English 1A: Your Voice and the College Experience—Fall 2010
Instructor: Dave Kern					Office: FOB 213
Section: 17 							Meeting times: T, Th 9-10:15
Location:  Sweeney Hall, 410				      	Office Hours: Tues. 10:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Department: English & Comparative Literature		and by appointment  
								kerny44cuse@yahoo.com

English 1A Overview: 
Welcome fellow travelers! This semester, with the English Department’s sponsorship, I’m going to be leading a field trip of sorts. This journey will be a pursuit, the object of which will be our “personal voice,” that amalgamation of writing skill and style that enables us to communicate with the variety of people you’ll work with and for over the course of your academic, professional, and personal lives. We’ll start in some pretty familiar territory, our personal lives, as we take on personal essays and reviews based on criteria of our own creation. From there, we’ll move on to more-formal writing tasks based on the genres of argumentation such as cause-and-effect and comparison/contrast. I’ll be your guide for the first part of a longer trip. English 1A is the first part of SJSU’s two-semester, lower-division composition sequence. And the sweet thing is you’ll earn general education credits, in Area 2, just for joining us on the journey. 

Prerequisite: Placement by the English Proficiency Test (EPT), or passage of an approved substitute course for the EPT.

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS:
At the university bookstore or an alternative such as Roberts Bookstore, Amazon.com, etc.:
Present Tense: Contemporary Themes for Writers, Bauknight and Rollins (ISBN: 97814130679)
The Curious Writer, Second Edition, Ballenger (ISBN: 9780205620241)
The Everyday Writer, Fourth Edition with MLA Update (Bedford/St. Martins, 2009)
A Separate Peace, Knowles (Bantam, 1984)
Five to seven large blue books for in-class essays and two yellow examination booklets for the final
A non-electronic, college-level dictionary by a reputable publisher.

Available from a variety of local sources, including Walgreens, Safeway, etc.
A journal, your choice of style, appropriate for creating and storing reader responses, freewriting exercises, and various written assignments pulled from the texts.

Available from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library at SJSU:
A library card, the foundational tool needed by every serious college student.

Course Objectives: By the time we finish the semester, successful students will be able to write complete essays that show college-level skills in all of the following:
•	Clear and effective communication of meaning
•	The establishment of an identifiable focus, tailored to a particular audience and purpose (argumentative essays will state their thesis clearly and show an awareness, implied or stated, of some opposing point of view).
•	The ability to perform effectively the essention steps of the writing process (prewritinig, organizing, composing, revising, and editing).
•	The ability to explain, analyze, develop, and criticize ideas effectively.
•	The ability to use, within their original essays, of supporting material drawn from class readings and other sources.
•	The establishment of effective organization within the paragraph and the essay.
•	The creation of complete, clear, and varied sentences.
•	The use of appropriate diction.
•	The control of conventional mechanics (e.g., punctuation, spelling, reference, agreement).

Learning Objectives (SJSU’s G.E. Area 2):
Objective 1: Students will write organized, complete essays that demonstrate the ability to perform the essential steps in the writing process (prewriting, organizing, composing, revising, and editing). 
Objective 2: Students will write organized, complete essays that demonstrate the ability to express, explain, analyze, develop, and criticize ideas effectively.
Objective 3: Students will write organized, complete essays that demonstrate the ability to use correct mechanics (grammar, diction, syntax, spelling, and citation of sources) with college-level sophistication.
Objective 4: Students will write organized, complete essays that demonstrate the ability to write with their audience in mind.

COURSE CONTENT

Writing: We'll tackle assignments that give you repeated practice in all phases of the writing process: prewriting, organizing, writing, revising, and editing. University requirements dictate that we write essays totalling at least 8,000 words. That doesn't count the final exam, my required journal, quizzes, and any other wildly creative assigments I come up with. However, one of your major essays will be a revision of a paper already submitted for a grade and commented on by me. That doesn't make it a gimme; a major revision is defened as a significant rethinking and reworking of an assignment and not a simple "correcting" of errors noted on the original. You'll receive frequent evaluation of your writing from me. 

Reading: Reading for the course will be extensive and intensive and include useful models of writing for academic, general, and specific audiences.

Research: I am going to require that you secure a library card as one of your basic course materials, and a few of your assignments may incorporate some light research. But library research is not an emphasis of this course as it is in 1B.

Diversity: Assignments in this course will address issues of race, class, and gender when appropriate, and the perspectives of women and diverse cultural groups will be incorporated into course instruction and materials whenever possible.

MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS:

Readings: They will be a combination of instructional material, a novel, and essays chosen to serve as an example of a particular genre of writing. Your reading should be completed by the start of class each day. Periodically, I will quiz you or require you to write a short readers’ response that shows me you have read. 

Essays: You will write eight essays, three in-class and five out-of-class. Except for the diagnostic essay, all essays will be graded according to the English Department’s grading policy and receive significant comments. My comments are intended to help you improve your writing; I expect you to read them and use them to your advantage. For in-class essays you will need large blue books, black or blue pen(s), and a non-electronic dictionary. Out-of-class essays should be typed, double-spaced and formatted with one-inch margins; please set your type in Times New Roman 12-point. Follow all other MLA formatting and citation guidelines; they are found in The Everyday Writer. Essays must be turned in to me at the beginning of class on the day they are due unless other arrangements are made with me in advance. Late essays will be subject to significant penalties. I will also require you to turn in a copy of your out-of-class essays at Turnitin.com by midnight on the due date. 

Workshops: These will be held in class ahead of some essay due dates. The workshops will be structured as group exercises during which you will give and receive valuable feedback. Workshops will vary in format throughout the semester. Coming to a scheduled workshop with an outline, incomplete, and/or handwritten essay is unacceptable.

Participation: All quizzes, reading responses, grammar exercises, homework, and class discussions make up your class-participation grade, which accounts for 15 percent of your final grade. You cannot participate if you are not in class or if you are not prepared.

Journals: You will be required to maintain a journal. Entries may include specific exercises pulled from the texts, reader responses, and short, in-class assignments I ask you to write in addition to your essays. You can keep your journal in a loose-leaf binder or a composition book. I will check journals periodically and reserve the right to collect them in order to gauge your progress.

What's worth what (a.k.a. the grade distribution): In-class essays (3: Diagnostic-0, Cause & Effect-8, Argumentation-12%) 20%  Out-of-class essays (5: Descriptive-5, Review-5, Annotated Bibliography-12, Comparison/Contrast-15, Revision-8%) 45%  Class participation (Including quizzes, reading responses, homework, journals and class discussion) 15%
University final (Mandatory) 20%

The University Essay Final Exam: A common essay final, graded holistically, will count for 20 percent of the course grade. A single university-wide final will be developed around a college-level reading passage each semester by the English Department Composition Committee. All faculty members teaching individual sections will grade the examination holistically under controlled conditions. The university final will be administered at 8. a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4 in a location to be announced. You MUST take the exam in order to pass the course.

Grading: A-F.  This class must be passed with a C or higher to move on to English 1B (C- is not acceptable for 1B). A passing grade in the course signifies that the student is a capable college-level writer and reader of English.

Your individual essays will be graded on a traditional A-F scale according to the following English Department standards:   

Grades issued must represent a full range of student performance: A=excellent; B=above average; C=average; D=below average; F=failure. 

The “A” essay will be well organized and well developed, demonstrating a clear understanding and fulfillment of the assignment. It will show the student’s ability to use language effectively and to construct sentences distinguished by syntactic complexity and variety. Such essays will be essentially free of grammatical, mechanical, and usage errors.
The “B” essay will demonstrate competence in the same categories as the “A” essay. The chief difference is that the “B” essay will show some slight weakness in one of those categories. It may slight one of the assigned tasks, show less facility of expression, or contain some minor grammatical, mechanical, or usage flaws.
The “C” essay will complete all tasks set by the assignment, but show weaknesses in fundamentals, usually development, with barely enough specific information to illustrate the experience or support generalizations. The sentence construction may be less mature, and the use of language less effective and correct than the “B” essay.
The “D” essay will neglect one of the assigned tasks and be noticeably superficial in its treatment of the assignment—that is, too simplistic or too short. The essay may reveal some problems in development, with insufficient specific information to illustrate the experience or support generalizations. It will contain grammatical, mechanical, and/or usage errors that are serious and/or frequent enough to interfere substantially with the writer’s ability to communicate.
The “F” essay will demonstrate a striking underdevelopment of ideas and insufficient or unfocused organization. It will contain serious grammatical, mechanical, and usage errors that render some sentences incomprehensible.

