Course+Syllabus

=**English 101-725 3 credits **=

**E-mail: jbelknap@bmcc.cuny.edu Office: N726 (Office hours by appointment) **
=**English 101: Composition One **=

**//General education learning outcomes: //**

 * ===**Communication Skills. Students will be able to write, read, listen and speak critically and effectively. (Measured in papers 1-5) **===
 * ===**Arts and Humanities. Students will be able to develop knowledge and understanding of the arts and literature through critiques of works of art, music, theatre, or literature. (Measured in papers 1-5) **===
 * ===**Values. Students will be able to make informed choices based on understanding of personal values, human diversity, multicultural awareness and social responsibility. (Measured in papers 1-5) **===
 * ===**Information and Technology Literacy. Students will be able to collect, evaluate, and interpret information and effectively evaluate information technologies. (Measured in papers 1-5) **===

**//101 Learning Outcomes: Students completing 101 will //**

 * ===**Organize, develop, and revise at least four thesis driven essays that include substantial support and use a variety of rhetorical strategies. (Measured in papers 1-5) **===
 * ===**Summarize, paraphrase, and quote from readings (Measured in papers 1-5) **===
 * ===**Critically analyse numerous readings (Measured in papers 1-5) **===
 * ===**Demonstrate a command of edited American English, using vocabulary and syntax appropriate to college level work (Measured in papers 1-5) **===
 * ===**Demonstrate a command of the MLA conventions of citation and documentation (Measured in papers 1-5). **===

**How to pass this class **

 * ===**Papers one and two are each worth 10% of your grade (total = 20%). **===
 * ===**<span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">In-class participation/regular attendance: worth 10% of your grade **===
 * ===**<span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">Papers three and four are each worth 20% of your grade (total = 40%). **===
 * ===**<span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">Paper five (the departmental in final) is worth 30% of your grade. **===
 * ===**<span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">If you do not participate in group-work, or if you fail to bring required materials to class, you will be counted absent, which can affect your grade. Excessive lateness will count as absences. **===

**ENG101-725 Schedule (subject to change)**
===**Week One: Course introduction and guidelines, syllabus, general essay structure, free-writing exercise, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (short story), “Natural Selection” by Charles Darwin (essay)**===

**pp. 1-14. Essay assignment # 1**
===**Week Three: “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass (essay), pp. 129-135, “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X (essay), pp. 257-266, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie (essay), pp. 15-19; In-class discussion and writing exercise on the readings**===

**Week Six: “The Obligation to Endure” by Rachel Carson (essay), pp. 83-90, “What's Eating America” by Michael Pollan (essay), pp. 300-306**
===**Week Seven: “The Ends of the World as We Know Them” by Jared Diamond (essay), pp. 98-105, “Our Vanishing Night” by Verlyn Klinkenborg (essay), pp. 234-238, “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” by Stephen Jay Gould (essay), pp. 169-178, Student Essay # 2 / Peer Review**=== ===**Week Eight: “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin (memoir), pp. 50-71, “No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston (memoir/fiction), pp. 221-233; Distribute and begin discussing Departmental Final Text 1**===

**Week Nine: “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” by Henry David Thoreau (essay), pp. 403-409, “Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White (essay), pp. 431-437; Student Essay # 3 [in-class]**
===**Week Ten: “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer (essay), pp. 91-97, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua (essay), pp. 33-45, continue discussion of, and a writing exercise on, Departmental Text 1**=== ===**Week Eleven: “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift (essay), 387-395, “On Morality” by Joan Didion (essay), pp. 106-111, “The Ways We Lie” by Stephanie Ericsson (essay), pp. 159-168, continue discussion of Departmental Text 1**===

**College Attendance Policy**
===**At BMCC the maximum number of absences is limited to one more hour than the number of hours a class meets in one week. For example, you may be enrolled in a three hour class. In that class you would be allowed 4 hours of absence (not 4 days), In the case of excessive absences, the instructor has the option to lower the grade, or assign an F or WU grade.**===

**BMCC Disability Statement**
===**In keeping with the college’s policy of equal access for students with disabilities, any student with a disability who needs academic accommodations is welcome to meet with me privately. Students requesting accommodations will also need to go to The Offices of Services for Students with Disabilities in N768. The office will supply you, if appropriate, with an academic accommodation letter for you to show professors.**===

**BMCC Plagiarism Statement**
===**Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else’s ideas, words, or artistic/scientific/technical work as one's own creation. A student who copies or paraphrases published or on-line material, or another person's research, without properly identifying the source(s) is committing plagiarism. Plagiarism violates the ethical and academic standards of our college. Students will be held responsible for such violations, even when unintentional. To avoid unintended plagiarism, students should consult with their instructors about when and how to document their sources. The library also has both print and digital guides designed to help students cite sources correctly. Plagiarism carries a range of penalties commensurate with severity of the infraction. The instructor may, for example, require the work to be redone, reduce the course grade, fail the student in the course, or refer the case to the Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee ([|see Article 15.4 of the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees]). Cases referred to that committee could result in suspension or expulsion from the college.**===