The St. Martin's Guide to Writing, 5th Ed. By Axelrod and Cooper.
New York: St. Martins Press, 1997
Who Are We? Readings on Identity, Community, Work, and Career, Axelrod
and Cooper. New York: St. Martins Press, 1997
A Writers Reference, 4th Ed. By Diana Hacker.
Boston: Bedford Books, 1999
Other Materials
One
blank 3.5 inch floppy disk
One notebook with loose leaf paper for class
notes/Response Journal
One
folder for writing assignments
Hardback
American Heritage or Websters Collegiate dictionary
Course Description and Objectives
Involving intensive course work in writing fundamentals, this class is open
to those students who score above the lowest quartile on the English Placement
Test or those who have completed English 85B with satisfactory progress.
Since this class is designed to prepare you for English 101, we will work on
writing assignments that you will encounter in both English 101 and other
university classes. CSUSB places great emphasis on writing in the six different
colleges: Arts and Letters, Business and Public Administration, Education,
Natural Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Extended Learning. As such,
this course will help you to work toward developing competence as a writer so
that you will be able to have success in whichever of these colleges you wish to
concentrate on.
Writing affects the way we think and learn, as well as for our chances of
success, our personal development, and our relations with other people. Since
most academic writing is based on reading, it is important to learn to read
critically, understanding the connections between reading and writing. The
emphasis in this class is on learning by doing, so expect to read and write
often. We will have three short essays, four in-class essays, one oral
presentation for each student, and a response journal. Because you will be
writing up to three multiple drafts for some of these essays, you will be
required to type all your papers on a computer or word processor. Always keep
backup copies on all writing assignments.
As a student of English 095 and upon completion of Composition 101 the
following quarter, you should be able to successfully complete the following
guidelines as outlined by the English Department:
1. analyze the rhetorical situation by making strategic choices as to
content, style, and form depending on the purpose, audience, and the genre in
which you write.
2. use writing as a tool to improve your critical thinking skills.
3. use writing to improve your creative imagination skills.
4. learn how to gather writing knowledge from a community of writers.
5. understand and effectively practice the writing process (prewriting,
writing, self editing, peer editing, and revision).
6. understand that revising involves substantial rethinking and rewriting,
and to learn to make such revisions of one's own writing.
7. learn to edit one's own writing for global organization, style, and
sentence level accuracy.
8. learn to read critically and respond constructively to published and
peer texts.
9. learn how to position one's argument in relation to one's sources.
10. learn how to incorporate and cite external sources in one's writing.
11. learn to write clearly and effectively in impromptu situations.
12. learn to generate rhetorically effective sentences.
Requirements
Writing Assignments: Each essay has a minimum of five stages and all
stages must be included when the final draft is turned in. Be sure to turn in
all previous work associated with each essay that you work on. A brief
description of the invention, planning and drafting, middle draft peer review,
final draft, and revised final draft stages will be explained.
1. In-class invention writing workshop: Each student will be expected to
participate. It is at this stage that you find a topic, discover what you
know about it, consider your purpose, and audience, and further develop your
ideas about the selected topic.
2. In-class planning and drafting: Once the initial period of invention
is completed, you should review what you have learned about the topic and
start to plan your essay. The "Guides to Writing" in the book will
help you to set goals and to organize your ideas and information in order to
achieve those goals. Planning requires you to put your ideas into a
coherent, purposeful order appropriate to your readers; drafting challenges
you to find the words that will be understandable and interesting for those
readers. Invention continues as you draft, for you will continue to make
further discoveries about your topic as you work. But drafting requires you
to shift your focus from generating new ideas and gathering further
information to forging new and meaningful relations among your ideas and
information.
3. In-class middle draft peer review: After you have finished drafting
your essay, you will show it to someone else for comments and advice on how
to improve it. Most experienced writers often seek advice from others. Each
student on this day of class shall evaluate a minimum of three essays from
other students in the class. To evaluate someone elses draft, you need to
read with a critical eye by using the critical comments section in the book
for each assigned essay. Be both positive and skeptical-positive in that you
are trying to identify what is workable and promising in the draft,
skeptical in that you need to question the writers assumptions and
decisions. Offer advice, but do not rewrite the paper. Your role is to read
carefully, to point out what you think is or is not working, to make
suggestions and ask questions. Leave the revising to the writer. Do not edit
the paper for grammatical correctness.
