Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Online Friday 3 of 3
Be sure to respond to each of the 3 prompts and then return later to respond some more.
There’s a woman in Virginia who was just executed for murdering her husband and his son. Do you think she should have been executed? Women and men are eligible for the death penalty in this country? Should we have a death penalty? If so, should women and men be eligible?
(write at least a paragraph in response to this one)
There’s a woman in Virginia who was just executed for murdering her husband and his son. Do you think she should have been executed? Women and men are eligible for the death penalty in this country? Should we have a death penalty? If so, should women and men be eligible?
(write at least a paragraph in response to this one)
Online Friday 2 of 3
Here’s a story from yesterday’s news.
Texting Taking a Deadly Toll on Roads
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter by Steven Reinberg
healthday Reporter – 46 mins ago
THURSDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Distracted driving fatalities caused by cell phone use and texting soared in the space of three years, according to new U.S. government research released Thursday.
Texting alone caused more than 16,000 deaths in car accidents from 2001 to 2007, the researchers estimated. But auto deaths involving cell phones and texting while driving rose 28 percent in just three years, from 4,572 in 2005 to 5,870 in 2008.
CONSIDERING THAT STORY, WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO STOP PEOPLE FROM TEXTING IN SUCH STUPID AND DANGEROUS WAYS?
Texting Taking a Deadly Toll on Roads
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter by Steven Reinberg
healthday Reporter – 46 mins ago
THURSDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Distracted driving fatalities caused by cell phone use and texting soared in the space of three years, according to new U.S. government research released Thursday.
Texting alone caused more than 16,000 deaths in car accidents from 2001 to 2007, the researchers estimated. But auto deaths involving cell phones and texting while driving rose 28 percent in just three years, from 4,572 in 2005 to 5,870 in 2008.
CONSIDERING THAT STORY, WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO STOP PEOPLE FROM TEXTING IN SUCH STUPID AND DANGEROUS WAYS?
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Restaurant Review Help
http://www.menuism.com/blog/5-tips-towards-writing-a-great-restaurant-review/
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
What constitutes good writing?
Proper grammar
Creativity
Strong intro
Main idea/thesis
Transitions
Structure: organization
Staying on topic
No jumping around
Clarity
Tone/mood
Strong support
Examples
Rough drafts(process)
Point of view
Conclusion
Proper punctuation
Sophisticated/appropriate
vocabulary
Creativity
Strong intro
Main idea/thesis
Transitions
Structure: organization
Staying on topic
No jumping around
Clarity
Tone/mood
Strong support
Examples
Rough drafts(process)
Point of view
Conclusion
Proper punctuation
Sophisticated/appropriate
vocabulary
RESTAURANT REVIEW ASSIGNMENT
What constitutes a good restaurant review?
How do you write a good restaurant review?
--food/what you ate
--how the food tastes
--descriptive
Chicken burger was too
stretchy.
--five senses
Hearing, touching, seeing, smelling, tasting
--observations
Service…time, friendly?
--attentive
--smile
--attitude
--enthusiasm
--appearance
Cleanliness
Worker appearance
Bathrooms
Grade
--who eats there: loud environment?
--price?
For this assignment you need to go research a restaurant (meaning, eat there and take notes) and write a review of your experience. Your review should be creative, specific, and enticing.
You should use your writing to make your reader taste, see, and smell the food you ate. In other words, be descriptive. If possible, go with someone else so that you can experience (and even taste?) various dishes. However, try to avoid writing about restaurants that you think others in class might choose. If you choose a chain restaurant, be sure to tell your reader which one it is—i.e. not just “McDonalds” but “the McDonalds at the corner of Coffee and Hageman.” Also, if you choose to do a review of a chain, like Der Wienerschnitzel, you had better do something to make your review stand out. You may follow one of the samples we examine in class, create your own rating system, or follow any creative instincts that allow you to effectively convey the information on this restaurant.
Your review must comment on the ambiance, the food, and the service.
Your review should be around 1000 words. (approximately 2 pages)
How do you write a good restaurant review?
--food/what you ate
--how the food tastes
--descriptive
Chicken burger was too
stretchy.
--five senses
Hearing, touching, seeing, smelling, tasting
--observations
Service…time, friendly?
--attentive
--smile
--attitude
--enthusiasm
--appearance
Cleanliness
Worker appearance
Bathrooms
Grade
--who eats there: loud environment?
--price?
For this assignment you need to go research a restaurant (meaning, eat there and take notes) and write a review of your experience. Your review should be creative, specific, and enticing.
You should use your writing to make your reader taste, see, and smell the food you ate. In other words, be descriptive. If possible, go with someone else so that you can experience (and even taste?) various dishes. However, try to avoid writing about restaurants that you think others in class might choose. If you choose a chain restaurant, be sure to tell your reader which one it is—i.e. not just “McDonalds” but “the McDonalds at the corner of Coffee and Hageman.” Also, if you choose to do a review of a chain, like Der Wienerschnitzel, you had better do something to make your review stand out. You may follow one of the samples we examine in class, create your own rating system, or follow any creative instincts that allow you to effectively convey the information on this restaurant.
Your review must comment on the ambiance, the food, and the service.
Your review should be around 1000 words. (approximately 2 pages)
Friday Writing Part 3 of 3
3. Finish the following sentence:
After having endured one week of college, I feel that...
