ENGLISH 1301
COURSE CALENDAR
Tuesday/Thursday
12550 11 – 12:30
12254 12:30 – 2:00
Fall 2016
NOTE: The class agenda items listed under the session number indicate the topics to be
covered in class. The items in the assignment section constitute the homework to be completed
for the next class session. Occasionally, I might make minor alterations to this course calendar.
SESSION #1 (Thursday, August 25)
 Introduction to English 1301
 Proof of registration (class roll) and introductions
 Diagnostic essay (brief writing sample) written in class
Assignment for Session #2: Explore English 1301 Syllabus, Calendar.
SESSION #2 (Tuesday, August 30)
 The Writing Process - Part 1- Considering Audience, Purpose and Tone
 Grammar Review – Complete Sentences – avoiding run-on’s and fragments
Assignment for Session #3: Practice avoiding accidental fragments, comma splices and run-on
sentences by taking the quizzes at http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm. Read
the Assignment for Essay #1 as well as the grading rubric.
SESSION #3 (Thursday, September 1)
 Reading Critically
 Grammar Review – Active Verbs
Assignment for Session #4: Practice changing passive verbs into active ones at:
http://www.englishpractice.com/grammar/active-passive-voice-exercise-3/. Read Langston
Hughes’s “Salvation.” Complete the Reading Quiz.
SESSION #4 (Tuesday, September 6)
 Reading Quiz 1 (Hughes) due
 The Writing Process – Part 2– Creating and Developing Ideas
 Critical Analysis – Hughes
Assignment for Session #5: Read David Mamet’s “The Rake: A Few Scenes from My
Childhood.” Be prepared to discuss it. Complete the Grammar Quiz. Brainstorm a list of five (or
more) personal experiences as possible topics for Essay #1 and bring this list to the next session.
Focus on experiences that involved conflict and that taught you a lesson or left a strong
impression.
SESSION #5 (Thursday, September 8)
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 Brainstormed list of possible topics for Essay #1 due
 Grammar Quiz 1 due
 Grammar Review – Subject/Verb Agreement
 The Writing Process – Part 3 - Shaping your essay (strategy, tentative thesis, and outline)
 Critical Analysis – Mamet
Assignment for Session #6: Practice subject/verb agreement by completing the three quizzes
found at: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sv_agr.htm. Read Judith Ortiz Cofer on
Memory and Personal Essay (p. 96). Read Maya Angelou’s “What’s Your Name, Girl?”
Complete Reading Quiz.
SESSION #6 (Tuesday, September 13)
 Reading Quiz 2 (Angelou) due
 Grammar Review – Commas
 Critical Analysis – Angelou
 Writing Strategy - Narration
Assignment for Session #7: Practice correct comma placement by completing the four quizzes at
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm. Read Alice Walker’s “Beauty: When
the Other Dancer Is the Self.” Complete Reading Quiz.
SESSION #7 (Thursday, September 15)
 Reading Quiz 3 (Walker) due
 Grammar Review – Modifier Placement
 Writing strategy: Description (imagery, vivid diction, figurative language)
 Critical Analysis - Walker
Assignment for Session #8: Practice placing modifiers correctly by completing the two quizzes
at: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/modifiers.htm. Complete Grammar Quiz 2.
Read Elie Wiesel’s “Eight Simple, Short Words.” Be prepared to discuss.
SESSION #8 (Tuesday, September 20)