SOME OTHER RULES: 

Respect in conversation: Discussion is a vital component of what we do in English 1A; nearly every day, you will be asked to speak in front of your classmates regarding what you have read and how it is impacting your ongoing written work. So that everyone feels free to participate without abuse or judgment, I am going to declare our classroom a safe zone where people can feel free to say what and how they believe without abuse or chastisement. Challenging your classmates preconceptions and assumptions is acceptable; however, belittling or abusing them is not. If you honestly don’t know the difference, speak to me privately.
Cell phones, et al.: The use of electronic devices, save computers, is NOT permitted in class unless you have clearance from the Disabilities Resource Center. Please turn off cell phones, iPods, etc., before coming to class. You are permitted to use a laptop. Please, use basic common sense.

Out-of-Class Essays: These must be turned in to TurnItIn.com, which is an online plagiarism detection service that scans your essay for references to online sources, including papers submitted to SJSU or other universities, and papers bought online. Instructions for turning in essays to this site will be provided and discussed in class prior to the first out-of-class essay. In no instance will a report from TurnItIn.com alone serve as the basis for a charge of academic dishonesty; rather, it will alert the instructor to subject an essay to increased scrutiny.

Late Policy: Due dates are clearly marked on the syllabus and you are urged to turn in all work on time, which means at the beginning of class on the date due. I reserve the right to severely dock work that is turned in more than 10 minutes after the start of class. Consult with me in advance when you know that you absolutely cannot meet a deadline.
Grade challenges: All grades, as assigned by the instructor, or final.
Attendance policy: SJSU has no formal attendance policy; however, remember that class participation is 15 percent of your final grade. You cannot participate if you are not in class or if you are not prepared. Should you miss class on the day of an in-class essay, it is your responsibility to initiate talks regarding a makeup on the same calendar day.

Plagiarism: In this class, we will abide by the SJSU Academic Integrity Policy, which, in part, follows. Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University, and the University’s Academic Integrity Policy require you to be honest in all your academic coursework. Faculty are required to report all infractions to the office of Judicial Affairs. The policy on academic integrity can be found at http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S0412.htm  The SJSU rules against plagiarism are set forth in the SJSU Catalog, which defines plagiarism as the act of representing the work of another as one’s own (without giving appropriate credit) regardless of how that work was obtained, and submitting it to fulfill academic requirements. Plagiarism at SJSU includes, but is not limited to: (1) the act of incorporating ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, or the specific substance of another’s work, without giving appropriate credit, and representing the product as one’s own work. It is the role and obligation of each student to know the rules associated with specific classes, exams, and/or course assignments. Ignorance of these rules is not a defense to the charge of violating the Academic Integrity Policy.

Disabilities Resource Center: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 9703 requires that students with disabilities register with the Disabilities Resource Center to establish a record of their disability. The DRC website is http://www.drc.sjsu.edu.

Tutoring: While I am always willing to assist you during my office hours, it may be necessary for students whose writing displays serious deficiencies in their control of standard English syntax, grammar, or punctuation to seek help from the University Writing Center or the Learning Assistance Resource Center.Both of these centers will help students at any stage of the writing process, from brainstorming to major reorganization to stylistic polishing.  Students of all abilities are encouraged to use these services. It is a common myth that these services are for "dumb" students, but no published author made it without another pair of eyes on her/his work. LARC is located under the 10th Street parking garage in SSC 600. (408) 924-2587, while the Writing Center is located on the first floor of Clark Hall in Room 126. (408) 924-2308. You can schedule an appointment here:   http://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/tutoring/requestforappointment/index.htm

Calendar

Aug. 26		Th		Welcome, syllabus review, contact cards	 
Handouts: Declaration of Independence, Preamble to Constitution				
Aug. 31		T		Due: Read Declaration of Independence and Preamble to Constitution 
					Write a reader response to Declaration of Independence—300 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
												
Sept. 2			Th		Due: Read CW: 8-17, 20-29 (Writing as Inquiry) CW: 41-51, (Reading
					as a Process) SP: Chapters 1&2
					Write answers to Exercise 1.2 in journal (LO 1)

Sept. 7			T		Essay #1: Diagnostic—500 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
					Don't forget your blue books!

