Autumn 2010 Langara College English 1127: Essay Writing and Short Prose La
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Sections: 010, 047 Autumn, 2010 Instructor: Susan Font Office: A202b Phone: 604.323.5273 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Monday to Friday 10:30‐11:30 am Course aims and methods: This course introduces students to the principles of academic writing and critical reading through the study of various short stories and through practice in writing both in‐class and home essays (one of which is a research paper). Classes will include lectures, discussions, group work, in‐class writing and individual work. Successful completion of this course means that students should be able to:  Write a short college‐level essay with a clear and significant thesis, effective paragraphs, and coherent sentence structures  Utilise writing processes, such as rewriting and drafting  Hone a focused and argumentative thesis  Analyse and interpret a short story using elements of fiction and figures of speech  Conduct basic academic research  Use and document secondary sources correctly Required Texts:  Lawn, Beverly: Forty Short Stories (Third Edition)  Headrick, Paul: A Method for Writing Essays about Literature Recommended Texts:  Buckley, J. Checkmate: Pocket Guide  A good desk dictionary (Oxford Concise or Advanced Learners recommended) Grading: Assignment Due Date Value (%) In‐class Paragraph Sept. 28 5 Home Essay Oct. 12 10 In‐class Essay Oct. 21 10 Home Essay Revision Oct. 27 5 Midterm Test TBA (beginning of Nov) 10 In‐class Essay Revision Nov. 9 15 Library Lab TBA 5 Research Essay Nov. 26, Dec. 3* 20 Final Exam TBA 20 Course Information ENGL 1127 (S. Font) La
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COURSE POLICIES: 1. Attendance: I expect you to come to every class on time and prepared to discuss the day’s topic. Do the reading before coming to class, and bring the appropriate text(s) to class every day. I also expect you to notify me if/when you miss a class (in advance if possible); you are responsible for finding out what you missed from a classmate. If you miss a significant number of classes in which we discuss material related to an assignment, I may refuse to accept that assignment. This is not a correspondence course. 2. Late or missed assignments: Without documentation of illness or emergency, you cannot make up missed assignments and late papers will lose one letter grade per day. I will not accept papers more than one week after the due date. 3. Plagiarism: Any home paper without full and accurate documentation of sources will receive an F. Please note that having someone else make editing or proofreading changes for you also counts as plagiarism. See the Statement on Plagiarism on the last page of this course syllabus; if you have questions, please see me. 4. Cell phones: Please turn off cell phones, pagers, and anything that beeps before class. 5. Contact Information: If you email me, please be sure to use your name or the course number in the subject line, as I delete (unread) all email from unfamiliar addresses. I will use the myLangara email function to communicate with you; please make sure that you can receive these messages. 6. Class cancellation: if ten minutes have passed and I am not in class, someone should check the postings for class cancellations to confirm my absence. 7. Grades: You must earn an average grade of C‐ on in‐class essays and the final exam to pass this course. Because your transcript contains letter grades rather than percentages, I use the following percentage equivalents (and corresponding descriptions) to calculate grades: For questions regarding transfer and articulation, please go to the BC-TRANSFERGUIDE
at http://bctransferguide.ca/
Important Note Students must receive an average of a passing grade (50%) on the in‐class analytical paragraph, the in‐class essay and the final exam in order to pass the course. A+ 90% Excellent work – an essay with an unusually insightful argument which is clearly A 85% presented and thoughtfully developed. There are very few errors of expression, A‐ 80% and none which obscure meaning. MLA format is correct. B+ 78% Good work – the argument, though less insightful or original than that of an A Course Information ENGL 1127 (S. Font) 2
75% 70% 65% 60% 55% D F 50% 45% paper, is solid, well presented and supported. There are more errors of expression than in an A paper, but these are neither serious nor frequent. Average work – although such an essay has a thesis, it is somewhat weaker in both form and content than essays in the higher grades. There may be problems with organisation or logic. Errors of expression increase in number and seriousness. Marginal work – meets the demands of the assignment by a bare minimum. Inadequate work – the essay lacks a workable thesis; does not support its thesis; is off‐topic; makes no specific reference to the text it analyses; ignores MLA conventions or assignment guidelines; has serious and pervasive errors of expression; has more sentences with errors than without. La