After having endured one week of college, I feel that...
FRIDAY WRITING #1 Part 1 of 3
Let's get this Friday Writing off to a good start. First, some ground rules.
1. EACH FRIDAY YOU MUST RESPOND IN DEPTH TO THE ONLINE TOPICS AT ANY TIME DURING THE DAY.
2. AT SOME POINT DURING THE DAY, YOU MUST RESPOND TO ONE OF YOUR CLASSMATE'S RESPONSES.
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE FANCY AND PRACTICE UBUNTU, YOU CAN RESPOND TO VARIOUS POSTS AND REPLY TO OTHERS WHO HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT YOUR POSTS. BE ACTIVE.
THAT'S IT...WRITE, RESPOND, REPEAT.
FRIDAY WRITING #1 Part 1 of 3
1. EACH FRIDAY YOU MUST RESPOND IN DEPTH TO THE ONLINE TOPICS AT ANY TIME DURING THE DAY.
2. AT SOME POINT DURING THE DAY, YOU MUST RESPOND TO ONE OF YOUR CLASSMATE'S RESPONSES.
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE FANCY AND PRACTICE UBUNTU, YOU CAN RESPOND TO VARIOUS POSTS AND REPLY TO OTHERS WHO HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT YOUR POSTS. BE ACTIVE.
THAT'S IT...WRITE, RESPOND, REPEAT.
FRIDAY WRITING #1 Part 1 of 3
1. In a paragraph, agree or disagree with the following quote:
:) Finally, here's the quote: "The height of American culture is Dora the Explorer." Anonymous
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT #1
THIS IS DUE WEDNESDAY. YOU MAY PRINT THIS OUT OR HANDWRITE YOUR OWN VERSION.
Hey Dr. Schmoll,
I have read the whole syllabus for English 100. I understand all the policies therein.
Signed _____________________ Date:
Hey Dr. Schmoll,
I have read the whole syllabus for English 100. I understand all the policies therein.
Signed _____________________ Date:
COURSE SYLLABUS
Fall 2010 English 100 Section 03 (80331)
Mo 09:30 - 10:50 Classroom Bldg 101
WeFr 09:30 - 10:50 Classroom Bldg 105
Dr. Schmoll
Office Hours: MWF 11-12, TTh 8:30-9:30, or by appt.
bschmoll@csub.edu
661-654-6549
SYLLABUS
The blog name for this class is http://english100fall2010.blogspot.com/
Dear Class,
Welcome to this course. This quarter, we will enjoy numerous experiences together, traveling on countless mental journeys. To start things off, I have constructed a syllabus that will guide the class, hopefully answer many of your questions, and become the official constitution and law of this course.
Attendance:
Just to be clear, to succeed on tests and papers you really should be in class. That’s just common sense, right? To pass this class, you may not miss more than two classes. Why is that? Does it sound harsh? Every class meeting matters. If you miss two classes that’s bad; how can you expect to do well doing that? Certainly your participation grade will suffer if you do that, but we’ll talk about that later. For now, if you miss that third class meeting, you are missing 10% of the quarter. You cannot do that and pass. So, here’s what we do. Do your darndest to not miss any class unnecessarily. Let’s say your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife calls and wants to take you to Tahiti this weekend, but you won’t be back until late Tuesday night. Here’s what you say: “Honey, I love you, but Dr. Schmoll seems to value my education more than you do, so we are breaking up.” Ok, that may be harsh, so don’t do that, but just make sure that you do not miss any class until the 8th week. What I’ve found is that it seems inevitable that those who miss two classes early for pathetic reasons like doctor’s appointments that should have been more carefully scheduled get to the 8th week and then have to miss for a legitimate reason (like a surprise meeting at work, a sick child to take care of, or a flat tire). If you get to that 8th week and then have to miss your third class, it’ll be bad. By that point, I’ll be kind, compassionate, a real shoulder to cry on, if you want, when telling you that you’ve now failed the course. Now, if you make it to the 8th or 9th week and you have not missed those two classes, then you have some wiggle room, so that if, heaven forbid, your cat Poopsie gets pneumonia and you have to sit up all night bottle-feeding her liquid antibiotics, you and I don’t have to have that ugly conversation where I tell you that Poopsie gets blamed for you failing the course. Let’s put this another way; do you like movies? No way, me too! When you go to the movies do you usually get up and walk around the theatre for 15% of the movie? Let’s say you do decide to do that, out of a love of popcorn and movie posters, perhaps. If you did that, would you expect to understand the whole story? Okay, maybe if you are watching Harold and Kumar, but for anything else, you’ll be lost. So, please, get to class.
Being Prompt:
Get to class on time. Why does that matter? First, it sends the wrong message to your principal grader(that’s me). As much as we in the humanities would like you to believe that these courses are objective (at what time of day did the Battle of the Marne begin?), that is not entirely the case. If you send your principal grader the message that you don’t mind missing the first few minutes and disturbing others in the class, don’t expect to be given the benefit of the doubt when the tests and papers roll around. Does that sound mean? It’s not meant to, but just remember, your actions send signals. Being late also means that someone who already has everything out and is ready and is involved in the discussion has to stop, move everything over, get out of the chair to let you by, pick up the pencil you drop, let you borrow paper, run to the bathroom because you spilled the coffee, and so on. It’s rude.