4. Final Draft: Even productive invention and smooth drafting rarely
result in the essay a writer has imagined. Experienced writers are not
surprised or disappointed when this happens, however. They expect to revise
a draft and revising will help move them closer to the essay they really
want to write. Read your middle draft critically and thoughtfully. Reflect
on the critical reading by others and see if you can find opportunities for
improvement. You may notice misspelled words or garbled sentences; most
important, however, you may discover ways to delete, move, rephrase, and add
material in order to express your ideas more clearly. It is at this point
that the instructor gets an opportunity to evaluate your writing in its
first four stages: namely the invention, planning and drafting, middle draft
peer review, and final draft stages.
5. Revised final draft: I will write comments and suggestions on your
final draft. You may choose to keep the grade I give you, or you may revise
and resubmit it for reassessment. To make certain that you do not have to
repeat this class again, I strongly encourage you to revise the essay until
you score a B. If you choose to revise, you will have one week from the time
that I hand back the graded final draft essay.
The writing assignments for this class will require you to draw upon critical
readings of The St. Martin's Guide to Writing and
Who Are We? Readings on Identity, Community, Work, and Career. You will
be positioning your ideas and arguments in relation to the authors from these
two textbooks. One important part of my evaluating your success or failure in
these writing assignments is seeing if you can choose appropriate rhetorical
strategies and structures that will allow you to respond to the many contexts in
which writing is found.
Assignment #1: Read Langston
Hughes,"Theme for English B", John S. Pitt, "Dont Call Me
Red", and Kesaya E. Noda, "Growing Up Asian in America".
Explain how hair or skin color is seen as a defining factor in identity by
these writers. Then tell about an important event in your life that helped
you to forge your own sense of identity. Choose an event that will be
engaging to your audience and that will, at the same time, tell them
something about you. Tell your story dramatically and vividly, giving a
clear indication of its autobiographical significance.
Assignment #2: Read Anastasia Toufexis, "Love: The Right
Chemistry", Janice
Castro, "Contingent Workers", Peter Passell, "Path
Dependence: Why the Best Doesnt Always Win", and Schizophrenia: What
it Looks Like, How It Feels". In a similar fashion to these writers,
write a mini-research paper using MLA style documentation that explains one
aspect of a concept about which you would like to learn. Consider carefully
what your readers already know about it and how your essay might add to what
they know. Your main goal in this writing assignment is to convey helpful
and interesting information.
Assignment #3: Richard Astride, "Sticks and Stones and Sports
Team Names", Barbara Ehrenreich, "In Defense of Talk Shows",
Guy Molyneux, "The Declining Art of Political Debate", Jessica
Statsky, "Children Need to Play, Not Compete", all present
examples of argumentative writing. As you read these essays, consider how
the titles are appropriate for the essays. Closely evaluate how each writer
presents the issue, takes a position, and then develops a convincing, well
reasoned argument.
In a similar fashion to these writers, write a mini-research
paper using MLA style documentation that argues a position on a
controversial issue.
Be sure to examine the issue critically. In fact, instead of
framing an argument to support an already-formed opinion, I
encourage you to analyze the pros and cons of the issue before
reaching your own conclusions.
Remember that it is important to think through the issue and base
your position on solid reasoning and evidence.
Though you do not want to waffle on the issue that you argue, you
will need to anticipate readers opposing arguments;
in response to this you may have to modify your own position by
acknowledging good points, or you will have to defend your position
by refuting arguments with which the audience disagrees.
I will gladly accept papers that are double-spaced, typed and 3-4 pages
in length. Please put your name on the back of the last page of your essay.
Oral Presentations
During the quarter, each student will have an opportunity to give an oral
summary in one of the following areas: critical thinking, writing strategies,
research strategies, or writing for assessment. This is a 5-10 minute oral
assignment that requires you to think about your learning. You will be
assigned a specific number of pages to read. Then you will summarize and
respond to the reading by preparing an oral summary about how you might be
able to use the information to improve your writing skills. If the topic
relates to a past, current, or future writing assignment for English 095 or
for another university class, you may discuss those connections. The oral
presentation will give you an opportunity to share with your classmates your
knowledge about the composing process. The oral presentation will be graded
according to the following simple set of criteria. Grades will not be affected
by the nature of your response; you should feel completely free to say
anything you wish, as long as you say something related to your assigned
readings. Please try not to speak any longer than ten minutes.
