―The readiness is all.‖ Hamlet
I. Course Number and Instructor Information
Expository English Composition, ENGL 1301 TTh
Prerequisite: ENGL 0310 or other approved placement procedure
Instructor: James Gonzales
My Courses webpage: my.epcc.edu
Email address: jgonz400@live.epcc.edu
Office: A1308 Phone: 831-2254 (messages also; give phone number s-l-o-w-l-y)
Office hours: MWF 8-10, 12-1; TTh 9-10 (and by appointment)
II. Texts and Materials
7:00 class (CRN 20655) meets in B102
10:00 class (CRN 20661) meets in B107
English 1301 Online Reader, available at http://sites.google.com/site/1301english
Hacker, Diana, and Nancy Sommers. A Writer’s Reference: With Writing about Literature . 7 th
ed.
Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2011. (required)
McQuade, Donald, and Robert Atwan. The Writer’s Presence. 6 th
ed. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2009. a college dictionary clipboard printer paper and white loose-leaf composition paper (8 ½" x 11") blue or black pens (good quality) and a RED PEN yellow highlighter
USB to save text
STAPLER and staples (bring to class each time) syllabus
III. Course Requirements
Your course grade will be based on total points earned on these assignments.
Essays = 70% of semester grade
Six essays @ 100 points each = 600 points
Book of your essays = 50 points
Investigative report on essays = 50 points

Other work and considerations = 30% of semester grade
Thirteen copying exercises @ 10 points each = 130 points [See instructions on p. 7]
Seventeen writing exercises: @ 10 points each = 170 points
Participation and attendance points, up to 14 points extra credit [See p. 4]
You must complete all the assignments.
All assignments should be ready at the beginning of the class when they are due.
Time management workshop required for students wishing to earn college credit but having trouble keeping up with course assignments. Check with counselor.
Late Work Policy practice late work label ________________________ o Late assignments must be labeled
Late
and initialed as such by the student. o Late assignments must be submitted within ONE WEEK of the original due date. o Late work will be worth less than work submitted on time.
Supportive assignments of 10 points will be worth 1 point.
Essay assignments will be worth 10% less.
Essays must be word processed and double spaced.
 like this one
Computers and printers are available in A1721 and B120.
Always print a paper copy of your essay at each stage of the writing process as a back-up.
Think and work ahead. Problems with printers and USB’s will not excuse lateness.
The 100 points for an essay will be awarded in stages, except for mid-term and final exam.
Five points for first word-processed draft to be used for peer editing
Fifty points for an improved version of essay to be evaluated for quality
Five points for checklist filled out accurately
Five points for listening, responding, and reading during essay presentations.
Twenty-five points for RED PEN WORK , awarded for thorough attention to details
Ten points for perfected final draft
Early work is possible when you anticipate an absence and make arrangements with instructor.
If you miss a class , see instructor at A1308 before the next session to pick up work which was returned, get the latest assignment, and turn in work due. Keep on track.
Plagiarism (submitting someone else’s writing as one’s own, such as copying something from the internet) is a serious offense and will be reported to college authorities for disciplinary action.
Plagiarism on an essay may result in an F for the course.
For help on your assignments , see instructor at A1308 during office hours. Although he will not proofread your entire essay, he will point out seven improvements . The rest are your responsibility.
The Writing Center A1421 (831-2195) can also help.

Form to Figure out Semester Grade
1. Enter your six essay scores in the six blanks.
_________, ___________, __________, __________, __________, _________
2. Enter scores on report on essays (NPR) _____________ and on your book of essays _________
3. Add up the eight scores in 1 and 2 : _______________
4. Add up points from exercises, etc . (300 possible) _____________
5. Note any extra credit points, as from p. 4: _____________
6. Add sums you recorded for items 3, 4, and 5 to get total points for semester: ________________
900-1000 = A
800-899 = B
700-799 = C (minimum needed to meet prerequisite for ENGL 1302)
600-699 = D
Less than 600 = F
(At the beginning of the semester, highlight the grade you are aiming for. Then take care of your grade.)
IV. Instructor’s Policies
Attendance and Drop Policy
―Eighty percent of success is showing up.‖ Woody Allen
You are always welcome in class.
To get the best outcome, you should 1) show up on time, 2) pay attention, and 3) do the assignments. You will begin the semester with FOURTEEN POINTS extra credit. [See top of next page.] Cross out points for absences, tardiness, and neglected assignments according to this scale. If you lose all fourteen points, you will be dropped from the course.
Each absence (excused or unexcused) = -2 points
Walking in LATE = -1 point each for first three times; additional times = -2 points each
Leaving before class ends = -1 point
Each essay not done = -5 points
Each supportive assignment not done = -1 point (tests, exercises, drafts for peer revision, red pen work, revisions, bringing texts and materials to class, etc.)
Texting and other discourteous behavior = -1

Participation Scale and Extra Credit Points warning
14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Excused Unexcused Drop
Promptness and Tardiness
1. At the end of the semester, remaining points will count as extra credit . Any student who keeps eight points or more will also receive a coupon good for a letter of recommendation from the instructor.

