English 1A Composition and Reading (3 classes)
Class code: 40002 Lec 08:00-8:50 AM MTWTh meets in A 202
Class code: 40007 Lec 10:00-10:50 AM MTWTh meets in D205
Class code: 40008 Lec 11:00-11:50 AM MTWTh meets in D205
Class code: 44043 Lec 09:00-9:50 AM MTWTh meets in CV200
Class Meetings: August 19-Dec. 5; Holidays: 9/2; 11/11; 11/28-Dec.1;
Final Exam Week: M-F, Dec. 9-13 (Portfolios due via e-mail by Friday, Dec. 13, 12 noon).
Drop
dates: Sept.1 (w/out “W” and a refund); Nov. 16 (w/W). Sept. 8: Last
day to file for PASS/NO PASS Grading Options for Regular Session Classes
Finals Schedule:
Class code: 40002 Lec 08:00-8:50 AM: 8-10 a.m., Fri., Dec.13;
Class code: 40007 Lec 10:00-10:50 AM:10 a.m.-12 noon, Mon., Dec. 9;
Class code: 40008 Lec 11:00-11:50 AM:10 a.m.-12 noon Wed., Dec.11.
The finals are conducted in the classrooms, unless otherwise noted. The final is not optional.
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 reading, writing and thinking
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.
In the past I have used primary sources, this semester I am using a textbook. Models
are helpful and this collection provides many great writing samples from a wide
array of sources. It is my hope those 50
Essays: A Portable Anthology, Third Edition by Samuel Cohen, will give
students the kind of guidance often needed by beginning writers no matter how
skilled. We will read the essays by topic, which means we will skip around in
the book. We might not read all 50, but we will make a serious dent in the
book. You will definitely get your money’s worth (smile).
One of the primary goals of Freshman Comp is to familiarize
students with academic scholarship, how one reads a variety of sources and then
through synthesis comes up with new, often original, ideas. Scholarship is
based on sound texts and the way the writer shares his or her document trail to
the audience is through what is called MLA (Modern Language Association) documentation
in the form of both in-text and works cited pages at the end of the essay.
There are specific standardized ways to note this research and at the end of
the course, students might not have all of the forms memorized, but certainly
one should leave the course a lot more familiar with how to find the answer in
your grammar style book (Diana Hacker’s Rules
for Writers Seventh Edition). Bring this book to class daily.
Recommended for students who feel shaky on the writing front is Stewart Pidd Hates English by Gary Pollitt
and Craig Baker. These two Cal State
University Fullerton professors wrote this book in response to the horrific
papers freshmen turned into them. Fast drafts are fine. The problem comes into
play when a writer does not know how to edit her work. Based on Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers, the professors take
the more common errors, create a character called Stewart Pidd and in a series
of essays teach students how to correct Pidd’s essays and thus, transfer these
skills to their own writing.
Whether students purchase or rent the book or not, each of you is held
responsible for the material within its pages. Students are welcome to visit me
in my office to look at the book. I will host a series of workshops for
students who are interested in the Pidd
Refresher Workshop.
Stewart Pidd reviews many of the more
common writing errors and topics such as free paraphrase and summaries, run-on
sentences, subject-verb agreement, parallel structure, plurals and possessives,
pronoun agreement and confused words, not to mention correct MLA for essays and
how to write works cited pages and bibliographies. 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. We
will begin the class with a Grammar Exam.
From there, each of you can decide how much an A is worth. Students who make
the errors reviewed in SPHE textbook will not make an A in the class. Good ideas
couched in poor writing are not rewarded. Writers should be able to identify
and edit out such errors. What I see should be polished writing, your best
work. Do not submit rough drafts.
Week four-six, Sept. 16-19; Sept. 23-26; Sept. 30-Oct. 3, we will have a Writing Intensive using SPHE. All are
welcome. I will host this workshop on Thursdays, 12:30-1:30-2 p.m. I am looking
to have the workshop in an electronic classroom if I can reserve one. More
later.
Office Hours
Students are encouraged to drop by and visit me at my office hours at least
twice this semester. Come prepared with questions. It is a good opportunity to
get to know one another. My office is located in D-219 (an office space with a
separate entrance.) Office hours will be Thursday 2-4 by appointment,
Wednesdays, 3:30-4:30 p.m. in D-219 located in the D-216 suite.
