New York City College of Technology

ENG 1101-D342       

English Composition 1                         

Seminar: M 11-12:15, W 11:30-12:45 PM, Midway 206

Writing Lab: M 10:00-10:50 AM, Midway 207

Professor Lucas Kwong

LKwong@citytech.cuny.edu; lucas.kwong.citytech@gmail.com

Office: Pearl 410

Mailbox: Namm 512

Office Hours: Wednesday 1:30-3:30, and by appointment

 

Spring 2017

Dreaming the Future: Re-Visioning Race and Technology in America

 

 

• COURSE DESCRIPTION

 

English Composition I is a course in effective essay writing and basic research techniques, including the use of the library. College-level readings are assigned as the basis for in-class and online discussion and for essay writing. CUNY certification in reading and writing is the prerequisite for this course. Students should expect to spend six hours per week on work for this class in addition to class time.

In this section of 1101, we will focus on texts that confront the possibilities, promises and problems of racial and technological progress.  As we study what it means for a writer to envision and re-vision racial and technological futures, we will learn of the basic principles of writing: to see something in a new way.  Re-visioning race and technology prompts us to think about the entire writing process as a series of re-visions: seeing other writers, our own readers, and our own writing in a new light.

1.  COURSE TEXTS AND MATERIALS

Course Web Site

Please consult the OpenLab site for English 1101, D342.  You will need to join as soon as possible to download readings and upload assignments.  Please contact me if you have trouble doing so.

Required Texts

All readings will be available on Openlab for free.  This method cuts down costs and allows students to read and analyze works of literature at a very low price, while also respecting copyright laws.  However, this means you are responsible for printing, annotating, and bringing readings to class!  Printing services are available in the Ursula Scherwin Library (Atrium 4th floor), the Atrium Learning Center (G-18), and in the compuer lab on the 3rd floor of General building.

You should also obtain a College-level English Dictionary.  You can use reliable dictionaries on the web, e.g., Merriam Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com), Oxford, and/or a dictionary that you already own.

Supplies
– A sturdy folder with pockets to hold your work and course handouts.

-A notebook for class notes and reading notes

-Various in-class handouts

-Access to a computer, the Internet, and the Openlab site

III.  CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS AND POLICIES

General Pointers: One should behave in class meetings as one would behave in any professional meeting.  This means…

 

-Don’t leave the classroom, even when class members are working in small groups, except for a real emergency.

-Please try to use the bathroom before class or in between Lab and Lecture Hour (on Monday).

-Turn your cell phones off: Save calls and text-messaging for break time.  If you cannot resist the urge to text, talk, or tweet, you will have points docked from your Participation grade (worth 10 total points)

-Be prepared to be here for the entire scheduled class time (see “Attendance” below)

-Much of the work we do in this class will be collaborative.  Being an active participant in this class is required.  

-Do not bring visitors (including children) to this class or any class without prior permission from your instructor.

-Do not take care of other college business or finish homework assignments during the time this class is meeting.

–Always bring all texts and materials to class. Do not forget your journal!

–Your attitude is everything.  Give this class your passionate intensity and it will give back to you.

 

Here are some particular classroom policies worth singling out.

 

Attendance (UPDATED 2/24): Students can have up to 3 Absences without penalty.  Save your absences for when you are sick or for unforeseen circumstances!  Please consult the following table to determine your standing in the course:

 

Missing 1 Lecture hour = 1 Absence

Late (25+ mins) = 1 Absence

Leaving 25+ mins early = 1 Absence

Missing 1 Writing Lab hour = ⅔ Absence

Late (up to 25 mins) = ⅓ Absence (hence, 3 Lates = 1 Absence)

4 Absences = -15 points from final course grade

4.5+ Absences = automatic F and possible WU, depending on circumstances

 

The College’s policy states that “excessive absence and/or lateness may affect the final grade.”  For this course’s purposes, “excessive absences and/or lateness” involves missing more than 10% of class.  Such an attendance record will endanger your ability to pass the class.  Therefore, I encourage you to strive for perfect attendance and to stay in contact with me if you need to miss class.  

