Winter 2008: MTWTh: 12:30-1:20 (Please scedule appointments in advance via phone or email)

Don't hesitate to contact me.

ENGLISH 110.07 (ENGLISH 110.06 is the same except for meeting time--MW 1:30 to 3:50--and due date scedule.)

TTh: 1:30-3:50/Room 6406
FOOTHILL COLLEGE
WINTER 2008

Instructor: Lesley Dauer Office: 6035
Voicemail: 650-949-7507 Office Hours: M-Th: 12:30 to 1:20*
Email: DauerLesley@foothill.edu (*Schedule office hour apts. in advance.)

English 110: Introduction to College Writing

Welcome to English 110. This workshop/lecture class is designed to help us develop and refine our abilities to express ourselves clearly. We'll read and discuss a wide variety of essays about topics that influence us all: personal identity, ethnic and class affiliation, and human rights.

In conjunction with this reading, we'll explore various strategies of expository and persuasive writing and apply these strategies to our own work. We'll review and refine our grammar skills so that we can communicate what we want, influencing others with well-constructed writing.

TEXTS

A Dictionary of Your Choice (paper rather than electronic)
EASY ACCESS by Michael Keene and Katherine Adams
FOG CITY FUNDAMENTALS(4th Edition) by the English Dept. of
San Francisco State University
THE PRENTICE HALL READER (8th Edition) by George Miller

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Attendance:

Because we will do much in-class reading, writing and responding, punctual attendance is mandatory. Three or more absences (excused or unexcused) throughout the quarter may lower your final grade. It may continue to be lowered a letter grade for every subsequent class missed. Sign the attendance sheet at the beginning of class if you?��Ǩ�Ѣre on time. Sign the back of the attendance sheet at the end of class if you?��Ǩ�Ѣre late (ask me). Responsible attendance is a college-level skill.

If you miss a class, you are responsible for any material covered. (Arrival in class without a completed homework/writing assignment counts as the equivalent of an absence.) Check the syllabus and call or email a classmate to obtain information you missed. Three ?��Ǩ?�tardies?��Ǩ�� (arriving late to class) count as the equivalent of one absence; continual tardies may lower your final grade or cause you to be dropped from the class. In short: get to class prepared and on time. Be respectful of yourself and others. The class needs you.

Lab Hour:

This class combines five hours of lecture and one lab hour each week. As 110 students, you may access (with no additional fee) Academic Skills courses, The English Writing Center, and the Foothill College Language Arts Division online resources for students (http://www.foothill.edu/la/english.links.php), where you?��Ǩ�Ѣll find helpful writing advice and grammar rules. These options are designed to help support your writing progress in 110. You may take advantage of them on your own, and I may assign them when I identify specific areas of need and interest.

Writing Assignments:

Major Essays: Four out-of-class essays are required for this class. I'll accept one late final draft of an out-of-class essay?��Ǩ���as long as it's turned in within a week of the original due date. All other major essays (submitted after the first late essay) will be lowered a full letter grade for each day late. Essay #4 must be submitted on time. Drafts of essays must be submitted at the beginning of class on their due dates in order to facilitate peer editing. If you come to class without a draft the day it?��Ǩ�Ѣs due, you will be marked absent. (Keep this in mind when deciding whether to turn an essay in late). We?��Ǩ�Ѣll work with each major out-of-class essay in three different forms, and the first and mid-process drafts must be turned in again with the final draft.

First draft: A first draft is a substantial piece of work, representing several hours of writing--perhaps exploring a topic or writing your way towards clarity, or working on one approach, abandoning it, and trying another.

Mid-process draft: A mid-process draft is the re-working or extension of the materials of the first draft. It represents the best that you can do without extensive feedback from the editors available to you: your classmates and me. This draft should be substantially longer than your first.