My campus number is
(510) 748-2286. Leave messages on my cell number. I am available on Monday afternoon by
appointment after 3:30 p.m. as well. Tuesdays I am available by appointment
after College Hour. I will give students my mobile number, please use it to
text and call when you have questions.
The email I check 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.
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. There are study rooms available in the
library. Ask at the reference desk.
Thematic
Content con’t.
This semester we are looking at what it means to question social norms, rules
or standards of conduct. Mrs. Rosa Parks challenged such codes, written into
law when she refused to give up her seat, yet before that fateful event etched
in the American psyche she was already challenging systems asking questions
rebelling against injustice not always nonviolently.
What does it mean to rebel? Do you know any rebels and do
you consider yourself one? What code of conduct is written on your conscience
and how many chances does an adversary have to ignore your code before you
respond? Perhaps you’ve never been tested.
The book we will be reading is Jeanne Theoharis’s The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. This is Mrs. Parks
centennial year. There is a new commemorative postage stamp and a bust of her
likeness was unveiled at the Whitehouse this year.
As we read this book, we will develop a profile of Mrs.
Parks noting certain aspects of her character that perhaps are characteristics
that most rebels embody.
You will develop an argument and write a short research
paper using the primary source (Theoharis’s book) along with two other
documents to support your claim. The paper will be 4-5 pages including the
bibliography. It will be students’ first
big paper. It will be due the week of September 23. This includes essay
planning as well as peer reviews, narrative writing and a final draft emailed
to me.
The second aspect of this book at rebels with
a cause will entail a personal identification of a rebel depicted in literature. Each student will choose a book which
profiles a person or character who embodies what we have determined are social justice qualities. This book can
be a work of fiction or nonfiction. Students need to get approval for the book
before they start to read it. Essay 2, which takes its argument from an
analysis of this character, will be due the week of October 21. It will also be
between 4-5 pages, including the works cited page. If there is a bibliography,
the page length will be longer.
The final essay due in November is a profile of a person, who lives in Northern
California whose work contests a system which he or she believes (and you
agree) hurts society, environmentally or economically or in other ways the
writer will identify. This champion for social justice, let’s call the person a
social entrepreneur or change agent (rebel) works to build a parallel system
which through its existence is a reminder of how bad the social ill is it seeks
to reform. This research paper will be
due week of November 18. We will be discussing this assignment and students
will be doing the research after the person is identified and approved of while
reading their book for Essay 2.
You will have to multitask for this assignment. Many times,
students have a hard time focusing, however, since the book is not one shared
collectively. There is no need to wait to discuss the final essay.
Finals
For the final students will synthesize what is meant by the
term “rebellious” and common characteristics traits and motivations those who
rebel embody using the lives of Rosa Parks, the character or person profiled in
the work of fiction or nonfiction chosen by student in the second essay, and
lastly, the social entrepreneur profiles who challenges a system by creating an
effective alternative system in its place.
I suggest an interactive poster presentation, about 2-5 min. long.
Tentative Reading Schedule—students
are encouraged to read ahead. Finish the book.
Getting started:
For August 26-29: Prepare Introduction vii-xvi to Chapter One (1-16); Two
(17-45); Three (46-71). Include in the preparation a reading log and a
vocabulary log. Also include a list of terms and questions encountered in the
reading you’d like to discuss.
We will read about 60 pages a week (15 X 4). The book is 244
pages long.
For Sept. (2) 3-5: Prepare Chapter Four (72-115); Five (116-164). Include in the preparation a reading log and a
vocabulary log. Also include a list of terms and questions encountered in the
reading you’d like to discuss.
For Sept. 9-12: Prepare Chapter Six (165-200). Include in the preparation a
reading log and a vocabulary log. Also include a list of terms and questions
encountered in the reading you’d like to discuss.
For Sept. 16-19: Prepare Chapter Seven (201-Conclusion 244). Include in the
preparation a reading log and a vocabulary log. Also include a list of terms
and questions encountered in the reading you’d like to discuss.
Essay due dates recap:
First essay due: September 23with Initial Planning Sheet and Outline. The final
draft is due that Wednesday-Thursday.
