Comp
111: English Composition II
Bucks County Community College, Fall 2005 Section N13: MWF 1:00-1:50, Penn 210 Please note: This course format is available on the Web at the address in the upper right-hand corner. All essay topics, plus lots of other important course materials I'll give out in class as the semester goes on, will be posted to that address. Instructor:
Dr.
Stephen doCarmo
Required
Texts
Writing Research Papers, by James D. Lester and James D. Lester Jr. 11th edition. Catalog
Course Description
Prerequisites
Methods
Course
Objectives
1. To help you develop an appreciation for imaginative literature, namely drama, short fiction, and poetry;Course Requirements There are five. Here they are: 1. You'll need to write four multi-paragraph "lit" essays, which will be on the literature we're reading. You'll write one during our drama unit, two during our short-fiction unit, and one during our poetry unit. I'll put written comments on each of your lit essays and will give them A-F grades, with +'s and -'s possible. Due dates for final and rough drafts are on the schedule at the end of this course format. 2. You'll need to take somewhere between eight and ten unannounced reading quizzes on the assigned plays, stories, and poems. They'll be short (five questions each), they'll be given at the very start of class, and they'll focus on important information from the readings rather than abstract matters like theme or symbol. (In other words, I might ask you how a certain character dies in act II of a play; I won't ask what her death "means" within the work as a whole. That's the type of thing we'll sort out together in class.) Since these quizzes are information driven, you only need to read, reasonably carefully, for each and every class meeting to do well on them. I'll drop your lowest quiz grade at the end of the semester, so don't sweat it if you bomb one or two. But sweat it if you're bombing them consistently. 3. You'll need to write a 2,500-word (roughly ten-page) research paper arguing your position on some important contemporary cultural issue. I'll give you lots more information about what I expect from this paper as the semester goes on. But let me go ahead and tell you here that it will need to a. quote and/or paraphrase roughly ten good external sources (we'll talk in class about what "good" means);I'll grade your research paper on an A-F scale, with +'s and -'s possible. The due dates for rough and final drafts are on the schedule at the end of this course format. 4. You'll need to turn in four developmental documents related to your research paper: 1) a proposal, 2) your first three annotated sources, 3) a progress report, and (4) your two opening pages. Due dates for these are on the course schedule at the end of this format. These four documents are't graded. But unless they've been turned in and done satisfactorily, I cannot accept your research paper at the end of the semester! So please get them done, and on time. Their due dates are on the schedule at the end of this course format.Grade Distribution Your first at-home lit essay (the one for our drama unit) will be worth 15% of your final grade. Your first in-class essay (the one for our short-fiction unit) will be worth 5%. Your second at-home lit essay (the one for our short-fiction unit) will be worth 15%. Your second in-class essay (the one for our poetry unit) will be worth 10%. Your reading quizzes/participation will be worth 10%. Your research paper will be worth 45%. Attendance
Since I don't distinguish between excused and unexcused absences, you shouldn't burn up all your skips thinking it'll be okay to miss more classes later should you get sick or have an emergency. Your five skips are for sickness and emergency. So budget them wisely. Also...be sure to come to class on time. I'll count three late arrivals as an absence. If there's some crisis going on in your life that might necessitate your going over the five allowed absences, you should be in contact with me before you exceed that limit. Please note, though, that no one who misses more than ten class meetings, no matter how extraordinary the circumstances, will be able to pass this course. Rewrites
a. turn it in within seven days of getting back the graded original from me;If you receive a failing grade on a lit essay (a D or an F), you must rewrite it within seven days -- otherwise you won't have fulfilled the requirements for the course. You can't revise more than two failing lit essays, though, and you can't improve them to better than a C+, so please don't think of this as a safety net. Please note also that while late papers can be re-written, the penalty for lateness never goes away. Skipping
Assignments
Back-up
Copies
Electronic
Submissions
Late
Work