Final draft: A final draft is the re-working or extension of the mid-process draft. It is to be submitted typed?��Ǩ���double-spaced with 12-point font?��Ǩ���on regulation 8?Ǭ?" by 11" paper. When you submit your final draft, you must submit with it all preliminary notes, drafts, and peer feedback sheets. Final drafts must be proofread carefully

In-Class Essays: Two in-class essays are required. One of these essays may be made up if missed. (In order to do so, you must call and leave a message on my phone before or on the day of the in-class essay.)

Revision: You may revise two of the first three major out-of-class essays. Please see revision as ?��Ǩ?�RE-vision.?��Ǩ�� Make both ?��Ǩ?�micro?��Ǩ�� (sentence-level) and ?��Ǩ?�macro?��Ǩ�� (content-related) revisions, or your grade will not change substantially. The revision grade is the average of the original grade and the grade obtained on the revised paper. Revisions are due a week from the day the original version is returned to you. Late essays and essay #4 cannot be revised.

Important Note: MAKE COPIES OF ALL MAJOR ESSAYS BEFORE HANDING THEM IN! At several points during the quarter, I?��Ǩ�Ѣll ask you to review your writing and assess your progress as a writer. You?��Ǩ�Ѣll also be asked to read one of your essays to the class. Your words are worth being heard! We all have a lot to learn from ourselves and teach each other.

Quizzes:

Four grammar quizzes are scheduled at even intervals throughout the quarter. They?��Ǩ�Ѣre based on the work we?��Ǩ�Ѣll be completing in Easy Access and Fog City Fundamentals. One of these quizzes may be made up if missed. (In order to do so, you must call and leave a message on my phone before or on the day of the quiz.)

Peer feedback Sheets:

Students are required to give each other extensive feedback for the major out-of-class essays at the mid-process stage. Feedback guidelines and specific questions will be provided. Answer the questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. Comments such as ?��Ǩ?�It?��Ǩ�Ѣs good?��Ǩ�� and ?��Ǩ?�Gee, I like your font?��Ǩ�� are not helpful.

Clarity and Questions:

It?��Ǩ�Ѣs our responsibility as teachers and learners to be as clear as possible when communicating and to ask for clarification when necessary. Learning comes from questioning. I will ask you to write letters to me during the quarter to detail your writing progress, to make comments, and to ask any questions you may have. Please don?��Ǩ�Ѣt hesitate to talk to me.

GRADES

Major out-of-class essays?��Ǩ���40%
In-class essays?��Ǩ���30%
Grammar Quizzes?��Ǩ���15%
Peer Feedback Sheets?��Ǩ���15% (3 top grades)

(I use the following equivalencies to determine letter grades:
A+ = 99-100; A = 92-98; A- = 90-91; B+ = 88-89; B = 82-88;
B- = 80-81; C+ = 78-79; C = 70-77; D = 60-69; F = 0-59.)

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Representing someone else?��Ǩ�Ѣs ideas as your own (without properly crediting that source) or copying answers on a quiz or test can result in course failure. Having someone outside of class help you with your work is also a form of plagiarism. Don?��Ǩ�Ѣt do it. Think about it: if someone corrects grammar for you, I?��Ǩ�Ѣm grading their grammar abilities rather than yours. This kind of help can also result in course failure. (The Foothill Writing Center is a good source of writing help; however, you must acknowledge the nature of the help received when you submit this work to me.)

For more specifics, please see the sections on ?��Ǩ?�academic honesty?��Ǩ�� and ?��Ǩ?�plagiarism?��Ǩ�� in your student handbook, Beyond the Classroom. The rules and regulations stated there apply to all of your Foothill classes. Do your work honestly and to the best of your abilities. Learn the material. Practice your skills. Talk to me when you have questions. Effort in English 110 will pay off in your other classes and in your life beyond school. I?��Ǩ�Ѣm not just writing this. I really mean it. I?��Ǩ�Ѣll help you develop and hone your own writing skills, so you can approach future writing tasks with even more confidence.

Effort and investment are extremely important. And please remember?��Ǩ���absences and missed assignments may have a negative impact on your final grade. Remember, responsibility is college-level skill.

