Tupac Amaru. The Rose that Grew from Concrete. Pocket Books,1999.Print. ISBN: 0-671-02844-2
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.

How to Mark a Book Cyber-Assignment

Homework is to write a 250 word summary of How to Mark a Book or respond to question 1 or 3 at the end of the essay in Topics for Writing.

No matter what your choice is, reflect on the type of reader and book owner you are (smile). Cite from Adler. Look at the questions at the end of the essay. We will talk more about the essay next week.

Post by tomorrow at 12 noon. Respond to two student posts here by Monday. Bring the Initial Planning Sheet to class next week, along with all other handouts. Bring a copy of your of the essay as well.

Today in class we complete the Multiple Choice Exam 1. There was a possible 50 correct. Students in the 11 AM class took the exams home to review as we finished at 11:50 exactly. Bring the exams to class Monday morning. In the 11 AM class we also reviewed the Writing with a Thesis handout and went over some of the exercises on page 9 (Exercises for Review).

Stewart Pidd Hates English is not in the college bookstore, nor is They Say, I Say. Buy Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary, The Rose that Grew from Concrete along with Hacker's Rules for Writers. We will start here and hopefully the other books will be in next week.

Homework is to write a summary of How to Mark a Book. Reflect on the type of reader and book owner you are (smile). Cite from Adler. Look at the questions at the end of the essay. We will talk more about the essay next week.

Post by tomorrow at 12 noon. Respond to two posts by Monday. Bring the Initial Planning Sheet to class next week, along with all other handouts. Bring a copy of your summary of the essay as well.

Today in class we wrote our first official essay (smile). Students in both classes labored intensely over their arguments. Paper tearing and in C-113, the fan was all to be heard. Students reluctantly turned in their essays as their names were called.

In the first class, I am not certain at this writing whether or not the second class will do the same, I received essays which were not double spaced. These essays in the future will receive -0- (zero) credit.

The assignment, to write a narrative essay on the topic "RESPECT." There were two options:

A. Write a 250-500 word essay response to Farai Chideya's My Word article. The response is a critique of her central argument. Use 2-3 citations to support your position.

B. Define "respect." Use your life experiences as evidence. You can also incorporate Chideya's as evidence, and use your article as well. Cite both in the works cited or bibliography.

Here is the article in MLA for the final page. Students are to set the paper up according to MLA guidelines for an essay: double spaced, 1 inch margins, a header beginning on page 1 and heading.

Works Cited/Bibliography (choose 1)

Chideya, Farai. "My Word: On Respect: Diary of a mad, sad, and ultimately glad black woman." Newsweek. 9 Oct. 2005: 28. (This is supposed to be a hanging indent, but I cannot show it here. Italics is used instead of underscore.)


Homework

There are three handouts. One was optional, but I think I will make it mandatory. Read How to Mark a Book. In The Writing with a Thesis package, skim the entire selection and read the first 10 pages. Do not do the exercises. We will complete those in class.

Bring the Initial Planning Sheet to class tomorrow. We will use this outline for all of our essays. If you write on it, you still have to type the answers to the questions. More on this later.

Today we reread the Farai Chideya article, "On Respect," then broke into groups to write a summary. Post the summaries here. Make sure you include all the writers' names.

Heading:

Name

Professor Wanda Sabir

English 1A

Day Month Year

Homework was to read the handout on "Thesis Sentences."

Today in the early morning class we all squeezed into the small space and shared thoughts on "respect:"

What is it?

Who deserves it?

What are the presenting indicators?

Why is respect important in a civilized society?

Is respect something only people deserve? How is respect tied into law? Do we respect our enemies? Why? Why not? How is fear tied into respect?

Do we respect entities we fear and disrespect those we do not fear? Can one buy respect?

Are certain entities born with respect? How do we "earn" respect and what happens if the bank account has insufficient funds? What if the bank is not FCC licensed? What if the currency is not accepted at the market or in the market where we trade? Can one live without respect? If one does not respect oneself, can one respect another?

If respect were one of the pillars of humanity, what would it be tied to? What others pillars would we erect along side it? What kind of geometrical shape would this building take? What could we call this metaphor?

This is my brainstorm.

