ENGL 0300 SYLLABUS – FALL 2010
HCCS South Campus
Tuesday & Thursday 12-2:40 p.m.
Instructor Leslie Schwartz
leslie.schwartz@hccs.edu
Phone: 713-718-6671
Office hours: by appointment only
Prerequisite: Must be placed in ENGL 0300 (or higher) in writing.
Course Materials: *To be brought to each class*
Paragraphs and Essays 11th edition
A good college-level dictionary (Oxford or Webster)
A spiral notebook with lined paper for in-class work
A second notebook to use as a journal
A three ring binder with 5 dividers
 Dividers should include: Syllabus & Assignment Guidelines, Work In
Progress, Vocabulary & Reading Notes, Class Notes, Returned Papers
Blue or black pens and 8 ½ by 11 paper for writing
Yellow highlighter
Stapler
Check HCCS online student handbook for policies. You are responsible for these.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: ENGL 0300 is a refresher course devoted to improving
basic English skills for native speakers of English. (NOTE: Non-native English speakers
must refer to ENGL 0320-0349 or ESOL 0341-0356). Emphasizes grammar, sentence
structure and paragraph development through essay writing.
Students are expected to complete reading assignments from the book as well as writing
assignments by the due date indicated on the Course Calendar. These will include essays
of 350-450 words (slightly less than two 12-point type-written double-spaced pages).
Attendance: Student are expected to attend every class. You are responsible for all
material covered during absences. Not all assignments may be made up. No more than 6
hours (not classes) of absences permitted (two classes).
ENGLISH 0300 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Write sentences that demonstrate proper use of grammar and mechanics.
2. Read analytically.
3. Write in response to reading.
4. Develop a thesis statement and use supporting paragraphs to strengthen and support the
thesis.
5. Write a variety of paragraphs including introductory, supporting, and concluding
paragraphs.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
5 essays in/out of class
Paragraphs
Journals
Quizzes/Presentation
Final in-class essay
50%
10%
10%
10%
20%
You must be able to write satisfactorily in-class essay in order to pass this course.
Scholastic honesty: Students are expected to behave with honesty and integrity in the
writing of papers and in-class discussions. Plagiarism—acknowledged or
unacknowledged use of another person’s words or ideas—earns a ZERO for the
assignment.
IMPORTANT NOTICES
 Students who take a course and repeat it face significant tuition/fee
increases at HCC and other Texas public colleges and universities. If you
are considering course withdrawal, consult with your instructor/counselor
early about your study habits, homework, attendance, course participation
and opportunities for tutoring and other assistance that might be available.
 If you intend to withdraw from this course, you must do that yourself
before November 23 at 4:30 p.m. or I will be forced to give you an IP (or
an F if it is your second time taking the course) for the final grade with no
possibility of appeal. I will not be able to withdraw you at semester’s end.
This is a policy mandated by the Texas State Legislature.
 Turn off all phones and electronic equipment before entering the class. Put
your phone on my desk before leaving the room. Using a phone during a
writing assignment will be considered cheating and will result in a ZERO
for the assignment.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION: Any student with a documented disability
(e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange
reasonable accommodation must contact the Disability Support Services Office at the
beginning of each semester. Faculty members are authorized to provide only the
accommodations requested by the Disability Counselor.
Please visit the Disability Support Office at the Central Campus building LHSG 108 on
the first floor, or call them at 713-718-5165.
SUPPORT SERVICES:
Tutoring: Free tutoring is available and may be required by the instructor. Check the
door of Central Campus FAC 321b for the fall schedule.
Open Computer Lab: Computers are available for word processing in the Computer
Writing Lab and in the Library. Check for Open hours.
Instructor will not read e-mailed essays.
ENGLISH 0300 FALL 2010 TTH 12 a.m.-2:40 p.m.
Please read the assignment before coming to class and bring your supplies to every
class. That way you will be prepared for reading responses. It’s a good idea to read the
coming week’s assignments over the weekend in PE (Paragraphs & Essays) so that when
we go over the material in class (or in case you have a reading quiz) you’ll have the
advantage of a second reading. The mandatory heading for each paper, in upper left
corner of the first sheet, must be:
Student first and last name
ENGL 0300
Schwartz
Month/Day/Year
Papers must be stapled in the upper left corner above the mandatory heading. Seven
major essays must include the grading profile, top portion filled out, on top of the final
copy of the essay, then the drafts, then the assignment sheet on the bottom:
 Grading profile
 Final copy of essay
 Draft(s) of essay
 Free-writing for essay
 Assignment sheet for the essay
No revisions accepted after November 15. No papers accepted via email.
