Syllabus

English 1121 D487 Course Syllabus

Spring 2020

Professor:  Patrick Redmond

Office: P313

Office Hours: 12:30-2:30 Wed.

Email: PRedmond@citytech.cuny.edu

Meeting Time: 4:00pm-5:15pm N-1005

Course Description:

A course in effective essay writing and basic research techniques including use of the library. Demanding readings assigned for classroom discussion and as a basis for essay writing.

Prerequisite: CUNY proficiency in reading and writing

Learning Outcomes:

After completing ENG 1121, you should be able to:

1. Read and listen critically and analytically in a variety of genres and rhetorical

situations: Identify and evaluate exigencies, purposes, claims, supporting evidence, and

underlying assumptions in a variety of texts, genres, and media.

2. Adapt and compose in a variety of genres: Adapt writing conventions in ways that are

suitable to different exigencies and purposes in a variety of contexts, including

academic, workplace, and civic audiences. When appropriate, repurpose prior work to

new genres, audiences, and media by adjusting delivery, design, tone, organization, and

language.

3. Use research as a process of inquiry and engagement with multiple perspectives: Learn to focus on a topic and develop research questions that lead to propositions and claims that can be supported with well-reasoned arguments. Persuasively communicate and repurpose research projects across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media. Demonstrate research skills through proper attribution and citation gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing both primary and secondary sources. Learn how to use appropriate citation styles depending on disciplinary and

situational requirements (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.)

4. Use reflection and other metacognitive processes to revise prior assumptions about the writing processes and transfer acquired knowledge about effective reading and writing practices into new writing situations. Engage with reading and writing as a process including prewriting, writing, and continuous revision. Students write essays that demonstrate their reflection of their own writing process from the beginning and throughout the semester with the intention to transfer their acquired knowledge about genre and composing practices into new writing situations.

5. Demonstrate the social and ethical responsibilities and consequences of writing: Recognize that first-year writing includes academic, workplace, and civic contexts, all of which require careful deliberation concerning the ethical and social ramifications concerning fairness, inclusivity, and respect for diversity. Write and revise for academic and broader, public audiences accordingly.

6. Compose in 21st Century Environments: Learn to choose among the most current and effective delivery methods for different composing situations, including composing in new media environments, including alphabetic texts, still and moving images, sonic, and mixed media compositions. Use digital media platforms appropriate to audience and process.

Required Texts:

1. Handouts throughout the semester will be posted on our OpenLab website. I expect you to download and print them before coming to class. The class website is: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/english1121-redmond-spring2020-mwafternoon/
2. The Literacy Experience Compact Second Edition.
3. Good Writing Made Simple (e-book)

University Policies

Accessibility Statement

City Tech is committed to supporting the educational goals of enrolled students with disabilities in the areas of enrollment, academic advisement, tutoring, assistive technologies and testing accommodations. If you have or think you may have a disability, you may be eligible for reasonable accommodations or academic adjustments as provided under applicable federal, state and city laws. You may also request services for temporary conditions or medical issues under certain circumstances. If you have questions about your eligibility or would like to seek accommodation services or academic adjustments, please contact the Center for Student Accessibility at 300 Jay Street room L-237, 718 260 5143 or http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/accessibility/.

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism Statement

Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion.

Sanctions for Academic Integrity Violations

In accordance with the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity, NYCCT empowers its Academic Integrity Committee and Academic Integrity Officer to process violations of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy. As stated in the student handbook, all instructors must report all instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic Integrity Officer.

Course Policies

Word Count: All students in first-year composition are required to turn in a minimum of 6,000 finished words in order to successfully pass the class. Students who don’t meet the word count requirement will receive a grade of F. This is the English Department policy.

Final Portfolio / Reflection: At the end of the semester students will turn in a final portfolio which is a collection of their revised essays over the course of the semester. In addition, students will submit a final essay that is both reflective and argumentative in nature. In this essay, students will be asked to explain how the work they have done over the course of the semester has met the learning outcomes for the course. In developing this essay, students will argue that the work they have done in the course has met the learning outcomes and will show how that work meets the outcomes by using examples from their own writings that appear in the final portfolio. The final reflective/argumentative essay should be a minimum of 1100 words. Students who do not meet the 1100-word count for this reflection piece will not pass the class and will receive a grade of F. This is the English Departmental policy.

Attendance: Students who fail to attend class regularly will fall behind on the daily writing assignments. The daily assignments build upon previous work and lead towards success in the major projects. In order to succeed in the class, students will need to attend regularly. Students who fall behind will likely have a difficult time catching up.

