English 1301 – WHITEBIRD—Summer I -- 2014
CRN:
11239(5:30-8), 11386 (2-4
Instructor:
Scott Whitebird, English, Spring Branch Campus, NWC
scott.whitebird @hccs).edu
Advising, Office
AD6 or classroom 308 M-Th 1:30-2pm, 5-5:30
Or by appointment
Texts:
The Norton Reader 13th Edition
Composition Study Guide (on Connect)
McGRaw-Hill Handbook (on Connect)
Catalog Description: A course devoted to improving the student’s writing and critical
reading .Reading a variety of essays critically. Writing essays for a variety of purposes
from personal to academic, including the introduction to argumentation, critical analysis,
and the use of sources. Core Curriculum course.
Prerequisite: A satisfactory assessment score, completion of ENGL 0310 or (for nonnative speakers) ENGL 0349.
Credit: 3 (3 lecture)
Course Purpose: English 1301 is the first of two basic college-level writing courses (the
second course is Freshman Composition and Rhetoric II – ENGL 1302). English 1301 is
intended to introduce students to basic forms of writing used in most academic contexts.
This course provides excellent preparation for English 1302. ENGL 1301 is designed
around writing as a process which enables students to develop organized, focused essays
that demonstrate mastery of the following skills:
 Analytical thinking (critical thinking)
 Clear thesis statements
 Relevant, engaging details and support
 Focused organization based on a unifying principle
 Appropriate strategies given audience, purpose, and subject
 Skillfully constructed and varied sentences
 Appropriate diction, style, and grammar
 Appropriate tone
 Correct manuscript form
Student Learning Outcomes: By the time students complete English 1301, they will:
 understand writing as a connected and interactive process which includes planning,
shaping, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading;
 apply the writing process to out of class writing;
 apply writing process as appropriate to in-class, impromptu writing, thus showing an
ability to communicate effectively in writing in a variety of writing situations;
 apply suggestions from evaluated compositions to other writing projects;
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understand and apply basic principles of critical thinking in analyzing reading
selections, in developing expository essays, and writing argumentative essays;
apply concepts from and use references to assigned readings in developing essays;
analyze (for elements such as purpose, audience, tone, style, writing strategy), in
writing, essays by professional writers;
complete short writing assignments, journal entries, reading quizzes, and other
activities to strengthen basic thinking and writing skills;
understand and appropriately apply various methods of development in writing
assignments; and
fulfill the writing requirements of the course, writing at least 5000 words during the
semester.
*An average of “C” (70%) must be earned on the two in-class essays (midterm and
final) to receive a grade of “C” of better in the course. A “D” (60-69) on these essays
will mean a course grade of “D.” An “F” average (0-59) on these essays will mean
an “f” in the course, regardless of your other grades.
CLASS POLICIES
Attendance and Withdrawal
Attendance is required. You are responsible for ALL materials covered in class. In
addition, HCCS has an attendance policy. You may miss no more than 12.5%, or six
class hours, or the instructor may drop you for non-attendance or require makeup work.
Should you have to miss class, you are still responsible for all material covered. As soon
as you can, be sure to get the name and phone number of a fellow student to contact.
You may also leave me a message on my voicemail at 718-5678 – although we should
see each other regularly at class. Should you stop attending class, it is your
responsibility to withdraw from class, or you may receive an “F.”
Tardiness and Leaving Class Early
Anything more than occasional tardiness is not acceptable. Students arriving late must
make sure that class roll is correct by seeing the teacher after class. Leaving early should
be cleared/explained to instructor prior to leaving in the middle of class. Questions
already answered and topics covered will not be repeated during class time and remain
the student’s responsibility.
Class Preparation
Preparation is also required. Students should know calendar and syllabus. considered
prior to class, and re-read if necessary so that you can participate in class. Expect
occasional quizzes. Take notes in class; review them regularly.
Late Work
Late work costs points. Ten points off for each day (not class period) late; 20 points off
for a weekend. No papers accepted more than ONE week late. Unusual lateness caused
by illness, death in the family, and/or other emergencies must be explained in writing,
and documented if possible. Papers will be collected at the beginning of class and are
late after that. Papers turned in on the specified date but after papers have been
collected will be penalized 5 points.