So, what are the consequences of persistent tardiness? What do you think they should be? Remember that 10% participation? You are eligible for that grade if you are on time. Get here on time. And no, I’m not the jackass who watches for you to be late that one time and stands at the door and points in your face. One time tardiness is not a problem precisely because it is not persistent. It’s an accident; maybe Poopsie turned off your alarm.
The Unforgivable Curse:
Speaking of one time issues, there is something that is so severe, so awful, that if it happens one time, just one time, no warning, no “oh hey I noticed this and if you could stop it that’d be super,” you will automatically lose all 10 percent of the Participation grade. Any guesses? Cmon, you must have some idea. No, it’s not your telephone ringing. If that happens, it’ll just be slightly funny and we’ll move on. It’s a mistake and not intentional, and the increased heart rate and extra sweat on your brow from you diving headfirst into an overstuffed book bag to find a buried phone that is now playing that new Cristina Aguilera ringtone is punishment enough for you. So, what is it, this unforgivable crime? Texting. If you take out your phone to send or receive messages you will automatically lose 10% of your course grade. That means, if you receive a final grade of 85%, it will drop to 75%. If you receive a final grade of 75%, it will become a 65%. Why is that? The phone ringing is an accident. We laugh at it; we move on. Heck, my phone my even go off during class. Texting is on purpose and is rude. It, in fact, is beyond rude. It wreaks of the worst of our current society. It bespeaks the absolutely vile desire we all have to never separate from our technological tether for even a moment. It sends your fellow classmates and your teacher the signal that you have better things to do. Checking your phone during class is like listening to a friend’s story and right in the middle turning away and talking to someone else. Plus, the way our brains work, you need to fully immerse yourself, to tune your brain into an optimal, flowing machine (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s incredible book Flow) that can grasp and can let itself go. Students now tend to see school as a stopover on their way to a career. Brothers and sisters, that’s deadly! I wish that I could pay for you all to quit your jobs and just focus on the mind. I can’t yet do that but if I could I would, because it’d be worth every penny. Devoting time to the mind and to thinking deeply about your world will change who you are and how you approach your future, your family, your job, and your everything. Is that overstated? I believe it to be true. So, until my stock choices really take off so that I can pay all of your bills, promise me one thing. When you are in class or preparing for class, you have to be fully here. Oh crap, now it’s going to sound like a hippy professor from the 1960s: “I mean, like, be here man, just be here.” Maybe the hippies had something. Devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside world for awhile.
Laptops:
The same principal goes for laptops, too. Remember, if you are taking notes on a laptop, something I think is great, you may not be on the internet at the same time. Yes, you may go to the course blog for the outline or to a document we are using in class, but you may not check email or facebook, or access anything else online. The reason why merits repeating; devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside world for awhile.
Class Climate:
No, I don’t mean whether it’s going to rain in here or not. Sometimes I’ll lecture at you, but even then, your participation is vital. How can you participate when someone is lecturing? Any ideas? Turn to a neighbor and tell them the story of your first day at school in kindergarten. Now, if you are the one listening to the story, right in the middle look away, look at your watch, sneer at them, roll your eyes, yawn, wave to someone across the room, nudge a person next to you and tell them a joke, all while the other person is telling about his or her first day of kindergarten. If this happens in social setting we call it rude, and we call the people who listen in that way jackasses. They are not our friends precisely because we deeply value listening and do not put up with those who do not listen well. Right? So, there will be lecturing, and if you abhor what we are doing, then fake it. I used to do that sometimes too: “oh no, professor, I love hearing you talk about President Reagan’s supply side economics.” If we listen to psychologists, by faking interest you’ll be learning much more than if you show your disinterest. The next time you are sad force yourself to smile and you’ll see what I mean. So, sometimes there will be lecture. At other times there will be discussion of short readings that we do in class. During these times, it’s crucial that you do the silly little exercises: turn to a neighbor; find someone you don’t know and discuss this or that; explain to your friend what we just went over in lecture; pick something from the reading to disagree with; find two people on the other side of the room; throw cash at your professor…ok, maybe not that last one. This class is a bit unique in that it violates the normally accepted activity systems of college history classrooms. What we do in discussion will help solidify the concepts of each section of this course in your brain. If you are active in class, you will have to study less, and you’ll find yourself remembering much more.
Mining:
Have you ever wanted to be a miner? They do have those cool helmets with the lamp on top. Think about what miners do. They dig and dig, into the earth, looking for gold, coal, silver, or other valuable rocks. Sometimes all their digging amounts to nothing. They have to stop, change directions, and dig again. But sometimes they hit a productive vein. Our class will be a little like that. We’ll do some exercises that will amount to nothing and go nowhere. Who is the best judge of that? That’s right; you are! Sometimes we’ll do a written piece that will be fabulous and will produce beautiful golden prose. You will want to polish those pieces with your writing group and turn them into even more brilliant and shining jewels.