2. Sign in before class to document your attendance. Do not sign for your classmates. Class will begin and end at the scheduled time according to clock in classroom. If you are tardy , ask the instructor after class to mark a
T on the attendance sheet; otherwise, you will be counted as absent.
3.
If you are tardy more than three times , you must see our counselor and write a memo to the instructor, which addresses the problem and specifies a solution. The counselor, instructor, and student will try to find a solution.
4. Our counselor is Jose Baltazar at 831-2085, SSC Room 104.
Classroom Courtesy
1. We should know our classmates’ names and respond to each other in a respectful manner. Our business is to learn how to write essays. Our classmates can serve as a support group to help us achieve our purpose, assisting us in developing our ideas and applauding our efforts.
2. Anything that distracts from learning should not be done, such as arriving late, carrying on private conversations, clowning around, eating and drinking, or using electronic devices.
3. Cell Phone Policy : Whenever cell phones ring or students send text messages in class, students and instructor are distracted from our purpose of learning to write better. Texting in class is disrespectful to the instructor and classmates. While in class, turn phones off completely. If you want to learn and if you want to pass the class, don’t text message.

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V. Calendar and Assignments (subject to change)
1. Check calendar daily. Budget enough time to do the assignments before class.
2. Code numbers are for A Writer’s Reference .
3. MC = My Course web page
4. ―Read and Copy‖ assignments are from MC or Writer’s Presence
(WP & p. #).
5. A = A ssignment worth 10 points, as in A1 , etc., through A30 . Build up your skills and your grade.
Points
(record yours)
Date Topics and Assignments
1000 possible
2012
1-17
Our business is to write college essays.
Introduction, objectives, projects, policies, homophones
10
1-19
1-24
A1 : Written Commitment to College Class
Detective Work on Essays; Starting scholarship essay, see p. 9 in syllabus.
Punctuation (P1a, P1b, P1c, P1e, P2)
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A2 : READ AND COPY FROM ―Capturing an Essay‖ (on pp. 12-13 in
10 syllabus. See p. 7 for instructions)
10
10
1-26
1-31
2-2
2-7
A3 : Exercise in controlling compound sentences
A4 : Punctuation exercise: A Writer’s Reference needed today and every day.
A5 : Bring books and materials needed for course – Inventory credit
Detective work due
Word-processed draft of Scholarship Essay due for quality control
(5 of 100)
A6 : Homophones—p. 16 in syllabus—due completely filled out, refer to Alan
Cooper’s Homonyms in MC, external links
SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY DUE (600-700 words) Reading student essays
(ready and willing to read and listen) Checklist filled out
(60 of 100)
Refer to ―Multiplying My Potential‖ in FWP
A7 : READ AND COPY FROM ―Once More to the Lake‖
Starting recall-observation essay, see p. 9 in syllabus.
A8 : Homophones exercise
Mechanics (P5, P6, P7, M2, M3, M5, M6)
2-9
2-14
10
2-16
2-21
2-23
2-28
Follow-up Assignment for Scholarship Essay due
(35 of 100)
A9 : READ AND COPY FROM ―Superman and Me‖
A10 : Mechanics test:
A Writer’s Reference
needed for test.
A11 : Sentence Variety Exercise 1 due: Series (S1a, P1c, P7a)
Writing dialogue
A12 : Idioms, See Link in FWP
A13 : READ AND COPY FROM ―This is Life‖
Word-processed draft of Recall-Ob. Essay due for quality control
(5 of 100)
RECALL/OBSERVATION ESSAY DUE (900-1000 words) Reading student essays (ready and willing to read and listen) Checklist filled out
(60 of 100)
Refer to ―My Freedom Soup‖ in MC, Student Essays
A14 : READ AND COPY FROM ―The Right to Arms‖