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Make-up Work
If you know you must miss the midterm for a good reason, we can schedule a make-up
time. If you simply miss the midterm, you must have an excused absence and be ready to
take the midterm immediately when you return. The Final in class essay cannot be
rescheduled, so plan accordingly.
Scholastic Dishonesty (Plagiarism, Collusion, Cheating)
The student handbook lists cheating, plagiarism, and collusion as scholastic dishonesty.
It defines plagiarism as “the appropriation of another’s work and the unacknowledged
incorporation of that work in one’s own written work offered for credit.” It defines
collusion as “ the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written
work for credit.” Possible punishments are “a grade of 0 or f on the particular
assignment, failure in the course, and/or recommendation for probation or dismissal from
the College System.” See Student Handbook. NOTE: Teachers use computers
regularly, and advanced searches make it quick and easy for us to check phrases,
sentences, keywords, paragraphs, etc. Be HONEST, and be careful – GOOGLE
RULES. And then there’s Turnitin.com….
Special Accommodations
Students needing special accommodations must give the teacher a current request from
The NWC ADA office. 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 are authorized to provide only the
accommodations requested by the Disabilities Support Services Office.”
Repeating Courses Three Times or More
Students who enroll for most credit or CEU classes for s third time of more will be
charged an additional $50.00 per semester credit hour and $3.00 per contact hour.
EGLS3 -- Evaluation for Greater Learning Student Survey System
At Houston Community College, professors believe that thoughtful student feedback is
necessary to improve teaching and learning. During a designated time, you will be asked
to answer a short online survey of research-based questions related to instruction. The
anonymous results of the survey will be made available to your professors and division
chairs for continual improvement of instruction. Look for the survey as part of the
Houston Community College Student System online near the end of the term.
ESSAYS
All out of class work, including reading log entries, must be typed or computer
printed in 12 pt. type, double spaced with a title page. An essay package should
contain title page, final draft, rough draft, peer analysis, and anything else required by the
instructor for that specific essay (Source verifications (copies of outside sources)
required for research paper). Please staple title page, final draft, and rough draft
together. NO PLASTIC SLIPCOVERS PLEASE.
CONNECT
All online. Using class URL, register in the first two weeks. Registration will be open
only through June 12 http://connect.mcgraw-hill.com/class/s_whitebird_11239 (or 11386,
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according to your section. Click on the butterfly icon for electronic texts Composition
Study Guide and McGraw-Hill Handbook.
Two completion grades, one for midterm, one on June 26, will be averaged for your
Connect grade, with the completion of your post diagnostic test availible June 27-July 1
.
Connect includes your Personalized Learning Plan (PLP), the NWC Composition Study
Guide (CSP), and the McGraw-Hill Handbook.
READING RESPONSE LOG
During this semester, you will keep a log of directed responses to each assigned
which will make 20% of your course grade. Each entry should be at least a hundred
words long, but need not ever exceed 200. Revise these, add a title page and table of
contents for Wednesday June 25 and staple together securely.
This assignment puts a premium on work habits and rewards completion. If you
finish all 27 entries, address each writing prompt, and turn the logs in on time and in
correct form, you will earn either an A or a B on this 20% of your final course grade.
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PORTFOLIO
40% of the student’s grade will be based on a revised Portfolio of work which must include a
one expressive essay (essay #1), one analytic essay (essay #2), your revised midterm, and an
original self assessment (500 words) on your strengths and weaknesses as a writer and your
portfolio revisions. Turn in marked copies and all succeeding revisions. Once a marked paper
is returned to you, you may revise it, and I will read it again and comment as many times as
you wish. Put marked and revised essays in a pocket folder.
