English 101
LC Culture, History, Power
MWF 11:15-12:10
MWF 12:20-1:15
Basil 118
Dr. Melissa Bloom
Office: Basil 115,
MF 1:15-2:20 and by appt.
385-7397
mbloom@sjfc.edu
College Writing
“I was a stranger in a strange land.” (Exodus 2.22)
“People are strange when you’re a stranger.” (Jim Morrison)
The traveler reveals culture, both his or her home culture and the foreign culture, by
bringing the one into the other, making them clash in the act of travel. We see this clash,
this revelation, in literature at least from Exodus and The Canterbury Tales through On the Road
and Jarhead. In this course, we will consider that kind of territorial strangeness in a number
of different places, in fiction and in history, from the point of view of both the sight-seer
and the sight. Culture is not visible, generally, to those immersed within it, as it is developed
out of a place and helps develop that place. It is best seen when displaced, shown on a
starkly different landscape, as if against a clashing background.
Looking at, thinking about, and writing about culture in this class will help us learn to
separate background from foreground, to see meaning in action, to understand what it
means to think about a society, rather than about individual members of society. Those
skills, of distinction and analysis, will serve you as writers throughout your college career
whatever your major is. And, of course, that is the primary purpose of this class: to learn
and polish skills of analysis, clean sentence construction, organization, argument, cohesion,
and the use of evidence—all necessarily components of good writing of any kind.
Expect to always have writing to do, in addition to reading. There will be writing
assignments due every week, some of which might overlap (because they will take you more
than a week to complete). Not all of these will be graded; 4 essays will be graded, some
assignments will be scored (1-5) and others will be considered homework (receiving a check
mark only). We will devote a good amount of time to peer review and discussion, and very
very little to lecture.
In addition to the Learning Community Goals (see your cluster syllabus), this course has its
own goals. Students in this College Writing class will:
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Learn to use and interpret evidence
Explore their reasoning through writing, going beyond stating opinions
Develop a sense of voice and organization
Learn to incorporate outside sources into their writing properly and thoughtfully
Improve the fluidity of their writing, strengthening its communicative properties
Become more comfortable writing frequently
Become more accustomed to drafting, revising, and re-conceiving their work
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Become sensitive and critical readers for other students’ work
You should expect to have writing assignments due every week, though some will be shorter
and less formal than others. Expect also to have two conferences with me, one toward the
end of October, and the other at the beginning of December.
This course is part of the Learning Community Culture, History, Power, with Anthropology
100. You cannot drop one of these classes without dropping both.
Required Texts:
Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko. Penguin Classics, 2004.
Forster, E. M. A Passage to India. Harvest Books, 1965.
Hacker, Diana. Bedford/St. Martins Rules for Writers, 5th edition.
Hwang, David Henry. M Butterfly. Plume, 1993.
There will be several other readings which will be posted online in Adobe PDF format. You
are responsible for either bringing a printed copy of these or of making sure you are sharing
with someone. Only two people may share one copy.
Class Policies:
Papers must be submitted via Digital Drop Box (on Blackboard) by midnight on their due
date. Illness or travel plans do not affect this requirement. Papers will lose a full grade for
each day they are late.
On-time attendance is absolutely required in this class. The majority of class time will be
discussion, group work, workshops, and writing exercises, all work that cannot be made up.
After two absences, therefore, each missed class will take a third off of your final grade. An
A will become an A-, etc. Note that this does not mean excused absences; only two absences
of any kind will be accepted. DO NOT SKIP CLASSES JUST FOR FUN – YOU WILL BE
SICK LATER IN THE SEMESTER AND REGRET IT. If you have an unavoidable
situation, and you know ahead of time, I will work with you to see is we can make other
arrangements.
Participation is required in this class and is part of your final grade. If you are fatally shy,
come speak to me during office hours and we will develop ways to help you surmount this.
We are a small group, and each of you has worthwhile ideas to contribute.
Latenesses disrupt the class and eat away at class time. Each 3 latenesses equals an absence.
Cell phones must be off during class. Phones that ring or buzz disrupt the class. Any
student whose phone disrupts the class must bring snacks for the whole group the following
class session. Texting, like talking, is disruptive and absolutely forbidden. If you have a
family emergency and need to be contacted, tell me at the start of class.
Other than cell-phone penalty food, eating is forbidden in the classroom. You may bring
beverages, as long as you bring your empties with you or throw them away properly, but not
food.
Plagiarism is the undocumented use of another person’s ideas, organization, or research
on a written assignment. It is plagiarism to turn in a paper written by another student or
to copy or paraphrase any portion of your text from another source (study guides,
articles, books, another student’s paper or the Internet) without proper documentation.
Any case of plagiarism will be prosecuted according to the guidelines in the SJFC
handbook. Students who plagiarize will receive an F for the course.
Policy on Disabilities: In compliance with St. John Fisher College policy and applicable
laws, appropriate academic accommodations are available to you if you are a student
with a disability. All requests for accommodations must be supported by appropriate
documentation/diagnosis and determined reasonable by St. John Fisher College.
Students with documented disabilities (physical, learning, psychological) who may need
academic accommodations are advised to make an appointment with the Coordinator of
Services for students with disabilities in the Office of Academic Affairs, Kearney 202.
Late notification will delay requested accommodations.
Grading
4 Papers:
20% each
Portfolio:
5%
Participation, attendance, homework: 15%
Schedule
9/5
9/7
Intro
Letter home – group work
9/10
9/12
9/14
"Ozymandias", "Elgin Marbles", "Childe Harold" selections (pdf)
New Yorker article (pdf)
LIBRARY LESSON (meet in classroom in library basement)
Letter Home assignment due
Online grammar 1.
9/17
9/19
9/21
Library HW part 1 due. Bring Handbook to class.
Bring Handbook to class.
Library HW part 2 due
9/24
9/26
9/28
Oroonoko (bring book to class all week)
Online grammar 2
10/1
10/3
Essay on sources due. Read Martineau (pdf)
Bring Handbook to class.
10/5
Bring Handbook and Oroonoko to class.
10/8
10/10
10/12
Introductions and outlines due in class. Online grammar 3
Read Madam Butterfly (PDF)
NO CLASSES
10/15
10/17
10/19
Oroonoko Paper due.
Bring Madam Butterfly and M Butterfly to class
Grammar Games
10/22
10/24
10/26
conferences
10/29
10/31
11/1
M Butterfly (bring to class all week)
Online Grammar 4
11/5
11/7
11/9
Hearn story (PDF)
Bring story and handbook to class
Bring story and handbook to class
11/12
11/14
11/16
Bring essay 3 introduction and outline to class, bring handbook
A Passage to India
Passage
11/19
11/21
11/23
Essay 3 due.
THANKSGIVING
THANKSGIVING
11/26
11/28
11/30
Bring handbook and ALL of your work for the semester
Online grammar 5
Bring handbook and essay for revision
Conferences
12/3
12/5
12/7
Conferences
Conferences
Last class
Portfolios due by scheduled final exam time (there is no final exam for this
class)