ENGLISH 1302/56272, 56274, & 56290
MW 2:30-4:00 & 4:00-5:30 and TTH 2:30-4:00 p.m.
COMPOSITION II--EMPHASIS ON GENDER ISSUES IN LANGUAGE
FAC 311
Fall 2010
DR. SHARON KLANDER: FAC 206: 713-718-6626 (voice mail) or 713-718-6671 English Dept.
sharon.klander@hccs.edu
Office Hours: MW 1:00-2:30 p.m. and by appointment
English Tutoring Lab Hours (FAC 321B): MW 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
GOALS: In English 1302, students master argument analysis and the research paper process.
All elements of English 1302 require students to apply critical thinking and writing skills, as
well as the ability to analyze and interpret various forms of spoken communication and to
communicate orally in clear, coherent, and persuasive language appropriate to purpose,
occasion, and audience. This particular 1302 course will give students the opportunity to
accomplish these skills in the context of recognizing and learning to analyze the processes of
cultural objectification regarding gender (sexism), "addressing the conditions under which the
gender system intersects with other factors [especially race and class] to create various kinds of
power and powerlessness" with which all cultures continue to wrestle (Disch 1).
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; and (5) Demonstrate library literacy.
REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS:
Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology, Fifth Edition
Estelle Disch, Editor
The McGraw-Hill Handbook
PLEASE NOTE: You must own your own copies of these books no later than Wednesday,
September 8th (MW classes) or Thursday, September 9th (TTH class).
Five bluebooks/exam books—one for an on-going Glossary of Terms, one for the Midterm, two
for Editorial News Journals, and one for the Comprehensive Final Exam
Two manila file folders, one in which to store your returned in-class, out-of-class projects and
the other to turn in with the research paper and its supporting materials (as outlined below)
VERY IMPORTANT: A notebook and pen or pencil for the purpose of taking notes of all class
discussions. SPECIAL NOTE: All electronic devices (laptops, cellphones, etc.) must be
turned off completely (not merely muted) BEFORE you enter the classroom, and they are to
remain off for the duration of every class session. This is non-negotiable.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Readings, as assigned--VERY IMPORTANT!!! Please come to class prepared to discuss the
articles assigned on the syllabus and in class as well as all handouts provided in class. Not only
may you be quizzed on these readings, but you will also often be required to refer to them in
your out-of-class projects, in-class responses, and in-class exams. I reserve the right to ask
students who have not completed the required readings to leave the classroom to finish the
work in the library; after this, they may return to class and participate fully in discussion of the
material. I believe this to be fair to the students who have completed the assignment.
IMPORTANT: The HCCS Student Handbook suggests that you spend no fewer than 2 hours (3
hours preferred) outside of class on homework for every hour spent in class--which means, of
course, a range of 6-15 hours outside the classroom. Please include this time in your schedule
of other classes, your work inside and outside the home, and/or your family schedules. If
you find that you do not have the time outside of the classroom to complete the assigned
readings and homework necessary for you to succeed in this course, please revise your class
schedule accordingly.
Glossary of Terms: Use one of your bluebooks to keep an on-going, hand-written glossary of
any words you come across in my lectures or in your readings from the textbook or from
handouts. Write out the words you don’t know as you read or record them, then look them up
in a college-level dictionary and copy into your glossary their full definitions. If the definitions
are long and include a variety of meanings, copy out the entire definition and highlight the part
of the definition that’s appropriate to the reading you’ve done. I will check the progress of
your glossaries at random, approximately 4-5 time over the semester. You will receive a project
credit for each time the glossary is up-to-date.
Editorial News Journal: For this assignment, choose an editorial—NOT A NEWS ARTICLE—
from one of the following publications: (1) The New York Times or (2) The Washington Post.
Attach a copy of the editorial in your journal/bluebook. For each article, write AT LEAST two
full pages (in other words, fill the front and back of one 8 ½ X 11 page) with (1) a summary of the
editorial, including at least two direct quotes—with proper MLA format parenthetical
documentation (LOOK THIS UP IN YOUR HANDBOOK NOW AND LEARN IT); and (2)
personal reaction to the editorial, in somewhat the same way that Letters to the Editor respond to
previous editorials. Editorials must be current to the week you turn them in. No late journals
will be accepted. Journal assignments will not be individually graded; rather, you will receive
credit for having sufficiently completed each one. Altogether, they count 10% of your total grade.