Second essay due: October 21with Initial Planning Sheet and Outline. The final
draft is due that Wednesday-Thursday.
Third essay due: November 18 with Initial Planning Sheet and Outline. The final
draft is due that Wednesday-Thursday.
The essays connected to the textbook are practice essays. See the grade
analysis to see how they are credited.
Reading Logs for Text Analysis
Keep a reading log for Theoharis. In the log, note how she defines “rebellious”
with specific instances in Parks’s life. Develop a working definition for the
word. Does Parks ever define what she does as rebellion? If so, how does she do
this? Note Theoharis’s scholarship and what she cites as the ways she could
have written a better book or done a better job had other material been
available. What lives does she compare Parks’s too given the way her papers and
other effects are handled? How does
Theoharis use what little there is to come up with counterarguments? How is
this a sign of a true scholar? How does she validate her query and the
direction of her research? Do you agree with the direction her query takes—why or
why not? Whenever there is a question, note it for later discussion in class in
your literature circles. We will start meeting in two weeks. Everyone needs a
book.
Writing
about the Literature for Essay 1
Include a brief summary of each chapter and what stood out most for you as a
reader—of course this note will vary based on individual experience. These
reading notes are to be typed and will be turned in with the essay
electronically. We will practice developing a reading log. This is the only book that requires such writing this semester.
Literature Circles
Discussion groups will meet each week beginning Wednesday-Thursday, August
28-29. If you are a slow reader, start reading early. We are going to complete
the book in three weeks. The reading log/journal/ will include key vocabulary
and arguments listed, with primary writing strategies employed: description,
process analysis, narration, argument, cause and effect, compare and contrast,
definition, problem solving.
Literature Circles will meet each week. Students will also keep a reading
log/journal/notes with key ideas outlined for each discussion section. 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. If the group is
not working, do not suffer in silence. Let me know in private, so that
adjustments can be made.
Stewart Pidd Hates English Grammar
Review
For English 1A, Stewart Pidd Hates English is a review of grammar and
essay writing skills students should be familiar with already. 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.
Using 50 Essays, students will write
essays demonstrating mastery of each rhetorical mode which fall between
narration, exposition and argumentation (9)—I happen to believe that everything
is an argument (smile). These short essays (250 words max) will be an
opportunity for students to practice for the larger essays which will determine
their grade in the course.
50 Essays and They Say, I Say
Assignments:
Schedule
Week 1—Aug. 19-22
M—Course Introduction
T-Th Writing Assessments; Review of summaries and paraphrasing
Essay handouts: Helen Keller; Malcolm X
Week 2—Aug. 26-29
Education
M: 50 Essays: Sherman Alexie, “The Joy of Reading and Writing:
Superman and Me,” pp. 15-19; Getting Started and Finding a Focus (Hacker 1-18)
T/W: 50 Essays: Frederick Douglass, “Learning to Read and Write,” pp.
129-35.
Sketch a plan (Hacker 19-23). Developing a thesis (Hacker 23-33).
Week 3—Sept. (2)-5
Identity
M-T Lec: Developing and Organizing Ideas 50 Essays: Gloria Anzaldua, “How
to Tame a Wild tongue pp. 33-45. Hacker: “Revising and Editing (33-45).
W-Th: 50 Essays: Nancy Mairs, “On
Being a Cripple,” pp. 244-56; Hacker: Writing an Argument and Thinking
Critically” (84-109)
They Say: “Entering the Conversation”
xiii-17
Week 4—Sept. 9-12
Family
M-T “Top Ten Problems and Basic
Grammar Review”
50 Essays: Maxine Hong Kingston: “No
Name Woman,” pp. 221-33
Research Basics. Hacker pp. 419-451.
W-50 Essays: Sarah Vowell,“Shooting
Dad,” pp. 412-419.
Part 1. They Say 17-42
Week 5—Sept. 23-26
Gender/Ethics
M –T: 50 Essays: Brent Staples, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Spaces,”
pp. 383-386.
Research essay workshop—sources
W- 50 Essays: Barbara Ehrenreich, “Serving in Florida,” pp. 136-145. 50 Essays: Susan Sontag, “Regarding the
Pain of Others,” pp. 373-78.