Missed Work and Late Papers: Please email me before class if you are going to be absent so I can provide you with the assignments you miss. If you have to be absent for a long period of time please let me know so we can work out a schedule for your missed work.

*If you turn in a paper late, it will be deducted 25 points for each class period it is late. I will not accept papers that are more than three class periods late unless there are extenuating circumstances.

OpenLab Statement:

You will need to register with the City Tech Open Lab and join our course immediately. It will be your responsibility to learn the navigation of the class website during the first week. After the first week, we will be using the Open Lab. If you need help with this, see me immediately, and make sure to come to the second and first class meetings.

Course Load Statement:

A full-time course load for a college student is 4 classes. At forty hours per week, that breaks down to 10 hours per class. You will be in class and online for 2.5 hours a week. Plan to spend 7.5 hours on homework for each week on average. Some weeks will be more. Some less.

Evaluation criteria for written work and presentations:

From a list by Lewis Hyde, edited by Sue Lonoff, with thanks to Richard Marius’s writing handbook.

The Unsatisfactory Paper.

The D or F paper either has no thesis or else it has one that is strikingly vague, broad, or uninteresting. There is little indication that the writer understands the material being presented. The paragraphs do not hold together; ideas do not develop from sentence to sentence. This paper usually repeats the same thoughts again and again, perhaps in slightly different language but often in the same words. The D or F paper is filled with mechanical faults, errors in grammar, and errors in spelling.

The C Paper.

The C paper has a thesis, but it is vague and broad, or else it is uninteresting or obvious. It does not advance an argument that anyone might care to debate. “Henry James wrote some interesting novels.” “Modern cities are interesting places.”

The thesis in the C paper often hangs on some personal opinion. If the writer is a recognized authority, such an expression of personal taste may be noteworthy, but writers gain authority not merely by expressing their tastes but by justifying them. Personal opinion is often the engine that drives an argument, but opinion by itself is never sufficient. It must be defended.

The C paper rarely uses evidence well; sometimes it does not use evidence at all. Even if it has a clear and interesting thesis, a paper with insufficient supporting evidence is a C paper.

The C paper often has mechanical faults, errors in grammar and spelling, but please note: a paper without such flaws may still be a C paper.

The B Paper.

The reader of a B paper knows exactly what the author wants to say. It is well organized, it presents a worthwhile and interesting idea, and the idea is supported by sound evidence presented in a neat and orderly way. Some of the sentences may not be elegant, but they are clear, and in them thought follows naturally on thought. The paragraphs may be unwieldy now and then, but they are organized around one main idea. The reader does not have to read a paragraph two or three times to get the thought that the writer is trying to convey.

The B paper is always mechanically correct. The spelling is good, and the punctuation is accurate. Above all, the paper makes sense throughout. It has a thesis that is limited and worth arguing. It does not contain unexpected digressions, and it ends by keeping the promise to argue and inform that the writer makes in the beginning.

The A Paper.

The A paper has all the good qualities of the B paper, but in addition it is lively, well paced, interesting, even exciting. The paper has style. Everything in it seems to fit the thesis exactly. It may have a proofreading error or two, or even a misspelled word, but the reader feels that these errors are the consequence of the normal accidents all good writers encounter. Reading the paper, we can feel a mind at work. We are convinced that the writer cares for his or her ideas, and about the language that carries them.

Copyright © 2002, 2003 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Permission is granted to non-profit educational institutions to reproduce this document for internal use provided that the Book Center’s authorship and copyright are acknowledged.

Major Unit Assignments

Unit 1: Discourse Community Project (10%): In this project you will reflect on a discourse community you are apart of, and complete a scaffolded paper.

Unit 2: Inquiry Based Research Project (10%): Identify an issue or a problem within a discourse community that needs to be addressed and partake in a research paper exploring this issue

Unit 3: Multimodal Project (10%): Your assignment for Unit 3 is to repurpose your research paper into a multimedia format so you can effectively communicate your research to your discourse community and others. Your assignment may be any combination of text, visuals, audio, animation or art; however, you must always have your audience in mind. You must always be thinking of the best way to communicate your ideas in an easily digestible manner that will draw attention to your issue.

Unit 4: Final Portfolio (50%): This it is equivalent to a final exam. You will use feedback from me and revision strategies that we learn in class to write final drafts of your major unit projects. I expect you to revise your work significantly. You will also write an author’s statement reflecting on your writing practices, what you’ve created during of the semester, and how you can apply knowledge from this course in future contexts.

Daily Readings/Writings: You will be expected to come to class prepared with the daily readings done and ready to discuss. There will also be in-class reflection assignments which I will collect for participation points.

Peer Review: You will be assigned peer review exercises throughout the semester. If you have an excused absence on a peer review day you may make arrangements with one of your classmates outside of class to complete the assignment; however, I must approve this.