Turn all of them in and your grade will be 100%; miss one and the grade drops to 90%; miss two
and the grade drops to 80%, and so on.
In-Class and Out-of-Class Projects, to be announced IN CLASS week-by-week, for which you
will receive credit, but no grade; your grade will be calculated from the number of projects
successfully completed: complete all of them and you'll receive a grade of 100%; miss one and
your grade will be 90%, two and your grade will be 80%, etc. As with the Editorial News
Journals, these also will count 10% of your final grade. You will receive ONLY ONE FREE
CREDIT for a written project that is (1) too weakened by grammatical errors, (2) late, or (3) too
brief. Beyond that, I will accept no late in-class/out-of-class projects. Because several of these
projects will depend upon your response to readings from your text in conjunction to videos
shown in class, it is very important to ATTEND ALL CLASSES. It is also important that you
PROOFREAD everything you turn in, that you take all your written work seriously. Please see
#5 under General Course Policy below for your first Out-of-Class project, due on
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th (for MW classes) or THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th (for TTH
class).
Midterm (WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20th or THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21st): In-class analysis of
3 print ads chosen by you from current PRINT (not internet) magazine publications. Your
analysis of each ad MUST include at least one reference to one of the following articles: "Who's
the Fairest of Them all?" (Nelson 136); "Making Up is Hard to Do" (Jeffreys 165); "'A Way Outa
No Way': Eating Problems among African American, Latina, and White Women" (Thompson
186) "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit" (Silko 201); "Just Walk On By: A Black Man
Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space" (Staples 191), "I'm Not Fat, I'm Latina" (Haubegger
210); and "A Pornographic World: What is Normal" (Jensen 270). Please begin reading these
articles at the beginning of the semester, taking notes on them for yourself, so that you are
well-versed in them before the Midterm; any midterm which depends upon only one article
will fail. You must also include reference to at least one of the supporting videos to be shown
in class: Killing Us Softly 4 and Slim Hopes: Advertising’s Obsession with Thinness, both by Jean
Kilbourne. Because you are not required to position your analyses within the context of a
complete essay—in other words, you are not required to write an introduction or conclusion—it
is essential that the analysis of each ad is thorough and that you leave yourself time to
PROOFREAD your writing as completely as you would work that is written outside of class.
The Midterm counts 20%.
Primary and Secondary Argumentative Research Paper: Choose a topic which focuses on an
issue of gender, race, or class assumptions within current American society, determine an
arguable thesis applicable to that subject (one that allows for an obvious opposition), and then
argue the thesis clearly, logically, and dispassionately, keeping in mind that your most important
audience is composed of those persons who disagree with you. Accordingly, it is essential that
you do not insult your opposition in any way as you take the reader, premise-by-premise,
through the structure of your argument. In fact, it should be apparent from your writing that you
are well aware of both sides of the issue; use a formal tone to establish your credibility, and then
support each of your points with sufficient evidence in order to maintain your authority. Take
care to anticipate and acknowledge your opposition, establishing your ability and, more
importantly, your willingness to see the conflict from both sides even as you remain committed to
your own thesis. Remember the difference between persuasion and argumentation--how
persuasion is rooted in emotion in order to move persons to action, while argumentation is based
in logic with the goal of changing someone's mind. You will, of course, need to research the latest
information, opinion, legal ramifications (if any), and statistics regarding your topic in the library;
and you are required to use a minimum of FOUR of these sources in your paper (ONLY TWO of
which are allowed to be internet-only sources—-in other words, plan to spend some actual time,
in person, in the library). In addition, your research must also include a minimum of TWO
interviews (either personal or by telephone)--one with a person of some established authority and
experience who agrees with you and the other with a person of like credentials who disagrees
with you; plan to ask each expert the same 6-10 questions. Your argument topic and your
potential interview sources must be approved by me before you begin. Your final paper is to be
typed and documented according to Modern Language Association (MLA) format, which is
covered in your handbook (look this up at the beginning of the semester and learn it), and must
be no fewer than six full pages (not including the Works Cited page); you will also turn in with
your paper a 250-word, first-person, introductory essay to your topic, a typed transcript of your
two interviews, and copies of your remaining four outside sources so that I may check the
accuracy of your quotes. Please write a serious, comprehensive argument, one that could perhaps
be published in a professional journal or excerpted as a newspaper editorial.