FIRST WEEK
September 28 & 30
Purchase and review textbook for course by Thursday.
TUESDAY:
Introductions. Grading Profile.
Presentation on annotating and taking notes.
LAB: Diagnostic test.
THURSDAY:
DUE: Must have textbook by today
DUE: Read (Chapter 1) P&E 1-6 and 10-16 and 23-24 Wong’s
Essay “The Struggle to be an All-American Girl” and read
(Chapter 2) P&E 31-35
Discuss vocabulary exercises and paragraph requirements.
Presentation on writing process, outlining.
LAB: Preparation for Paragraph #1 assignment.
SECOND WEEK
October 5 & 7
TUESDAY
DUE: Paragraph #1.
DUE: Read P&E (Chapter 2) 37-39 and 394 MLA Format and
read 119-123 Greenlea’s essay “No Tears for Frankie” and
Cofer’s essay “More”
Quiz over reading/vocabulary from Week 1.
Continue presentation on writing process (freewriting and
clustering). Outline an essay with main ideas.
LAB: Write ten (10) sentences using vocabulary words in context
from Wong’s essay.
THURSDAY
DUE: Polished draft of Paragraph #1
DUE: Ten (10) sentences using 10 vocabulary words from
Week 2 list in context (see guidelines)
Introduction to Essay 1 topic.
Prewriting.
THIRD WEEK
October 12 & 14
TUESDAY
DUE: Freewriting Exercise for Essay 1
DUE: Read (Chapter 3) 40-51 and (Chapter 17) 417-426
Discuss topic sentence and thesis statement.
THURSDAY
DUE: Complete exercise 10 (page 423) and Exercise 11 (page
425)
DUE: Read (Chapter 4) 52-71
Discuss usage, tone, diction, emphasis, sentence variety.
LAB: Work on first draft of Essay 1.
FOURTH WEEK
October 19 & 21
TUESDAY
DUE: In your book, revise and correct essay from exercise 3,
page 69.
DUE: Read (Chapter 5) 72-81. Read (Chapter 8) 144-145
"Little Brother is Watching."
Presentation on revising first draft and paragraph patterns.
Peer analysis of rough draft of essay #1.
THURSDAY
DUE: Final Draft of Essay #1.
DUE: Ten (10) sentences using any 10 new words from
vocabulary list for Week 4 paragraphs.
Quiz over Chapter 5.
Discuss paragraph patterns.
Discuss essay #2 (in-class) and #3 (out-of-class)
LAB: Exercise 3, 1-10, page 80. Rough draft and final draft of
paragraph due by end of session. This will be #2 of 5 paragraphs
for a major grade.
FIFTH WEEK
October 265 & 28
TUESDAY
DUE: Read (Chapter 6) 82-97 and (Chapter 8) 137-140
DUE: Prewriting for Essay #3 (based on topic choices A-G on
page 162).
Discuss introductions and conclusions, as well as exemplification.
LAB: Organizational plan for Essay 3.
THURSDAY
DUE: Read Lara’s essay “Who’s Cheap?,” Burciaga’s essay
“Tortillas,” and Angelou’s essay “Liked For Myself” (pages
146-154) and read (Chapter 17) pages 426-435
DUE: Ten sentences using any words from Week 5 provided.
Quiz over reading/vocabulary.
Discuss reading.
LAB: Work on rewrite of Essay 1 or rough draft of Essay 3.
SIXTH WEEK
November 2 & 4
TUESDAY
DUE: Rewrite of Essay 1
DUE: Rough Draft of Essay 3
DUE: Complete exercises 12 and 13, pages 433-435 in book
Discuss combining sentences.
In-class writing of Essay 2
THURSDAY
DUE: Read (Chapter 17) 439-449 and (Chapter 11) 222-230
Discuss cause-effect development pattern.
LAB: Peer analysis of Essay 3 rough draft, focusing on correct and
varied sentence structure and use of vocabulary.
SEVENTH WEEK
November 9 & 11
TUESDAY
DUE: Final Draft of Essay 3
Quiz on reading/vocabulary for week 7.
Discuss cause-effect development pattern.