Reading:
How many of you love reading? I did not read a book until I was 18, so if you have not yet started your journey on this ever widening path, it’s never too late. In any course, there’s no substitute for reading. Jim Moffett says that “all real writing happens from plentitude,” meaning that you can only really write well about someone once you know about it. Reading is one way to know—not the only, by any means! I want you to have experiences with great texts. I can show you voluminous research proving why you nee to read more, but then if I assign a stupid, long, expensive textbook you probably will end up not reading, or only reading to have the reading done, something we have all done, right? The economy now requires much high literacy rates (see The World is Flat), and even though reading levels have not gone down in the last 40 years, it is crucial that you start to push your own reading so that your own literacy level goes up. For these ten weeks, diving wholeheartedly into the course reading is vital. Remember to read in a particular way. As reading expert and UCSB professor Sheridan Blau has argued, “reading is as much a process of text production as writing is.” Reading involves revision? Does that sound silly? As you read, think about the different ways that you understand what you read. Most importantly, when you read, think about the words of E.D. Hirsch, who says that we look at what a text says (reading), what it means (interpretation), and why it matters (criticism). Hey, but if you are in a history course, aren’t you supposed to be reading for exactly the number of miles of trenches that were dug in World War One, how many railroad workers died from 1890 to 1917, or what the causes of the Great Depression were? Anyway, the answer is yes and no. There are two types of reading that you’ll do in college. As the literary goddess theorist Louise Rosenblatt explains, there is aesthetic reading, where you are reading to have an experience with the text, and there is efferent reading, where you are reading to take away information from the text. You do both types all the time. Think about a phone book. You have probably never heard someone say of a phone book, “don’t tell me about it, I want to read it for myself.” Reading a phone book is purely efferent. In this course you will practice both types of reading. I have chosen texts that you can enjoy (aesthetic) and that you can learn from(efferent). I want to see and appreciate the detail in our reading, but in this course I’ll give you that detail in class lectures. In the reading, it’s much more important that you read texts that will live with you forever and to inspire you to think more thoroughly about your world. As you read, you should be working hard to create meaning for yourself. As Rosenblatt asserts, “taking someone else’s interpretation as your own is like having someone else eat your dinner for you.” Please, don’t let the numbskulls as wikipedia or sparknotes eat your dinner for you.
Rough Drafts:
To receive credit for any of the out of class essays this quarter, you must have a complete, typed rough draft in class for revision. If you are absent on the day we revise, you will not receive credit for the essay. Why is this? While many college writers see writing as something done at the last minute and only when the due date is imminent, the only way to improve as a writer is to put your writing through numerous revisions. That is why you must bring a complete typed rough draft to class.
GRADED BUSINESS
My Writing Lab: (10%)
This is a computer-based program that will help you tackle your writing problems with exercises. While the best way to learn to write better is to write and read more, this program will give you specific assistance in your areas of greatest need.
Burro Genius Essay (10%)
This will be an essay based on your reading of this fine book. It is also the FirstYear Experience reader.
Participation: (10%)
You do not need to be the person who speaks out the most, asks the most questions, or comes up with the most brilliant arguments to receive full credit in participation. If you are in class and on time, discuss the issues that we raise, avoid the temptation to nod off, to leave early, or to text people during class (the three easiest ways to lose credit), and in general act like you care, then you will receive a good participation grade! Just being here does not guarantee a 100% participation grade, since you must be regularly actively involved for that to be possible.
Restaurant Review: (15%)
Do you love to eat as much as I love to eat? Good. Go to a restaurant and take notes on the ambiance, the service, and the food. Write a review and post it to the website Bakersfield.com.
Multi-Genre Writing: (10%)
Multi-Genre Writing: For this assignment you must complete a writing topic in five different genres. The theme of your multi-genre assignment will be up to you, but I would strongly suggest using some of the writing that you have already completed this quarter. Use something that you or your writing group valued.
In-Class Essays: (10%)
We will write two essays in class. You will choose which one you want to have graded and recorded.
To be eligible to pass this course you must earn a C- or higher on one in-class essay.
Final Assignment: (25%)
The culminating written work of the quarter, we’ll discuss this in class.
Friday Writing: (10%)
This course is partly being run as a hybrid, meaning that for the first few Fridays of the quarter we are going to meet online rather than face-to-face.
DEPARTMENTAL POLICY STATEMENTS:
To advance to English 110, students must earn a grade of C- or higher in English 100. To be eligible for a C- in English 100, students must earn a C- or higher on at least one in-class writing assignment and a C- average on all other course assignments.
Writing Workshop
You are responsible for completing 15 MyWritingLab topics in conjunction with your English 100 class. This requirement is worth 10% of your overall English 100 grade. To receive full credit, you must (1) take the pre- and post diagnostics (Sentence Grammar and Basic Grammar) and (2) master approximately one and a half of the below assigned topics per week, for a total of 15 topics by the end of the quarter. To master a topic, you must earn a score of 80% or higher on both the Recall and Apply sections for each of the following MyWritingLab topics.
Note that topics mastered through the pre-diagnostic will not count towards your 15 topics. You must master the below 15 topics through the Recall and Apply sections.
Prewriting
Thesis Statement
Essay Organization
Developing and Organizing a Paragraph
Parts of Speech, Phrases, and Clauses
Fragments
Run-On Sentences
Subject-Verb Agreement
Pronoun Agreement
Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers
Commas
Apostrophes
Semicolons, Colons, Dashes, and Parentheses
Parallelism
Easily Confused Words
You will be held responsible for these new skills every week in your writing. Since this is an online workshop, you can work on these topics outside of class at your convenience, so long as you master approximately one and a half topics per week, for a total of 15 topics. This means that if you wait until the end of the quarter to complete all fifteen topics, you will not receive full credit and your essay grades may suffer.