Homework is the read and annotate the article from Newsweek by Farai Chideya, MyWord: On Respect (republished from San Francisco Magazine, October 9, 2005). I passed out copies. http://www.sfgate.com/magazine/article/On-Respect-Diary-of-a-mad-bad-sad-and-2603105.php

There were many students who were on the waiting list. I told them to come to class. Students who were not on the waiting list, I told to find another class. I shared the books. Buy them all except Stewart Pidd Hates English, unless your grammar is poor and you need the extra help. We will complete an exam this week and see where the class places. If the class does well, we can skip Pidd and just use Hacker.

Letter of Introduction
17 August 2012

Dear Students:

Today is the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey’s birthday. Born in St. Anne’s Parish in Jamaica, he is perhaps the most influential black leader of the 20^th century. I hosted a radio show this morning from home (programmed two hours earlier to accommodate Staff Dev.), before waking my nephew at 7 AM, pouring his cereal into a bowl, slicing a banana and taking the almond milk out of 'fridge and placing all of this, plus a spoon and a napkin on a silver tray, all the while continuing my conversation with my radio guest (smile).

Michael Ross, curator of the exhibit: "Race: Art Before Answers," (sfpl.org) never knew (smile). After my concluding remarks, I played on a song: Umoja’s “Yesterday’s Lettuce”—quite an image right? Put the phone which had been on mute on speaker as well, told Chris to take his cereal to the car, set the alarm, raced out the door and headed for the campus.

We were 5 minutes late.

I usually write a letter to students each semester, kind of an ice breaker—humanizing perhaps for students or faculty who really believe they walk on water (smile). This teacher doesn’t even swim, but she does love a good aerobic workout in the pool—Zumba, anyone? Ramadan ends this weekend as well—I didn’t fast, so I fed quite a few hungry people in Timbuktu, Republic of Mali and near Jack London Square I gave a woman, clearly high who asked for money for a burger. When my friend and I said we’d walk with her up to Nation’s, she said she wanted to get on a bus and sleep—that she was pregnant and tired. She was so full of game, she was lost on the board (smile). I couldn’t find any money so went to the ATM nearby and gave her a $20.00 bill and my good wishes. My friend said, she might not have noticed that it was a $20, she was so high. I hope she counts her change, but I’d already released that energy.

I hope your summer was fun and exciting and that you are prepared for classes. I’m sure, especially if you attended summer school, that this semester came sooner than anticipated. I taught English 1A this summer, so I feel rested and almost ready for the new academic year (smile).

My plan was to get this letter or at least the syllabus with the books we'd be using listed, so those of you who wanted to buy books on Half.com or Amazon -- a cheaper option than the college book store would be able too--that idea is gone, unless you use expedited shipping.

This semester we are back to looking at Tupac Shakur's life and the circumstances, some beyond his control that shaped the man and artist he became. A wordsmith, he certainly let the life he witnessed (often first hand) inform the palate he painted from. Not perfect, he like other young men felled before they reached maturity never had the opportunity to truly reflect on his life and make the transformation those who knew him well, knew he was capable of. Yet, for the flawed spirit journeying he was, certainly his life was absolutely remarkable and instructive, which is why he lives today and is the subject of scholarly discourse in books we will read such as Michael Eric Dyson’s Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur, Jasmine Guy's Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary, and Tupac Shakur's The Rose that Grew from Concrete. We will also use Diana Hacker's Rules for Writers and Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein's They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing.

I saw most of these books in the campus book store this week. I didn't see They Say or Stewart Pidd Hates English.

Many young people and elders too, find Tupac's work inspiring. Many also confuse the artist's vast work with his life. They see his work as solely autobiographical, rather then that of a gifted man who was creative. We will read scholarly work by Michael Eric Dyson.

We give human attributes to time, like “time runs, flies, and is fleeting,” time actually moves the same or not at all—maybe we’re the ones who are moving, our cosmic body of water this thing called time—invisible with visible consequences—lines, aches, sadness.

However we define this illusive phenomena—time, we need to make the most of our brief flash in the universe or on this planet earth. Given the finite nature of life, if we don’t take advantage of the time—I am intentionally redundant, to refine the talents we have been given or developed to get from here to yonder we might look up years later, older but no wiser.

Obviously, your presence in this classroom means you respect the passage of time and have decided to actively engage this process by not passively letting it pass you by. Your presence, says to me that you want to be an active not passive observer in this phenomena—aging, developing, growing, deteriorating. Each moment, we die a little, so this writing, this active engaging of oneself in one’s life is like planting a stake on the moon, a stake that says, I am here, I was here, and I will be here, even after I am no longer visible.

