ENGLISH 1301 (75714, 75715, 75716)
FALL 2015
Instructor
Dr. Jeffrey Waller
“Office hours”: Lunch, before and after school, and by appointment
Email: jwaller@houstonisd.org
Learning Web: http://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/jeffrey.waller
Textbook
The Writer’s Presence (Seventh Edition). Eds. McQuade and Atwan.
N.B.: You are not required to buy this book. All of the readings you are required to do
outside of class are available online. A list of URLs may be found on the last two pages
of this syllabus.
Materials
Loose-leaf notebook paper
Pens (blue or black ink) and #2 pencils
Grade Breakdown
10% Essay #1: editorial analysis
10% Essay #2: college essay
10% research paper proposal and bibliography
20% Essay #3: research paper
10% Essay #4: in-class mid-term essay
10% Essay #5: analytical essay
10% Essay #6: in-class final exam essay
20% Journals, quizzes, and other daily assignments
Important Dates
September 9
October 30
December 4
December 7
December 13
classes begin
last day for administrative/student withdrawals—4:30 p.m.
instruction ends
final exam
semester ends
Attendance Policy
Regular attendance is required at Houston Community College. HCCS class policy states
that a student who is absent more than 12.5% (6 hours) of class may be administratively
dropped. Students who intend to withdraw from a course must do so by the official last
day to drop.
Withdrawal Policy
The State of Texas has begun to impose penalties on students who drop courses
excessively. For example, if you repeat the same course more than twice, you have to pay
extra tuition. Beginning in the Fall of 2007, the Texas Legislature passed a law limiting
first time entering students to no more than six total course withdrawals throughout their
academic career in obtaining a certificate or baccalaureate degree. There may be future
penalties imposed.
If you do not withdraw before the deadline, you will receive the grade that you are
making as the final grade rather than a “W.” This grade (due to missing classes and
missing work) will probably be an “F.” The last day to withdraw from the Fall 2009
semester is November 3rd.
You should visit with your instructor, an HCC counselor, or HCC Online Student
Services to learn what, if any, HCC interventions might be offered to assist you to stay in
class and improve your performance.
Grades of “W” and “I”
A grade of “W” is given for a “withdrawal.” A grade of “I” is given for “incomplete.”
An “I” is for emergencies only. You have one semester to complete the missing work.
Student Course Reinstatement Policy
Students have a responsibility to arrange payment for their classes when they register,
either through cash, credit card, financial aid, or the installment plan. Students who are
dropped from their courses for non-payment of tuition and fees who request reinstatement
after the official date of record can be reinstated by making payment in full and paying an
additional $75.00 per course reinstatement fee. The academic dean may waive the
reinstatement fee upon determining that the student was dropped because of a college
error.
HCC Student Email Accounts
All students who have registered and paid for courses at HCC automatically have an
HCC email account generated for them. Please go to http://www.hccs.edu/students/email/
to review how to send email using this account.
Free English Tutoring
The Southwest College offers you numerous opportunities for free English tutoring at our
tutoring centers (Stafford, Alief, and West Loop) or our electronic tutoring services.
Signs will be posted once the HCC live tutoring hours have been established. Online
tutoring services include AskOnline and mycomplab.com. You will find the AskOnline
tutoring icon on the HCC homepage for students. More information about the online
services will be available once the semester gets started.
Open Computer Lab
You have free access to the Internet and word processing in the open computer lab in the
Scarcella Science Center and in the West Loop Campus. Check on the door of the open
computer lab for hours of operation.
Academic Honesty
Plagiarism results in a grade of zero (“F”) on that project. Consult your online student
handbook on scholastic dishonesty. Cheating and/or collusion also result in a grade of
zero (“F”) on that project. Two instances of plagiarism will sabotage the course grade and
will result in an “F” in the course. Consult your online student handbook for more details
on scholastic dishonesty. All out-of-class essays must be submitted to turnitin.com. If I
find that you have cheated or plagiarized, I will notify your parents/guardians and the
coaches or sponsors of all Bellaire activities in which you participate.
Late Paper Policy and Make-Up Exams
All assignments are required to be submitted on the date they are due. Due dates are
posted on your syllabus and/or assignment page. Late papers will be docked a letter grade
(ten points) per day.