You will need an access code, which is packaged with your Quick Access text and the following course identification number:
Course ID#--####
A time will be scheduled during your first or second week of class to help you register to the site and create your user profile, and you will need your MyWritingLab code and course identification number to do this. If you have already registered to the site in a previous class, you do not need to register and create a new user profile. Instead, you will need to login to the site, click on “join a different class,” and follow the directions from there.
For additional information on MyWritingLab, view the power points at the following Web sites:
How to register for MWL
http://www.csub.edu/mwl/updated mwlreg.ppt
How to switch classes in in MWL
http://www.csub.edu/mwl/mwlswitchclass.ppt
How to get around MWL for English100
http://www.csub.edu/mwl/mwleng100.ppt
Note: If you exhaust a topic before mastering it, let your instructor know, and he or she will have it “unlocked” for you.
Note: Please let your instructor know if you are enrolled in Humanities/Behavioral Sciences 277, which also uses MyWritingLab, while enrolled in English 80 to avoid any confusion.
COURSE SCHEDULE
WEEK ONE
9/13 Go over syllabus; assign reading; assign homework
9/15 Signed Syllabus Statement Due
Make a List of what makes good writing
9/17 FRIDAY WRITING #1 (ONLINE)
WEEK TWO
9/20 Focusing Exercise (list memorable moments: choose one, the only rule is this, you must
Start in the Middle)
Stories and Meaning Exercise:
Meeting with Writing Group
9/22 Working with They Say/I Say
Assign Restaurant Review:
9/24 FRIDAY WRITING #2 (ONLINE)
WEEK THREE
9/27 Typed Complete Rough Draft of Restaurant Review Due
9/29 Restaurant Review Final Draft Due (due to Turnitin by midnight)
George Hillocks Exercise on Analyzing Evidence: Slip or Trip?
10/1 FRIDAY WRITING #3 (ONLINE)
WEEK FOUR
10/4 Tortilla Curtain Reading Due
IDIOMS EXERCISE
10/6 Neighborhood Map
Creation Stories:
10/8 FRIDAY WRITING #4 (ONLINE)
WEEK FIVE
10/11 IN CLASS ESSAY (COMMON ESSAY)
10/13 Start Multi-Genre Piece
10/15 FRIDAY WRITING #5
WEEK SIX
10/18 Quite Addicting Process Analysis Writing/Multi-Genre Writing Due
10/20 Write Around with Quotes
10/22 FRIDAY WRITING #6
WEEK SEVEN
10/25 BURRO GENIUS ESSAY ROUGH DRAFT DUE
10/27 BURRO GENIUS ESSAY FINAL DRAFT DUE
10/29 FRIDAY WRITING #7
WEEK EIGHT
11/1 In-Class Essay #2
11/3 Dan Kirby Exercise:
_____ at your age.
_____ at half your age.
_____ at twice your age.
11/5 FRIDAY WRITING #8
WEEK NINE
11/8 Individual Writing Conferences
11/10 Individual Writing Conferences
11/12 Individual Writing Conferences
WEEK TEN
11/15 Final Essay Revision—Bring an Edited and Revised Typed Rough Draft
11/17 Final Essay Revision—Bring an Edited and Revised Typed Rough Draft
11/19 Final Essay Revision
REMEMBER, although this syllabus is the “law” of the class, I reserve the right to change it at any time to suit the particular needs of our class. If I must do so, it will always be in your best interest, and I’ll always advise you as soon as possible.
Mo 09:30 - 10:50 Classroom Bldg 101
WeFr 09:30 - 10:50 Classroom Bldg 105
Dr. Schmoll
Office Hours: MWF 11-12, TTh 8:30-9:30, or by appt.
bschmoll@csub.edu
661-654-6549
SYLLABUS
The blog name for this class is http://english100fall2010.blogspot.com/
Dear Class,
Welcome to this course. This quarter, we will enjoy numerous experiences together, traveling on countless mental journeys. To start things off, I have constructed a syllabus that will guide the class, hopefully answer many of your questions, and become the official constitution and law of this course.
Attendance:
Just to be clear, to succeed on tests and papers you really should be in class. That’s just common sense, right? To pass this class, you may not miss more than two classes. Why is that? Does it sound harsh? Every class meeting matters. If you miss two classes that’s bad; how can you expect to do well doing that? Certainly your participation grade will suffer if you do that, but we’ll talk about that later. For now, if you miss that third class meeting, you are missing 10% of the quarter. You cannot do that and pass. So, here’s what we do. Do your darndest to not miss any class unnecessarily. Let’s say your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife calls and wants to take you to Tahiti this weekend, but you won’t be back until late Tuesday night. Here’s what you say: “Honey, I love you, but Dr. Schmoll seems to value my education more than you do, so we are breaking up.” Ok, that may be harsh, so don’t do that, but just make sure that you do not miss any class until the 8th week. What I’ve found is that it seems inevitable that those who miss two classes early for pathetic reasons like doctor’s appointments that should have been more carefully scheduled get to the 8th week and then have to miss for a legitimate reason (like a surprise meeting at work, a sick child to take care of, or a flat tire). If you get to that 8th week and then have to miss your third class, it’ll be bad. By that point, I’ll be kind, compassionate, a real shoulder to cry on, if you want, when telling you that you’ve now failed the course. Now, if you make it to the 8th or 9th week and you have not missed those two classes, then you have some wiggle room, so that if, heaven forbid, your cat Poopsie gets pneumonia and you have to sit up all night bottle-feeding her liquid antibiotics, you and I don’t have to have that ugly conversation where I tell you that Poopsie gets blamed for you failing the course. Let’s put this another way; do you like movies? No way, me too! When you go to the movies do you usually get up and walk around the theatre for 15% of the movie? Let’s say you do decide to do that, out of a love of popcorn and movie posters, perhaps. If you did that, would you expect to understand the whole story? Okay, maybe if you are watching Harold and Kumar, but for anything else, you’ll be lost. So, please, get to class.
