Making Sense of the Senses: English 2: Writing the Research Essay
English 2; Fall 2009 – Professor King
Course Meetings: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9:30-10:45am in Boylan 3407
Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:30-4:30pm, Thursdays 8:00-9:00am, & by appointment in
Boylan 4215
To contact the Professor: rking@brooklyn.cuny.edu or come to her office, Boylan 4215
Please note that Prof. King’s on-campus voice mail does not function.
Course Description
English 2 is a writing-intensive course that provides students with an opportunity to
explore a subject and to further develop the critical thinking skills, research techniques,
and clear expression necessary for academic writing. Our theme for this semester,
“Making Sense of the Senses,” will allow us to engage oral, aural, and visual, as well as
written texts. You will have the opportunity to write short, long, and timed pieces, and
occasionally to work in small groups.
Required Texts:
Photocopies: Available at Far Better Copy, across from the main campus gate
Novel: What We All Long For by Dionne Brand
Reference: Diana Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference
Television: “Noah’s Arc”
Radio: “This I Believe” essays
Visual Art: Pepon Osorio’s work
Goals & Learning Objectives:
By the end of the course, students should:
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Be able to write a formal, coherent essay in standard academic English that
supports its argument with research.
Understand and be able to implement the components of research (including
identifying, annotating, incorporating, and citing sources).
Be able to write clearly and imaginatively, in a variety of forms and for a variety
of purposes and audiences.
Understand the ethics of research and writing, including the proper citation, and
integration, of source materials into their work and the meaning and
consequences of plagiarism.
Use appropriate conventions of language, including correct grammar, spelling,
and punctuation.
Requirements
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At least 7 (seven) short essays
One long research essay, with appropriate citations
Assignments building up to the research essay, including a thesis, outline, and
drafts
Additional writing exercises and assignments
A final test
Grading
Research Essay 35% (5% for bibliography, 5% for preparatory drafts)
Other Essays & Written work 40%
Exercises and quizzes 10%
Attendance & Participation 10%
Final Test 5%
Late Policy
This is a writing-intensive course, so it is imperative that you keep on top of the work.
Assignments, including essays, are late if they are turned in after attendance is called.
Late drafts and exercises will not receive any credit. Late essays will be marked down
one letter grade for every day they are late. Remember that it is your responsibility to
find out what you missed if you are late or absent; take a moment now to get the email
address and phone number of two class “buddies.”
Attendance & Participation
In addition to being a significant part of your grade, attendance and participation are
important to the improvement of your writing. Much of class time will be spent either
discussing writing or research concepts and strategies, or on working with your own
writing assignments. Arriving late is rude and disruptive; three late arrivals equal one
absence, a late arrival of more than 15 minutes will be marked as an absence, and three
absences will result in a lowered grade for the course. Because your final test will
consist largely of definitions covered in class, attendance and good note-taking skills are
even more important.
Accessibility
It is important that the course be accessible to all students. In order to receive
disability-related academic accommodations, students must first be registered with the
Center for Student Disability Services (contact Ms. Stewart-Lovell at 718-951-5538). If
you have already registered with the Center for Student Disability Services, please
provide the Professor with the course accommodation form so we may discuss your
specific accommodation.
Collegial Conduct Guidelines
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Arrive on-time, with reading and assignments completed, prepared to
participate.
Emailed assignments are not accepted.
Mobile phones, pdas, and all other technological devices should be silenced and
completely out of view during class. Visible technology will result in a lowered
participation grade, and a zero for any in-class essay or work.
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When emailing the professor, always put your name and the name of the course
in the header of the email; otherwise, your message may be viewed as spam.
Please remember that email is professional communication – and since you are
writing to an English professor, you should use proper capitalization,
punctuation, and grammar.
Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct
“Academic Dishonesty is prohibited in the City University of New York and is punishable
by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion, as provided herein.”
-- CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity. Adopted by the Board of Trustees 6/28/2004
Plagiarism defeats the purpose of your education. If you are found to have plagiarized
an assignment, you will receive a zero (not an F), you will not be permitted to revise or
rewrite the assignment, and you will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs.
Please go to http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies/ for further information about:
* CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity
* BC Procedures for Implementing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity
* Flow Chart of the BC Procedures for Implementing the CUNY Policy on Academic
Integrity.
It is your responsibility to learn what constitutes plagiarism and the correct rules for
citing sources—read the information on the following website carefully:
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies/. The bottom line is: passing off anyone’s
words or ideas as your own for any reason whatsoever is plagiarism.
Help with Research and Writing
The Library maintains a collection of links to sites that can assist you with proper citation
format and paraphrasing and quoting other authors at http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu
 Research & Writing Help. The Learning Center has writing tutors available to help
you with your writing http://lc.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ and I strongly suggest that you take
advantage of this resource.
Professor’s Pledge: I pledge that I will be prepared and engaged for each class, that I
will be available for individual conferences, and that work will be graded and returned in
a timely manner.
Monday
1 September: Introductions
In Class: Review Syllabus; Discuss
Relationships to Writing; In-class essay
8 September: Informal research &
choosing topics
Wednesday
3 September: Getting Started & Paper
Format ; Types of writing & research
Reading Due: “Composition Toolkit” &
Format for Papers
10 September: Brainstorming
Writing Due: “This I Believe” Essay
Listening Due: “This I Believe”
In Class: Brainstorm Research Paper Topics
Writing Due: Outlines
15 September: Types of learning
Reading Due: “Learning Methods”
Writing Due: 1-2 full pages about your
learning method
22 September: Literary-Visual Texts
17 September: Analyzing Literature
Reading Due: Short stories
24 September: Literary Visual Texts
Reading Due: “What Comics Are and What Reading Due: “The Veil”
They Aren’t” by Wolk
Writing Due: Essay comparing “The Veil” &
Bring to Class: A copy of printout of a
your comic strip
favorite comic strip
29 September: NO CLASS
6 October: Music as Text
In Class: Watch Hip Hop: Beyond Beats &
Rhymes
13 October: Citations & Plagiarism
Writing Due: Thesis & outline of research
paper
20 October: Formal Research
1 October: Library Session – MEET IN THE
LIBRARY
Library Orientation
8 October:
Writing Due: Response to film
In class: Discussion
15 October: TBA
22 October: What is revision? What is
editing?
Writing Due: Getting Started Exercise
Writing Due: “Going Deeper” exercise
Reading Due: “Let Them Eat Fat”
In Class: Summaries & annotations
27 October: Midterm Check-In
Bring to Class: All completed writing
assignments & the topic for your research
paper
29 October
Writing Due: First draft of research paper Writing Due: Second draft of research paper
In Class: Mini-conferences
3 November: Visual Texts
In Class: Workshop I
5 November
Writing Due: Annotated Bibliography
Writing Due: “Noah’s Arc” Review & Revised
Essay #1
In Class: “Noah’s Arc”
In Class: Workshop II
10 November:
12 November
Reading Due: First half of novel
Writing Due: Draft 3 of research essay
Writing Due: Textual analysis
17 November:
In Class: TBA
19 November: Visual Art
Reading Due: Second half of novel
Reading/Viewing Due: Pepon Osorio
In Class: Osorio notes
24 November:
26 November: No Class-Thanksgiving
Writing Due: Revised Essay #2
In Class: Maya Deren
1 December: Business Writing
Writing Due: FINAL RESEARCH PAPER
8 December: Review for Test
In Class: Review for Test
3 December: How Did You Do?
In Class: Essay
Writing Due: Business Letter
10 December: Final Test
In Class: Final Test