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Finals week
Starting interview essay, see p. 10 in syllabus
Reports on interview appointments : person, title, company, when, where
A15 : Conciseness exercise
A16 : Dialogue Assignment due
Follow-up Assignment for Recall/Observation Essay due
(35 of 100)
A17 : READ AND COPY FROM ―Excerpts from Why I Write ‖
A18 : Grammar test: A Writer’s Reference needed for test.
A19 : Sentence Variety Exercise 2 due: Who Says?
MID-TERM EXAM: IMPROMPTU ESSAY, written in class. (This essay will be rewritten only for the book version due at end of semester.)
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Spring Break: March 12-16
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A20 : READ AND COPY FROM ―Work Is a Blessing‖
Word-processed draft of Interview Essay due for quality control
(5 of 100)
INTERVIEW ESSAY DUE (900-1000 words)
Reading student essays (ready and willing to read and listen)
Checklist accurately and completely filled out
(60 of 100)
A21 : READ AND COPY FROM ―Mastering the Art of French Cooking‖
Starting imaginative essay, see p. 11 in syllabus.
Writing a description: Bring picture of a famous person you admire
A22 : Sentence Variety Exercise 3 due: Tagged-on Elements (P1e)
Follow-up Assignment for Interview Essay due
(35 of 100)
A23 : READ AND COPY FROM ―I Have a Dream‖
Figurative Language
A24 : Description of person due
A25 : READ AND COPY FROM ―Saying Thanks to My Ghosts‖
A26 : Poem due: In-class poetry reading
A27 : Sentence Variety Exercise 4 due: Introductory Subordinate Clauses
(last day to drop a class with a W is April 13, 2012)
Preview of Essay 6 for Final Exam: Making a Recommendation
A28 : READ AND COPY FROM ―The Art of Being a Neighbor‖
Word-processed draft of Imaginative Essay due for quality control
(5 of 100)
IMAGINATIVE ESSAY DUE (1000 plus words) Reading student essays
(ready and willing to read and listen) Checklist filled out
(60 of 100)
Refer to ―Walking away from Slavery‖ In FWP
A29 : READ AND COPY your choice from This I Believe audio selections
Follow-up Assignment for Imaginative Essay due
(35 of 100)
Report on your choice and ideas for final essay; page of clustering
A30 : READ AND COPY FROM text in your field, your choice
Your book of essays due: good binding, boastful title, table of contents, introduction, continuous pagination, improved versions of the essays (including mid-term), poem and something extra, such as art work, photographs, translations, etc. Word-processed draft of Essay 6 due for quality control
Final Exam ESSAY 6 (600-700 words, plus addendum) [Essay 6 is an exit exam; a passing score is needed to pass course.]
7:00 class final is from 7:00-9:00 on Thursday
10:00 class final is from 10:00-12:00 on Tuesday

Rationale: To become more familiar with the written word, you will do some copying.
Malcolm X copied the entire dictionary on his path to becoming a literate man. Copying passages of good writing will help you see and feel what good sentences look like in your own handwriting.
Directions: Paying close attention, copy
from the assigned essay in your neatest handwriting, using blue or black ink on white loose-leaf composition paper. Copy all the words and punctuation marks just as they are. Then analyze what you have copied, using your
.

Write title and author at the top of the page. Capitalize the title correctly.
 Indent one inch when beginning a paragraph, including the first paragraph.
 Leave margins for noting some
later.

Skip a line between paragraphs.

Circle
with
. At end of copying, write out dictionary definitions in red for the vocabulary items you circled.

For dashes, draw two hyphens like this - - . Typing two hyphens yields a dash when you are word processing—like this one.

For hyphens, use a single mark like this - .
 Don’t write down the hyphens that are used to divide words at the end of a printed line.

If a word is
, underline it in your manuscript.

Highlight the periods. Note the number of sentences at the end of your copy.

Highlight every proper noun. (Capitalized names of things, people, or places.)

After reading the entire essay, write one sentence stating the
at the end of your copy. Start out like this:

With your
,
in margins any
interesting sentence features. o Figurative comparisons o Series o Complex sentences o Sensory details o Cumulative sentences o