Electronics Policies
1. Turn off and put away all cell phones, beepers, text-messaging devices and other
electronic devices when class starts. The sounds of cell phones ringing during class are
disruptive. Students should not leave the class to make a call or answer one (or worse—
answer a call in class). No cell phones permitted on top of desks.
2. No Bluetooth devices in ears allowed during class.
3. No MP3 players or other music devices with earphones allowed during class.
4. No laptops open during class unless I specifically indicate otherwise.
Use of Cameras and Recording Devices
Use of recording devices, including camera phones and tape recorders, is prohibited in
classrooms, laboratories, faculty offices, and other locations where instruction, tutoring,
or testing occurs. These devices are also not allowed to be used in campus restrooms.
Students with disabilities who need to use a recording device as a reasonable
accommodation should contact the Office for Students with Disabilities for information
regarding reasonable accommodations.
COURSE DESCRIPTION, PURPOSE, AND OBJECTIVES
Core Objectives
Given the rapid evolution of necessary knowledge and skills and the need to take into account global,
national, state, and local cultures, the core curriculum must ensure that students will develop the
essential knowledge and skills they need to be successful in college, in a career, in their communities,
and in life. Through the Texas Core Curriculum, students will gain a foundation of knowledge of
human cultures and the physical and natural world, develop principles of personal and social
responsibility for living in a diverse world, and advance intellectual and practical skills that are essential
for all learning.
Students enrolled in this core curriculum course will complete a research project or case study designed
to cultivate the following core objectives:
o Critical Thinking Skills—to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis,
evaluation and synthesis of information
o Communication Skills—to include effective development, interpretation and expression of
ideas through written, oral and visual communication
o Personal Responsibility—to include the ability to connect choices, actions, and consequences
to ethical decision-making
o Teamwork (Comp I, Comp II, and TW)—to include the ability to consider different points of
view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal
o Social Responsibility (Lit Only)—to include intercultural competency, knowledge of civic
responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities
Student proficiency in Communication Skills will be assessed as a formal written out-of-class essay,
which is at least 3 pages long and which includes an oral presentation component as well as a visual
component. Student proficiency in Critical Thinking will be assessed by a formal out-of-class essay
assignment. Personal, Social Responsibility, and Teamwork will be assessed as part of long unit or
major essay assignment, which will include assigned reading responses, pre-writing activities, multiple
drafts, and group activities (such as peer review or group presentations). Student project grades will
account for at least 5% of the final course grade.
English Program Student Learning Outcomes
(Composition, Literature, Creative Writing, and Technical Writing)
1. Write in appropriate genres using varied rhetorical strategies.
2. Write in appropriate genres to explain and evaluate rhetorical and/or literary strategies
employed in argument, persuasion, and various genres.
3. Analyze various genres of writing for form, method, meaning, and interpretation.
4. Employ research in academic writing styles and use appropriate documentation style.
5. Communicate ideas effectively through discussion.
English Composition I Student Learning Outcomes
1. Demonstrate knowledge of writing as process.
2. Apply basic principles of critical thinking in analyzing reading selections, developing
expository essays, and writing argumentative essays.
3. Analyze elements such as purpose, audience, tone, style, strategy in essays and/or
literature by professional writers.
4. Write essays in appropriate academic writing style using varied rhetorical strategies.
5. Synthesize concepts from and use references to assigned readings in their own academic
writing.
English Composition II Student Learning Outcomes
1. Apply basic principles of rhetorical analysis.
2. Write essays that classify, explain, and evaluate rhetorical and literary strategies
employed in argument, persuasion, and various forms of literature.
3. Identify, differentiate, integrate, and synthesize research materials into argumentative
and/or analytical essays.
4. Employ appropriate documentation style and format across the spectrum of in-class and
out-of-class written discourse.
