NORTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
English 102.04: Food: Connecting Culture and Agriculture, Health and Community
Spring 2015
11-11:50 daily
Classroom: CC3349
Web: canvas.northseattle.edu
Instructor:
Office:
Office hours:
Phone:
e-mail:
Books:
Molly Tenenbaum
IB2423C, Suite 9
MW 12-1pm, or by appointment
(206) 934-4553
molly.tenenbaum@seattlecolleges.edu
REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS
The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food & Drink, edited by Kevin Young
The Language of Baklava, by Diana Abu-Jaber
Various other readings and resources will be accessible online.
Internet & computer: You’ll need easy and constant internet and computer access. Several of
the readings will be from online materials, and you will be writing and editing your work
constantly. You’ll need access to a printer so you can print out assignments to turn in and also
to work with in class.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Topic: Because any writing class needs something to write about, our subject this quarter will
be food. With so many supermarkets and fast food places around us, it’s easy not to think
about where our food comes from and what our food choices mean. This class will explore
both the personal and the public aspects of food choices: We’ll be reading essays, poems, and
and a memoir; these readings explore personal connections to food and also look into the
industrial food system and its consequences for personal health and the health of the earth.
Course outcomes/Learning Objectives:
 To read critically in order to analyze, discuss, evaluate and respond to texts.
 To write in order to discover the meanings in the texts of others.
 To write in order to discover your own ideas in relation to the texts of others.
 To develop the skills of writing to communicate ideas to a particular audience.
 To develop your ability to paraphrase, quote, and cite sources according to
conventional MLA form, and to integrate source materials smoothly into your own
words in order to add support and emphasis to your own writing.
 To take responsibility for producing writing that has been revised, edited, and
proofread and to submit the work on time.
 To continue developing our voices as writers.
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This course addresses the following NSCC Essential Learning Outcomes (ELO’s):
 Knowledge: Facts, theories, perspectives and methodologies within and across
disciplines.
 Critical thinking and problem solving.
 Communication and self expression.
Course readiness: This class assumes college-level reading skill (50-150 pages a week) and
basic writing skills with grammar, sentence structure, and paragraphing. If you need extra
work in these areas, you may find it challenging to pass this class. If I notice that you need
work in these areas, I will let you know and will advise you to visit the Page One Writing
Center, for more help. For more information about Page One, visit their website. A link is
provided in our Canvas course site.
Disability Services: In my commitment to student learning I want to support all students. If you
have a disability that will affect your performance in this class please let me know. Students
with disabilities are encouraged to use Disability Services for support in implementing
reasonable accommodations. You may make an appointment with Disability Services by calling
934-3697 or stopping by the DS office on the 2nd floor of the College Center. A link to their
website is provided on our Canvas course site.
MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Reader Responses (1-2 pages each): Reading Responses will be due frequently throughout the
quarter as we discuss the readings. In these responses, you’ll answer specific questions and
will also practice using the MLA system for quoting, summarizing, paraphrasing, and
documenting your sources. Specific assignments will be given for each response.
Summary: (600 words and a works cited page). You’ll summarize Wendell Berry’s essay, “The
Pleasures of Eating,” available online (link in Canvas). This will introduce some of the concepts
we’ll be working with all quarter, and will give you a chance to practice quoting, paraphrasing,
editing sentences, and using the MLA system of documentation.
Two Analysis Essays: (about 1500 words plus the works cited page). In one essay, you’ll
propose and support a thesis about a theme you find addressed in several of the poems in The
Hungry Ear. In the second essay, you’ll propose and support a thesis about the memoir The
Language of Baklava. This essay will be based on analysis of the text and will involve a limited
number of outside resources.
Group Project: Annotated Bibliography: Each group will research a food-related issue and
compile an MLA-style bibliography summarizing the pertinent resources you found and
coming to a conclusion about the topic.
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OTHER ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS
Short homework assignments: This may include written responses to study questions,
revisions of sentences and paragraphs, outlines and thesis sentences, and other brief
responses to the readings or to class discussions.
Informal, in-class writing: This will include spur-of-the-moment in-class writings, and
prewriting activities, such as listing and brainstorming.
Quizzes: There may be occasional quizzes (both pop and planned) on the readings, grammar,
or MLA documentation.
Group work: This includes whole-class and small-group discussions, collaborative explorations
of readings, and peer review of writing assignments.
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REVISION POLICY
If it has received a grade of 85 points or lower, you may revise Analysis Essay 1 and resubmit it for, we hope, a higher grade. This revision is optional.