Grammar Quiz 2 due
Planning page: Personal notes on purpose, genre, audience, tone, strategy, tentative
thesis, and optional scratch outline
 Critical Analysis – Wiesel
 The Writing Process – Part 4: Drafting your essay (rough draft)
Assignment for Session #9: Make personal notes on your planning page (with tentative thesis),
which is due next session. Read Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “Silent Dancing” and complete the Reading
Quiz.
SESSION #9 (Thursday, September 22)
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 Reading Quiz 4 (Cofer) due
 Planning Page due
 Critical Analysis - Cofer
 Writing dialog
 The Writing Process – Step 5: Revising
Assignment for Session #10: Consider incorporating dialogue into your essay. Review revision
techniques for your essay.
SESSION #10 (Tuesday, September 27)
 Titling your essay
 How to conduct a peer critique session
 Using the Writing Centers and AskOnline 24/7 tutoring service
 Manuscript mechanics (course info, title, header, margins, paragraph indentation)
Assignment for Session #11: Using your freewriting and planning page, begin rough draft of
Essay #1. Complete a typed draft (double spaced) and bring two copies for a peer critique
session on Session #11. Read Instructions for Writing the Reflective Essay.
SESSION #11 (Thursday, September 29)
 Essay #1 draft is due at beginning of period
 Peer-critique session for Essay #1 (groups of three-person teams)
 Teacher conferences
 The Reflective Essay
Assignment for Session #12: Edit and proofread your essay. Write Reflective Essay. Complete
Essay #1 and have it ready to submit on the next class session (final draft on top, rough draft(s),
draft with Writing Center tutor/AskOnline comments, and Reflective Essay). NOTE: AskOnline
needs 24 hours in order to read and return your essay. Don’t wait until the last minute!
SESSION #12 (Tuesday, October 4)
 Essay #1 is due at beginning of period
 Introduction to Essay #2: Argument and Persuasion
 Writing Strategies – Example, Definition, Compare/Contrast, Classification
 Grammar Review – Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Assignment for Session #13: Review quizzes on Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement at:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns.htm. Read Camille Paglia’s “The Pitfalls of
Plastic Surgery?” Be prepared to discuss the essay. Take Grammar Quiz 3. Read Assignment for
Essay #2.
SESSION #13 (Thursday, October 6)
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
Grammar Quiz 3 due
 Creating Effective Sentences
 Parallelism
 Critical Analysis – Paglia
Assignment for Session #14: Read Dave Barry’s “The Ugly Truth About Beauty,” and Levitt
and Dubner’s “What Should You Worry About? Complete the Reading Quiz which covers both
essays.
SESSION #14 (Tuesday, October 11)
 Reading Quiz 5 (Barry/Levitt and Dubner) due
 Topic sentences, Paragraph development and unity
 Special kinds of paragraphs (introductory, concluding, transitional, other)
 Critical Analysis – Barry/Levitt and Dubner
Assignment for Session #15: Read sample student research paper in Diana Hacker’s Guide to
Research and Documentation: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/pdf/Hacker-OrlovMLA.pdf . Review paragraph construction and consider introductory and conclusion strategies.
SESSION #15 (Thursday, October 13)
 Incorporating Sources
 Critical Analysis - Hacker
Assignment for Session #16: Read Stephen King’s “Everything You Need to Know About
Writing Successfully – in Ten Minutes.” Be prepared to discuss the essay. Work on your
fundamental decisions for essay #2: purpose, audience, tone, strategy/strategies, tentative
thesis, and optional outline. Practice Incorporating Sources.
SESSION #16 (Tuesday, October 18)
 Tentative Thesis for Essay #2 due
 Effective diction; concise diction
 Outlines
 Critical Analysis – King
Assignment for Session #17: Read Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Will Women Still Need Men?”
Complete Reading Quiz.
SESSION #17 (Thursday, October 20)
 Reading Quiz 6 (Ehrenreich) due
 Critical Analysis – Ehrenreich
 Argument Strategies – reasons, concessions and refutations
Assignment for Session #18: Read Peter Singer’s “The Singer Solution to World Poverty.”
Complete Reading Quiz. Finalize thesis for Essay #2 and identify supporting points; use
planning page.
SESSION #18 (Tuesday, October 25)