Please note: I accept no work after the time of the final exam.

ALTERNATE CREDIT

At the end of the quarter, those students still needing more writing practice in order to pass the class will be given alternate credit in English 215. These students must then repeat English 110, but they?��Ǩ�Ѣll avoid damaging their grade point average with a poor ENGL 110 grade. Alternate credit is only available to students who have made a sincere effort and completed all assignments?��Ǩ���those who are likely to pass the class on the next attempt. Credit for English 215 represents an alternative way to succeed in this class.

BEHAVIORAL GUIDELINES

If you can?��Ǩ�Ѣt make it to this class on time, take another class. Arriving late suggests you don?��Ǩ�Ѣt care if others are distracted. If your cell phone rings during class, expect me to answer it. Turn it off, or, alternatively, set it on stun. I also have a keen sense of emailing and text messaging in the classroom. Refrain. Don?��Ǩ�Ѣt assume as much about a teacher?��Ǩ�Ѣs line of vision as I did once and long ago. If you behave in any disruptive manner that distracts me from my lesson plan or your classmates from their studies, expect to be withdrawn from class.

I hope you can tell that I write this with sincere respect for all of us and the integrity of our learning community. We?��Ǩ�Ѣll teach each other in an environment conducive to learning.

HAPPY POSTSCRIPT (YES, IT?��Ǩ�ѢS TRUE)

Keep in mind that I set strict guidelines and stick to them so that the class can run smoothly and effectively for everyone. I have high expectations. Please also keep in mind that I respect your ideas. I firmly believe everyone has a lot to teach everyone else and that writing is a good way to do it.

And don?��Ǩ�Ѣt worry. I also understand our basic human need for fun. Humor can be especially helpful in an English classroom. One of the most compelling reasons to write I've ever heard came from a student in one of my first composition classes. I had asked what students find most important about writing. As an earnest young teacher, I?��Ǩ�Ѣd expected answers like: ?��Ǩ?�Writing helps me understand and explain myself. It helps me know who I am.?��Ǩ�� I expected this kind of answer because I firmly believe writing has this power.

Some students did in fact answer that way. But the comment I find most memorable came from an unassuming young woman who raised her hand and said: "I write to entertain myself." Let's try to entertain ourselves and learn and teach as we do it.




ENGLISH 110.07 TENTATIVE DUE DATES

1/8: First Day Of Classes
1/18: Deadline To Drop A Class And Still Qualify For Refund
1/22: MID-PROCESS DRAFT ESSAY #1
1/24: FINAL DRAFT ESSAY #1
1/31: GRAMMAR QUIZ #1
2/1: Deadline To Drop Class Without Grade
2/12: MID-PRO DRAFT ESSAY #2
2/14: FINAL DRAFT ESSAY #2/IN-CLASS ESSAY #1
2/21: GRAMMAR QUIZ #2
2/29: Deadline To Drop A Class With A ?��Ǩ?�W.?��Ǩ��
3/4: MID-PROCESS DRAFT ESSAY #3
3/6 FINAL DRAFT ESSAY #3/IN-CLASS ESSAY #2
3/13: GRAMMAR QUIZ #3
3/18: MID-PROCESS DRAFT ESSAY #4
3/20: Last Day Of Classes/FINAL DRAFT ESSAY #4/Class Readings Begin
3/27: FINAL: 12:30-2:30 PM/Class Readings Conclude

Lesley Dauer received degrees from Middlebury College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Harvard University. Her poems have appeared in a number of journals, including Grand Street, New England Review, and Poetry, and several anthologies, including American Poetry: The Next Generation from Carnegie Mellon University Press and The Bread Loaf Anthology of New American Poets from University Press of New England. The Fragile City, her first book of poems, won the Bluestem Award and was published by Bluestem Press. Garrison Keillor has twice read her work on NPR.

If asked by a panther,
don't anther.

--Ogden Nash