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Below you will find a copy of the course outline and the Grade Worksheet, both which were distributed in class today.
SPRING 2015, CSU
SACRAMENTO
COURSE: English 5: Accelerated Academic Literacies
Section 19, MWF, 9-9:50 AM (Calaveras 134)
Section 5, MWF, 11-11:50 AM (Douglass Hall 111)
INSTRUCTOR: Catherine Fraga
E-mail: sacto1954@gmail.com
Office Hours: CLV 149, MWF 10-10:50 AM or by
appointment
CLASS BLOG: www.English5Spring2015Fraga.blogspot.com
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REQUIRED
TEXTS & MATERIALS
*The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood
by Kien Nguyen
Publisher: Bay Back Books
*Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers—9th
Edition
by Jay Silverman, Elaine Hughes, Diana Roberts Wienbroer
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
*Flashes of War: Short Stories
by Katey Schultz
Publisher: Apprentice House
*8 1/2” x 11” lined notebook paper (paper that is torn out of a
notebook without a straight edge will not be accepted).
*Stapler
*Reliable access to a computer with a spell check program and a printer.
(Note: if an out of class essay is
submitted and it is very clear the student did NOT run a spell check program,
I will stop reading the
essay
at that point, and the essay will be returned to the student to correct
and re-submit. The essay will
also have an automatic 20 points deducted, and these points cannot be earned
back through revision.)
*Two (2) Blue (or Green) Books for the two in-class essays (these can
be found in the university’s bookstore or at the Student Union store—they are available
in two different sizes—either size is acceptable)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
English 5 is a freshman writing
course that offers students the opportunity to learn and develop the reading
and writing skills that will be most useful to them during a four-year
college program. The course is
designed to help students improve their ability to understand and critically
judge reading material and to write an essay which has a single controlling
idea and which is coherently developed using idiomatically and grammatically
correct English.
The heart of the course is
readings that require a range of narrative, analytical, reflective and research
writing skills.
Learning
Outcome
Students
will:
· understand the ways that readers read and
writers write in and beyond the university
· understand and use processes of reading,
writing, and research
· develop a meta-cognitive understanding of
processes of reading, writing and thinking
· understand and use appropriate textual
conventions
· understand and engage in reading and
writing as communal processes
· think critically about academic discourse
communities as contact zones where
different cultures both connect and come into conflict
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attendance and punctuality are required.
I have designed this course so that it depends on your presence and
participation. If you’re absent,
you are still responsible for finding out what you’ve missed (including lecture
notes, handouts, changes in due dates, etc.) Refer to your
class phone list.
2. Having
more than three absences will seriously alter your final grade. This is not because I do not
consider you mature enough to make a commitment to a class; it is because if
you do miss more than 3 classes, you miss group work, ,or a quiz, or an in
class essay assignment, and/or a bevy of other possible events, all of which
affect the grade you earn.
Please communicate with me.
I am very understanding and reasonable.
If you
must miss a class on a day an assignment is due, you are still responsible for
getting the assignment to me on time. Again, use the phone list, call your mother, or??? This is merely a fairness issue; we all
have life situations that are often difficult and unexpected, and if others
manage to still get their work in on time, I cannot give special exceptions to
just a few.
3. There
will be numerous reading and writing assignments in this course. I expect you to complete them on time
and come prepared to class. We may
not get an opportunity to discuss everything we read for class, but that is
inevitable in any college course.
4.
You will complete a question and comment assignment for several of the reading
assignments. The question is
optional, but the commentary is not. Your commentary must be a minimum of eight
sentences in length. (I know
ALL the shortcuts students may try.
Be assured that if you write eight very short, simple sentences you will
not receive credit for the assignment. A thorough explanation of what is
required for these question and comment assignments and a sample will be
provided.) No late homework will be accepted.
5. Out
of class essays may be handed in late, but there is a stiff penalty. For every day your essay is late, the
grade for that essay will drop a full ten points. This includes weekends.
Points subtracted for lateness cannot be made up during the revision process.
6. Quizzes: There will be three scheduled
quizzes on the Handbook and five unannounced, unscheduled quizzes during the
semester. If you come prepared to class, the quizzes should present no problems
for you.
7. A note on classroom etiquette:
Each cIass session is a mere 50 minutes long and I plan to
give you my full attention for 50 minutes, and I expect the same from all my
students. Turn off your cell phone and put it away, please.
8. About
Extra Credit:
Quite simply, I
do not believe in extra credit. In “real life,” there is no extra credit. When an
error is made, one hopefully learns from the error and moves on.