Reading Quiz 7 (Singer) due
Essay #2 Planning Page due
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 Work Cited Lists
 Critical Analysis – Singer
Assignment for Session #19: Complete work cited list assignment. Read Howard Zinn’s “Stories
Hollywood Never Tells.” Be prepared to discuss it.
SESSION #19 (Thursday, October 27)
 Incorporating Quotations - review
 Grammar Review
 Critical Analysis - Zinn
Assignment for Session #20: Ensure all quotes, paraphrases and summaries are incorporated
effectively. Read the essay by Elizabeth Angeli found at:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20091250615234_747.pdf . Complete Reading Quiz.
SESSION #20 (Tuesday, November 1)
 Reading Quiz 8 (Angeli) due
 Critical Analysis – Angeli
Assignment for Session #21: Prepare draft of Essay #2 for peer review session. Ensure the
thesis and supporting points are clear, external sources are handled correctly and a work cited
page is included. Bring two copies to class.
SESSION #21 (Thursday, November 3)
 Essay #2 draft is due at beginning of period
 Peer critique for Essay #2
 Teacher conferences
Assignment for Session #22: Complete a final draft of Essay #2 and have it ready to submit at
the next class session (final draft on top, marked rough draft(s); draft with comments from
Writing Center tutor or AskOnline tutor; and Reflective Essay). Write a reflective essay.
SESSION #22 (Tuesday, November 8)
 Essay #2 is due at beginning of period
 Review of Essay #3 Assignment
 Close Reading
 Sample Literary Analysis
 Elements of Literature Overview
Assignment for Session #23: Read Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Take
Reading Quiz. Read about plot, setting and character.
SESSION #23 (Thursday, November 10)



Reading Quiz 9 (O’Connor) due
Writing About Literature
Plot, Setting and Character in Literature
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 Critical Analysis – O’Connor
Assignment for Session #24: Read Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies” and John Updike’s
“A & P.” Be prepared to discuss each story, considering plot, characterization, setting or point of
view. Read about point of view, symbols and themes in literature.
SESSION #24 (Tuesday, November 15)


Point of View, Symbols and Themes in Literature
Developing a Thesis and Supporting Literary Criticisms
 Critical Analysis – Lahiri/ Updike
Assignment for Session #25: Read Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have
You Been?” and Sherman Alexie’s “This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona.” Take the
Reading Quiz which covers both stories. Read about theme, style, tone and irony. Choose a
literary piece that you’ll focus on in Essay #3 and develop a thesis for your essay for submission
at next session.
SESSION #25 (Thursday, November 17)
 Reading Quiz 10 (Oates/Alexie) due
 Essay #3 Thesis due
 Thinking Critically in Analyzing Literature
 Critical Analysis – Oates/ Alexie
Assignment for Session #26: Read Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl.” Read it several times and be
prepared to discuss it. Consider support of your thesis for Essay #3.
SESSION #26 (Tuesday, November 22)
 Incorporating Quotations review
 Work Cited Lists review
 Critical Analysis - Kincaid
Assignment for Session #27: Complete a typed draft (double spaced) and bring two copies for a
peer critique session on Session #27. Be sure to include a works cited list.
No Class – November 24 – Happy Thanksgiving!
SESSION #27 (Tuesday, November 29)



Essay #3 draft is due at beginning of period
Peer critique of Essay #3
Teacher conferences
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Assignment for Session #29: Complete a final draft of Essay #3 and have it ready to submit at
the next class session (final draft on top, marked rough draft(s); draft with comments from
Writing Center tutor or AskOnline tutor; and Reflective Essay). Write a reflective essay.
SESSION #29 (Thursday, December 1)


Essay #3 is due at beginning of period
Class Wrap
WEEK SIXTEEN
FINAL EXAM
11-12:30 (12550) – Tuesday, December 6 11am
12:30- 2 (12254) – Thursday, December 8 12pm
Finals are two hours long. You must submit your essay by the end of the final exam session.
Once the exam session starts, please do not leave the classroom.
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