Grade of A: The oral summary shows attentive summaries of the reading
assignment and shows real, thoughtful responses/discussions. The oral
summary includes specific experiences with how critical thinking, writing,
research, or writing for assessment strategies can be used or are being
used in English 095 or other university classes. The oral summary is
approximately five to ten minutes long.
Grade of B: The oral summary shows skimpy readings and summaries, along
with some responses/discussions. The oral summary includes some personal
application of the critical thinking, writing, research, or writing for
assessment strategies but it isn't specific as to how they can be used or
are being used in English 095 or other university classes.
Grade of C: The oral summary is mostly summary with little if any
response to the readings. Has little if any personal application of how
the critical thinking, writing, research, or writing for assessment
strategies can be used or are being used in English 095 or other
university classes. The oral summary is unplanned, unrehearsed, and
disorganized.Grade of NC: Shows no evidence of the readings. The oral
summary is so disorganized that it is difficult if not impossible to
understand how the critical thinking, writing, research or writing for
assessment strategies can be used or are being used in English 095 or
other university classes.
In addition to the above requirements for your oral
presentation, I will also focus in the following
areas:
Oral Skills Evaluation Form
The scoring scale is as follows: 4=Excellent, 3=Good, 2=Fair, 1=Poor,
0=Very poor
Gestures-Did the student use his/her hands? 0 1 2 3 4
Eye Contact-Did student often make eye contact with audience? 0 1 2
3 4
Pronunciation-Could you understand what the student was saying? Did
the students pronunciation interfere with you understanding his/her oral
presentation? 0 1 2 3 4
Intonation-Did the student use higher pitches as well as stress on
the words that carry information in the presentation? In other words, did the
student vary or change his/her intonation? 0 1 2 3 4
Fluency-Was the student fairly fluent with the presentation? In
other words, did the student stumble and stutter as if to be trying to find
the right word to say or did it seem that the student had practiced the
presentation several times before? Was the student comfortable giving the
presentation? 0 1 2 3 4
Organization
Introduction-Did it have a lively introduction? Was there a thesis
statement of some kind that let you know what the presentation was going to
be about? 0 1 2 3 4
Body-Did the body develop the thesis statement in the
introduction? Was the presentation thorough and clear? Did it develop the
thesis statement enough so that the presentation had full development and
detail? In other words, were there supporting details and background
information in the body? Were there smooth transitions between each
supporting detail or was the body choppy and awkward? 0 1 2 3 4
Conclusion-Did the conclusion relate to the introduction and the
body? Did it end abruptly, or was it a well thought out and planned
conclusion. Did the student tell you in short was he/she just said? 0 1 2 3
4
Language
Vocabulary-Did the student have a good command of the
English language? 0 1 2 3
Grammar-Did the student show competent use of grammar,
sentence structure, transitions, subject-verb agreement, etc.0 1 2 3 4
What aspect of this presentation was least effective?
What was the greatest strength of this presentation?
The Response Journal
The response journal is a very important part of the course. It records your progress as you learn
about English and the
composing process. There are two kinds of responses to this process.
You should have your response journal beside you as you do
your homework and your assigned readings, and you need to make regular
weekly entries in it. The requirement is that you write a
minimum of three pages per week. Its purpose is to assist you in becoming
an active rather than a passive learner of composition. Furthermore,
the response journal will help prepare you for the impromptu
essay tests. Reserve either a separate notebook or a section of a loose leaf notebook for the response
journal for this course.
Draw a vertical
line down the middle of each page. The right-hand side of
the page is for your summaries of each assigned chapter in TheSt. Martins Guide to Writing
and Who Are We? Readings onIdentity,
Community, Work, and Career. The left-hand side is for yourresponse
to what you have read (1) as you read and (2) later on
after you have had time to reflect and add context. The journal
is not the place for class notes, or for work from othercourses; it is
specifically for the reading and homework assignments
for English 095. Note also that a journal is not designed
as finished, presentation writing, and hence need not be edited
for form. There are
two stages for each journal entry, so be sure to date
all entries. The first stage occurs when your read the assigned
reading: the summary appears to the right, and questions, puzzles,
connections, and the like appear to the left. The second stage
occurs when you review the journal. You will now engage
in a renewed dialogue both with the material and with your earlier
comments. I will collect the 30 page journals at the end of
the quarter.
