Course Schedule

**Subject to change**

(UPDATED 2/5/15)

Week Date Class Schedule Homework
1 Th 1/29
  • Course Overview
  • Class Introductions
  • “I Remember”
  • Subscribe to our OpenLab site and familiarize yourself with the information and layout.
  • Post your introduction and 5 “I Remembers” in a blog post. Don’t forget to tag the category!
  • Read Colson Whitehead’s “City Limits” (handout)
2 T 2/3
  • Intro to Active & Close Reading
  • Discuss “City Limits”
  • Diagnostic Essay
  • Read Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me.” Starting now, you will post your reading responses to our course site.
Th 2/5
  • Active & Close Reading
  • Discuss “Superman and Me”
  • ”Writing Assignment: My life in the 3rd person
  • Grammar Handout #1
3 T 2/10
  • Discuss Diagnostic Essay
  • Sentence Corrections
  • Introduce Essay #1
  • Read Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech (RR 403)
  • Make annotations
  • Brainstorm Essay #1: fill out Narration and Description prewriting, due 2/19
Th 2/12 NO CLASS 
4 T 2/17
  • Reading & Analyzing an Essay:
  • Purpose, Audience, and Strategy
  • Discuss “I Have a Dream”
  • Writing as a Process:
  • Planning, drafting, revising, editing
  • Determining your purpose, analyzing your audience, selecting your strategy
  • Read Amy Tan “Mother Tongue” (RR 468)
Th 2/19
  • Narration & Description: “Mother Tongue”
  • Understanding Narration: conflict, purpose, plot, tone, resolution
  • Essay #1: first draft due 2/24.
5 T 2/24
  • Narration & Description: The Snake and the Fox

–   Using dialogue and creating meaning in story
  • Grammar Handout #2
Th 2/26
  • Avoiding Wordiness
  • Read George Owell “Shooting an Elephant” (RR 80).
6 T 3/3
  • Narration & Description: “Shooting an Elephant”

– Writing Using Strong Sensory Details
  • Essay #1 final draft due 3/5. Include pre-writing and rough draft.
Th 3/5
  • Summarizing, Paraphrasing, & Plagiarism: (GW pg. 99-106)
  • What is summary?
  • Paraphrase vs. Plagiarism
  • How to use indirect and direct quotes effectively
  • Read Terry McMillan’s “The Movie That Changed My Life” (RR 366).
  • Write a one-page summary of McMillan’s essay.
7 T 3/10
  • Review Summaries
  • Compare & Contrast:
  • Understanding author thesis, structure, evidence
  • Define Compare & Contrast
  • Introduce Essay #2
  • Read David Sedaris “Remembering my Childhood on the Continent of Africa (RR 172)
Th 3/12
  • Compare & Contrast: “Remembering my Childhood”

 
  • Essay #1: revisions due 3/17.
  • Essay #2: observations, photos, and detailed outline due 3/17.
8 T 3/17
  • Review for Midterm:
  • Writing with a thesis
  • Using topic sentences and strong paragraph development
  • Transitions, structure
  • Quote integration
  • Prepare for Midterm: read and annotate the articles.
  • Essay #2: detailed outline due 3/19
Th 3/19 MIDTERM 
  • Grammar Handout #3
9 T 3/24
  • Midterm Recap

–   Writing Great Introductions and Conclusions

  • Introduction to Peer Review
  • Essay #2: first draft due 3/26. Bring in TWO typed copies for peer editing.
  • Review the Peer Review Guidelines and Worksheets in preparation for the workshop
Th 3/26 Peer Editing Workshop 
  • Essay #2: Final draft due 3/31.

 
10 T 3/31
  • Introduction to the Argumentative Essay
  • What It Is
  • What it’s Used For and the Different Applications
  • Introduce Essay #3

–   Creating a Proposition Statement
  • Preliminary Research Sheet due 4/2
  • Read “Thinking Critically About Research” pt. 1 (handout)

 
Th 4/2
  • Introduction to Research: Thinking Critically About Academic Research
  • What is “Research” and Why Should I Use It?
  • Primary Research v. Secondary Research
  • Application in Academics and Everyday Life

 
  • Read “Thinking Critically About Research” pt. 2 (handout)
  • Read “Using and Documenting Sources” (RR 569-582)
  • Essay #2: revisions due 4/14
11 T 4/7 NO CLASS 
Th 4/9 NO CLASS 
12 T 4/14 Library Instruction(meet in front of the library)

 
  • Read Daniel Goleman’s “Peak Performance” (pg. 337-343).

 
Th 4/16
  • Supporting an Argument: “Peak Performance.”

 
  • Work on Essay #3.
  • Grammar Handout #4
13 T 4/21
  • Quote Integration Review
  • Using Textual Evidence
  • Introduce, cite, explain.
  • Paraphrasing and Quote Integrating Practice

 
  • Read A Debate About the Death Penalty: “The Penalty of Death” by H.L. Mencken and “Execution” by Anna Quindlen (pgs. 443-453)

 

 
Th 4/23
  • Supporting an Argument: “A Debate About the Death Penalty”
  • Essay #3: first draft due 4/28. Bring in TWO typed copies for peer editing.
  • Review the Peer Review Guidelines in preparation for the workshop
14 T 4/28 Peer Editing Workshop 
  • Read and annotate handout for Practice Final
  • Essay #3: Annotated Bibliography due 4/16
Th 4/30 Practice Final Exam 
  • Essay #3: Final draft due 5/5.
15 T 5/5
  • Discuss Oral Presentations
  • Discuss Practice Final

– Rewrite thesis statements
  • Prepare for presentations
Th 5/7
  • Final Sentence Workshop!
  • Prepare for presentations
16 T 5/12
  • Student Presentations
  • Essay #3: revisions due 5/14.
Th 5/14
  • Student Presentations
17 T 5/19 Final 

 

 

 

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