ENG 1121—Section D421

ENGLISH COMPOSITION: Stories of Encounter

Fall 2015

 

Monday, Wednesday 10:00-11:15am, Namm 1005

Instructor: Amanda Calderón [acalderon@citytech.cuny.edu]

Office hours by appointment

 

Course Description

An encounter is a meeting, often unexpected and with surprising consequences. In this class, we will read, discuss, and write about stories of encounter. Simultaneously, we will also keep up with current events, problems, and conversations in the news and make connections between these and our literary readings. While one of the primary purposes of this class is to improve your reading and writing skills, it’s other major purpose is to expand your sense of the world, its communities, and to help you become better citizens. It is a requirement for this class that you approach all readings and assignments with a sense of openness and wonder.

 

Required Texts

All required readings for this class are available on our class OpenLab site: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/calderoneng1121sp2016

 

Grading

Participation: 20%

• Includes regular participation in class discussions, timely completion of assignments, preparedness for class, and attendance.

 

Open Lab Class Blogs: 20%

• Every week you will be required to post two reading responses (one for Monday’s reading, one for Wednesday’s reading) of no less than 200 words each by Friday at 5pm. You will also be required to read and comment on at least two other posts by your classmates each week.

 

Short Essays/Writing Assignments: 20%

• You will be required to turn two of your blog posts from the semester into longer, polished 2-3 page essays to be turned in to the professor. More information will be given about this later in the semester.

 

Research Paper: 20%

• This grade will include the completion of a 5-7 page research paper with at least three different sources and proper citations

 

Final Exam: 20%

• The final will be a written exam. Details about the exam will be provided later in the semester.

 

 

 

Attendance and Lateness Policy

Because this is a discussion-based class with many in-class writing assignments, your presence is hugely important. When you aren’t here, you’re not only doing a disservice to yourself, but to your classmates, who will miss out on your opinions, ideas, and questions. If you know in advance you won’t be able to attend a class, you must let me know at least 24 hours in advance. If you have a family or medical emergency, please let me know ASAP so that we can plan accordingly and keep you up to speed with assignments. Four unexcused absences will result in a failing grade for the class.

 

You must be on time to class. We meet fairly early in the morning, especially on Wednesdays, but that is no excuse for lateness. Three late arrivals are equal to one full absence; anyone more than 20 minutes late is considered absent.

 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism—when you copy someone else’s work and pass it off as your own—has no place in this class, or anywhere else at City Tech. Any instance of plagiarism, even if it is unintentional, will result in a failing grade for the assignment. Over the course of this class, we will discuss citation methods and guidelines.

 

Office Hours

While it is not required, I hope you will make time to meet with me at least once this semester. You can bring an essay you are working on, recent readings, or questions about upcoming assignments.

 

Writing Center

For additional help with your writing, I encourage you to visit the Atrium Learning Center in AG-18.

 

Schedule:

WEEK ONE

Monday 2/1

Introductions: Class overview, intro to OpenLab, writing autobiographies

Wednesday 2/3

Reading and writing what’s happening now: What we talk about when we talk about elections and voting in America, pt. 1

 

WEEK TWO

Monday 2/8

Storytelling—many forms, many uses: “Da Art of Storytellin’ (The Prequel)” by Kiese Laymon

Wednesday 2/10

Happening Now: What we talk about when we talk about voting, pt. 2

 

WEEK THREE

Monday 2/15

NO CLASS—PRESIDENTS DAY

Wednesday 2/17

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK FOUR

Monday 2/22

First impressions—true, false, or misunderstood? Selections from The Diario of Christopher Columbus’s First Voyage to America, 1492-1493

Wednesday 2/24

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK FIVE

Monday 2/29

Imagining Place: Selections from Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and The Book of Embraces by Eduardo Galeano

Wednesday 3/2

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK SIX

Monday 3/7

International encounters at the ends of the earth: Selections from Swimmer Among the Stars by Kanishk Tharoor

Wednesday 3/9

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK SEVEN

Monday 3/14

Strangers in the homeland: Selections from A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid

Wednesday 3/16

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK EIGHT

Monday 3/21

The island, the city, the world: Selections from A Puerto Rican in New York and Other Sketches by Jesús Colón

Wednesday 3/23

NO CLASS—ALL CITY TECH ON A FRIDAY SCHEDULE

 

WEEK NINE

Monday 3/28

The same, but different: “Broken Transformers” by Bi Shumin, selections from Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Wednesday 3/30

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK TEN

Monday 4/4

Encounters with authority: Selections from Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Wednesday 4/6

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK ELEVEN

Monday 4/ 11

The world through child’s eyes: Selections from Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret by Ondjaki

Wednesday 4/13

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK TWELVE

Monday 4/18

Encounters with the state—borders, visas, war: “Homelands: An Orphan Named Patience and an Argument for Open Global Immigration” by Stephan Faris

Wednesday 4/20

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK THIRTEEN

SPRING BREAK—NO CLASS ALL WEEK

 

WEEK FOURTEEN

Monday 5/2

Many working parts: “One Night at Kachka” by Erin DeJesus and others

DUE: First draft of research paper

Wednesday 5/4

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK FIFTEEN

Monday 5/9

Research presentations

Wednesday 5/11

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK SIXTEEN

Monday 5/16

Research presentations

Wednesday 5/18

Happening Now: TBD

 

WEEK SEVENTEEN

Monday 5/23

Wrap-up: Research papers due, final exam prep, class reflections

Wednesday 5/25

Final exam