Schultz 1
Mary Schultz
Mary Schultz1
EWRT-1A-072
26 September 2011
Syllabus for EWRT 1A: Composition and Reading
This course is an introduction to university level reading and writing with an emphasis on
analysis. Through the close examination of a variety of personal, popular, literary, professional
and academic texts from culturally diverse traditions, students will learn to identify, question,
analyze, compare, evaluate and challenge diverse perspectives on many timely and timeless
questions. Through learning and practicing common rhetorical strategies used in academic
writing, students will compose clear, well-organized, and well-developed essays, with varying
purposes and differing audiences, from personal to academic.
The prerequisites for this course are English Writing 211 and Reading 211 (or Language
Arts 211); or equivalent placement (normally based on results of English Placement Test).
Special Conditions (for this section of EWRT 1A only):
No electronic devices of any kind will be allowed in class (no phones, no electronic
dictionaries, no e-book readers, no electronic thesauruses, no laptops, no tablet computers, etc.).
You must bring print copies of the required readings to class.
1
Calendar/Schedule: http://heuristical.us
Office hours: MW 11:00-11:30 a.m. & TR 10:00-10:30
Office location: The Baldwin Winery (tentative)
E-mail: schultzmary@fhda.edu, marydschultz@gmail.com
Message phone: (408) 864-8999, Ext. 3022
2
CRN: 00846; Tuesdays & Thursdays, 7:30 to 9:45 a.m. in L64
Schultz 2
You must have reliable daily access to the Internet and a printer. There will be a
significant online component to this class, including submission of essays to Turnitin.com,3
online discussion and peer review assignments, downloading of supplemental readings, online
grammar exercises, and sessions in the ATC 102 computer lab. I am more than happy to help
students develop online expertise; however, you may wish to enroll in a different section of this
course if you would prefer to avoid online requirements.
There is ADULT CONTENT (violence, sexual content, drug use, profanity, gender,
racial, ethnic and religious slurs and stereotyping) in some of the required texts. Class
discussions will be held under strict rules of civility; anyone violating these rules will be dropped
from the course. (You may wish to enroll in a different section of this course if you are very
uncomfortable or offended by this subject matter.)
Grading. No plus or minus grades will be given. Incompletes require a doctor’s order.
Effort, though essential for a good grade, does not "count" as part of your grade. Papers
containing more than five major errors in conventional written English per page will not receive
a passing grade.
Absences. You must attend the first week of classes. If you miss the equivalent of 1.5
weeks of class for any reason, your grade will automatically drop by 10 points if you do not have
a doctor's note. If you miss more than the equivalent of 1.5 weeks of class for any reason, I will
drop you, even if the final absence is late in the quarter. I keep track of late entrances and early
exits from class; an excessive number will count as an absence.
Late essays. (Not!) I do not comment on, nor do I allow re-writes of papers that are not
submitted on time unless you have talked to me about a revised deadline before the due date, so
talk to me first! In rare cases, essays may be resubmitted for a higher grade, provided you have
3
Turnitin: https://turnitin.com/login_page.asp Class ID: 4227006; Password: ewrt1a7
Schultz 3
received my permission in advance and a working draft of the revised essay signed by a writing
tutor or peer editor (who has made substantive marginal comments on the draft that you have
addressed in your final version) is submitted along with the final revised essay.
In-class essays may not be made up without a written medical excuse.
Required Materials:
1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
2. ReMix: Reading + Composing Culture, Second Edition
3. Re:Writing Plus <http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/rewriting2e/>.
4. Weekly supplemental readings.
5. Reliable daily access to the Internet and a printer.
Required Assignments:
 Weekly quizzes on assigned readings (25 points)
 In-class Essay 1 (min. 500 words, 3 points)
 Essay 2 (min. 1000 words, 10 points)
 In-class mid-term essay exam (min. 500 words, 6 points)
 Essay 3 (min. 1000 words, 20 points)
 Essay 4 (min. 1500 words, 30 points)
 Final in-class essay exam (min. 500 words, 6 points)
 Written exercises and assignments (Passing/Not Passing) (min. 1000 words)
Grading Policies:
Students must complete all assignments, whether graded or not, to pass the course. While
the course will be process-oriented (see below), grades will be based solely on quizzes on the
assigned readings (25% of grade), and on a minimum of 6,000 words of instructor-evaluated
writing (75% of grade).
Schultz 4
Grades are not negotiable: I will not respond to requests for a better grade for individual
essays or for the course as a whole. I will evaluate your writing based on criteria that I will give
you for each essay, and it will be your responsibility to ask about any requirements you don't
understand during class (others certainly will have the same question!) or by talking to me during
office hours.
Grade computation:
90-100 points = A
80-89 points = B
70-79 points = C
60-69 points = D
Below 60 points = F
College Support for Student Success:
I strongly urge you to take advantage of De Anza’s Student Success Center programs.4 It
is likely that you will be able to improve your grades by working with the tutors at the Writing
and Reading Center. You will benefit most from these sessions if you bring drafts of your work
and let your tutor know what specific type of help you need, e.g., “I know I have a problem with
comma splices, can you help me spot them in this paper?” or “Can you help me write up a postoutline for what I have written so I can check the logic of my organization?” or “Can you help
me focus this paper by helping me brainstorm key words for a more effective title?”