Being Prompt:
Get to class on time. Why does that matter? First, it sends the wrong message to your principal grader(that’s me). As much as we in the humanities would like you to believe that these courses are objective (at what time of day did the Battle of the Marne begin?), that is not entirely the case. If you send your principal grader the message that you don’t mind missing the first few minutes and disturbing others in the class, don’t expect to be given the benefit of the doubt when the tests and papers roll around. Does that sound mean? It’s not meant to, but just remember, your actions send signals. Being late also means that someone who already has everything out and is ready and is involved in the discussion has to stop, move everything over, get out of the chair to let you by, pick up the pencil you drop, let you borrow paper, run to the bathroom because you spilled the coffee, and so on. It’s rude.
So, what are the consequences of persistent tardiness? What do you think they should be? Remember that 10% participation? You are eligible for that grade if you are on time. Get here on time. And no, I’m not the jackass who watches for you to be late that one time and stands at the door and points in your face. One time tardiness is not a problem precisely because it is not persistent. It’s an accident; maybe Poopsie turned off your alarm.
The Unforgivable Curse:
Speaking of one time issues, there is something that is so severe, so awful, that if it happens one time, just one time, no warning, no “oh hey I noticed this and if you could stop it that’d be super,” you will automatically lose all 10 percent of the Participation grade. Any guesses? Cmon, you must have some idea. No, it’s not your telephone ringing. If that happens, it’ll just be slightly funny and we’ll move on. It’s a mistake and not intentional, and the increased heart rate and extra sweat on your brow from you diving headfirst into an overstuffed book bag to find a buried phone that is now playing that new Cristina Aguilera ringtone is punishment enough for you. So, what is it, this unforgivable crime? Texting. If you take out your phone to send or receive messages you will automatically lose 10% of your course grade. That means, if you receive a final grade of 85%, it will drop to 75%. If you receive a final grade of 75%, it will become a 65%. Why is that? The phone ringing is an accident. We laugh at it; we move on. Heck, my phone my even go off during class. Texting is on purpose and is rude. It, in fact, is beyond rude. It wreaks of the worst of our current society. It bespeaks the absolutely vile desire we all have to never separate from our technological tether for even a moment. It sends your fellow classmates and your teacher the signal that you have better things to do. Checking your phone during class is like listening to a friend’s story and right in the middle turning away and talking to someone else. Plus, the way our brains work, you need to fully immerse yourself, to tune your brain into an optimal, flowing machine (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s incredible book Flow) that can grasp and can let itself go. Students now tend to see school as a stopover on their way to a career. Brothers and sisters, that’s deadly! I wish that I could pay for you all to quit your jobs and just focus on the mind. I can’t yet do that but if I could I would, because it’d be worth every penny. Devoting time to the mind and to thinking deeply about your world will change who you are and how you approach your future, your family, your job, and your everything. Is that overstated? I believe it to be true. So, until my stock choices really take off so that I can pay all of your bills, promise me one thing. When you are in class or preparing for class, you have to be fully here. Oh crap, now it’s going to sound like a hippy professor from the 1960s: “I mean, like, be here man, just be here.” Maybe the hippies had something. Devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside world for awhile.
Laptops:
The same principal goes for laptops, too. Remember, if you are taking notes on a laptop, something I think is great, you may not be on the internet at the same time. Yes, you may go to the course blog for the outline or to a document we are using in class, but you may not check email or facebook, or access anything else online. The reason why merits repeating; devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside world for awhile.
Class Climate:
No, I don’t mean whether it’s going to rain in here or not. Sometimes I’ll lecture at you, but even then, your participation is vital. How can you participate when someone is lecturing? Any ideas? Turn to a neighbor and tell them the story of your first day at school in kindergarten. Now, if you are the one listening to the story, right in the middle look away, look at your watch, sneer at them, roll your eyes, yawn, wave to someone across the room, nudge a person next to you and tell them a joke, all while the other person is telling about his or her first day of kindergarten. If this happens in social setting we call it rude, and we call the people who listen in that way jackasses. They are not our friends precisely because we deeply value listening and do not put up with those who do not listen well. Right? So, there will be lecturing, and if you abhor what we are doing, then fake it. I used to do that sometimes too: “oh no, professor, I love hearing you talk about President Reagan’s supply side economics.” If we listen to psychologists, by faking interest you’ll be learning much more than if you show your disinterest. The next time you are sad force yourself to smile and you’ll see what I mean. So, sometimes there will be lecture. At other times there will be discussion of short readings that we do in class. During these times, it’s crucial that you do the silly little exercises: turn to a neighbor; find someone you don’t know and discuss this or that; explain to your friend what we just went over in lecture; pick something from the reading to disagree with; find two people on the other side of the room; throw cash at your professor…ok, maybe not that last one. This class is a bit unique in that it violates the normally accepted activity systems of college history classrooms. What we do in discussion will help solidify the concepts of each section of this course in your brain. If you are active in class, you will have to study less, and you’ll find yourself remembering much more.