Here’s what that looks like: if you have an illness or emergency, you need to let me know before the next class meeting.  Contact me through email, leave a note in my mailbox in the English Department Adjunct Office, or visit me during office hours.  

Absence, excused or otherwise, is not an excuse for missing or late work; if you are absent, you must get class notes from a classmate and keep up with your reading and written work.   

Finally, here is the college’s policy on WU grades: “A grade of WU is to be assigned to students who attended a minimum of one class, completely stopped attending at any time before final exam week and did not officially withdraw.”  If you reach a point where you cannot attend this class, I advise you to make sure that you officially withdraw before the April 19th deadline.”

Contacting Me:  The best ways to contact me are in-person before and after class and during my office hours.  If you need to get any assignments or essays to me, please either leave them in my mailbox, which is located in Namm 512, or bring them to class.  I am do not e-mail assignments to students and do not receive assignments or essays via e-mail (unless otherwise stated).

Students with Disabilities: If you have any type of disability, please come discuss this with me so we can make arrangements to tailor any course policies or assignments to your specific needs.  

Course Workload: Per CUNY guidelines, you are expected to budget 2 hours of independent study for every credit hour.  This means that for a 4 credit course, you will need to budget 8 hours independent study/class preparation, in addition to the 3 ⅓ hours you spend in class.    Please make sure that you have the time to do the work for this course and successfully complete it! If you do not have the time to accommodate the work for this course, I STRONGLY encourage you to consider taking this course at some point in the future when you will have the time to successfully complete it.

 

1.  ASSIGNMENTS

Blog posts (250 word average): Blog posts are low-stakes, informal opportunities to practice and receive feedback on your writing skills.  They are an opportunity for you to wrestle with the readings, with classroom discussion, and with your own ideas.  You are able to post your own entries and comment on other entries; I expect to see utmost civility in all comments.  I also expect to see adherence to the same grammatical standards evident in your formal assignments.

 

To access the blog, you must be a member of the OpenLab site.  Login, and go to Dashboard—>Posts—> Add New.

Posts, on average, should be 200-250 words.  At a minimum, you need to do all the required posts, but you are free to post more.  Replying to other students’ blog entries may earn a limited degree of extra credit (at professor’s discretion!).

 

Here’s how calculating blog grades works: Your blog posts count for 15% of your grade. Excellent responses receive 15 points, solid responses 10 points, and minimal responses 5 points.  At the end of the term, I add up all the points you earned, divide that by the total number of possible points, and convert that to a fraction of 15.  It’s not enough to consistently post minimal responses, or post 2-3 excellent responses; I’m looking for a steady output of quality.

 

Please inform me if you have posted an unassigned blog entry, or a comment on your classmates’ posts, so that I can make note of it.

 

In general, your blog post should include a summary of the readings, followed by a response in accordance with the directions for that day.

Essays and Assignments:  Essays and assignments are due at the BEGINNING OF CLASS on the date indicated. Essays and assignments must be typed.  Essays should be formatted according to MLA guidelines, which will be reviewed in class and are explained below. Please make sure that you retain a copy of all assignments, essays, and handouts.  If you must miss a class, please consult with one of your classmates or our course website regarding any assignments you may have missed.   

 

Missed Work and Late Papers: All work is expected to be submitted by the due dates. If you

have an outstanding circumstance, you must talk to me about it BEFORE the due date. Bottom

line: I won’t accept a paper late if it hasn’t already been cleared with me ahead of time. To get it cleared, you have to talk to me ahead of time.

 

Academic Integrity: City Tech 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.”

Please familiarize yourself with City Tech’s academic honesty policies: http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/aboutus/docs/policies/CUNY_ACADEMIC_INTEGRITY_6-2011.pdf.

 

We will discuss Plagiarism at the beginning of the semester, but the bottom line is this:  Students occasionally attempt to plagiarize, and I always check. I have caught plenty of people in the past. If you plagiarize, I will know, and I will turn you in.  Students who plagiarize or violate academic integrity as defined in the student handbook will receive an automatic F on the assignment for the first offense and may be reported to the Academic Integrity Officer. Students who violate academic integrity a subsequent time will be reported to the Academic Integrity Officer (as outlined in the Student Handbook) and will receive an F for the course.  Do NOT play with this.

