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English 1110-8: College English 1

“Personal Values”

Spring, 2001

Harold Bakst, instructor

 

Time: Tues., Thurs. 8:00 a.m.- 9:15 a.m.                      Room: H4

         

Office hour: 11:00 a.m.-11:50 a.m.                             Room: C 243

Tel: 373-2764                                                             e-mail: Bakstha@mctc.mnscu.edu

Web site: see English faculty site

 

Required text: Literature for Composition, fifth ed., Barnet et al.

Recommended text: Bedford Handbook or other MLA style guide

 

Recommended supplies: computer disk to save your work

 

Highly recommended co-requisite: INFS 1000

                                                               

Text Box: What This Course Is About In English 1110, our aim is for you to write on a professional level. This means writing sentences that are grammatically correct and essays that are well organized and demonstrate logic. We’ll be using reading selections, panel discussions, essay analyses, quizzes, but, most important of course, your writing. The theme for this semester will be “Personal Values.” About the theme: Too many people never question their set of values. As a result, they hold opinions, vote, judge others, and make decisions without ever considering the possibility that there might be other legitimate ways people could think and lead their lives. In this class, we’ll examine our values. Along the way we’ll read short stories, poems, and essays that deal with this issue. Some topics within this theme might include your ideas about art, religion, education, government, relationships, war, environment, science, the sexes, etc. During the second half of the semester, the students will participate in two panel discussions that will create a document, “Our Values.” This document will be e-mailed to various political figures, and it will also appear in an English 1111 cyberzine, Capstone. Choose which goals you wish to accomplish this semester: · To write grammatically correct sentences · To organize your essays effectively · To use logic in expressing your ideas · To use sources effectively to support your ideas · To develop an appreciation for the written arts · To examine your set of values
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box: Grading System Essays/exams: A=9-10 points, B=8, C=7, D=6, and F=0-5 (80 points total) Standards: The student should demonstrate that he or she has absorbed course information, can creatively use that information, has a clear train-of-thought, and possesses basic writing skills. Attendance: 1 point each time taken. (20 points total) Partial attendance (lateness or early leave) = .5--though you need to be in class at least 45 minutes for this. Late home assignments lose 1 point for each day past the due date. The assignment must be handed in during the class meeting on the due date. The deductions begin by the end of the class meeting. Term-end totals: 90-100 = A; 80-89 = B; 70-79 = C; 60-69 = D; 0-59 = F Incompletes are not given for this course. Exceptions are made only for serious medical reasons that are documented by a doctor’s note specifying that the student is unable to complete his or her assignment. Look the syllabus over and make sure you can do the work. Note that make-up days are already built into the schedule. There is no extra credit beyond these days. If you’re concerned about being able to do the work, then speak to me. Your best option may be to withdraw rather than find yourself with few points at the end of the semester. Remember that a teacher can’t do favors for a student without it being terribly unfair to the rest of the class. __________________________________ How to Boost Your Term Grade 1. Make-ups: Even if you’ve done all the assignments, you can do the make-up work. I would then drop your lowest grades in the appropriate category (exam or home assignment). 2. Class participation: I look at attendance, class contributions, and the panel discussions for indications that the student has thought about the work in a sincere and creative fashion. In this way, a student might earn extra points. How to Lower Your Term Grade Plagiarism, having someone else do your assignments, or engaging in any other form of cheating will result in an F for the assignment or for the course. You would also be subject to MCTC’s disciplinary action. See the Student Code of Conduct for further details.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


           

 

 

Text Box: Semester Schedule
 

 


* attendance taken

 

Part 1

Writing Basics

 

Course theme: “Values”

 

Brady, “I Want a Wife,” pg. 627

Pollit, “Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls,” pg. 624

Wright, “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” pg. 655

Week 1

                        Tues.1/9                                       Thurs. 1/11: * Gender roles

                       

Week 2

Tues. 1/16:                                                                   Thurs. 1/18: Religion *

Essay #1 due

Comma review

Other punctuation

Old Testament, “Psalm 23,” pg. 1260

Hughes, “Salvation,” pg. 181

Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown,” pg. 1207

 

Week 3

            Tues. 1/23: *                                                    Thurs. 1/25

Basic critical thinking: Essay organization

Student papers analyzed

Exam #1

 

Week 4

            Tues. 1/30: Marriage *                                     Thurs. 2/1:Duty *

Essay #2 due

Chopin, “Story of an Hour,” pg. 12

Carver, “Popular Mechanics,” pg. 576

Ibsen, A Doll’s House, act 3, pg. 809

Welty, “A Worn Path,” pg. 212

Updike, “A & P,” pg. 880

Qu’ran, “There is no God by He,” pg. 1261

 

Week 5

            Tues. 2/6: Race *                                             Thurs. 2/8: Success *

 “Black Men and Public Space,” pg. 164

“The Oriental Contingent,” pg. 1050

Britannica, “Sitting Bull,” pg. 158-10

Thurber, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, pg. 87

J. Wright,” Lying in a Hammock…”, pg. 437

Robinson, “Richard Cory,” pg. 1084
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
Part 2

Expanding your audience

 

Week 6

            Tues. 2/13 Love and Sex *                               Thurs. 2/15 Family *

Essay #3 due

Brainstorming for panel papers

Marvel, “To His Coy Mistress,” pg. 590

Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily,” pg. 556

Panels form

New Testament, “The Prodigal Son,” pg. 78

Plath, “Daddy,” pg. 431

Walker, “Every Day Use,” pg. 115

 

Week 7

                        Tues. 2/20 Art *                                               Thurs. 2/22

The paintings on 1169-1184

Make-up exam #1

 

Week 8

                        Tues. 2/27: *                                                    Thurs. 3/1: *

Essay #4 due. Panel discussions

Panel discussions

 

Week 9

                        Tues. 3/6: *                              Thurs. 3/8

Panel discussions

Panel discussions

 

Week 10

                        Tues. 3/13                                            Thurs. 3/15

Spring break

 

 
Part 3: Research

 

Week 11

            Tues. 3/20 Music*                                Thurs. 3/22 *

Music selections

Brainstorming for research papers

 

Research panels form

Using quotes, in-text citations

Works-cited page

 

Week 12 *

            Tues. 3/27                                                        Thurs. 3/29

Conferences/tutorials

Conferences/tutorials

 

Week 13 (*)

            Tues. 4/3                                              Thurs. 4/5

Conferences/tutorials

 Conferences/tutorials

 

Week 14

                        Tues. 4/10 *                                         Thurs. 4/12 *

Essay#5 due: Panel discussions

Panel discussions

 

 

Week 15

                        Tues. 4/17 *                                         Thurs. 4/19 *

Panel discussions

Panel discussions

 

Week 16

                        Tues. 4/24                                            Thurs. 4/26

Essay #6 due

Panel catch-up, review, paper analysis

Exam #2

 

Week 17

(Make-up week)

                        Tues. 5/1                                                          Thurs. 5/3

1 Make-up paper due

Make-up exam #2

 

Tues. 5/1                                                                                                                                 

Office hours