Final approval of topics and the 250-word introductory essay due MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1st
or TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd; the Works Cited page (typed in MLA format) due
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd or THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4th; typed transcripts of
interviews due MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15th or TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16th; and the first
typed draft of your paper due in class for peer editing on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17th or
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18th. Failure to have a complete first draft for peer editing or
absence on peer editing day will result in a deduction of 2 percentage points from your final
paper grade. Your Final Draft, including all research attachments, is due, in a manila folder, on
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22nd or TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd. The research paper counts 30%
of your final grade.
Argument Analysis of an essay to be provided in class. Read the assigned essay and write a
thorough analysis of it, premise-by-premise, concluding with your decision of whether it is valid
or invalid, sound or unsound--not whether it is good or bad. You may assume the reader of your
analysis is familiar with the text of the essay, so don't summarize unnecessarily. Also, don't argue
with the position taken in the essay.
Your introduction (the first one or two paragraphs) should include the following information:
title of the essay; name of the author and some idea, based on her profession or experience, of her
authority on the issue or the basis for her interest in this topic; some sense of the audience, based
not only on the date and place of publication, but also on the type of language used in the
argument; the thesis of the argument, as well as a listing of its main points; and the author's
method of organization. Next, take each of the paragraphs/premises, in order, and analyze them
in your paper, paragraph-by-paragraph, including in each a restatement of the author's premise, a
quote from that premise, an analysis of the premise support (is the evidence sufficient or
relevant?), and your assessment of its success within the total essay--in other words, determine
whether the premise ultimately supports the thesis or weakens it. You may also want to discuss
the relative placement by the author of any particular premise within the essay; would it have
been more effective placed sooner or later in the argument? Also note as you go down the essay
whether or not the author fulfills one of the basic requirements for sound argumentation, that of
acknowledging the opposition.
You may wish to conclude by trying to see the issue from the writer's point of view to better
understand his position--then use this knowledge to temper your final assessment of the
argument's validity. Remember, just as the author of any argument should avoid offending his
opposition audience, you as the analyst should also avoid a judgmental tone when writing your
analysis, no matter how much you may disagree with the author's point of view or how invalidly
the argument is presented.
The Final Draft of your Argument Analysis is due on THE LAST DAY OF CLASS. The
Argument Analysis counts 20% of your final grade.
Comprehensive Final Examination: 10% of your final grade.
GRADING STANDARDS:
The following letter grades will be used:
A (90-100%) = Excellent work that shows clear understanding of the writing topic, has few
errors of any kind, and shows exceptional ability to communicate to a specific audience.
B (80-89%) = Above-average work that shows understanding of the writing topic, has few
serious errors, and provides good communication with a specific audience.
C (70-79%) = Average work that shows understanding of the writing topic, contains few
errors that interfere with adequate communication.
D (60-69%) = Below-average work that fails to respond adequately to the writing topic,
contains a number of serious errors, and provides only marginal communication with a specific
audience.
F (0-59%) = Work that fails to respond to the writing topic, contains a number of serious
errors, provides little communication with a specific audience, and/or contains PLAGIARIZED
material (Please look this up in your Handbook).