Sept. 9			Th		Due: Read CW 51-56, 60-64 ("Reading" the Visual) SP: Chapters 3&4
					Write a reader response to A Separate Peace—200 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)

Sept. 14		T		Essay #2 assigned: Out-of-class, descriptive—1,200 words 
					Due: Read CW: 74-79 (Ways of Inquiring) PT: 82-102 (Genres of Argument)
					SP: Chapter 5
					Write a reader response to SP (Ch. 5)—200 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)

Sept. 16		Th		Mythbusters Game: Extra credit on the line!
					Due: Read SP: Chapters 6&7
					Write a reader response to SP (Ch. 6&7)—200 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)

Sept. 21		T		Essay #2: Workshop, out-of-class, descriptive
					Bring a complete draft of your essay to class for peer review (LO 1)

Sept. 23		Th		Due: Read PT: 102-115 (Questions of Cause and Effect) SP: Chapter 8
					Write a reader response to SP (Ch. 8)—200 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)

Sept. 28		T		Due: Essay #2: Out-of-class, descriptive—1,200 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
					Read CW: 101-121 (The Writing Process)

Sept. 30		Th		Due: Read PT: 120-134 ("The End of Literacy? Don't Stop Reading," "Literacy
					Debate: Online RU Really Reading") 224-227 ("Heavy Habits) 235-240
					("Walking a Thin Line") Additional essays: Animal Rights, The Smoking Debate

Oct. 5			T		Essay #3: In-class, cause-and-effect—700 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
					Don't forget blue books.
					Due: Read SP (Chap. 9)
					Write a reader response to SP (Ch. 9)—200 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)

Oct. 7			Th		Due: Read CW: 123-159 (Writing a Review)
					Essay #4 assigned: Out-of-class, review—1,500 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
					
Oct. 12			T		Movie: "Born on the Fourth of July"

Oct. 14			Th		Move: "Born on the Fourth of July" (cont.)
					Due: Read PT: 174-175 ("Isn't that Special") 181-187 ("Schools of Thought: The 
					Liberal-Conservative Divide on College Campuses")

Oct. 19 		T		Movie "Born on the Fourth of July" (if needed)
					Essay #4: Workshop, out-of-class, review
Bring a complete draft of your essay to class for peer review (LO 1)

Oct. 21			Th		Due: Essay #4: Out-of-class, review—1,500 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
					Read CW: 201-219 (Writing an Argument) SP (Chapt. 10)
					Write a reader response to SP (Ch. 10)—200 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)

Oct. 26			T		Due: Read PT: 271-281 ("Do Smart Girls Finish Last in Love," "What's Wrong With 
					This Picture") SP: (Ch 11)
					Write a reader response to SP (Ch. 11)—200 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)

Oct. 28			Th		Due: Read 294-297 ("The Case for Reality TV: What the Snobs Don't Understand"; 
					"Rachel Ray, My Dinner Hooker") 300-302 ("Which Came First: The Lyrics or 
					Libidos") 307-311 ("For Clues on Teenage Sex, Experts Look to Hip-Hop")

Nov. 2			T 		Due: Read: SP (Chapters 12&13)
					Write a reader response for SP (Ch. 12&13)—350 words (LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
Handout: Essay #5 advance questions for in-class essay

Nov. 4			Th		Due: Read CW: 327-336 (The Personal Voice in Argument) Handouts: Jim Murray,
					Mike Royko, Altschul
					Essay #5: In-class, argumentation—750 words (LO 1-4)

Nov.	9		T		Due: Read CW 301-338 (Research Techniques) PT
					370-373 (Sample annotated bibliography)
						In your journals, create a research log for one King Library
					resource, preferably one tied to your chosen topic for the
					annotated bibliography (LO 2)	
					Handout: Creating an annotated bibliography

Nov. 11		Th		Veteran's Day, no class.

Nov. 16		T		Essay #6 Assigned: Out-of-class, annotated bibliography—1,500 words 
						(LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
						Due: Read CW: 415-450 (Revision Strategies)

Nov. 18		Th		Movie: "Million Dollar Baby"

Nov. 23		T 		Movie: "Million Dollar Baby"
						Handout: Essays on Title 9, Euthanasia, Violence in Sports									

Nov. 25		Th		Thanksgiving break, have fun!

Nov. 30		T		Due: Essay #6: Out-of-class, annotated bibliography—1,500 words
						(LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
						Essay #7 assigned: Out-of-class comparison/contrast—1,500 words (LO1-4)						Final Review		

Dec. 2			Th		Final Review cont. (Mock final)
						Essay # 8 Assigned, out-of-class, annotated bibliography revision
						500 words (LO 1-4)

Dec. 7			T		Last class!
						Catch-up session, ask questions					
						Due: Essay #7: Out-of-class, comparison/contrast—1,500 words (LO1-4)						
Dec. 9			Th		Class cancelled. Work on your final papers.	

Dec. 16		Th		Due: Essay #8: Out-of-class, bibliography revision--500 words (LO 1-4)
					Bring to my office or leave in my mailbox in the English Department office by 5 p.m.