Life is a gift; we don’t want to waste it. That said, you might be here under duress. Sometimes life circumstances dictate that we try new activities, change old ways and develop more positive habits. Reflection, in the form of reading and writing is one of the most productive ways to spend one’s time, especially when one is trying to figure out what one plans to do with this finite time each of us has been given.

Well, before my 10 minutes on the computer are up let me tell you a bit about this semester and what you can expect:

The theme is hip hop culture in its purest form, by this I mean hip hop from its inception or the roots of the genre or musical form. In a few classes—I teach four classes, three preps: English 201, English 1A and English 1B, we explore the life of Tupac Shakur, a controversial, charismatic and creative architect in this movement. We will read books about him, reflect on him in our research and look for other artists who are also using their craft to better society—

Hip hop culture has influenced youth globally, and in my English 1B we will reflect on this global movement via the various aesthetic forms of expression: poetry, music, dance, theatre, spirituality, politics, visual arts, and media such as photography and journalism.

Though you might find the class fun, or entertaining, we are scholars, so the music and the videos, even the fieldtrips to concerts, all have a written component—the discourse is documented in what is called essays—short 250 word reflections and longer pieces depending on the assignment. We will have some assignments due on-line on the class blog called cyber-assignments and others will be due in class.

My office is D-219. I will give you my cell phone number. Office hours will probably be Monday-Wednesdays between 9-11 AM and perhaps Tuesdays-Thursdays after after 3:20 PM by appointment. I am not on campus on Fridays.

We will meet in a classroom in the A-bldg. with technology on Thursdays for the M-Th, T/Th classes. More on this later.

English 1A Composition and Reading (2 classes)
Class code: 400002 Lec 08:00-8:50 AM MTWTh Sabir meets in A 202 at COA
Class code: 400008 Lec 11:00-11:50 AM MTWTh Sabir meets in C113 at COA

English 1B Composition and Reading
Class code: 400009 Lec 09:00-10:50 AM TTh Sabir meets in A 200 at COA

English 201A Preparation for Composition and Reading
Class code: 40018 Lec 01:30-3:20 AM TTh Sabir meets in A 200 at COA

English 201B Preparation for Composition and Reading (meets concurrently with English 201A)
Class code: 40022 Lec 01:30-3:20 AM TTh Sabir meets in A 200 at COA

I highly recommend SPHE. It is required for English 201 and English 1A. Deceptively simple, the book is useful for all college writing levels as a refresher and also as an introduction to essay writing for college. SPHE gives students the language to talk about their writing and the skills to intentionally produce competent essays.

Students analyze the character Stewart Pidd’s essays and grade his essays by critiquing this work in essays they compose. The authors tell students how to write these essays and the assignments are prescriptive. Many essays are written in class and the exercises are also run in class. The book grows more complex as skills increase.

I received good feedback on the text from some of my more accomplished writers in English 1A over the years. Many still hate it though, and other students say they learned a lot about writing that they hadn’t know before. We are literally going to whiz through Pidd in English 1A. We will decide during the first two weeks if we need to complete Pidd or if student writing is up to standard already.

I have no tolerance for sloppy writing. Sloppy writing, my definition, is not writing that is illegible. Everything submitted formally is typed. No, sloppy writing is writing that is so drafty one needs a winter coat. There are grammatical errors left unchecked such as comma splices, run-on sentences, misspelled words, vague pronouns, subject-verb disagreement (smile), parallel structure errors, confused words, contractions, too many be-verbs and be-verb constructions like present participles, expletives, passive voice, subject complements, problems with comparisons. . . . All of this is covered in SPHE.

If English 1A fails the pre-tests, then we will run SPHE first. In English 201, we will definitely run SPHE first. We will use film, Rose and perhaps Evolution to liven up the often dull Pidd. Grammar is not exciting, but it is necessary.

We will start with the Jasmine Guy book and Tupac's collection of poetry, just because these books are easier to read. We will conclude with Dr. Dyson. I usually start with Dyson, students will have to let me know how this new system works.

The fourth book will be student choice. The book can be an autobiography or fiction related in some way thematically to our discussions this semester: personal transformation, choice vs. destiny, hip hop culture, the hero's journey, education for liberation, social movements like the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, Art for Social Change.