Special Needs: Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation should contact
me privately to discuss your specific needs. For more help, you can also contact De Anza
College's Disability Support Services (DSS) at 408-864-8753; TTY 408-864-8748; SPED
4
The Student Success Center offers free tutoring, workshops and support for your De Anza
Language Arts classes. See http://www.deanza.edu/studentsuccess for details.
Schultz 5
Pedagogical Approach and Conventional Expectations:
This course is structured5 to help students develop their ability to have something to say
about a subject by employing a variety of heuristic devices (aids to invention and questions for
finding ideas, e.g., “Who, What, When Where & Why”); to formulate and articulate what they
have to say by using analysis and reasoning; and to shape what they have to say using rhetorical
and formal conventions appropriate to their intended audiences.
A “process-oriented” pedagogy is based on the assumption that an effective writing
process leads to effective writing products. Students will work on developing an efficient writing
process by analyzing their writing habits, by learning about various strategies to combat such
problems as writer’s block, procrastination, and spending too much time on writing projects.
Students will develop a consistently effective university-level writing style, primarily by
developing their unique “voice” – and learning to modulate it appropriately for an academic
audience. Because effective writers know that clear communication requires knowledge of the
conventions under which their intended audiences operate, students will focus on understanding
grammar and usage as tools for effective communication within a particular community,
diagnosing their own and others’ errors in standard written academic English as symptoms of
weak communication within an American academic community rather than transgressions
against transcendent grammatical “rules.”
Effective writing makes things happen. Effective writers write with a purpose in mind,
and evaluate the effectiveness of their writing by whether or not it achieves that purpose.
Students will learn to recognize the components of effective writing by reading pieces of writing
that have been demonstrably effective (e.g., Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham
5
See Appendix A, “Preliminary Course Schedule” for tentative paper due dates and online
EWRT 1A Calendar/Schedule <http://heuristical.us> for readings.
Schultz 6
Jail”) and analyzing how these pieces of writing achieved their intended purposes. Students will
learn to give and receive specific feedback on the effectiveness of their writing throughout the
drafting, revising and finalizing phases of the writing process.
Plagiarism is a problem when students seek only to pass a course, rather than achieve the
goals of the course. It is a vexing problem for the instructor since s/he is required to detect it,
report it, and penalize the student for it, all of which is a great waste of time, and not fun for
anyone. It is actually easier to “borrow nobly,” than to cheat:
[Then] there are great ways of borrowing. Genius borrows nobly. When
Shakespeare is charged with debts to his authors, Landor replies "Yet he was
more original than his originals. He breathed upon dead bodies and brought them
into life." (Emerson)
My goal in teaching is to help students gain the skills they need to be listened to and respected
because I believe their voices are most likely to breathe new life into the knowledge we need to
survive and thrive as human beings.
Schultz 7
Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Art by Ellen Forney. New
York: Little, Brown and, 2009. Print. [ISBN: 978-0316013697]
Emerson, Ralph W. “Quotation and Originality” Letters and Social Aims. Boston: James R.
<http://www.emersoncentral.com/socialaims.htm>.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Challenging Perspectives: Reading
Critically About Ethics and Values. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. 310-327
Latterell, Catherine G. ReMix: Reading + Composing Culture. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2010. Print.
Re:Writing Plus. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. Web. 21 Sept. 2011.
<http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/rewriting2e/>.
Schultz 8
Appendix A
WEEK 1
Sep 27
WEEK 2
Oct 4
WEEK 3
Oct 11
WEEK 4
Oct 18
WEEK 5
Oct 25
WEEK 6
Nov 1
WEEK 7
Nov 8
WEEK 8
Nov 15
WEEK 9
Nov 22
WEEK 10
Nov 29
WEEK 11
Dec 6
WEEK 12
Preliminary Course Schedule (see online EWRT 1A Calendar)
Dec 13
Primary Reading Assignment
Go over syllabus, thematic introduction (inclass)
“Heuristical” Readings
(Required)
Bad Meets Evil – “Renegade”
(original) (in-class)
Eminem, “The Real Slim
Shady”
Six-Word Memoirs (NPR)
Quizzes/Writing
“Sentence Card” (in-class)
Sep 29
Alexie, Front cover–44
“Artist Interview: Peter Arkle”
Alexie, 45-129
Re:Writing, “Create a study plan for
grammar and writing
“Knowing Your Personality
Can Make You Better Writer”
Essay 1 (in-class)
Oct 6
Alexie, 130–end
Eminem, “8 Mile”
Quiz 2
Reading: Latterell, "Identity" 3-19
Quiz 2
Oct 13
Quiz 1
Essay 2
Quiz 3
Oct 20
Quiz 4
Oct 27
Mid-term essay exam
Quiz 5
Nov 3
Quiz 6
Nov 10
Essay 3
Quiz 7
Nov 17
Nov 24
Quiz 8
Holiday
Quiz 9
Dec 1
Essay 4
Dec 8
Dec 14
Final exam: 7:00-9:00 a.m.
Essay exam (in-class)