You can't turn in your in-class lit essays late, though. They're due at the end of the class period on the days you write them, no matter what. If you absolutely can't be in class the day of an in-class essay, please make other arrangements with me before that date. You can't make up missed reading quizzes, since it wouldn't be fair to people who had to take them when they were originally given. (I will let you take a reading quiz over the phone, though, if you call me in my office before class time on a day I'm giving a quiz. But this doesn't erase the absence.) Also, you can't turn in your research paper late, since it's not due till the very end of the semester. If for any reason you're not going to be able to meet that deadline, it's imperative you talk to me well beforehand. Tutoring
If you'd like to listen to the advice of a friend, family member, or classmate who's read a rough draft of yours, that's fine -- great, even. But nobody besides me or a Bucks tutor should be helping you actually write sentences and paragraphsfor an essay for this course. Please talk to me if you're confused about what constitutes too much help. Special
Needs
Plagiarism
The expectation at Bucks County Community College is that the principles of truth and honesty will be rigorously followed in all academic endeavors. This assumes that all the work will be done by the person who purports to do the work without unauthorized aids. In addition, when making use of language, information and some ideas not his or her own, whether quoting them directly or paraphrasing them in his or her own words, the student must attribute the source of the material in some standard form, such as naming the source in the text or offering a footnote.There's the school's official line. Let me add this: it's usually comically easy to spot plagiarized student writing. And it's never been easier to catch than since the advent of the Web. I've been teaching college writing for thirteen years now. And I've met very few students who weren't able to pass a comp course by simply doing their own work. You don't need to cheat to get through English 111. But you may need help. I expect to give lots of it, as do the people in the Tutoring Center. So please come put us to work. Core
Curriculum Goals & Objectives for Comp 111
For the COLLEGE LEVEL WRITING II category: Goals
1. develop and apply skills
learned in College Writing Level I;
Objectives
1. formulate an argumentative
thesis and support it drawing on primary and secondary sources (1, 2, 3,
4);
For the CRITICAL THINKING AND READING category: Goals
1. understand and express
the meaning and significance of a variety of communications (Interpretation);
Objectives
1. formulate categories,
distinctions, or frameworks to organize information in such a manner to
aid comprehension (1);
For the RESEARCH SKILLS category: The following Goals and Objectives for Research Skills were adapted from the Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education published by the ACRL. Goals
1. be able to determine
the nature and extent of the information needed;
Objectives
1. define and articulate
the need for information (1);
For the ADAPTING TO LIFELONG CHANGE category: Goals
1. gain confidence in their ability to adapt to or initiate change. Objectives
1. assess their own abilities,
motives, and use self-assessment to make decisions. (1)
Course
Schedule
Wednesday Aug. 31: Introduction
to the course.
Wednesday Sept. 7: Discussion
of pages 1916-1939 of Miller's Death of a Salesman. (Just
read up to "Young Bernard rushes in" on 1939).
Monday Sept. 12: Research-paper
workshop. (We'll be looking together at the model research paper
on pages 238-249 of your Writing Research Papers book.) I'll
also give out the instruction sheet for your research paper on this day.
Monday Sept. 19: Discussion
of 2082-2099 of Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone.
(Just read to the start of scene 2 on page 2099.)
Monday Sept. 26: Wrap-up
discussion of our two plays. We'll also do some workshopping for
your first at-home "lit" essay.
Monday Oct. 3: Research-paper
workshop. Please be sure to bring along your Writing Research
Papers book.
Monday Oct. 10: Discussion
of Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies" (37-53).
Monday Oct. 17: First
Three Annotated Sources due. Also, discussion of Flannery O'Connor's
"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (431-443).
Monday Oct. 24: Class
replaced by one-on-one draft conferences with me for your second at-home
"lit" essay. I'll have sent around a sign-up sheet before this date.
Monday Oct. 31: FInal
draft of second at-home "lit" essay due, along with all drafts, critiques,
outlines, etc. After that, we'll begin our Poetry
Unit by discussing Percy
Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias" (1078).
Monday Nov. 7: Discussion
of Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" (1222).
Monday Nov. 14: Discussion
of Sharon Olds's "Sex Without Love." (Not in your book. I'll
have given you a copy of it before this date.)