GENERAL COURSE POLICY:
1. All course work must be completed in order to pass the course.
2. Attendance will be taken. HCC policy allows for students to be administratively dropped
from a course if they are absent six hours' worth of class time (four class sessions--there are no
such things as excused absences--either you're present or not). Arriving to class 15 minutes or
more late is very disruptive; if it happens twice I'll speak to you about it after class; any third
and following late arrivals will count as absences and will be calculated into the six hours of
class time missed. And when you cannot attend a class, it is your responsibility to find out
from one of your fellow students what had been discussed and to obtain copies of any handouts. I do not repeat lectures, nor do I carry copies of all hand-outs. Therefore, it is essential
that you obtain the names and contact information from at least 2-3 of your colleagues in this
class so that you can arrive prepared for the session following any you've missed. VERY
IMPORTANT: Please look up and take note of the final day for student withdrawal from class.
I will NOT complete withdrawal forms for any student. If you choose to stop attending
class for any reason, it is your responsibility to see the Registrar's Office to withdraw. If
your withdrawal is not duly recorded, you will receive, on your transcript, an F for the
course. This is non-negotiable.
3. All papers done outside of class will be typed in MLA (Modern Language Association)
format, which is explained in detail in your Handbook. Look this section up by next week and
learn it. In addition to the explanation of MLA form, your Handbook provides multiple
examples of entire papers written in MLA form. Because your Handbook so thoroughly
explains MLA form, we will not take up class time reviewing it. Nevertheless, you are expected
to learn and use MLA form--and your grades for typed papers may be affected if MLA form is
not followed.
4. Please fasten your papers with a single staple in the upper left-hand corner—I will not
accept them if they are not stapled--do not put them in any type of plastic or paper folder; a
stapler is available for your use in the English Department, FAC 319. Please keep a hard
(paper) copy of any paper your turn in. Do not depend upon finding the copy you've saved
on a hard drive or on a disc. Please do not miss a class period just because you're running late
with your paper. Late papers will be accepted, but 10 points will be subtracted for every class
day past the due date—this includes assignments that are late because of machine problems.
Because this is not a Distance Education course, I do not accept any assignments by email.
Finally, do not leave any paper outside my office or pushed under any office door.
5. Any first instance of plagiarism will result in failure of that assignment; any additional
instance of plagiarism will result in automatic failure of the course. Please look this issue up in
your Handbook and in your Student Handbook before the next class period and learn it and
how to avoid it. Remember, it takes only 3 consecutive words lifted from a text to require MLA
parenthetical documentation (also explained, in detail, in your Handbook). For your first Outof-Class Project, due WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th, or THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th, please
report on your completion of all parts of the Plagiarism Tutorial found at
http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism. Be very specific in your report, including the
names of students and topics suggested by the site.
6. You must take great care with proofreading all the work you turn in for this class. Please do
not depend upon Grammar Check or on Spell Check (both of which are often incorrect) as
your only proofreading tools. In fact, try to learn to not use them at all. Have enough respect
for your own writing to proofread it yourself--on the page, not on the screen. It's okay to
pencil in corrections you may find at the last minute before turning in a paper or report. Please
also remember that you have access to free one-on-one tutoring assistance in Room FAC 321B,
beginning next week. Check the English Department for this semester's schedule. Do not
expect these tutors to edit your papers before you turn them in; that is your job, not theirs.
However, you can expect a great deal of assistance in learning how to write well.
7. Finally, I reserve the right to change this syllabus in any way, at any time, for any reason.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: includes cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion:
* cheating on a test--copying from another student's test paper or using (during a test)
materials not authorized by the person giving the test;
* plagiarism--using another person's words, information, or ideas in your own written
work without appropriate acknowledgement (and quotation marks when exact words are
used);
* collusion--"unauthorized collaboration" (35).
Please note the possible consequences of such dishonesty: "Possible punishments for academic
dishonesty may include a grade of 0 or F for the particular assignment, failure in the course,
and/or recommendation for probation or dismissal from the College System."
ADA ACCOMMODATION STATEMENT:
Any student with a documented disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing,
etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Services
Office at the respective college at the beginning of each semester. Faculty is authorized to
provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office.
For questions, contact Donna Price at 713-718-5165 or the Disability Counselor at your college.
The ADA Web site is located at www.hccs.edu, where you should click "Future Students," then
scroll down the page and click "Disability Information."
Central College ADA Counselors: 713-718-6164.