Tests
All students of English 095 are expected to take the four
impromptu essay examinations which are used for assessment purposes.
Two of these essays will be the midterm and final examinations.
For the impromptu essays, I will give you a writing prompt
which will ask you to respond to one of the assigned readings.
You will have forty-five minutes for this examination.
Late Work
Assignments submitted after the due date will not be accepted.
In other words, you will receive no points at all for that
essay. I will only allow you to make up missed work if you have a written
documented excuse from someone stating the urgency of
the situation (e.g. Doctors note, CHP accident report, etc.).
Attendance
Your attendance is required at all class meetings. Only written
documented excuses for an absence may result in your making
up an assignment or graded daily work. Absences endanger your
grade simply because of the amount of writing done in class. Three
absences will result in an overall reduction of one full letter
grade and five absences will result in a failing grade for this
class.
Tutorials
You are required to have five thirty minute tutorial sessions
at the writing center located in UH 387. Many knowledgeable,
interested and friendly tutors in the center are ready
to help you according to your needs. Though the writing center
will put the signed slips into my box, please keep a record of
your visits including the time, date, and name of tutor. That
record will come in handy in the event there is a discrepancy.
Grading
The number letter grading scale is set as follows:
A 95-100
A- 90-94
B+ 87-89
B 84-86
B- 80-83
C+ 76-79
C 70-75
NC 69& below
Scoring Grade
Your final grade will be broken down as follows:
Class participation 10%
Oral Presentation 10%
Assignment #1 10%
Assignment #2 10%
Assignment #3 10%
Midterm In-Class essay 10%
Final In-class essay 10%
Impromptu essays (2) 10%
Response Journal 10%
Writing Center: five visits 10%
To receive a passing grade, you must hand in all three of the
out of class writing assignments.
Assessment of Written Work
I will use the Scoring Guide for the English Placement Test when I evaluate
your papers for a grade. A copy of that guide is attached. Use the following
scale to find the letter grade equivalent to the holistic numbers on your
papers:
6=A
5=B
4=C
3=D
2=D
1=C
Scoring Guide
Superior 6 demonstrates superior writing, but may have minor flaws. An essay
in this category:
C
addresses the topic clearly and responds effectively
to all aspects of the task;
C
explores the issues thoughtfully and in depth;
C
is coherently and logically organized, with ideas
supported by apt reasons and well-chosen examples;
C
is generally free from errors in mechanics, usage,
and sentence structure.
Strong 5 demonstrates clear competence in writing. It may have some errors,
but they are not serious to distract or confuse the reader. An essay in this
category:
C
clearly addresses the topic, but may respond to some
aspects of the task more effectively than others;
C
shows some depth and complexity of thought;
C
is well organized and developed with appropriate
reasons and examples;
C
displays some syntactic variety and facility in the
use of language;
C
may have a few errors in mechanics, usage, and
sentence structure.
Adequate 4 demonstrates adequate writing. It may have some errors that
distract the reader, but they do not significantly obscure meaning. An essay in
this category:
C
addresses the topic, but may slight some aspects of
the task;
C
may treat the topic simplistically or repetitively;
C
is adequately organized and developed, generally
supporting ideas with reasons and examples;
C
demonstrates adequate facility with syntax and
language;
C
may have some errors, but generally demonstrates
control of mechanics, usage, and sentence structure.
Marginal 3 demonstrates developing competence, but is flawed in some
significant way(s). An essay in this category reveals one or more
of the following weaknesses:
C
distorts or neglects aspects of the task;
C
lacks focus, or demonstrates confused or simplistic
thinking;
C
is poorly organized or developed;
C
does not provide adequate or appropriate details to
support generalizations, or provides details without generalizations;
C
has problems with or avoids syntactic variety;
C
has an accumulation of errors in mechanics, usage,
and sentence structure.
Inadequate 2 is seriously flawed. An essay in this category reveals one or
more of the following weaknesses:
C
indicates confusion about the topic or neglects
important aspects of the task;
C
lacks focus and coherence, or often fails to
communicate its ideas;
C
has very weak organization, too little development;
C
provides simplistic generalizations without
support;
C
has inadequate sentence control and a limited
vocabulary;
C
is marred by numerous errors in mechanics, usage,
and sentence structure.