Monday Nov. 21: First two pages of your research paper due, along with your outline for the rest of your paper. Monday Nov. 28: Discussion
of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." (Not in your book. I'll have
given you a copy before this date.)
Monday Dec. 5: Discussion
of Allen Ginsberg's "America." (Not in your book. I'll have
given you a copy before this date.) I'll also give out the topic
for your second in-class "lit" essay on this day.
Monday Dec. 12: Second
in-class essay due. You'll write it in class on this day.
Monday Dec. 19: Research
paper due, along with all required supplementary materials.
Instructions
for the Researched Essay
Assignment:
Criteria:
1. have a clear, interesting, and unmistakable thesis statement;Additional Requirements and Pointers: I can’t accept your final draft unless I’ve gotten from you, over the course of the semester, four important developmental documents: (1) a research-paper proposal,The dates on which these documents are due on your course schedule. We’ll also talk about them in class in the coming days. Please remember that of the twenty (or more) annotated sources I get with your final draft, at least ten should be books and/or articles published in popular magazines or scholarly journals. Your other ten (or more) annotated sources can be good web sites, newspaper articles, pamphlets, reviews, and/or personal interviews with experts in the field you’re writing about. Of the twenty-plus sources you annotate, roughly ten should wind up quoted and/or paraphrased in your paper, and so listed on the “works cited” page at the end of your paper. You should write for non-specialists. Any specialized terms you use or knowledge you discuss must be explained well enough that people not expert in the field you’re working in will be able to follow you. If between 10% and 15% of your final draft is comprised of direct quotes from outside sources, that’s good. If, as you’re working, it becomes clear you’re going to deviate significantly from that rule of thumb, you should talk with me about it. (It’s fine, though, if you’re paraphrasing beyond that 10% to 15%.) To help you be sure you’re
adhering to proper MLA form, you’ve got your Writing Research Papers
book (with its model MLA essays) and the MLA pamphlet the Bucks tutoring
center provides.
Some Possible Topics for Your Comp 111
Research Paper
Gun control and/or the National
Rifle Association
Instructions and Requirements for Research-Paper Annotated Sources An "annotated source" is a printout (or photocopy) of a source you’ve read for your research paper with your notes and highlightings on it. A source can be... • a book;If you're not sure if something you want to annotate will count as a legitimate source, you should talk to me about it. When I get from you your progress report for your Comp 111 research paper (due Friday, November 11th), it must come to me with at least twenty annotated sources, roughly half of which will end up actually cited (that is, quoted or paraphrased) in your paper. I’ll also need to get all of your annotated sources from you again with the final draft of your research paper, due on the last day of the semester. I’m going to break annotated
sources into two different camps:
Of the twenty or more annotated sources you give me with your research-paper progress report, at least ten must be from Camp 1! In order for a printed or photocopied source to count as an annotated source, I’ll need to see that you’ve… • given it a number in its upper right-hand corner (1-20, or however many you’ve got),Whatever you do…don’t neglect that last bulleted item! Instructions
for the First At-Home "Lit" Essay
Assignment
1. Choose either Miller’s Death of a Salesman or Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and do two things for me: (1) trace throughout the play some “big idea” its writer seems determined to get across to you, and (2) explain why that idea is or isn’t relevant to the United States of today.No matter which option you choose, you should write for an audience of strangers (not just for me!), and your central purpose should be to persuade that audience of the validity of your opinion about the play(s) you’re writing about. You should also write in the third person for this essay (no “I”), and you should absolutely, positively quote the text(s) you’re writing about! Criteria
• present a clear and interesting central idea, or thesis, which should be plainly stated at some point early on in the essay;Additional Requirements and Pointers Always, always introduce the quotes you use. That means you should have a phrase or sentence of your own that lets your readers know whose words they’re about to hear, and in what context they originally appeared. Like this: In a heated argument, Biff tells his father, “I am not a leader of men, Willy” (1965).See how I put a page number in parentheses after I closed the quotation marks and before I ended the sentence with a period? That’s good MLA form. You should do the same. If you need to quote a lengthy chunk of the text where the speakers change, please double tab from the left (this is called “block quoting”) and reproduce the text exactly as it looks in your anthology, without quotation marks around it. For instance: WILLY: [Astonished.] What’re you doing? What’re you doing? [To LINDA.] Why is he crying?Roughly 10-15% of your essay should be direct quotes from our readings. That works out to an average of 3-4 lines per page. It’s okay if you do some paraphrasing beyond that 10-15%, but those paraphrases should be introduced, the same way you introduce direct quotes. They should also have page-number citations after them. Please don’t use exorbitantly
long quotes. Use just what you need to help you make your point.