What is a revision? A revision is a complete overhaul of the essay, not merely a
correcting of errors.
If Analysis Essay 1 has received more than 85 points, it may not be revised.
Essays to be revised must be discussed with me. I will not accept revisions of essays we
have not gone over together.
Discuss your revision with me as soon as possible, so that you have a long time to work
on your revision. Because my office hours get very booked up the week before revisions
are due, if you wait until then you might miss out on your chance to consult me, and
thus miss out on your chance to revise.
Revisions must be accompanied by your written revision plan and by the original essay.
Due Date: Revisions may be submitted any time up until our class time on Fri, June 12.
Late revisions are not accepted.
GRADING, ATTENDANCE, AND OTHER COURSE POLICIES
Assignments and course activities will be assigned point values, as follows:
Assignment
Summary
Analysis essay
Analysis essay
Group Bibliography
Reader Responses
Peer review discussions
Class activities: Includes quizzes and
Points each
45
100
100
100
10
10
3-10
Points per quarter
45
100
100
100
80-100
30
Approximately
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in-class writing, thinking, and
discussion. These points accumulate
almost daily, and require your
presence and attention.
Other homework assignments such
as thesis sentences, outlines, drafts,
etc.
Total
100
5-15
25-45
555-575
Whatever your percentage of the total, that’s your course grade. Below is a conversion
chart, used by all the Seattle Community Colleges, to show how percentages convert to
grades on the 4-point system.
Student
Percentage of
Letter Grade
Numerical Grade
Performance
Points Earned
Equivalent
Excellent
97%-100 %
A+
4.0
94%-96%
A
3.9
90%-93%
A3.5-3.8
High
87%-89%
B+
3.2-3.4
84%-86%
B
2.9-3.1
80%-83%
B2.5-2.8
Average
77%-79%
C+
2.2-2.4
74%-76%
C
2.1-1.9
70%-73%
C1.5-1.8
Minimum
67%-69%
D+
1.2-1.4
65%-66%
D
1.0-1.1
64% and below
F
0.0
Attendance: Since class activities count toward your participation points, your grade can start
to fall dramatically when you miss class. If you need to leave class early for any reason, please
clear it with me first. If you must miss class for a valid reason, please discuss your
circumstances with me as soon as possible. Also, if you miss anything, it is your responsibility to
meet with me or contact your classmates to get caught up.
For Running Start Students: You are responsible for resolving any schedule conflicts
between your work here and your work at your high school. No matter how important
your high school activity, I do not excuse you from any of your work here. Please make
sure your instructors know this.
LATE WORK
Late essays (or the summary) receive half credit. All essays are due by the beginning of class
time (11:00 a.m.) on the due date. Essays turned in after that time is considered late.
Late Reader Responses are not accepted. Reader Responses should be on your desk in front
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of you, ready to discuss, by (11:00 a.m.) on the due date. Reader Responses arriving in the
room after that time or not on your desk at that time are considered late and are not
accepted. Leave plenty of time to print your work. Do not leave printing for the last moment
before class, or your Reader Response may risk being late.
Essays over a week late is not accepted.
Points for missed class activities cannot be made up.
Emergencies: If a documented emergency keeps you from turning in an assignment on time,
get in touch with me immediately so we can discuss your circumstances. I will determine
what constitutes an emergency, but emergencies, by my definition, do not mean computer
problems, printer lines, jobs, writer’s block, etc. If you have been attending regularly and
keeping up with assignments, I will be more likely to be sympathetic and will work with you to
resolve the situation. Please plan ahead to allow for printing, traffic, etc.
Extended emergencies: Occasionally very dramatic events happen during the course of a
quarter: Car accidents, family illnesses, etc. Even if these are legitimate emergencies, they
may cause you to miss so much coursework that it cannot be made up. In that case, I will
advise you that it may be better to drop the class and take it again at a better time.
All written assignments are to be submitted on paper in person. Do not e-mail assignments
to me.
NSCC ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
POLICY ON PLAGIARISM
To take the words or ideas of someone else and present them as your own is plagiarism and is
unacceptable in academic life. The nature and causes of plagiarism may cover a range from the
accidental to the dishonest. Examples of plagiarism encountered in academic writing may
include the following:
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incorporating into your own writing, without proper acknowledgment, words and
sentences from a print, electronic, or oral source;
inserting longer passages (such as four or five consecutive sentences or whole
paragraphs) of somebody else’s writing into your own without acknowledgement;
paraphrasing so closely or so extensively from a source that sentences and ideas really
belong to the original writer;
submitting as your own whole essays written by another person or taken from a printed
source or off the internet;
receiving so much help from another person that the work could not honestly be called
your own;
submitting assignments produced for one class in another (or previous) class without
permission of both instructors (auto-plagiarism).
