English 21

Required Texts and materials:        

English Brushup, Langan and Goldstein, 4th Edition           

Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah

God Grew Tired of Us, John Bul Dau and Michael S. Sweeney

Rules for Writers, Diana Hacker, Trade-Tech custom edition with workbook.

A dictionary                                                                                                                                         

Course Goals.  This course reviews the essentials of good sentence writing: grammar, usage, and mechanics.  The main emphasis is on practice of paragraph and essay construction, using culturally diverse texts.

Quizzes and Exercises.   There will be in-class quizzes and writing exercises daily; therefore, attendance is important.  These quizzes and exercises cannot be made up at another time.  Some of these quizzes and exercise will be for a letter grade; some will be for credit/no credit. If over 10% of quizzes and exercises are missing, your final grade will be lowered one full grade, e.g. A becomes B.   Grammar homework may be assigned on an as-needed basis.  This homework is not always collected, but always corrected. 

In-Class Essays.   “In-class” essay means just that – it is to be written IN THE CLASSROOM during class time, not at home. You must take all in-class essays.  You will be allowed to make-up only one in-class essay.  You must make it up within one week during my office hours, not during class time.  In-class essays will serve as rough drafts for formal papers.

Formal Papers.  You will write a total of 3 formal papers.  These papers are to be typed, double – spaced, printed in 12 point Courier (or the equivalent), and have one-inch margins all the way around.  The MLA format must be followed.    All of your prewriting, (notes, outlines, drafts) and photocopies of sources (if applicable) must be turned in with final versions of papers.  Please turn in your assignments stapled, without any report cover, sheet protector, or folder. Papers must be submitted in the assigned order, i.e. paper #2 cannot be turned in before paper #1.  You must turn in all papers, or you will receive an F.

Grammar Homework.  All practice exercises from English Brushup (grammar workbook) are to be done at home. You are to check your answers in the back of the book. We will go over additional tests in class as needed.  These assignments may or may not be collected.  Again, there will be  grammar and vocabulary quizzes throughout the semester.

Exit Exam.  All students must take the Departmental Exit Exam. If you do no take the Exit Exam, you will not pass the class.  If you do not pass this final, there is a possibility that you will not pass the class.  The topic is chosen by English faculty.  There may be ungraded practice Exit Exams throughout the semester

Readings.  Assigned readings are to be read before the class meeting as indicated on the Assignment Schedule.  Readings not contained in the texts will be provided.  On occasion, there may not be enough time to discuss an assigned reading in class; however, you are still responsible for knowing the content.

Summary and Response papers, aka, Journals.  You must turn in a loose-leaf academic journal for every assigned reading.  Journals are due at the beginning of class. You may not turn in your journals late.  Journals must follow the Summary and Response format.  These papers do not need to be typed.  You will receive credit/no credit for this work, not a letter grade. 

Attendance.   Whenever absences in ‘hours’ exceed the number of hours the class meets per week, the instructor may exclude the student from class.   Students who are absent the second class meeting will be dropped. If you are absent on any day, for any reason, it is your responsibility to get a class update (i.e., material covered, homework, etc.) by asking another student. Please remember that students, and not the instructor, are responsible for keeping up with college assignments and the pace of the course.

A Note on Plagiarism.  Plagiarism is intentionally or unintentionally presenting information from another source as if it were your own.  Any assignment that has been plagiarized will receive an F.

Portfolio.  You may be required to turn in a complete portfolio containing all class work: Quizzes, Exercises, In-class Essays, and drafts and final revisions of Papers.  Keep everything.

Grades.  Your writing skills are supposed to get better during the semester; therefore, you will be graded on improvement.  Grades will be determined as follows:

Quizzes, Exercises

            Class Participation      10%

            In-class essays              30%

            Exit Exam                   20%

            Writing Assignments  40%

            Portfolio                      100%

Americans with Disabilities Act

Students with disabilities who need any assistance or accommodation should contact the instructor.

This syllabus as well as class assignments are available at my web site, <lisamoreno.net>.

All Three Formal Papers for English 21

Formal Paper #1

In-Class paragraph #1 Revision

Your assignment is to correct, improve, and develop your in-class paragraph #1.  The first thing you should do is look up the revision symbols located on the front inside cover of English Brushup.   Make all corrections indicated, including spelling and formatting.  Improve your paper by improving: sentence type, word choice, examples, etc.   Also, add at least one supporting quote. Keep in mind that you may go to the Writing Center in room C-100 for assistance.

Guidelines

Minimum length: at least 3 paragraphs.  This assignment must be typed, double – spaced between lines, printed in 12 point Courier (or the equivalent), and have one-inch margins all the way around. 

Formal Paper #2

In-Class Essay #2 Revision

Guidelines

Your assignment is to correct and improve your in-class essay #2.  The first thing you should do is look up the revision symbols located on the front inside cover English Brushup.  Make all corrections indicated, including spelling and formatting.  Improve your paper by improving: sentence type, word choice, examples, etc.   Also, add at least one supporting quote. Keep in mind that you may go to the Writing Center in room C-100 for assistance.  Follow the MLA format.  Include a Works Cited page.  See class notes and handouts for further information.

Minimum length: 4 paragraphs.  This assignment must be typed, double – spaced between lines, printed in 12 point Courier New (or the equivalent), and have one-inch margins all the way around. 

Formal Paper #3

Book Report

God Grew Tired of Us, John Bul Dau and Michael S. Sweeney

I.                   Introduction (1 paragraph)

·         Use the full title of book and name of author in a complete sentence.

·         Write a comprehensive statement about the content of the book.

.

II.                Objective Summary (1-3 paragraphs)

·         Summarize the book; summarize the selection with respect to the author’s main divisions of the book if applicable.

III.             Evaluation (2-3 paragraphs)

·         This is the most important section of your report since you evaluate the author’s main ideas with examples, quotes, and specific evidence from the book.  Comment on his use of facts, authorities, personal experience, judgments, historical references and anything else that is important.

·         You may include a brief discussion of the author’s style.

IV.             Conclusion (1 paragraph)

·         Give your final view of the book, commenting on the value of ideas, relevancy to your life, social changes since the book was written, etc.

Guidelines

• 500 word (@ 2 page) minimum
• You must type this paper
• Must have a Works Cited page with assigned book as source and at least one source you found by doing your own research.  Both books must be referenced in the body of the paper and cited by either an in-text citation or a parenthetical citation. Wikipedia is not an acceptable source.
• MLA format must be followed

If you fail to submit any of the above papers, you will not pass the class.

Assignment Schedule*

Los Angeles Trade-Technical College

Week     Date                  Assignment                                 Homework                           What’s Due**

EB = English Brushup, by John Langan

Yen Mah = Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah

Bul Dau = God Grew Tired of Us, John Bul Dau and Michael S. Sweeney

*Subject to Change

** Academic journals aka Summary and Response journals are due every day there is a reading assigned

***Bring 2 copies of rough drafts to class.  One copy is for me, and the other is for your peers.