El Paso Community College awards various scholarships —such as the Barnes and
Noble, the Coca-Cola, and the Ernesto Serna Memorial Scholarship —to worthy candidates. To be ready to apply for a scholarship, write a 600-700 word essay explaining why you deserve a scholarship, not why you need one.
Start your introduction with a brief story telling who or what inspired you to choose the profession you are studying for. Tell the story in specific details. Don’t write: When I was young, I always liked helping people who were in trouble . Instead, give specifics: When my cousin Karen was confused and heartbroken over her parents’ divorce, I counseled her and helped her through the separation.
One or two more sentences can provide more details, but don’t get carried away. Use the story as a lead-in to your request for a scholarship, ending with the profession you are aiming for: If El Paso Community College grants me one of the available scholarships, I will be well on my way to becoming a psychologist .
Prove that you are worthy of a scholarship in the body of the essay. Compose three sections for your essay, focusing on the past, the present , and the future . One unified and well-developed paragraph for each section will be enough. You may develop more paragraphs if you have additional points that you want to offer.
From your past, select an experience or accomplishment that proves you are a good learner. You may focus on what you learned in high school. Any learning experience could work, for example, earning a black belt in karate, performing in a folkloric dance group, learning on a job or through a hobby. Start your paragraph with a short topic sentence, for example, I have always enjoyed working with computers.
Then develop the paragraph with plenty of specific information strictly about the point announced in the topic sentence. If you wish to offer an additional learning experience as proof of your past learning, perhaps as a volunteer at
Thomason Hospital, then write a separate paragraph to present it.
Since you are asking for a scholarship from EPCC, dedicate one paragraph to telling about your courses at the college. If this is your first semester, you will be limited to the courses you are taking right now. If you have been here longer, select the courses in which you have learned the most. Don’t list the courses. Take each course separately, identifying it clearly, naming the teacher, and enumerating specific examples of the things you learned. Make connections to your career field when possible; for example, a nurse might explain that math skills will help her determine exact dosages of medicine for her future patients.
Using your imagination and knowledge of your career field, picture yourself as a nurse, policeman, or teacher in the future. Tell how you will perform your duties. Give specific examples of what you would and would not do. For example, a future teacher might claim that he would always arrive at the classroom early and stay after school to advise a student club.
Conclude your essay with a request for the scholarship based on your achievements.
Then find a way to tie back to your opening story. For example: In the future, when children of divorce, like my cousin Karen, are struggling to survive the devastation of their families, they will have a compassionate psychologist to turn to.
Provide a catchy title for your essay, perhaps drawing from a phrase in your text. Any title that could apply to other students’ essays is not good. Don’t use something like ―My Goal‖ or ―A Dream to Be Accomplished.‖ Good titles are clever and special, such as ―Mending Broken
Smiles‖ or ―Welcome to Hotel Rodriguez.‖

Select a place nearby that you can revisit in the near future . It must be a place that you have not been to for at least a year , perhaps a former place of employment, a park, a theater, restaurant, or a grandparent’s home. Although an entire school would be too much to write about, you could revisit the dance room or the soccer field.
Make clustering notes. (1) Working from memory , fill one page entirely with fifty notations under these headings: sights, sounds, smells, taste, touch (sensory details), and who, when, where, what, how, why (journalists’ questions). Include proper nouns–the names of streets, products, people, etc. (2) Fill another page with fifty notes from direct observation on location. Take clipboard and note what you actually observe on your revisit. Look for and write down the little details.
The revisit will be the main story line , to which you will add memories as they are triggered by something you experience in the revisit. If you are there one hour, your essay will be the story of an hour . Tell what a movie camera would have recorded you doing during that hour.
║________________________story of revisit_________________________► realization
trigger trigger trigger trigger
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Memory 1 Memory 2 Memory 3 Memory 4
Starting when you got there, tell what happened this time . Part of what happened was in your mind. Focus on things that trigger memories . Develop unified paragraphs about each one. Give big attention to little things, like a cricket or a little golden key. Everything has a story attached to it. Select and share some of them.
Work in some creative comparisons , as Judith Ortiz Cofer does in ―More Room.‖ The house rested on its perch like a great blue bird, not a flying sort of bird, more like a nesting hen, but with spread wings. Include a sample of conversation from your revisit. Observe the conventions for quoting dialogue, such as new speaker equals new paragraph.
Craft each sentence deliberately, letting each main clause stand proudly, whether alone or in the company of free modifiers. Short sentences are good. Develop plenty of series. Aim for a pleasing combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Transform all compound sentences into some other sentence structure. Since too many compound sentences result in monotony, comma splices, and run-on sentences, only two compound sentences will be permitted (except in a direct quotation).
Once you have written the essay, covering all the points and working in stories from the past, you will have realized something worth sharing. End the essay by telling what the revisit to the place has revealed to you about life, about others, about time, or about yourself. The realization deserves its own paragraph.
For your title, search for a phrase in your finished essay that provides sensory detail and gives a hint about the content of the essay: ―The Broken Bench.‖ Avoid generalizations like ―A
Memorable Place‖ or the name of the place by itself, ―Washington Park.‖
This assignment is based on ―Once More to the Lake‖ by E. B. White, a classic essay which you can find in our online reader.