5. Demonstrate library literacy.
English Literature Student Learning Outcomes
1. Explain and illustrate stylistic characteristics of representative works
2. Connect representative works to human and individual values in historical and social
contexts
3. Demonstrate knowledge of _______________________ (survey or genre specific)
4. Analyze literary texts ___________________________ (survey specific or genre
specific)
5. Critique and Interpret representative literary works
6. _____________________________(survey specific or genre specific)
Student Learning Outcomes English 2307 English 2308 Approved November 20, 2009
English 2307
Understand literary tropes and points of craft
Apply terms to specific examples and written exercises
Analyze representative works of published writers
Analyze and evaluate other students' works
Write creative works in a variety of genres
English 2308
develop an advanced understanding of the inter-relatedness of the literary tropes.
apply that advanced understanding in a variety of written assignments
analyze the effects of these alternatives in published works
evaluate the usefulness and implications of these applications in original peer writing
create an original manuscript that demonstrates mastery and understanding of one's own work
and that of others
From ACGM:
ENGL 1301 Composition I
Intensive study of and practice in writing processes, from invention and researching to drafting,
revising, and editing, both individually and collaboratively. Emphasis on effective rhetorical
choices, including audience, purpose, arrangement, and style. Focus on writing the
academic essay as a vehicle for learning, communicating, and critical analysis.
Note: ENGL 1301 is a pre-requisite for all 2000-level literature courses.
Approval Number......................................................................................23.1301.51 12
maximum SCH per student...........................................................................................3
maximum SCH per course.............................................................................................3
maximum contact hours per course.............................................................................64
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative writing processes.
2. Develop ideas with appropriate support and attribution.
3. Write in a style appropriate to audience and purpose.
4. Read, reflect, and respond critically to a variety of texts.
5. Use Edited American English in academic essays.
ENGL 1302 Composition II
Intensive study of and practice in the strategies and techniques for developing research-based
expository and persuasive texts. Emphasis on effective and ethical rhetorical inquiry, including
primary and secondary research methods; critical reading of verbal, visual, and multimedia texts;
systematic evaluation, synthesis, and documentation of information sources; and critical thinking
about evidence and conclusions.
Prerequisite: ENGL 1301 or its equivalent
Approval Number......................................................................................23.1301.51 12
maximum SCH per student...........................................................................................3
maximum SCH per course.............................................................................................3
maximum contact hours per course.............................................................................64
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of individual and collaborative research processes.
2. Develop ideas and synthesize primary and secondary sources within focused academic
arguments, including one or more research-based essays.
3. Analyze, interpret, and evaluate a variety of texts for the ethical and logical uses of
evidence.
4. Write in a style that clearly communicates meaning, builds credibility, and inspires belief
or action.
5. Develop verbal, visual, and multimedia materials as necessary, in individual and/or
collaborative projects, as appropriate.
6. Edit for appropriate style, including attention to word choice, sentence structure,
punctuation, and spelling.
7. Design and test documents for easy reading and navigation.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND DUE DATES
N.B.: Unless otherwise indicated, you need to read the assigned material before coming to class.
F (9/4)
ESSAY #1 DUE
M (9/7)
W (9/9)
F (9/11)
Labor Day Holiday
Handout: Ferguson, “The College Essay”
(Notes Quiz: BHS grade only)
M (9/14)
Reading Quiz: WP 164-69 (Mayblum, “The Price We Pay); 355-65
(DeLillo, “In the Ruins of the Future”); 762-68 (Nussbaum, “Veiled
Threats”)
Journal #1: WP 686-92 (Hitchens, “Believe Me, It’s Torture”)
ESSAY #2 DUE
W (9/16)
F (9/18)
M (9/21)
T (9/22)
W (9/23)
F (9/25)
Library day
Library day
Fall Holiday
Reading Quiz: WP 451-57 (King, “Everything You Need to Know about
Writing Successfully—in Ten Minutes”); Schuman, “Cease Rogeting
Proximately”
M (9/28)
