English ENG 1101 Course Syllabus
Professor: Kieran Reichert
Office Phone: (718) 260-5392
Office:
Office Hours:
Email: kreichert@citytech.cuny.edu
Meeting Time:
Classroom Location:
Online Location: *Insert OpenLab here*
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:
- 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.
- Adapt to 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.
- 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 wellreasoned arguments. Persuasively communicate and repurpose research projects across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media. Demonstrate research skills through 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.).
- Use reflection and other metacognitive processes to revise prior assumptions about reading and writing and transfer acquired knowledge into new writing situations. Students write reflections of their own reading and 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.
- Demonstrate the social and ethical responsibilities and consequences of writing: Recognize that firstyear 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.
- Compose in 21st Century Environments: Learn to choose among the most current and effective delivery methods for different composing situations. Students learn to compose in new media environments, including alphabetic texts, still and moving images, sonic, and mixed media compositions. Use digital media platforms appropriate to audience and purpose.
Readings / Texts: To be handed out in class and/or posted on the course website. If texts are available on the course website only, I’ll expect you to download, print, and bring them with you on the day we’re due to discuss them in class.
- Course website: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/eng11X1_X20_reichert_XXXX
- For style, editing, and source citations, I recommend the Purdue OWL
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
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: Work is counted as late if it is not provided to me before or during class on the due date (if you email it to me later that day, it is considered late). Late papers will lose one letter grade per day late. Missing class is not an excuse for late work. If outside circumstances make a deadline impossible to meet, it is your responsibility to contact me ahead of time to discuss a possible extension.
NOTE: Please make sure to have at least one student’s email address for missed work. You are responsible for reaching out to them or to me to find out what you missed.
OpenLab / Blackboard 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. Any work that you fail to post after the 3rd class meeting cannot be made up. If you need help with this, see me immediately, and make sure to come to the first and second class meetings.
Major Projects and Assignments
Unit 1: Literacy Narrative
In this unit’s writing assignment, you will write a response to the question “What is literacy?” in a way that is personal, meaningful, and considered. The question does not ask “what is the definition of literacy?” but rather “what does literacy mean to you?” In this essay, you will relate experiences or events that have been important in shaping the kind of writer and reader you have become, or experiences that illuminate the role of literacy in your life. The purpose of the assignment is to explore this experience in order to gain insight into who you are as a writer and reader, and to examine the role literacy plays into your life. In the end, you will have linked your participation in this class to the rest of your experiences with writing in your life.
Project 2: Genre Research Project
In this assignment, we will be researching one topic from a multi-genre perspective. We will be taking what we’ve learned about writing situations and the audience/purpose/constraints of a given text and using them to deduce the conventions that make up the GENRE of a given text. First, you will start with a research question for which you will write up an annotated bibliography and turn that in for guidance from me and your peers. Then, you will make and outline and a rough draft, on which you will also get feedback from your peers. Then you will turn in a final draft for a grade, and a reflection.
Project 3: Writing in a New Genre
In Unit 3, you will be using your research from Unit 2 to compose a document/artifact in a new genre. You might want to write a declaration, a review, a manifesto, a rulebook, a magazine article (from a particular publication), a comic book, a children’s book, short story, a video essay. Perhaps you want to create a multigenre piece that mixes multiple genres in the same document, or a multimedia piece with a written component. I hope you get the sense that the possibilities are endless; you have multiple publishing options for your Unit 3 genre. You will begin with a proposal, then create an outline, and finally compose a rough draft. We will conduct peer review and I will provide you with comments, then you will revise and turn in a final draft for a grade, as well as a reflection.
Blog Posts: You will also at times be asked to write blog posts about the readings/course concepts. These will be the way that you prove to me that you are keeping up with the material and discussions in class, and therefore will be ultimately
Participation: 10% of your grade will be based on the quantity and quality of your participation in class/online. Reading the assigned texts, completing any homework, and bringing the necessary materials to class are all crucial to effective participation.
Extra Credit: Extra credit proposals will be considered on a case-by-case basis and are only available given extenuating circumstances.
Portfolio: The final portfolio assignment asks students to accomplish three tasks: 1) to revise all of their work over the course of the semester; 2) reflections, describe the process and evolution of the project over the course of the semester; 3) students also write a narrative that explains their evolution as a reader and writer over the course of the semester, from their thoughts about writing/reading during the literacy narrative to how they feel about writing and reading now. It is important to recognize that students should not simply state that their writing has changed over the semester, but they should be able to specifically identify and describe with sufficient detail particular moments in their assignments and in the semester where they could substantiate how their own growth was taking place. Last, 4) the assignment should also ask students to consider how the course has prepared them for transfer—that is, for writing in other contexts.
Grade Calculation
Blog Posts 20%
Presentation 10%
Participation 10%
Final Portfolio 60 %
Drafts 20%
Revisions 20%
Reflections 20%