Formatting papers:  Use MLA guidelines, which include the following recommendations: Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). The font size should be 12 pt..  The left and right margins of your document should be 1.25 inches.  In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor’s name, the course, the date, and the assignment title.  Include a title for all essays and for any assignments for which a title may be appropriate.

1. GRADING

Grading distribution (percentages subject to change): Your course grade will be calculated based on the following percentages, which reflect the value of the entire project.  Missing in-class writing, drafts, or peer-review work will result in a lower grade for an essay or for participation.  

Although grades will be calculated based on the percentages listed above, you cannot pass the course unless 1) your course attendance record does not exceed 4 Absences, and 2) you pass the final exam.  

Essay 1 (Summary and Response, 500 words): 5%

Essay 2 (Rhetorical Analysis Essay, 700-800 words): 10%

Essay 3 (Lens Essay, 1200 words): 15%

Essay 4 (Researched Conversation Essay, revising E2 or E3, 1700 words): 20%

Midterm: 10%

Blog Posts: 15%

Annotations: 5%

Final Exam: 10% (once again, you have to pass the final to pass the course!)

Class Participation: 10%  

Paper grades:  Your papers will be evaluated according to the following rubric.  Please read it carefully and let me know if you have any questions.

 

A, A- Papers earning an A or an A- are excellent examples of critical literacy in action.  They carefully and intelligently respond to the ideas in the readings and are easy and enjoyable to read.  Organization is smooth and the argument is well-polished and convincing.  These papers demonstrate the student’s mastery of the goals for the course as outlined by CUNY.  A paper would earn an A- rather than an A if it met these standards but fell short in an area of sentence-level revision (e.g., minor typographical errors, occasional editing missteps).

 

B+, B, B- Papers earning grades in the B range (B+, B, or B-) are good; they set themselves apart by being thoughtful and interesting, though they may still have some rough spots. Overall, the paper succeeds, even if some kinks still need to be ironed out.  These papers are more successful than papers earning grades in the C range, because these papers take risks with original analyses or interesting responses to the readings.  These papers are less successful than papers earning grades in the A range, because they still need attention to significant paragraph- or sentence-level issues like organization, appropriate use of evidence, appropriate levels of analysis, frequent editing and proofreading missteps, or unclear phrasing.  Within this range, papers earn a B+ when these paragraph and sentence level issues occur infrequently but still impede the writer’s attempts to communicate; papers earn a B- when the issues occur more frequently, substantially impeding communication.

 

C+, C Papers earn a C+ or a C when they meet the requirements of the assignment, but they do so unspectacularly.  Such papers are considered average.  These papers often have one or more weaknesses on the global level that substantially affect(s) the paper’s readability.  If your thesis is unclear, if your argument vacillates, if you summarize more than you analyze… these issues often negatively affect the success of a paper. These papers are more successful than papers earning a D because they do, in fact, meet all the requirements of the assignment; these papers are less successful than papers earning grades in the B range because they don’t take risks with original analyses or interesting responses to readings and because they present substantial global weaknesses that impede the writer’s ability to communicate his or her ideas.  

 

D If a paper earns a D in this class, it is because it clearly failed to meet the requirements of the assignment.  It may have dramatically fallen short of the page requirement or have lacked a thesis statement or argument entirely.  Papers earning grades in the D range demonstrate an honest attempt to address the assignment, though they need substantial global and paragraph level revisions in order to meet CUNY’s requirements for this course.  Papers earning a D are less successful than papers earning a C because they don’t meet the requirements of the assignment or the course; they are, however, more successful than papers earning an F because they demonstrate a good faith attempt to complete the assignment.

 

F Papers earning an F clearly fall short of meeting the requirements of the assignment.  They have no focus and demonstrate no engagement with the assigned readings at all.  These papers are less successful than papers earning a D, because they fail to demonstrate any attempt to meet the standards of the course or the requirements of the assignment.