If you want to cut stuff out of the middle of a
Please don’t use any sources beyond the readings we’ve done! This includes both your book’s editors’ comments and any and all material from “study guide” web sites. Stuff from the web is not public property! Please double-space your entire essay. Please use 12-point font. Please have one-inch margins all around. Please don’t bold your text or skip lines between paragraphs. Your should put your name in the upper left-hand corner of your first page. Beneath your name, you should
have a good title for your essay, centered on the page and in the same
font as the rest of your essay. (No
I think that’s it.
If you’ve got questions…don’t be shy! Get in touch with me.
Don’t forget you can do a conference with me on this essay on Wednesday,
Sept. 28th, if you want. I’ll bring a sign-up sheet to class before
then.
Instructions
for the First In-Class “Lit” Essay
Topic
Choose either Sammy from Updike’s “A&P” or Connie from Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” and explain what larger cultural struggle that character’s conflict with his or her antagonist might be read as symbolizing.You should write in the third person for this essay. (No “I,” “me,” “my,” or “mine” – unless you’re quoting an author who uses those words!) You should quote whichever story you’re writing about. You should write for an audience of strangers (not just for me!), and your main purpose should be to persuade that audience of the validity of your central idea, expressed in your thesis statement. Criteria
• present a clear and interesting thesis statement stated plainly at some point early on in the essay;Additional Requirements and Pointers You’re welcome to bring a loose outline, which can contain a thesis statement, to work from. But you can’t have any actual sentences (except for your thesis statement) written out in advance. You’ll want to have your literature anthology out as you write, so you can accurately quote it. When I get your essay at the end of class on Wednesday, I should also get whatever pre-writing work you did in preparation for the in-class writing. You should always, always introduce your quotes. That means you should have a phrase or sentence of your own that lets your readers know whose words they’re about to hear, and in what context they originally appeared. Like this: Facing Connie through the screen door, Arnold Friend tells her that “if you don’t come out we’re gonna wait till your people come home and then they’re all going to get it” (664).When you use quotes from our textbook, please put a page number in parentheses at the end of the quote, before the period that ends your sentence. This is good MLA form. If a quote you’re using is going to run more than four lines on your page (though you should use such long quotes very sparingly), you should “block” it by double-indenting it from the left and leaving the quotation marks off it. And in this case the page number in parentheses comes after the period ending the quote. Direct quotes from our readings should ideally take up 10-15% of your essay. It’s, fine, though, if you do some paraphrasing beyond that. Please don’t use exorbitantly long quotes. Use just what you need to help you make your point. If you want to cut stuff out of the middle of a long quote, show that you’ve done so by inserting ellipses (…) at the point where words have been removed. You should never have ellipses at the beginning or end of a quote, though! Please double-space your entire essay. Please use 12-point font. Please have one-inch margins all around. Please don’t bold the text or skip lines between paragraphs! Your name should appear in the upper left-hand corner of your first page. Beneath your name, you should have a good title for your essay, centered on the page and in the same font as the rest of your essay. (No bolding, italics, big font...anything like that. This is also good MLA form.) Let me know what questions
you’ve got!
