ENG131F08 Syllabus Ian Springer-Woods1ENG131.30 ENG Composition I6:00 – 8:54 PM Wed. WA122Fall 2008INSTRUCTOR: Ian Springer-WoodsCONTACT INFO: Email [email protected] HOURS: I do not keep regular office hours. However, I would be happy to make anindividual appointment with you, and I am an avid e-mail checker.TEXTBOOKS AND SUPPLIESFaigley, Lester. Writing: A Guide for College and Beyond, Brief Edition.Faigley, Lester. The Brief Penguin Handbook, 3rd edition.Notebook(s) for a journal.Plain, white, empty envelopes for the first peer review of each essayTwo-Pocket Folder for the final portfolio.USB Plug-in Flash Drive for storing & transporting computer files (Pens/pencil and paper are assumed. Other supplies may be needed as the schedule evolves.)COURSE DESCRIPTION“Let’s get it started (ha), let’s get it started in here.” – Black Eyed PeasWhat the department says:“This is an intensive writing course designed to help students improve, strengthen and refinewriting skills. Research methods are introduced. An end of the semester portfolio of narrativeand informative writings and an additional 16 hours of writing activities and workshops arerequired. (Prerequisites: ENG080 and ENG090)”My translation:You’re going to write. You’re going to read examples of writing and you’re going to read aboutwriting, and then you’re going to write more. We’ll work on a bunch of different types ofwriting and techniques. There will also be 16 hours of out-of-class workshops. There’s a lotmore to this class than these simple explanations, as you will see.ASSOCIATE DEGREE OUTCOMES (ADOS)The Board of Trustees has determined that all JCC graduates should develop or enhance certainessential skills while enrolled in the college. In other words, a bunch of intellectual folks figuredout how to word the following statement so that it covers everything that they want you to knowyet is vague enough for me to do my job. I’ll help you learn some of this stuff as best I can.“ENG131 course goals and objectives incorporate specific Associate Degree Outcomes(ADOs) established by the JCC Board of Trustees, administration, and faculty. Thesegoals are in concert with four-year colleges and universities and reflect input from theprofessional communities we serve. ADOs guarantee students achieve goals necessaryENG131F08 Syllabus Ian Springer-Woods2for graduation credit, transferability, and professional skills needed in many certificationprograms. The ADOs addressed in this course are:Working Clearly, Concisely, and Intelligibly (Developing Level), ADO#1Working in Small Groups (Developing Level), ADO #9”COURSE GOALS"The goals of this country is to enhance prosperity and peace."—George W. BushSpeaking at the White House Conference on Global Literacy, New York, Sept. 18, 2006Below is a list of a few things I want you to learn from this class, but what is reallyimportant to me is that you learn how the culture around you works and how you can use writingto reflect, and affect, that culture. I want you to use writing to help you understand better boththe world around you and your place in it. And in case you were wondering, yes I do indeedhave delusions of grandeur.Things I’d like you to accomplish this term: Getting comfortable with writing for others and creating writing for an audience. Comprehend and use information from readings, speeches, and musical and/or visualpresentations. Expand your ability to write with different purposes and different genres. Be able to cite sources using a formal citation style (in this case MLA). Thinking critically and thoughtfully about your community, how it relates to writing,and your relationship and responsibilities to it. Understand & recognize multiple interpretations for a piece of writing. Actively participate in writing as a process. Remember that writers are not writers, we are re-writers. Constructively critiquing others' writing and making good use of the critiques you receive. Remember that when you write, you write about someone or something and forsomeone (even if that someone is yourself). Increasing your understanding of the structures of writing.PUBLIC NATURE OF WRITING"We feel it's important for democracy that we have more voices, notfewer.” – Alan Frank, president of the Washington Post-Newsweek station groupand chairman of the Network Affiliated Stations AllianceYes, others will read what you write. Yes, I’ll use your writing in class.It’s important to remember that when we write we don’t write in a vacuum,because that would suck (get it?). Instead, we write in response to and in order to influence theenvironment around us and ourselves. We use language to define and understand who we are aspeople. Therefore, writing is an exploration of yourself, and you may discover things aboutyourself. You must take emotional risks to grow. As a class we, together, create a communityof writers. We will do a lot of sharing of work with each other. We need to develop trust in eachother to further our community.ENG131F08 Syllabus Ian Springer-Woods3GRADING & ASSIGNMENTS“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways… and then rate each way on a chart that I’llgive you at the end of the semester.” – Ian abusing ShakespeareDid you ever see the 1989 movie Dead Poet’s Society? In it, the poetry teacher, playedby Robin Williams, asks the students to tear out the first few pages of their poetry class coursebook. This is because there is a rating scale on those pages that asks students to rate the poetryon a chart. That’s pretty much how I feel about grades. How can I rate you on your abilitieswith just one, cold number?The truth, though, is that grades are a great motivator for getting folks like you to actuallywork on the assignments – and the assignments help you learn. It’s sorta like when your parentstell you to eat your broccoli or you can’t have any dessert. I happen to like broccoli (mmmbroccoli…), but not everyone does. If you do, you do the work and get a reward for doingsomething you like. If you don’t, however, you’ll eat the… err… do the work anyway becauseit’s good for you, but mostly to get the chocolate cream pie… err… the good grade.JCC doesn’t use simple systems like percentages. I don’t know if they’re lazy and don’twant to convert them or what, but what I do know is that I am lazy. Therefore, I’ve
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