Incompetent 1 demonstrates fundamental deficiencies in writing skills. An
essay in this category reveals one or more of the following weaknesses:
C
suggests an inability to comprehend the question or
to respond meaningfully to the topic;
C
is unfocused, illogical, incoherent, or
disorganized;
C
is undeveloped;
C
provides little or no relevant support;
C
has serious and persistent errors in word choice,
mechanics, usage, and sentence structure.
English 095
Fall Quarter 1999
Course Syllabus
(This schedule may be subject to change throughout the quarter).
Week One: Chapter One
September 23 Introduction to English 095; hand out and explain syllabus;
Read "Who Are We" pp. 1-18
Week Two: Chapter Two
28 Discuss assignment #1; basic features for assignment # 1: St. Martins
Guide pp. 19-41; In-class invention writing workshop for Assignment #1:St. Martins Guide pp. 42-46
30
Essay examinations: Why Professors give them and
how to prepare for them; In-class planning and drafting
for assignment #1: St. Martins Guide pp. 46-63;
Read "Who Are We" pp. 19-43
Week Three: Chapter Two
October 5
@Middle
Draft Peer Review of Assignment #1; Sample student essays for assignment
#1:"the good, the bad, and the ugly"
7
Impromptu
essay #1; Assignment
# 1 due; Read "Who Are We" pp.
44-59 Discuss assignment #2; basic features for assignment # 2:
St. Martins Guide pp. 157-181;
Week Four: Chapter Five
12 In-class invention writing workshop for Assignment #2: St.
Martins Guide pp. 182-186
14
rOral
Presentations: Invention Strategies St. Martins Guide pp. 429-440,
Reading Strategies St. Martins Guide pp. 441-464, and Cueing the
Reader St. Martins Guide pp. 465-480; Second
draft of Assignment # 1 due if grade is lower than a B.; Read "Who Are
We" pp. 60-76
Week Five: Chapter Five
19 In-class planning and drafting for assignment #2: St. Martins
Guide pp. 186-199
21
Midterm
examination (Impromptu essay #2); Read
"Who Are We" pp. 77-95
Week Six: Chapter Five
26
@Middle
Draft Peer Review of Assignment #2; Sample student essays for assignment
#2:"the good, the bad, and the ugly";
Third
draft of Assignment # 1 due if grade is lower than a B.
28
Assignment
# 2 due;
Read
"Who Are We" pp. 96-115; Discuss
assignment #3; basic features for assignment #3: St. Martins Guide pp.
201-224
Week Seven: Chapter 6
November 2 In-class invention writing workshop for Assignment #3: St.
Martins Guide pp.225-231
4
rOral
Presentations: Narrating St. Martins Guide pp. 481-490, Describing St.
Martins Guide pp. 491-502, Defining St. Martins Guide pp.
503-512, Classifying St. Martins Guide pp. 513- 519, Comparing and
Contrasting St. Martins Guide pp. 520-525, and Arguing St. Martins
Guide pp. 526-543; Read "Who
Are We" pp. 115-132
Week Eight: Chapter 6
9 In-class planning and drafting for assignment #3: St. Martins Guide
pp. 231-245
; Second
draft of Assignment # 2 due if grade is lower than a B.
11
Impromptu
essay #3; Read "Who Are We" pp.
133-150
Week Nine: Chapter 6
16
@Middle
Draft Peer Review of Assignment #3; Sample student essays for assignment
#3:"the good, the bad, and the ugly";Third
draft of Assignment # 2 due if grade is lower than a B.
18
rOral
Presentations: Field Research St. Martins Guide pp. 544-555, Library
and Internet Research St. Martins Guide pp. 556-594, Using and
Acknowledging Sources St. Martins Guide pp. 595-629, Essay
Examinations St. Martins Guide pp. 630-647; Assignment
#3 due; Read
"Who Are We" pp. 151-170
Week Ten: Chapter 6
23 Thirty page response journal due
25 Thanksgiving Holiday: no class; Read
"Who Are We" pp. 171-188
Week Eleven: Chapter 6
December 2
Second draft of Assignment # 3 due
if grade is lower than a B. Read
"Who Are We" pp. 189-191
Finals Week: Final Exam
7 Final
Examination (Impromptu essay #4) 4:00 p.m.