Mining:
Have you ever wanted to be a miner? They do have those cool helmets with the lamp on top. Think about what miners do. They dig and dig, into the earth, looking for gold, coal, silver, or other valuable rocks. Sometimes all their digging amounts to nothing. They have to stop, change directions, and dig again. But sometimes they hit a productive vein. Our class will be a little like that. We’ll do some exercises that will amount to nothing and go nowhere. Who is the best judge of that? That’s right; you are! Sometimes we’ll do a written piece that will be fabulous and will produce beautiful golden prose. You will want to polish those pieces with your writing group and turn them into even more brilliant and shining jewels.
Reading:
How many of you love reading? I did not read a book until I was 18, so if you have not yet started your journey on this ever widening path, it’s never too late. In any course, there’s no substitute for reading. Jim Moffett says that “all real writing happens from plentitude,” meaning that you can only really write well about someone once you know about it. Reading is one way to know—not the only, by any means! I want you to have experiences with great texts. I can show you voluminous research proving why you nee to read more, but then if I assign a stupid, long, expensive textbook you probably will end up not reading, or only reading to have the reading done, something we have all done, right? The economy now requires much high literacy rates (see The World is Flat), and even though reading levels have not gone down in the last 40 years, it is crucial that you start to push your own reading so that your own literacy level goes up. For these ten weeks, diving wholeheartedly into the course reading is vital. Remember to read in a particular way. As reading expert and UCSB professor Sheridan Blau has argued, “reading is as much a process of text production as writing is.” Reading involves revision? Does that sound silly? As you read, think about the different ways that you understand what you read. Most importantly, when you read, think about the words of E.D. Hirsch, who says that we look at what a text says (reading), what it means (interpretation), and why it matters (criticism). Hey, but if you are in a history course, aren’t you supposed to be reading for exactly the number of miles of trenches that were dug in World War One, how many railroad workers died from 1890 to 1917, or what the causes of the Great Depression were? Anyway, the answer is yes and no. There are two types of reading that you’ll do in college. As the literary goddess theorist Louise Rosenblatt explains, there is aesthetic reading, where you are reading to have an experience with the text, and there is efferent reading, where you are reading to take away information from the text. You do both types all the time. Think about a phone book. You have probably never heard someone say of a phone book, “don’t tell me about it, I want to read it for myself.” Reading a phone book is purely efferent. In this course you will practice both types of reading. I have chosen texts that you can enjoy (aesthetic) and that you can learn from(efferent). I want to see and appreciate the detail in our reading, but in this course I’ll give you that detail in class lectures. In the reading, it’s much more important that you read texts that will live with you forever and to inspire you to think more thoroughly about your world. As you read, you should be working hard to create meaning for yourself. As Rosenblatt asserts, “taking someone else’s interpretation as your own is like having someone else eat your dinner for you.” Please, don’t let the numbskulls as wikipedia or sparknotes eat your dinner for you.
Rough Drafts:
To receive credit for any of the out of class essays this quarter, you must have a complete, typed rough draft in class for revision. If you are absent on the day we revise, you will not receive credit for the essay. Why is this? While many college writers see writing as something done at the last minute and only when the due date is imminent, the only way to improve as a writer is to put your writing through numerous revisions. That is why you must bring a complete typed rough draft to class.
GRADED BUSINESS
My Writing Lab: (10%)
This is a computer-based program that will help you tackle your writing problems with exercises. While the best way to learn to write better is to write and read more, this program will give you specific assistance in your areas of greatest need.
Burro Genius Essay (10%)
This will be an essay based on your reading of this fine book. It is also the FirstYear Experience reader.
Participation: (10%)
You do not need to be the person who speaks out the most, asks the most questions, or comes up with the most brilliant arguments to receive full credit in participation. If you are in class and on time, discuss the issues that we raise, avoid the temptation to nod off, to leave early, or to text people during class (the three easiest ways to lose credit), and in general act like you care, then you will receive a good participation grade! Just being here does not guarantee a 100% participation grade, since you must be regularly actively involved for that to be possible.
Restaurant Review: (15%)
Do you love to eat as much as I love to eat? Good. Go to a restaurant and take notes on the ambiance, the service, and the food. Write a review and post it to the website Bakersfield.com.
Multi-Genre Writing: (10%)
Multi-Genre Writing: For this assignment you must complete a writing topic in five different genres. The theme of your multi-genre assignment will be up to you, but I would strongly suggest using some of the writing that you have already completed this quarter. Use something that you or your writing group valued.
In-Class Essays: (10%)
We will write two essays in class. You will choose which one you want to have graded and recorded.
