Chabot College                                                                                                              Spring 2002

 

Read / Reason / Write - Accelerated (English 102)

 

Instructor: James Westfall                                                          CRN:    31799; Sec: 071

Email: fallwest@hotmail.com                                                     Lab:      MW 4:30 – 5:20

Office Hours: MW 3:30 – 4:30                                                   Lec:      MW 5:30 – 6:45

Office Location: TBA

 

Course Synopsis: English 102 focuses on the thinking, reading, writing, and organizational skills needed to compose successful, college-level papers in any subject. This rigorous, accelerated course condenses the regular English 101A/101B sequence into a single semester. We will practice strategies for effective reading and writing, and you will be asked to respond thoughtfully and critically—in class discussions and in course papers—to the ideas and writings of others. Please be advised that this class will move quickly with a heavy workload: expect homework for each class session, and an essay or exam every two-to-three weeks. Given this pace, English 102 is not an easy class to pass. You might be more at ease taking the regular 101A/101B series. Please feel free to discuss with me concerns about your preparedness or any other matter.

 

Course Goals: Upon the completion of this course, you should demonstrate competence in identifying the purpose of different readings, and in responding critically to their contents. You should be able to form a controlling idea that focuses your writing, and back each point you make with adequate, varied, and well-chosen evidence. You should be able to diagnose and correct grammatical errors and stylistic problems in your writing. You should have a stock of strategies to facilitate the reading and writing process. You should be able to form inferences and hypotheses regarding an author’s point of view, and regarding the evidence she or he presents. You should be able to explain abstract concepts found in our readings, and write for a specific audience.

 

Required Texts and Supplies:

1)                  Colombo, Gary et al.  Rereading America. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001.

2)                  Singer, Peter.  How are We to Live.  Amherst: Prometheus, 1995.

3)                  Fulwiler & Hayakawa The College Writer’s Reference.  3rd ed.

4)                  A good college dictionary

5)                  An 8.5” X 11” notebook for your reading journal

 

Grading Policy:                                                                                   Grading Scale:

Attendance: 5%                                                                                    A = 90-100%

Essays: (1st =10%; 2nd =15%; 3rd =15%; 4th =20%) =60% Total.               B = 80-89%

Quizzes: 5%                                                                                          C = 70-79%

Participation: 5%                                                                                   D = 60-69%

Midterm: 10%                                                                                       F = below 60%

Final: 15%

 

Preparedness: You are expected to come to class prepared for discussion. Students who come to class prepared will have completed all homework and assigned readings, will have taken notes on what they have read, and will have formulated a reaction, position, or opinion regarding the assigned reading that they can articulate to their peers in discussion. Reading quizzes will come at any moment, and will provide the prepared with easy points. Ten percent of your grade will come from class participation and quizzes.

 

Office Hours: I will be holding regularly scheduled office hours at the time listed above, at a place to be announced. Students who come to discuss their work in office hours tend to do well in class. I am here to be a resource for you.

 

Lab: We will have approximately one hour of lab time (4:30 to 5:20) prior to each class lecture. This time will be primarily dedicated to assigned class work. However, we may also practice paper formatting, internet research, and other reading and writing related techniques.  

 

Attendance: Since this is an accelerated course, regular attendance is extremely important. If you must miss part of lecture or lab for some truly urgent and inevitable reason, please do not skip all of it. However, you will be marked absent for the day if you arrive more than fifteen minutes late to class. Two unexcused absences will result in your final grade being dropped by five percent. If you are absent for more than four class meetings within the semester—or three consecutively—you may be dropped from the course. You need to consult with me well ahead of any preplanned absence.

 

Absence: You are responsible for all assignments. If you miss a class, please contact a peer for any work due the next class meeting. I will not accept late homework if you came to class the day it was due. If you know you will be absent, please make arrangements with me to get homework assignments beforehand. You will be expected to hand in any homework collected during your absence the day you return. Papers will lose ten percent of their final grade for each day they are late.

 

Academic Honesty: Any plagiarized work will be given a zero grade, and the student will be referred to the Dean of Student Services for further action. According to the Chabot College Handbook, Plagiarism means “the deliberate misrepresentation of someone else’s works and ideas as one’s own, as well as paraphrasing without[…]noting the source” (176).

 

In Class Conduct: Within reasonable and generally accepted limits, students in this class should be allowed to speak without interruption (from other students, cell-phones, beepers, etc.), no matter how much we may individually disagree with what they say. This also means that when speaking, each student should keep their comments to a length and scope that allows other students to easily respond. Since we recognize the social and educational value of forming and maintaining bonds of community, we will not tolerate personal insults, menaces, slurs, sexist or racist remarks, or any like form of speech which has no redeeming value for learning, and which is employed with the intention of hurting others.

 

Course Website: You can access our class site at http://chabot102.tripod.com . In addition to the course syllabus and links to helpful resources for writing and research, you will find a link to the class discussion board. While its use will remain strictly optional, you can nevertheless contribute to your participation grade by discussing class related matters. The above guidelines on conduct also apply when using the web forum.