Division of Arts/Humanities
Department of English
Prof. Frank Masiello email: fmasiello@citytech.cuny.edu
ENG 1101 Composition I
Fall 2020
Online and asynchronous
Course Description
English Composition I is a three-credit, general education course with am emphasis on expository/analytic writing, with a greater focus on critical thinking and writing in response to the class readings. Students will learn to evaluate and respond to the ideas that they encounter within the selections. The course will aim to develop students’ writing skills, essential for the production of persuasive, well-supported essays. A research paper is required for this course.
Student Learning Goals: As a result of meeting the requirements in this course, you will be able to:
Use critical reading skills: to understand and evaluate literary texts; to summarize works of literature; and to explain how literary elements interact to convey meaning.
Write academic and personal responses to works of literature using appropriate literary terminology.
Continue developing a process by which you write.
Argue the validity of your interpretation of a work of literature.
Use quotations and paraphrases from primary and secondary sources in your writing and document them following MLA style.
Revise your essay to achieve unity and coherence.
Edit and proofread your writing for clarity and correctness.
Course Content
As a student in this course, you can expect to do a great deal reading, writing, and thinking.
You can expect to read many short, literary texts and to write about these texts. Ttis class will continue to prepare you for the work that you will do in this or any other college.
Whether you take a math, economics, or philosophy course, you will have to read and understand the course material.
Effective reading skills are essential to success in college. In addition, many college professors will require you to write a research paper of one sort or another.
Composition I will help you develop the skills that you will need to write term papers for this and for other college courses.
Please do not think about this course in isolation; instead, think about how your experience here can help make you a better student.
Required Materials:
Notebook and flashdrive (you MUST get into the habit of saving your word-processed writing).
NEVER DELETE AN ESSAY UNTIL THE FINAL GRADE IS GIVEN AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER!
Course Requirements
You will be required to do the following:
Write at least five multi-paragraph, academic and/or personal essays of at least 500 words.
Write at least two in-class essays.
Read, interpret, and analyze numerous literary works from the class readings.
Conduct independent research and write a 4-page research paper, using MLA style.
Submit papers that adhere to MLA manuscript requirements and which demonstrate effective proofreading and editing.
Participate in class discussions and other in-class activities necessary to produce quality expository prose.
Be on time for class and attend class regularly. Several absences will lower your grade.
Grading Policy
Your final grade will be computed in the following way: five essays, 55%; research paper 25%; and classwork and final 20%.
Since some students are quiet by nature, class participation will be counted as extra credit.
I will use a class participation grade to increase your final grade if it is somewhere between a C+ and a B, for example. However, I will not use class participation to increase a failing grade to a passing one.
Attendance Policy
Poor attendance will affect your grade. If you do not post material each week in response to discussions or assignments, you are considered absent.
If you are absent excessively, you can expect to fail the course.
Research Assignment Fall 2020
Compare and contrast one of the following novels to its corresponding film version:
Books to films suggested readings:
PLEASE NOTE: Film titles must be underlined or italicized. This document doesn’t show that.
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick
Carrie by Stephen King
The Shining by Stephen King
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Collector by John Fowles (1965 version only)
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
Emma by Jane Austen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (numerous film versions)
The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Green Mile by Stephen King
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling or any in the Harry Potter series
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (sometimes referred to as a “non-fiction novel”)
Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Mildred Pierce by James. M. Cain
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Psycho by Robert Bloch
Watchmen by Alan Moore (graphic novel)
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Midnight Cowboy by James Leo Herlihy
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkein or any of The Lord of the Rings books
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
It by Stephen King
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby, Jr.,
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer or any in the series
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
If you have a novel to film combination that you would like to consider, please ask me. PLEASE DO NOT READ ANYTHING NOT ON THIS LIST WITHOUT GETTING IT APPROVED FIRST! THIS IS AN ASSIGNMENT TO READ A NOVEL, no other text item is acceptable, no plays, no video games.
You are looking for similarities and differences. Also, why were changes made from book to film?
You must include four sources, book reviews and film reviews (secondary sources) that helped you form your opinions, plus the novel and the film (primary sources) for a total of six sources.
YOU MUST FIND PROFESSIONAL CRITICS’ REVIEWS, NOT JUST FANS AND BLOGGERS.
Try to relate the works to the themes we will be covering this semester: youth, gender, genre, etc. The books and films themselves do not count toward the four sources, but should also be included in your Works Cited, which must be done in MLA style.
The finished paper should be approximately 1500 words (that is four pages with double spacing, 12-point font) and is due two days before our last class meeting.
Worksheets, readings, and essay topics will be sent gradually.
New York City College of Technology Policy on Academic Integrity
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 in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. The complete text of the College policy on Academic Integrity may be found in the catalog.
Accessibility Statement
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