To be eligible to pass this course you must earn a C- or higher on one in-class essay.
Final Assignment: (25%)
The culminating written work of the quarter, we’ll discuss this in class.
Friday Writing: (10%)
This course is partly being run as a hybrid, meaning that for the first few Fridays of the quarter we are going to meet online rather than face-to-face.
DEPARTMENTAL POLICY STATEMENTS:
To advance to English 110, students must earn a grade of C- or higher in English 100. To be eligible for a C- in English 100, students must earn a C- or higher on at least one in-class writing assignment and a C- average on all other course assignments.
Writing Workshop
You are responsible for completing 15 MyWritingLab topics in conjunction with your English 100 class. This requirement is worth 10% of your overall English 100 grade. To receive full credit, you must (1) take the pre- and post diagnostics (Sentence Grammar and Basic Grammar) and (2) master approximately one and a half of the below assigned topics per week, for a total of 15 topics by the end of the quarter. To master a topic, you must earn a score of 80% or higher on both the Recall and Apply sections for each of the following MyWritingLab topics.
Note that topics mastered through the pre-diagnostic will not count towards your 15 topics. You must master the below 15 topics through the Recall and Apply sections.
Prewriting
Thesis Statement
Essay Organization
Developing and Organizing a Paragraph
Parts of Speech, Phrases, and Clauses
Fragments
Run-On Sentences
Subject-Verb Agreement
Pronoun Agreement
Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers
Commas
Apostrophes
Semicolons, Colons, Dashes, and Parentheses
Parallelism
Easily Confused Words
You will be held responsible for these new skills every week in your writing. Since this is an online workshop, you can work on these topics outside of class at your convenience, so long as you master approximately one and a half topics per week, for a total of 15 topics. This means that if you wait until the end of the quarter to complete all fifteen topics, you will not receive full credit and your essay grades may suffer.
You will need an access code, which is packaged with your Quick Access text and the following course identification number:
Course ID#--####
A time will be scheduled during your first or second week of class to help you register to the site and create your user profile, and you will need your MyWritingLab code and course identification number to do this. If you have already registered to the site in a previous class, you do not need to register and create a new user profile. Instead, you will need to login to the site, click on “join a different class,” and follow the directions from there.
For additional information on MyWritingLab, view the power points at the following Web sites:
How to register for MWL
http://www.csub.edu/mwl/updated mwlreg.ppt
How to switch classes in in MWL
http://www.csub.edu/mwl/mwlswitchclass.ppt
How to get around MWL for English100
http://www.csub.edu/mwl/mwleng100.ppt
Note: If you exhaust a topic before mastering it, let your instructor know, and he or she will have it “unlocked” for you.
Note: Please let your instructor know if you are enrolled in Humanities/Behavioral Sciences 277, which also uses MyWritingLab, while enrolled in English 80 to avoid any confusion.
COURSE SCHEDULE
WEEK ONE
9/13 Go over syllabus; assign reading; assign homework
9/15 Signed Syllabus Statement Due
Make a List of what makes good writing
9/17 FRIDAY WRITING #1 (ONLINE)
WEEK TWO
9/20 Focusing Exercise (list memorable moments: choose one, the only rule is this, you must
Start in the Middle)
Stories and Meaning Exercise:
Meeting with Writing Group
9/22 Working with They Say/I Say
Assign Restaurant Review:
9/24 FRIDAY WRITING #2 (ONLINE)
WEEK THREE
9/27 Typed Complete Rough Draft of Restaurant Review Due
9/29 Restaurant Review Final Draft Due (due to Turnitin by midnight)
George Hillocks Exercise on Analyzing Evidence: Slip or Trip?
10/1 FRIDAY WRITING #3 (ONLINE)
WEEK FOUR
10/4 Tortilla Curtain Reading Due
IDIOMS EXERCISE
10/6 Neighborhood Map
Creation Stories:
10/8 FRIDAY WRITING #4 (ONLINE)
WEEK FIVE
10/11 IN CLASS ESSAY (COMMON ESSAY)
10/13 Start Multi-Genre Piece
10/15 FRIDAY WRITING #5
WEEK SIX
10/18 Quite Addicting Process Analysis Writing/Multi-Genre Writing Due
10/20 Write Around with Quotes
10/22 FRIDAY WRITING #6
WEEK SEVEN
10/25 BURRO GENIUS ESSAY ROUGH DRAFT DUE
10/27 BURRO GENIUS ESSAY FINAL DRAFT DUE
10/29 FRIDAY WRITING #7
WEEK EIGHT
11/1 In-Class Essay #2
11/3 Dan Kirby Exercise:
_____ at your age.
_____ at half your age.
_____ at twice your age.
11/5 FRIDAY WRITING #8
WEEK NINE
11/8 Individual Writing Conferences
11/10 Individual Writing Conferences
11/12 Individual Writing Conferences
WEEK TEN
11/15 Final Essay Revision—Bring an Edited and Revised Typed Rough Draft
11/17 Final Essay Revision—Bring an Edited and Revised Typed Rough Draft
11/19 Final Essay Revision
REMEMBER, although this syllabus is the “law” of the class, I reserve the right to change it at any time to suit the particular needs of our class. If I must do so, it will always be in your best interest, and I’ll always advise you as soon as possible.
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