W (9/30)
(Six Weeks Test: BHS grade only)
Journal #2: WP 600-06 (Turkle, “How Computers Change the Way We
Think”); 633-41 (Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”)
PAPER PROPOSAL AND BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
F (10/2)
M (10/5)
W (10/7)
Group Work: WP 716-31 (King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”)
Journal #3: WP 217-21 (Staples, “Just Walk on By: A Black Man
Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space”)
F (10/9)
M (10/12)
Reading Quiz: WP 400-06 (Fallows, “Throwing Like a Girl”); 555-57
(Pollitt, “Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls”)
W (10/14)
F (10/16)
Journal #4: WP 673-77 (Gopnik, “Shootings”—to be read in class)
M (10/19)
W (10/21)
F (10/23)
Group Work: WP 377-87 (Eighner, “On Dumpster Diving”)
Reading Quiz: WP 661-64 (Foer, “Let Them Eat Dog”); 781-86 (Pollan,
“What’s Eating America”)
ESSAY #3 DUE
M (10/26)
W (10/28)
F (10/30)
Reading Quiz: WP 68-75 (Cofer, “Silent Dancing”); 187-203 (Rodriguez,
“Aria…”); 232-37 (Tan, “Mother Tongue”)
Journal #5: WP 322-30 (Bowden, “Our Wall”). LAST DAY TO
WITHDRAW
M (11/2)
W (11/4)
F (11/6)
(Six Weeks Test: BHS grade only)
Journal #6: WP 330-36 (Brooks, “People Like Us”)
Debate: WP 787-93 (Sandel, “Designer Babies”)
M (11/9)
W (11/11)
MID-TERM EXAM (Essay #4)
Reading Quiz: WP 293-304 (Akst, “What Meets the Eye”); 315-17
(Barry, “Beauty and the Beast”)
Journal #7: WP 822-29 (Slater, “The Trouble with Self-Esteem”)
F (11/13)
M (11/16)
W (11/18)
F (11/20)
Journal #8: WP 665-73 (Gatto, “Against School”)
M (11/23)
W (11/25)
F (11/27)
ESSAY #5 DUE
Thanksgiving Holiday
Thanksgiving Holiday
Journal #9: WP 814-19 (Singer, “The Singer Solution…”)
M (11/30)
W (12/2)
F (12/4)
M (12/7)
HCC FINAL EXAM (Essay #6)
URLs for Assigned Readings
Akst, “What Meets the Eye”:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/183837/what_meets_the_eye/
Barry, “Beauty and the Beast”: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1376541/posts
Bowden, “Our Wall”:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/us-mexican-border/bowden-text/1
Brooks, “People Like Us”: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/2003/09/brooks.htm
Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/
Cofer, “Silent Dancing”: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~facoba/readings/cofer.htm
DeLillo, “In the Ruins of the Future”:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/dec/22/fiction.dondelillo
Eighner, “On Dumpster Diving”:
http://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1539&context=nejpp
Fallows, “Throwing Like a Girl”:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1996/08/throwing-like-a-girl/306152/
Foer, “Let Them Eat Dog”:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703574604574499880131341174.html
Gatto, “Against School”: http://www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm
Hitchens, “Believe Me, It’s Torture”:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/08/hitchens200808
King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”:
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
King, “Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully—in Ten Minutes”:
https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/135/King_Everything.html
Mayblum, “The Price We Pay”: http://www.poiemadesign.com/html/the_price_we_pay.html
Nussbaum, “Veiled Threats”:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/veiled-threats/?_r=0
Pollan, “What’s Eating America”:
http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/whats-eating-america/
Pollitt, “Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls”:
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/08/magazine/hers-why-boys-don-t-play-with-dolls.html
Rodriguez, “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”:
http://teacherweb.com/CA/NewburyParkHighSchool/11IBTeachers/Aria-RRodriguez.pdf
Sandel, “Designer Babies”: http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/Sandel-designer-babies
Schuman, “Cease Rogeting Proximately”:
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/08/writing_clearly_in_student_papers_the_rig
ht_click_thesaurus_and_rogeting.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_bot
Singer, “The Singer Solution to World Poverty”:
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/05/magazine/the-singer-solution-to-worldpoverty.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
Slater, “The Trouble with Self-Esteem”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/03/magazine/the-trouble-with-selfesteem.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
Staples, “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space”:
http://myweb.scu.edu.tw/~jmklassen/scu100b/rdngconv/Staples.pdf
Tan, “Mother Tongue”:
http://www.olypen.com/pnkdurr/as/mother_text.htm
Turkle, “How Computers Change the Way We Think”:
http://web.mit.edu/sturkle/www/pdfsforstwebpage/Turkle_how_computers_change_way_we_thi
nk.pdf