Participation: Since this class will be largely taught through discussion your participation is mandatory. If you are going to be absent for any reason you must email me beforehand to not receive an unexcused absence.

I also ask that we all be respectful of one another and the wonderfully diverse opinions, ethnic backgrounds, gender expressions and sexual orientations, social classes, religious beliefs, and ethnicities among us. Language that demeans any member of our community will not be tolerated.

Grade Calculation

Unit Projects 30%

Participation 10%

In class writing/Peer Review 10%

Final Portfolio 50 %

Semester Outline

• All Readings and Assignments are DUE on the day they are listed.
• Any changes made to the following schedule will be announced in class or on the class website. It is your responsibility to keep up with all announced changes.

DATE	CLASS TOPICS	READINGS / WRITINGS / VIEWINGS
WEEK 1 M 01/27	Introductions, Syllabus, Open Lab	Learn to Navigate Course Website.
W 01/29	Reading/Writing Beginning Discussion	“How to Read Like a Writer,” Michael Bunn
WEEK 2	Begin Unit 1 Discourse Communities
M 02/03	Introduction to Discourse Communities.	Reading: “The Concept of a Discourse Community,” John Swales
W 02/05	Discuss Freewriting/ Apply Discourse Communities to Literature	Reading: “Free Writing Exercises,” Peter Elbow Reading: “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin
WEEK 3 M 02/10	Sonny’s Blues Contd.	Brainstorming Assignment Due “Sonny’s Blues” Contd. Reading: Anne Lamott, “Shitty First Drafts”
W 02/12	Lincoln’s B-day. College Closed.
WEEK 4 M 02/17	College Closed
W 02/19	Peer Review Day	Rough Draft Due
WEEK 5	Unit 2 Inquiry-Based Research
M 02/24	Research Discussion: What is a research paper? Introduce Unit 2 Project	Final Draft Discourse Community Paper Reading: “Introduction to Doing Research: Observations, Surveys, and interviews Dara Lynn Driscoll.
W 02/26	Discuss Sources/ Primary Research	Reading: “An Orientation to Research” pg 20, The Literary Experience
WEEK 6 M 03/02	Discuss Sources/Annotated Bibliography	Project Proposal Due Start “Cathedral,” Raymond Carver
W 03/04	In-text Citations discussion Discuss Carver	Reading: “Cathedral,” Raymond Carver Continued.
WEEK 7 M 03/09	LIBRARY DAY	Annotated Bibliography Due
W 03/11	Discuss Beattie	Interview Transcript Due Reading: “Janus,” Anne Beattie
WEEK 8 M 03/16	Discuss Le Guin	Reading: “The Wife’s Story,” Ursula K. Le Guin
W 03/18	Peer Review Day	Rough Draft Due
WEEK 9	Unit 3: Multimodal Composition, Midterm Week
M 03/23	Introduction to Multimodal Composition. Discuss Unit 3 Project	Reading: “More Than Just Remixing: Uptake and New Media Composition”, Brian Ray
W 03/25	Continue Discussing Multimodal Composition/Genre	Final Research Paper due Reading: page 43-56N The Literary Experience
WEEK 10 M 03/30	Discussion of Audience	Reading: Purdue Owl “Identifying Audiences” https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/research_papers/identifying_audiences.html
W 04/01	Discuss Sample Student Projects/ In-Class Brainstorm of Project Proposals	Read Sample Student Projects Project Proposal Due
WEEK 11 M 04/06	Discuss Achebe	Reading: “Dead Man’s Path,” Chinua Achebe
T 04/07	Classes Follow a Wednesday Schedule. Discuss Murray	Reading: “Internal Revision,” Donald Murray
W 04/08	Spring Recess
WEEK 12 M 04/13	Spring Recess
W 04/15	Spring Recess
WEEK 13 M 04/20	Peer Review 1/ Discussion of Presentations	Rough Draft due
W 04/22	In-Class Work Day For Presentations/Multi Modal Project
WEEK 14 M 04/27	In-Class Work Day For Presentations/Multi Modal Project
W 04/29	In-class Presentations
WEEK 15 M 05/04	In-class Presentations
W 05/06	Final Peer Review	Final Rough Draft of Multimodal Project Due
WEEK 16	Unit 4: Revision of the portfolio
M 05/11	Discuss Portfolio Revision/ Short Conferences	Unit 3 Project Due
W 05/13	Peer Review Day/ Short Conferences	Bring Working Portfolio
F 05/15	Reading Day. No Classes.
05/16 – 05/22	Final Exam Week. Final Portfolios Due 5/20