They Say: Part 1, The Art of Quoting
pp.42-52
Week 6—Sept. 30-Oct. 3
History and Politics
M-T 50 Essays: Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue,” pp. 396-402. Lec.: “The Five
C’s of Style”
W-Th 50 Essays: Bharati Mukherjee, “Two Ways to Belong in America,” pp.
280-83 or student choice. They Say: Part 2. “I Say,” pp. 53-67;
68-102.
Week 7—Oct. 7-10 (Instructor absence (Oct. 7-9)
Special Assignment: TBA. Thursday: Presentations
Week 8—Oct. 14-17
M Race and Culture
50 Essays: James Baldwin, Notes of a
Native Son,” pp. 50-71
T-W 50 Essays: Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,”
pp. 203-20 and/or
N. Scott Momaday, “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” pp. 273-279. They Say: Part 2 con’t.
They Say: Part 3, “Tying it all Together,” 103-138.
Note: While we are reading these essays and reviewing the various writing
concepts indicated, we will also consider the templates in They Say, I Say: The Moves
That Matter in Academic Writing: Second Edition, by Gerald Graff and Cathy
Birkenstein.
Weeks 9 -11—Oct. 21-24 & Oct. 28-31 Students can choose 4
essays we haven’t read to analyze if there is time.
They Say, Review of Parts 1, 2, 3. Part 4: “I Take Your Point,” “What’s
Motivating this Writer?” pp. 103-155.
Students can read on if they like section 13 and 14.
Grading:
Essays and comments on peers’ essays from 50
Essays and They Say, I Say, are 25 percent of the grade.
The three mastery essays are 40 percent of the grade:
1. Rosa Parks Essay
2. Book Report Essay and presentation (by or about a “happy” person”
3. Profile and Presentation of Rebel with a Cause, the Social Entrepreneur
whose work challenges political, social or economic systems (the person has to
be alive and living in Northern California).
Final Poster and Presentation are 15
percent of the grade.
The student Course Work portfolio is 20
percent of the grade as well.
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.
Cyber-Assignments
These often daily assignments are posted on the class blog. The 50 Essays for the most part will be
cyber-assignments. Keep a copy of all posted assignments. You might want to
create a private blog for the class:
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
Social entrepreneur essay. This paper will be about 4-6 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. The Skoll Foundation lists
many SE as does the San Francisco Foundation and other foundations and
charities. You are profiling a person who is alive, not the organization.
Taking Stock
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 today, Monday, August
19, 2013
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?
Bring your laptops to class. Once the semester is under way, we will meet in
a classroom with technology once a week (if need be).
Homework Assignment 2:
This is a Cyber-Assignment. Post on
the blog by August 21, 2013 6 p.m.
Respond to the syllabus on the blog, 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 the syllabus is reasonable, any questions,
and/or suggestions. This is our contract. I need to know that you read it and
understand the agreement.
If ever, a post is too personal for all eyes, students have the option of sending
it to me at coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com Let me know in advance or after it is
sent, so you get credit for the assignment.
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 tutor evaluate your essays for form and content; the aim is lucid,
precise, and clear prose. Remember, these comments are suggestions. If you do
not agree, do not change the writing.
Portfolio
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.
Students cannot make up cyber-assignments after the date has passed or when
they are absent unless arranged in advance.
Each book will have collected writings or essays. This in itself is its own
“portfolio.” Save all of your work. There will be four mini-portfolios: 50 Essays, Theoharis’s Rebellious Life (notes and essay), the Book Report Essay and the Social
Entrepreneur or Rebel with a Cause Essay. 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 upstairs
from the 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 major 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 during office hours for assistance; again, prepare
your questions in advance to best make use of the time. Meeting times are 15-30
minute segments, esp. when there is a line. 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.
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 for 50 Essays and The Rebellious Life.
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:
Cohen, Samuel. 50 Essays: A Portable
Anthology. Third Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.
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.
Hacker, Diane, and Nancy Sommers. Rules for Writers. 7th Editions.
Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins. Print. If anyone has 2006, make sure it
has a sticker with “2009 MLA Update” indicated.
Theoharis, Jeanne. The Rebellious Life
of Mrs. Rosa Parks. Boston: Beacon
Press., 2013. Print.
Recommended:
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. 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 are subject to change, at the instructor's
discretion, so stay loose and flexible.