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Students, by their attendance here, agree to adhere to the Student Code of Conduct which states,
in part, that “academic dishonesty, to include cheating, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false
information to the college” may bring disciplinary action. The policy of the NSCC English
faculty is to exercise its professional judgment as to the nature and cause of each case of
suspected or proven plagiarism and to respond in a manner suited to the case. Responses may
include the following:
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requiring that a piece of writing be revised to eliminate the plagiarism
denying credit for a piece of writing in which plagiarism has been found
recording a “0” grade in the student’s class record for this project, thereby lowering the
student’s final grade
forwarding the student’s name to the Vice President for Student Services for possible
disciplinary action.
PARTICIPATION AND CLASSROOM COMMUNITY
1. Turn off all cell phones and keep them out of sight. (Occasionally we will allow the phones
to come out—for example, if we are in a group discussion the class would benefit by
looking something up; however, unless notified that you may have them out, keep them
off and out of your, my, and everyone’s sight.)
2. Be here on time, and be prepared for class, ready to share your insights. Your book and any
assigned homework must be on your desk in front of you, ready work with at the beginning
of class.
3. Everyone is expected to participate orally in class.
4. Turn off all cell phones and remove them from sight.
5. Stay in the room for the entire class period. Do not go in and out.
6. Ask questions! Share your confusions generously!
7. Raise your hand to speak. Eventually we may migrate away from hand-raising, but let’s
begin with this method of class discussion.
8. Make sure everyone can hear you when you speak. Face your classmates when you speak
to them. This may mean turning around and speaking toward the back of the room rather
than toward me at the front.
9. If you don’t hear what someone says, please say so.
10. Avoid distracting behavior. Do not have private conversations in class, do not eat or drink
in class, do not make clicking or zipping noises, and do not pack up your materials before
class is officially over.
11. Food and drink in the classroom are OK if the wrappers don’t crinkle, the food doesn’t
crunch, the tops don’t pop, and your manners are considerate of others. You are always
welcome to bring treats for everyone.
ADVICE
English 102 is a challenging class. Here’s how you can help yourself meet the challenges:
1. The assignments are time-consuming: Assume that an assignment will take much
longer than you might at first think. Assume that your writing needs a lot of work even
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2.
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if you’ve always received good grades in English. Assume that every detail needs a lot
of attention. Therefore, allow as much time as you possibly can.
There is a lot of reading: The reading may be more difficult than reading that you have
done before, depending on your reading experience and comfort with English. You
might want to form study groups outside of class, or visit Page One Writing Center for
extra help with the reading. Allow plenty of time for the reading
Keep a record of all sources you consult: You will need this information for working
with the MLA system of documentation. We will do library work with Noodletools, and
I recommend using it.
Save all documents frequently: You don’t want the computer to lose your assignment.
Keep backup copies: Keep them on a flash drive, or e-mail them to yourself, or store
them in Google Docs or some other place online.
Save all your classwork: Assignments, notes, and handouts. You may want to refer to
earlier assignments when completing later ones. Also, you’ll need original assignments
in case of grade disputes.
Have several “class buddies” whom you can call in case you unavoidably must miss
classwork. Be a class buddy for others.
Don’t let a poor grade on an essay get you down: I know that it’s hard to receive a low
grade, especially when you feel that you made a strong effort. Nevertheless, English
102 is a very difficult class. If you get a low grade, the best thing to do is think hard
about it, study my comments, ask me questions, and learn from these errors so that
you can do better on the next essay. I have seen students get very low grades on the
first essay, but then continue, working very hard, with curiosity and open-mindedness;
such students often succeed with higher grades by the end of the quarter.
Always ask for help at the first moment you become confused. If you wait, you’ll end
up with less time to work successfully and with understanding.
WELCOME
Aside from all that, WELCOME! I hope that by reading and writing you can learn about the
world and about yourself. You can become more thoughtful about the effects of your
language on a reader or a listener. I hope that the work you do in this course will make you
more confident and independent writers, and will enable you to carry out whatever tasks your
education asks of you. It is unlikely you will have completed your learning by the end of the
quarter; however, you will have amassed the basic tools you need for writing in the academic
community and other settings. I hope your learning continues beyond your time at NSCC, and
I wish you all the pleasure and satisfaction that the work of thinking and writing and
discovering can bring.
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