9. HOW YOUR GRADE IS EARNED:
See attached grade worksheet. At no time should you
wonder how you are “doing” in the course. The grade worksheet makes it very
easy to keep track. Simply record your scores as you receive back your graded
work. Do not discard any assignments that are graded and returned to you until
the semester is over.
10. English 1A is
graded A, B, C, D, or F. Do not
assume that because you have not submitted an out of class essay assignment,
you will still be able to pass the course. Even though you have missed the due date, and have an
automatic “F” for that assignment, YOU STILL
MUST WRITE AND SUBMIT ALL THREE OUT OF CLASS ESSAYS TO PASS THE COURSE, as well
as earning passing scores on your other work.
Theme: The Significance of Home
· We will consider home
as our
course-long theme. The significance of home – as a place of beginnings, as a
starting point, as a place of comfort, regret, anguish, joy, personal growth,
and loss – fuels a meaningful, intriguing collection of themes. Home is a base from which all of us
emerge.
· Most of us have
pre-conceived notions of home as a place of love, comfort, security. For millions of children, however,
these definitions do not fit their reality of home as a place to escape: escape
from cycles of poverty, mistrust, abuse.
· The course will explore
not only home as a safety net, but also the illusions we have of home
perpetuated by Madison Avenue advertising agencies.
· What are our expectations
of home? Again, does our “real”
home live up to the expectations society has created? How do different cultural values and priorities play a role
in determining what home should and should not be? Attempting to answer these questions is the task I have set
for us during this semester.
· What does it mean to leave
home for the first time? What does
it mean to be rootless, without a home?
· Finally, how can we
reconnect to the earth as home, knowing full well that the lives we have
created for ourselves impact the finite planet all of us call home?
·
We view at least two films which explore the theme of home. These films
will allow us to observe and witness concepts we have read about and discussed.
COURSE OUTLINE
(Please note: Bring this outline to class each
session; changes could occur at a moment’s notice. Also, most reading and writing assignments are noted --
other class exercises and lectures
may not be noted specifically)
ALL OUT OF CLASS ASSIGNMENTS (HOMEWORK, ESSAYS, ETC) MUST BE TYPED
AND DOUBLE SPACED UNLESS INSTRUCTED OTHERWISE. PLEASE USE TIMES NEW ROMAN, 12
POINT FONT.
Week One (January
26-30)
·
Introduction to the Course (course theme
explained) (Mon.)
·
Course Outline Distributed (handout) (Mon.)
·
Question/Comment Homework Explained (Wed.)
·
Unacceptable Errors (handout) (Wed.)
·
Oral Presentation Assigned (for last week of
class) (Wed.)
·
Discussion: Reading and Evaluating Poetry (Friday)
·
Discussion: Thinking Critically (Friday)
·
Stapler Check (Friday)
Week Two (Feb. 2-6)
·
In class Demonstration/Discussion on the Writing
Process (Monday)
·
Read Packet 1 (Wednesday)
·
Read Packet 2 (Friday) Q & C #1 due
today
·
Group Work #1 (Friday)
Week Three (Feb.
9-13)
· Quiz
based on pgs. 1-60 in Rules of Thumb (Monday)
·
Discussion: How to Evaluate a Documentary
Film (Wednesday)
·
Out of Class Essay #1 assigned today (Wednesday)
· Discussion:
Reading and Evaluating Short Fiction (Friday)
Week Four (Feb
16-20)
·
Read Packet 3 (Monday)
·
Read Packet 4 (Wed.)
·
Rough Draft (optional) for Out of Class Essay #1
due today. (Wed.)
·
View documentary film: Daughter from Danang by today. Film is available to view in the
Media Center, CSUS Library. Preparation for in-class writing next week (Friday)
Week Five (Feb.
23-27)
·
In-class Essay #1 on Daughter from Danang (Monday)
·
Read: “Home on Leave”; “My Son Wanted a
Notebook” in Flashes of War (Wed.)
·
Out of Class Essay #1 due today (Fri.)
·
Out of Class Essay #2 assigned today (Friday)
·
Discuss MLA Documentation in class (Wed. & Friday)
Week Six (March
2-6)
·
Read pgs. 113-135 in Rules of Thumb (Monday)
·
Quiz on pgs. 113-135 (see above) (Monday)
· Read:
“Refugee”; “Into Pure Bronze”; “Just the Dog and Me” in Flashes of War (Wednesday) Q
& C #2 due today
·
Read:”Amputee” and “The Ghost of Sanchez” in
Flashes of War (Friday)
·
Group Work #2 (Friday)
Week Seven (March
9-13)
·
Read pages 136-153 in Rules of Thumb (Monday)
·
Quiz on pages 136-153 (see above) (Monday)
· Mental Health Day—no class today. You’re
welcome. J(Wed.)