Research a job you would like to do by interviewing someone (not a family member) who is already in that profession. Contact the person and set up an appointment to gather information for a college project. A person-to-person interview is required, not one by telephone or email. Take notes so you can quote the person accurately. Also make observational notes about the person and place.
Ask for a business card so you can refer to the person by name, position, and company. Thank the interviewee and promise to send him or her a copy of your essay. After the interview, write out a detailed version of what the interviewee told you.
Here are some good questions, which may be modified as needed.
Job Description and Environment
1. What does a ____________________________________ actually do all day? (Duties?)
2. What is the work environment like?
3. What people do you interact with at this job?
4. Which businesses or organizations employ people with your skills?
Job Preparation
1. What qualifications are needed to do this job?
2. What experience or volunteer work would prepare someone for this job?
3. Is there a need for further training or education once a person is already doing this job?
Physical and Mental Demands
1. How physically demanding is this job?
2. How many hours of work does the job demand?
3. Do you ever have to take work home with you?
4. Does the job require any writing? How important are writing skills on this job?
5. How stressful is the job? Are there deadlines, hazards, need for precision, need to meet the public, or other factors that might cause stress?
Rewards: Tangible and Intangible
1. What is the starting wage or salary for this job? [Don’t ask about person’s own salary!]
2. What are other benefits or perks?
3. What are the chances for promotion?
4. What are the personal satisfactions of this job?
Future Prospects
1. Is there likely to be a demand for this kind of job in the future?
2. Would you advise young people to prepare themselves for this job? Why or Why not?
Your essay will tell the story of going to the interview . Tell how you got interested in the field and how you made contact with the interviewee. Describe the place where the interview was conducted. Describe the interviewee in a positive way. Present the interview information in dedicated paragraphs, each one focused on a major topic, such as job duties, work environment, job preparation, physical demands, mental demands, compensation, personal satisfactions, and future prospects. Develop each paragraph with plenty of indirect quotations but only one direct quotation. Include a little dialogue as a sample of the conversation, but understand that the essay is not a question-and-answer transcript. Finally, in the light of what you have learned from the interview, explain whether or not you are still interested in the job? Why or why not? Document the interview in MLA format.

Through the power of your imagination, you will interview a famous person you admire, someone no longer living, and get advice on how we can reduce a problem that we face in the world today.
Choose a real person from the past, someone whose advice you would value –a president, a musician, a sports hero, a writer, etc. Don’t choose a deity or an imaginary person like Santa Claus. Since you admire the person, you already know enough about him/her for our project. Don’t do any research on the person, except for picture of person. If you want to interview Socrates, your imaginary Socrates will probably be a combination of wise men you have known, plus bits of information from Greek history.
Get a good picture of the person to use for inspiration and description. Include the picture in your essay; provide documentation for source of picture. Dedicate one paragraph of your essay to a description of the person –physical appearance, head, hair, face, eyes, shoulders, hands, clothing, voice, manner, etc.
Focus on a societal problem that we face in our communities: homelessness, divorce, sexual harassment, graffiti, school shootings, compulsive gambling, traffic accidents, unemployment, obesity, illiteracy, drunk driving, teen drug use, job stress, etc. Your mission will be to tell the person about the problem and get suggestions on how to deal with the problem.
Don’t ask about problems directly associated with the person. Instead of asking Martin Luther
King about racism, ask him about compulsive gambling. Choose a combination of person and problem that will require you to explain the problem. For example, if you are concerned about road rage, you will have to explain to Socrates about cars and freeways so that he can understand the problem.
Start your essay with a typical day of your life, including your normal routine at school, home, work, anyplace you actually go. Provide good description. Cleverly provide a hint of the problem you are concerned with. Using your imagination, go to a different time and place where you meet the famous person you admire face to face. You will have to invent and describe an imaginative method of getting together with the person. Will you journey back to the past in a time machine? Will you recite a magical incantation to summon the person to the present? Will you both meet in the future? (Just falling asleep and dreaming about the person has been used too often in an unimaginative way.)
Description of the new place will be important. Meeting George Washington at Mount
Vernon would be a possible choice, but meeting him at Chico’s Tacos is also possible.
Whatever you do, be sure to provide plenty of sensory details .
Your essay will be the story of your encounter with Cantinflas or Babe Ruth. Have fun.
Include some dialogue . In order to make the style more lively include (and set in bold print) four original similes. [For example: The snow fell like a whisper . She seemed as lonely as the last leaf clinging to a tree in fall.
]
Robert Frost, the beloved American poet, once said that imaginative writing ―begins in delight and ends in wisdom.‖ Your imaginative essay should begin in delight, with the fun of finding a way back on your adventure; finally, your essay should arrive at wisdom, yielding a realization of what can be done to reduce a serious problem.
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