We will complete the first two books in the first month, then complete the last two books over a month as well, leaving the final month for research. The final paper is to identify and profile a social entrepreneur.

Keep all of your work, this is a portfolio based class. More on this later.

Academic Blogs
Here is a link to older posts in this topic http://professorwandasposse.blogspot.com/search?q=michael+eric+dyson (English 1A)

English 201
http://professorsabirsposse.blogspot.com/

English 1B
http://poeticsrapandtothersocialdiscourses.blogspot.com (academic blog)

I have not forgotten you (smile). In English 1B, we are not using Hip Hop culture as a theme. I have in the past, but not this semester. Students in this class will look at women's writing. The books have been used in past semesters, so you can check the academic blog for content.

We are practicing skills which you developed in English 1A. The difference is we are looking at literature and analyzing other genres, in our case: poetry, fiction and dramatic literature. I will be looking at the writing, but more than this I will be paying attention to the scholarship, which is why each essay has to include a citation from a scholarly article—4-10+ pages.

Your essays can use multiple styles . . . be creative. However, I need to know that you know how to write an essay, so save the creative work for last (smile). And if you plan to deviate from the norm, don’t surprise me, share the idea with me first.

We are going to read a book or play every few weeks. We start with short fiction and then move into a novel, dramatic literature, another novel, a poetry unit, which involves group research and a presentation. The final essay and presentation are due the final two weeks of class.

The selection can be two short poems or a longer one, a novel, another play or a short story.

Short Story
1. The Dance Boots by Linda Legarde Grover is the text for the short story unit. Each unit includes the definitive essay, plus in-class writing, group writing and blog assignments.

The Novel
2. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok and The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is the text for the fiction unit (2 essays), plus a film.

Dramatic Literature:
3. Ruined or some other selection (handout).

Poetry Unit
5. Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian Poetry edited by Neelanjana Bannerjee, Summi Kaipa, and Pireeni Sundaralingam

6. Final essay –student choice re: literature (book)

Textbooks Recap for English 1B:

Gardner, Janet E. Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide. Second Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.

Grover, Linda Legarde. The Dance Boots. Athens, Georgia and London: The University of Georgia Press, 2010. Print.

Kwok, Jean. Girl in Translation. New York: Riverhead Books, 2010. Print.

Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. Pantheon Books, 2007. Print. ISBN 0375714839

Bannerjee, Neelanjana and Summi Kaipa, Pireeni Sundaralingam. Ed. Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian Poetry. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2010. Print.

Students need a grammar/style text book. I recommend.
Hacker, Diane. Rules for Writers. 6-7th Editions. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins. Print.

A college dictionary. I recommend American Heritage.

Textbook Recap for English 1A

Dyson, Michael Eric. Holler If You Hear Me. Basic Civitas Books, 2001. Print. ISBN: 0-465-01756-8 (or latest edition)

Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birenstein. They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, Second Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2010. Print.

Guy, Jasmine. Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary. Atria Books, 2004. Print. ISBN: 0-7434-7054-0

Hacker, Diane. Rules for Writers. 6-7th Editions. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins. Print.

Pollitt, Gary, and Craig Baker. Stewart Pidd Hates English: Grammar, Punctuation, and Writing Exercises. Fullerton: Attack the Text Publishing, 2011. Print.

Shakur, Tupac Amaru. The Rose that Grew from Concrete. Pocket Books,1999. Print. ISBN: 0-671-02844-2

Students also need a dictionary. I recommend: The American Heritage Dictionary. Fourth Edition.

Textbook Recap for English 201

Shakur, Tupac Amaru. The Rose that Grew from Concrete. Pocket Books, 1999. ISBN: 0-671-02844-2

Guy, Jasmine. 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)

Pollitt, Gary, and Craig Baker. Stewart Pidd Hates English: Grammar, Punctuation, and Writing Exercises. Fullerton: Attack the Text Publishing, 2011. Print.

Students also need a dictionary. I recommend: The American Heritage Dictionary. Print. Fourth Edition.

It might seem as if I am the absent minded professor, but I am no Jerry Lewis. I expect students to come to class prepared, to be respectful of differing opinions, to not waste our time and to provide meaningful contributions to the discourse. It is fine sometimes to listen and ask questions.