LAB: Using one of the outlines done for cause-effect
development, write a paragraph of 100-150 words. Rough draft
and final draft are due by the end of the class. This will be #3 of
five paragraphs for major grade.
THURSDAY
DUE: Ten sentences using Week 7 vocabulary in context
DUE: Complete exercises 2, 3, and 4 on pages 229-230
DUE Read Shaw’s essay “The Girls in Their Summer
Dresses,” Flaherty’s essay “The Ghetto Made Me Do It,” and
Scheindlin/Getlin’s essay “Enough is Enough” (223-244)
Discuss reading and compare and contrast essay.
Introduce Essay 4 (in-class) and Essay 5.
EIGHT WEEK
November 16 & 18
TUESDAY
DUE: Prewriting for Essay 5
DUE: Read (Chapter 13) pages 278-286
Discuss MLA format.
Mini-research project on “The History of Thanksgiving”
OR “Ways in Which Christmas is Celebrated in Other Cultures”
Using research methods (library, library databases, computer
research tools) research and write a report on one of the above
topics.
THURSDAY
DUE: Read Behm’s “Blue as in Boy…” (287-288); Shaskan’s
essay “Chick Flick vs. Macho Movies…,” (290-291); Britt’s
essay “Neat People vs. Sloppy People” (295-297); and Gray’s
essay “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” (173-176)
DUE: Ten sentences using Week 8 vocabulary in context.
Discuss reading.
Quiz over reading/vocabulary for week 8.
DUE: Organizational plan for Essay 5
DUE: Rewrite of Essay 2
LAB: In-class writing of Essay 4
NINTH WEEK
November 23 & 25
TUESDAY
DUE: Read (Chapter 14) 309-319
DUE: Read Guilbault’s essay “Americanization is Tough…”
(177-179) and Grant’s essay “Graffiti…” (326-330)
DUE: Ten sentences using Week 9 vocabulary in context.
Discuss reading.
Quiz for reading/vocabulary for week 9.
LAB: Practice writing definition based on one topic from the list
provided. One paragraph (rough draft and final draft) due by end of
session. This will be #4 paragraph of 5 paragraphs for major grade.
THURSDAY
NO CLASS
TENTH WEEK
November 30 & December 2
TUESDAY
DUE: Read (Chapter 10) 193-201; Baum’s “Flirting
Fundamentals” and Good/Fitzpatrick’s “A Successful
Interview” 206-213
DUE: Read (Chapter 15) 340-344; Read Horner’s Essay
“Schools as Political Combat Zones” 361-362; Read Wong's
"Going Too Far" 332-333
DUE: Complete exercise 5 and 6 on page 349-350
DUE: Ten sentences using Week 10 vocabulary in context.
Discuss reading.
Quiz on reading/vocabulary for week 10.
LAB: The paragraph (rough draft and final draft) is due by the end
of session. This will be #5 paragraph of 5 paragraphs for a major
grade.
THURSDAY
DUE: Rough Draft of Essay 5
DUE: Read Daum’s essay “Shouldn’t Men have ‘Choice’
Too?” and Paglia’s “Rape and Modern Sex War” 350-356
DUE: Read Supplemental readings provided (Argumentative
Essays)
Discuss essay read and analyze argument using Analysis
Worksheet. Discuss collaboration and debate project.
LAB: Refer to page 367 under "General Topic" for a list of
possible subjects. Decide which of these topics is of interest to
you and determine a proposition (side or viewpoint) which you can
argue. Find a partner who also feels strongly about the topic, but
from the opposite viewpoint. Work with your partner on a
proposition which can be argued from each side. The topic chosen,
the proposition argued upon, and the partners names are due by the
end of the session. Begin working your argument using the
Analysis of Argument Worksheet provided.
ELEVENTH WEEK December 7 & 9
TUESDAY
DUE: Essay 5
DUE: Presentation of Arguments
DUE: Argument Analysis Worksheet for Final Exam topic
Each group will present their argument to the class.
THURSDAY
DUE: Rewrite of Essay #4
Preparation for final exam.
TWELFTH WEEK:
EXAM SCHEDULED: ___________________________
**YOUR FINAL EXAM ESSAY WILL BE WRITTEN IN CLASS TODAY**
**All essays must be completed in order to pass this course.
**Average of in-class writing (40% of your grade) must be 70% or higher in order to
pass this course.