·
Read: “Aaseya & Rahim”; “MREs”; and
“Sima Couldn’t Remember” in Flashes of
War Q & C #3 due (Friday)
·
Group Work #3 (Friday)
·
Optional Rough Draft Due for Out of Class
Essay #2 (Friday)
Week Eight (March
16-20)
·
Read: “Homecoming” and “The Quiet Kind” in Flashes of War (Mon.)
·
Read Packet 5 (Wed.)
·
Read Packet 6 (Friday)
MARCH 23-27—SPRING
RECESS…CAMPUS CLOSED
Have a wonderful and
safe spring break.
Week Nine: (March 30-April 3)
·
Read pages 5-136 in The Unwanted Q & C
#4 due (Monday)
·
Final Draft of Out of Class Essay #2 due today (Wed.)
·
Out of Class Essay #3 assigned today (Wed.)
·
Grammar & Sentence Structure Review (Friday)
Week Ten: (April
6-10)
·
Read the remaining pages in The Unwanted by today (Monday)
·
Discuss The
Unwanted (Wednesday and Friday)
·
Take home exam on The Unwanted distributed today (Friday)
·
Optional Rough Draft due for Out of Class Essay
#3 (Friday)
Week
Eleven: (April 13-17)
· View
narrative film in class (Monday)
· Complete
viewing of film in class (Wednesday)
· In
class essay #2 on film viewed this week (Friday)
Week Twelve: (April 20-24)
·
Read Packet 7 (Monday)
In class essay #2 (Monday)
In class essay #2 (Monday)
·
Out of Class Essay #3 due today (Friday)
·
A Critical Thinking Exercise (Friday)
Week
Thirteen: (April 27-May 1)
·
How to Read Critically—discussion (Monday & Wednesday)
·
Read Packet 8 (Friday)
Week Fourteen(May
4-8)
·
View a “home” documentary (Monday)
·
Read Packet 9 (Wed.)
·
Complete my specially designed evaluation for
this course (Friday)
Week Fifteen (May
11-15) LAST WEEK OF CLASSES
· Oral
Presentations (Monday and Wednesday)
·
Grade Worksheet Check and last day of class—bring
all graded work and your Grade Worksheet, filled out (Friday)
Week
Sixteen (May 18-22) FINALS WEEK
There is no scheduled final exam for
this class.
***A NOTE ABOUT REVISIONS***
Since this is a composition course,
where the goal is to become a better writer and a more sophisticated thinker,
you are invited to revise out of class essay 1 and/or 2.
HOWEVER, IN
ORDER TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPTION, YOU MUST HAVE SUBMITTED A ROUGH DRAFT
FOR THE ASSIGNMENT.
ALL CHANGES
TO THE ORIGINAL MUST BE HIGHLIGHTED ON THE REVISION, and the original essay
with my comments must be submitted WITH the revision. If you are still not
pleased with your earned score after receiving the revision back from me, you
may continue to revise the essay until you are pleased. All revisions must be submitted no later than Monday, May 11
***
NAME_________________________English
5, Section_____
GRADE WORKSHEET-----2175 POINTS POSSIBLE
Stapler Check (25 pts.)
Friday, January
30—stapler in your possession!______
Oral Presentation=(100 pts.)
Oral Pres._____ (100
pts.)
Out of Class Essays (800 points)
Out of Class
Essay 1_____(200 pts.) Out of
Class Essay 2_____(400 pts.)
Out of Class
Essay 3_____(200 pts.)
Rules
of Thumb Quizzes (300 points)
Pgs. 1-60 (100)_____ Pgs. 113-135
(100)_____ Pgs 136-153
(100)_____
Unannounced Quizzes (200 pts.) (50 points each)
Quiz 1____Quiz
2_____Quiz 3_____Quiz 4_____
Question & Comment Homework (200 pts.)
Q and C #1
(50)_____Q and C #2 (50)_____Q and C #3 (50)_____Q and C #4 (50)_____
In Class Group Work (150 pts.)
Group Work 1 (50
pts)_____Group Work 2 (50 pts)____Group Work 3 (50 pts)
In Class Essays (200 pts.)
In class essay #1
(100)_____In class essay #2 (100) _____
Take home essay on The
Unwanted (200 pts.)_____
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How to assess
your grade earned: Divide the points you earn by 2175 to find the percentage.
Then see chart below.
100-94=A 63-60=C- Example:
1725 pts. earned=79.3%=B-
93-90=A- 59-54=D Example:
1444 pts. earned=66.3%=C
89-84=B+ 53-0=F Example:
1834 pts. earned=84.3%=B
83-80=B Example:
2010 pts. earned=92.4%=A-
79-74=B-
73-70=C+
69-64=C
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