Instructions
for the Second At-Home “Lit” Essay
Assignment
Choose any two stories from our short-fiction unit that speak to each other in interesting ways and explain how they do so.Please note that you should write for an audience of strangers (that means your essay shouldn’t be addressed only to me, your instructor, and also shouldn’t make use of “specialized” jargon from any field you might be familiar with) and that your central purpose should be to persuade your audience of the validity of your take on the stories you're writing about. You should also write in the third person for this essay (no “I”), and you should absolutely, positively quote the text(s) you’re writing about! Criteria
• present a clear and interesting central idea, or thesis, which should be plainly stated at some point early on in the essay;Additional Requirements and Pointers Always, always introduce the quotes you use. That means you should have a phrase or sentence of your own that lets your readers know whose words they’re about to hear, and in what context they originally appeared. Like this: In a heated argument, Biff tells his father, “I am not a leader of men, Willy” (1965).See how I put a page number in parentheses after I closed the quotation marks and before I ended the sentence with a period? That’s good MLA form. You should do the same. If you need to quote a lengthy passage from a text (one that will run four or more lines in your own essay), please double tab it from the left margin and reproduce it exactly as it appears in your anthology, without quotation marks around it. (This is called block quoting.) Roughly 10-15% of your essay should be direct quotes from our readings. That works out to an average of 3-4 lines per page. It’s okay if you do some paraphrasing beyond that 10-15%, but those paraphrases should be introduced, the same way you introduce direct quotes. They should also have page-number citations after them. Please don’t use exorbitantly
long quotes. Use just what you need to help you make your point.
If you want to cut stuff out of the middle of a
Please don’t use any sources beyond the readings we’ve done! This includes both your book’s editors’ comments and any and all material from “study guide” web sites. Stuff from the web is not public property! Please double-space your entire essay. Please use 12-point font. Please have one-inch margins all around. Please don’t bold your text or skip lines between paragraphs. You should put your name in the upper left-hand corner of your first page. Beneath your name, you should
have a good title for your essay, centered on the page and in the same
font as the rest of your essay. (No
Please don’t turn in any essay for which you don’t have a backup copy! Please include with your final draft any and all developmental materials you’ve got: outlines, freewrites, drafts, peer critiques, etc. I think that’s it.
If you’ve got questions…don’t be shy! Get in touch with me.
Don’t forget you can do a conference with me on this essay on Monday, Oct.
24th, if you want. I’ll bring a sign-up sheet to class before then.
Instructions
for the Second In-Class “Lit” Essay
Topic
Choose from our third-unit readings a poem you like and write a multi-paragraph essay “teaching” it to your readers, illuminating for them not only the poem’s “big idea” but the more subtle touches it uses to get that idea across.If contrasting your poem against one or two others we’ve read will help you make good points about it, feel free to do so. If you’d like to write about a poem we didn’t read in this unit, I can work with you on that – but talk to me about it first! You should write in the third person for this essay. (No “I,” “me,” “my,” or “mine” – unless you’re quoting a poem that uses those words!) You should definitely quote whatever poem(s) you’re writing about. You should write for an audience of strangers (not just for me!), and your main purpose should be to persuade that audience of the validity of your central idea. Criteria
• present a clear and interesting thesis statement somewhere early on in the essay;Additional Requirements and Pointers You’re welcome to bring a loose outline, which can contain a thesis statement, to work from. But you can’t have any actual sentences (except for your thesis statement) written out in advance. You’ll want to have your literature anthology and/or our poetry handout with you, so you can accurately quote your poem(s). When I get your essay at the end of class Monday, I should also get whatever pre-writing work you did in preparation for the essay. Be sure to always introduce your quotes, letting your reader know whose words they’re about to hear and in what context they originally appeared. Please show line breaks in direct quotes from your poem(s) by inserting a slash ( / ). Direct quotes from your poem(s) should ideally take up 10-15% of your essay. It’s, fine, though, if you do some paraphrasing beyond that. Please don’t use exorbitantly long quotes. Use just what you need to help you make your point. If you want to cut stuff out of the middle of a long quote, show that you’ve done so by inserting ellipses (…) at the point where words have been removed. You should never have ellipses at the beginning or end of a quote, though! Please double-space your entire essay. Please use 12-point font. Please have one-inch margins all around. Please don’t bold the text or skip lines between paragraphs. Your name should appear in the upper left-hand corner of your first page. Beneath your name, you should have a good title for your essay, centered on the page and in the same font as the rest of your essay. (No bolding, italics, big font...anything like that. This is good MLA form.) Let me know what questions
you’ve got!
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