English 52 Syllabus

Instructor

English 52

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Instructor: Francie Quaas-Berryman (Ms. QB)

Office: LA-C

Office Hours: 8:30-9:00 Tuesday and Thursday and by appointment

Email: fquaas@cerritos.edu

Web Site: www.cerritos.edu/fquaas

Required Texts and Supplies:

StrengthsQuest: Discover and Develop Your Strengths in Academics, Career, and Beyond by Donald Clifton and Edward “Chip” Anderson. ISBN-13: 978-1-59562-011-8.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential by Carol Dweck. ISBN: 978-0-345-47232-8

Writing with Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process by Peter Elbow. ISBN: 978-0-19512018-9

Responsibility at Work: How Leading Professionals Act (or Don’t Act) Responsibly. By Howard Gardner. ISBN: 978-0-7879-9475-4

Notebook supplies (see handout)

College Level Dictionary

Other readings will be available as library reserve items or web resources

Course Description: “This course develops the students’ ability to write clearly, effectively, and correctly by guiding students through the writing process. Students write a series of compositions that integrate critical thinking, evaluating writing, and library research” (Cerritos College Catalog).

Student Learning Outcomes – English 52

Students will:

Employ the writing process in order to understand and complete a writing task.

Write essays that have a specific focus or purpose, in response to specific writing prompts and course assignments.

Write multi-paragraph essays with specific details, examples, and illustrations to fulfill the purpose.

Demonstrate critical engagement with outside sources.

Write in prose style characterized by clarity complexity, and variety.

Adhere to the conventions of standard written English.

Course Description

Welcome to English 52! Your enrollment in this class is cause for celebration as you will have the opportunity to make a deliberate step toward your long-term academic goals. As part of that journey, English 52 will enable you to develop the skills you will need to become a successful college writer. You will develop your awareness of the strengths in your writing and leverage this insight to write more effectively. You will work to improve your ability to read a variety of texts critically and to think about those texts analytically. In order to accomplish these goals, you must be willing to work hard, practice these skills, and apply them to your writing. As you embark on this intellectual journey, it will be important for you to make a commitment to be deliberate about initiating changes in your writing process in order to become a more competent, confident, reader-thinker-writer.

Course Requirements:

Attendance and Participation: Beginning a journey, whether mental or physical, requires your focus and dedication. On your journey this semester, you will need to attend every class session, on time, if you are to gain the maximum benefit from the experience. If you miss more than four class meetings, you may be dropped from the class. In addition, I will begin class promptly at 9:00, so please arrive on time and ready to work.

Reading Responses: Any worthwhile life journey requires reflection on what is being learned through the experiences presented. In this class, one of those experiences will involve active reading. Often students will simply pass their eyes over a page filled with words, but they do not think about what those words mean. To help you read and think actively, you will complete writing assignments in conjunction with each of your reading assignments. There will be three types of reading response assignments:

Lists: For some of the reading assignments I will ask you to identify what you believe are the main ideas of the chapter. Sometimes this activity will be linked with group presentations, and sometimes you will simply turn in your list. You will need to type out each idea in YOUR OWN WORDS and in complete sentences (if you simply copy sentences from the book, you will not earn any credit for this assignment), and I would expect to see 2-4 sentences for each main idea. Be as specific as possible. Be sure to number each of the main points on your list so that I can clearly see where one idea ends and other begins.

Reading Responses: For some of the readings you will be writing out 250 word responses. The responses will be typed, double-spaced (so they will be about a page long). You will need to be sure that you are responding to the reading material and not simply summarizing. What did you think or feel about what you read? If you summarize without offering any analysis, you will not earn credit for the assignment.

Group Presentations: For some readings you will be working in small groups to develop short (ten minute) presentations. As part of a group, you will identify the main points of the reading and present this information to your classmates. The group presentations may be done in front of the entire class, or you may work individually or in pairs to present the material to small groups of students. Some of the presentations will be announced, but others may not. Be sure you have done all of the reading assigned for the day so that you will always be prepared.

Essays: Over the course of the semester you will have ample opportunity to explore your writing strengths, discover your writer’s voice, and practice your writing skills. You will learn how to communicate your ideas effectively to a group of readers. The information you gather through your research and the lessons you learn through the experience of writing will help you improve on each essay. Think of the essay assignments as steps on a path rather than as isolated assignments.

Requirements for a Passing Grade (C or better):

Essays must be typed in MLA format (see handout)

Essays must meet minimum standards set for the assignment (including minimum page number and minimum number of sources)

You must include all prewriting and drafts when you submit the essay (be sure your packet is complete when you submit it).

If you use any source material (such as one of the class textbooks) to get ideas for the essay, you must use MLA documentation to cite your sources.

The Tough Stuff

LATE ESSAYS CANNOT BE REVISED.

You must complete all essay assignments with a grade of “C” or better to earn a passing grade in the class.

Any student who is caught plagiarizing on any assignment will earn a zero for that assignment and as a result may fail the class. Please be sure that all of the work you do for this class is your own.

As you work to improve your writing, it will be important for you to diligently work on making changes and improvements. Thus, once an error has been pointed out to you, it is your responsibility to make changes in what you are doing in order to avoid making the same error again. Since many students struggle with similar errors, here are a few web sites that can help you with these common grammatical problems.

Sentence fragments http://www.cerritos.edu/fquaas/resources/fragments.htm

Comma splices and run-on sentences http://www.cerritos.edu/fquaas/resources/runons.htm

Faulty parallelism http://ace.acadiau.ca/english/grammar/parallel.htm

Subject-verb agreement http://www.asu.edu/duas/wcenter/subject.html

Pronoun agreement http://www.cerritos.edu/fquaas/resources/pronouns.htm

For additional assistance with a variety of grammar / usage issues, visit http://www.cerritos.edu/fquaas/resources/writersresources.htm

Grading Policy: Your final grade in this course will be comprised of the following:

20% - Reading Responses (Lists and Journal) and In-Class Assignments

60% - Essays

20% - Final Portfolio

Due dates are noted on the syllabus. There are no make-up exams, and late essays cannot be revised. If you are more than 15 minutes late to class, any work due that day will be considered late. This includes paragraphs, essays. and the final portfolio assignment.

If you fail to complete any of the essay assignments or any of the in-class timed writings, you may be dropped from the class. In addition, if at any point in the semester your overall grade falls below 50% of the available points, you may be dropped for lack of progress.

A Note on Cell Phones and iPods: As more people take advantage of the advances of technology, we are becoming a society that is self-absorbed and rude. No one in class, especially your instructor, wants to be interrupted by your personal life. If your cell phone disrupts class, if you are texting in class, or if you are listening to your iPod, you may be asked to leave for the day.

Student Conduct Policy: As stated in the Cerritos College Student Conduct policy, students enrolling in Cerritos College assume an obligation to abide by all college regulations. Failure to abide by these regulations will lead to disciplinary actions. Please review the “Student Conduct Policy Disciplinary Proceeding,” as well as, “Grounds For Disciplinary Action.” This information can be located in the back of the Cerritos College class schedule or catalog (page 130-136). Students who violate the Student Conduct Policy are subject to progressive disciplinary action which may include dismissal from the class for the day, instructor referral to the dean of Liberal Arts and/or the Coordinator of judicial affairs, suspension, or expulsion from the college.

Remember to SAVE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE! No writing assignment you do this semester will be without purpose or benefit, and you will be using your coursework to create your final portfolio.

It is my hope that on your journey, this class will give you the opportunity to improve your writing skills by providing you with plenty of practice. Taking full advantage of this opportunity will require work—hard work—but work that is challenging and often more fun than you might have imagined.