Left side
Right side
500 word Self assessment
(your strengths/weaknesses
Revised Narrative or Identity
Revised Critical Analysis
Revised Midterm
No revision
Marked Narrative or Identity (#1)
Marked Critical Analysis (#2)
Marked Midterm
Graded MLA Research Paper
(Teacher puts in folder)
Grading Scale
Portfolio
Midterm and Final
Response Logs
PLP
40%
20%
20%
20%
Essays
Learning narrative or Identity essay (#1)
Analysis of an essay ( #2)
Midterm
Research Paper (#4)
Portfolio Defense
750+ word
1000+ words
600 words
1500+ words
500+ words
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Research
Student’s choice of topic from four social/cultural topics highlighted by four
authors in week 3: Staples (stereotyping), McKibben (population and ethics), Kingston
(cultural clashes in polyglot America), and Dickerson (violence in America) –or you may
use two outside sources (book and a professional article) to analyze Alice Walker’s style
in “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” or Toni Morrison’s style in “Strangers.
You must use 2 sources (book and a professional article) to analyze the author’s style in
the essay from our book using each of the 3 sources three times. three times each. Paper
should be 1500-2000 words long (4 ½ to six pages) with correct MLA format, including a
Works Cited Page and Internal Citations, and source verifications (copies of sources) Put
all materials(Rough Draft, peer analysis, Final Draft w/Works Cited, and source
verifications in a brown clasp envelope with your name on the outside.
Learning Narrative or Identity Essay
Tell a story from your life with a clear outcome or lesson. Use both narration and
description, include a clearly described central incident highlighted by sensory detail.
Critical Analysis
Read. Think. Write (to think further). Analyze the writing and the essay for
how/why it works and what it accomplishes. This is separate from whether you like or
don’t like the essay, and separate from whether you think the essay is”good” or “bad”.
Do not retell the author’s content, or argue with them about their subject. Analyze the
writing, the way the essay fit together or works, and the effects the essay achieves or is
supposed to achieve.
Conventions (shared rules) of critical analysis include: Write in the third person
unless instructed otherwise; Include the author’s full name and the title of the essay you
are analyzing in the first paragraph of your essay. Thereafter, refer to the author by last
name only.
Your essay should have a thesis on the writing/essay examined, supported by
points you develop in discussion, and should offer evidence from the essay in quotes,
paraphrases, and through specific subject/content or summary references documented in
correct MLA form.
Authors make choices writing essays. Those choices include audience, purpose,
thesis (subject= author’s attitude toward the subject), genre and rhetorical approaches, the
author’s bias (attitude or point of view) and tone(diction, word choice, or overall
description), voice, and style.
Besides these basic choices, a student can analyze organization or structure, the
flow of words, sentences, and paragraphs, or the author’s message as developed from the
thesis in supporting points and their discussion/development, and the kind, use, and
credibility of evidence used by the author.
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English 1301 – Composition 1 – Summer I -- 2014 – Whitebird
June
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Hughes 1059, Zen Parables 1127
White 79, Wolfe 126
Doyle 502, Alexie 358
Hurston 12, Eighner 31
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Rios 40, Cofer 116
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July
Connect Registration 6/2-12
Intro. Norton Reader
Rough Draft Narrative due
FINAL DRAFT ASSIGNMENT #1
(Narrative)
Midterm: Holt 358, Kozol 367,
Buzzell 97, Quindlen 174
Ephrn 657, Gladwell 248
Rough Critical Analysis: Ephron,
Gladwell, Douglass, Welty
Douglass 346, Welty 350
FINAL DRAFT ASSIGNMENT #2
(Critical Analysis)
MIDTERM IN CLASS. BLUEBOOKS. 600+ WORDS.
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Staples 314 (stereotyping), McKibben 295 (population, personal ethics)
Research topics, papers.
Kingston 401(multi-cultural America), Dickerson 316 (violence in Amer.)
Didion 1, Faulkner 871
Annotated Bibliography (3 sources)
Walker 69, Morrison 135
Rough draft Research
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Gates 260, Williams 423
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Lee 3, Strebeigh 276
Martin Luther King 818
MLK continued.
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FINAL EXAM IN CLASS. BLUEBOOKS 600+ WORDS.
Connect Post Diagnostic completed.
Portfolio Conferences (required)
Portfolio Conferences (required)
RESEARCH PACKAGE DUE.
(Rough, Final, Peer Analysis,
Source Verifications (copies))
RESPONSE LOGS DUE.
PORTFOLIO DUE.
Connect PLP finished.
Post Diagnostic June 27- July 1.
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