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B B‐ C+ C C‐ Schedule (The schedule is subject to change. Units on various elements of writing may be added as needed. Homework assignments may also be needed. The terms in bold are defined in the glossary of Method. The definitions of these terms are required reading.) Story = Your anthology: Forty Short Stories M = A Method for Writing Essays... Week 1: Sept. 7 ‐ 10  course introduction, diagnostics, requirements, objectives and policies  audience, essay structure, purpose, and statements of theme  Story = "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman  M = x ‐ xiii, 1 ‐ 6, 25 ‐ 27 Week 2: Sept. 13 ‐ 17  plot and theme in the short story, point of view; the MLA format  subject‐verb agreement  Story = "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan  M = 7 ‐ 29 Week 3: Sept. 20 ‐ 24  point of view, plot and theme in "Two Kinds" and "Death by Landscape"; argument structure and development; symbols in short stories  sentence structure and variety  Stories = "Death by Landscape" and "Two Kinds"  M = Appendix 1, 2 and Essay 1 Week 4: Sept. 27 ‐ Oct. 1  imagery in short stories; imagery, symbols, point of view, plot and theme in "The Chrysanthemums" and "The Rocking Horse Winner." Effective statements of theme. Course Information ENGL 1127 (S. Font) 3
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Stories = "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck; "The Rocking Horse Winner" by D. H. Lawrence M = 58 ‐ 61, Appendix 2, Essay 5 In‐class analytical paragraph Week 5: Oct. 4 ‐ 8  statements of theme; conflict and theme; passage analysis.  Story = "A & P" by John Updike  M = 28 ‐ 31, 37 ‐ 43 Week 6: Oct. 11 ‐ 15  Home essay due Tuesday (no class Monday)  titles and conclusions; imagery and symbolism; MLA format  Story = "A & P" by John Updike  M = 54 ‐ 57, 78 ‐ 80 Week 7: Oct. 18 ‐ 22  outlining a literary analysis essay; outline workshops and tutorials  Story = "A & P" by John Updike  M = 58 ‐ 61, 76 ‐77, 94 ‐ 96  In‐class passage analysis essay on "A & P" Thursday Week 8: Oct. 25 ‐ 29  literary context; preliminary research steps  Stories = "The Management of Grief" by Bharati Mukherjee"; "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" by Sherman Alexie  M = 73 ‐ 75, Appendix 2, Essay 8  Home essay revision due on Wednesday Week 9: Nov. 1 ‐ 5  literary analysis research essays ‐ analysis of further examples  Stories = "The Management of Grief" by Bharati Mukherjee"; "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" by Sherman Alexie  M = 65 ‐ 76, 100 ‐ 109  Library lab  Quiz ‐ on readings and elements of lectures  tutorials Week 10: Nov. 8 ‐ 12  In‐class Essay Revision due Monday  using research to support arguments  preliminary research to be shown in tutorial  tutorials Course Information ENGL 1127 (S. Font) 4
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Week 11: Nov. 15 ‐ 19  context, imagery, symbols, point of view, plot and theme in "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" by Sherman Alexie  Story = "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" by Sherman Alexie  Library Lab workbook due (submit at the library) Week 12: Nov. 22 ‐ 26 Research Essay deadline #1 Thursday*  context, imagery, symbols, point of view, plot and theme in "A Very Old Man..."  Story = "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel García Márquez  M = 62 ‐ 65, 96 ‐ 100  tutorials Week 13: Nov. 29 ‐ Dec. 3  Research Essay deadline #2 Thursday*  Story = "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Gabriel García Márquez  final exam preparation *Research essays submitted by deadline #1 will receive instructor comments with the grade, before the final exam. Essays may be submitted without penalty at the start of class on deadline #2; however, they will not receive instructor comments ‐‐ just a grade. STATEMENT ON PLAGIARISM: One of the requirements of English 1127 is the research essay, an assignment which combines a number of skills:  developing an argument  researching the topic to find ideas and/or support for the argument  supporting the argument with secondary sources (both quoted and paraphrased)  citing those sources using an approved documentation style (i.e., MLA or APA)  expressing the argument clearly at the essay, paragraph, and sentence levels A part of English 1127 is devoted to the basics of the appropriate use of sources, as well as developing understanding of what constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism includes (but is not limited to) the following:  knowingly submitting the work of another person, in whole or in part – for example, an essay purchased from an essay‐writing service; copied from a book, article, or website; or written, edited, or revised by a tutor, friend or family member Course Information ENGL 1127 (S. Font) 5
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failing to distinguish between your ideas and the ideas of others – for example, not citing properly an idea you got from your research 
failing to distinguish between your own words and the words of others – you must clearly distinguish between quotations and paraphrases (and paraphrase means more than changing a few words; you must change sentence structure enough so that the expression of someone else’s idea is truly your own) failing to cite your sources, both quoted and paraphrased, correctly using an approved documentation style – in this class, using MLA parenthetical citation keyed to a separate Works Cited page Note that plagiarism is not always intentional; it may be caused by sloppiness in the research and writing process – for example, if you paste a quotation from a web source into your essay without immediately providing the citation, and then forget to provide the citation before handing the essay in. However, lazy plagiarism is still an academic offense. In this class, if I discover plagiarism in an assignment, I will give it 0 and report you to the Dean of Student Services. Other penalties may then apply. Course Information ENGL 1127 (S. Font) 6