Brooklyn College of The City University of New York
English 2 Composition
Spring 2010
M.W. 12:50-2:05 PM
Section: MW12H
Room # 2231 Boylan
Patrick Nugent
pnugent2007@yahoo.com
Office: 1300 Boylan
Mailbox: 2308 Boylan
Office Hours: Wed. 2:30-3:30 PM
Required Texts
Reading Packet (Far Better Copies)
PlaNYC 2030 (Handout)
A Writer's Reference by Diane Hacker (Bedford/St.Martin's ISBN # 0312479824)
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
Course Goals
The goal of English 2 is to further develop your academic writing and critical reading
skills, specifically focusing on how to write a research paper with a clearly defined and
original thesis that incorporates several sources and texts. Your overarching task
throughout the semester will be to find and specify a relevant topic for research—
one that will excite and interest you—and connect this topic to themes that we have
discussed in class. You will learn how to conduct research efficiently and effectively,
using both electronic and physical resources, and organize what you have learned into an
original and well-organized essay.
Thematic Description
This course will survey a collection of nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century
non-fiction and fictional prose that offer different perspectives on the New York City
environment. We will use these texts to explore the inherent connections between culture
and the physical environment as well as to investigate several social problems—and
proposed solutions—associated with the environment. As we do so, we will also
investigate environmental discourse, examining the socially-constructed meanings of
words such as nature, wilderness, environment, environmental justice, green, community,
bioregionalism, and reinhabitiation. A majority of the texts will focus on urban
environmentalism and New York City, exploring New Yorkers’ connections to the lower
Hudson River watershed. The ultimate question of the course is: Why should a group of
Brooklyn College students, surrounded and saturated by the man-made, study the
non-human environment? What does our home consist of and how do we take care of
it? The course is not only meant to explore environmentalism and sustainability, but to
consider how these ideas extend into such disciplines as philosophy, theology, literature,
sociology, economics, politics, geology, and ecology. Ultimately, the New York City
environment will lend a focus for your own research, through which you may adopt any
discipline, approach, or subject that you find worthy of your interests and attention.
Grading Rubric
Research Paper Total—55%
Topic Proposal—5%
Annotated Bibliography—10%
Rough Draft—10%
Final Research Paper—15%
Presentations—15%
Reading Responses—35%
Meetings—10%
Research Requirements
Research Paper:
The research paper will require individual, out-of-class
research on a topic loosely related to our readings and
discussions. Choosing a topic worthy of your interests
and passions is paramount to your success in this class.
Your research must be properly incorporated into your
writing using the Modern Language Association (MLA)
format. The assignments and course are designed so that
your research and writing will gradually evolve into a
polished product. For this reason, due dates are
mandatory for assignments involved with your research
paper, which include the topic proposal, annotated
bibliography, rough draft, and final draft. The final draft
will be due no later than the last day of final exams.
Topic Proposal:
By March 17th, you must hand in an official topic proposal
in which you identify a specific topic that you will
research, the connection between your topic and the themes
of the course, a tentative—but original and debatable—
thesis, and five appropriate sources with which you will
start your research.
Annotated Bibliography:
By April 12th, you must hand in an annotated bibliography
which will include a more clearly defined topic proposal,
along with annotations and bibliographic information for
seven primary and secondary sources that pertain to your
emerging thesis.
Rough Draft:
By May 2nd, you must hand me a rough draft of your
research paper. At this point, your rough draft might be a
mix between a draft and an outline, but your introduction,
thesis, topic sentences, transitions, and quotes from other
texts should be identified and organized. The rough draft
should be at least 4 pages.
Other Requirements
Reading Responses:
Throughout the semester I will ask you to answer questions
regarding the reading assignments. These responses
should be typed and demonstrate that you have engaged in
the reading. I'm not looking for correct answers. I want
you to be honest, thoughtful and thorough. These
responses will count for 35% of your grade and are not
accepted after the due-date unless accompanied by a
one page free-write (see below).
Individual Meetings:
I will require that each student meet with me at least two
times throughout the semester. The first meeting will be
used to discuss your topic proposal and plans for research.
During the second meeting, we will discuss the strengths
and weaknesses of your rough draft. We will pre-schedule
these meetings and you are expected to be punctual and
prepared. 10% of your grade will be based on you
showing up prepared and timely to these meetings, as
well as how actively you pursue the goals we outline
during them.
Other Class Rules and Regulations
Attendance:
The English Department regulates that more than 3
unexcused absences is an automatic F. Being absent is not
an excuse for late papers.
Late Assignments:
Reading responses handed in late will need to be
accompanied by a one page free-write about your research
topic in order to be accepted. The topic proposal,
annotated bibliography, and rough draft will lose a
letter grade every class period they are late.
Plagiarism:
I have no tolerance for plagiarism. If you plagiarize within
an essay, you will receive an automatic F and be in danger
of failing the course. Diana Hacker's handbook explicitly
outlines what constitutes plagiarism.
Office Hours:
My office hours will be on Wednesdays from 2:30 – 3:30
PM or by appointment. I am very willing to meet with any
and all students to discuss anything they feel pertinent to
the course or their participation in it. All you have to do is
email me and we will arrange an appointment.
Schedule
Date
M 2/1
W 2/3
M 2/8
W 2/10
M 2/15
W 2/17
Reading Assignments Due
First Day of Class
Bill McKibben’s “Introduction” to American Earth
Henry David Thoreau Excerpts
Walt Whitman’s “I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”
Johann Hari's “Move Over Thoreau: Rationalist Environmentalism
Better Prevail, and Fast”
From George Perkins Marsh from Man and Nature
Jane Jacobs The Death and Life of Great American Cities Excerpts
Betsy McCully’s “Coming Home”
Gary Snyder’s “Reinhabitation”
Class Cancelled (We Will Meet on Thursday, 2/18 Instead)
Mannahatta Chapters 1 and 7
PlaNYC 2030 Introduction
Betsy
Th 2/18
M 2/22
W 2/24
PlaNYC Excerpts TBA
Stella M. Capek’s “The Social Construction of Nature”
Jennifer Price’s “Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in LA”
Thomas M. Kostigen’s “The Reality of Our Actions”
Robert Sullivan’s "Wall-E Park"
Robert Pogrebin’s “Renovated High Line Now Open For Strolling”
M 3/1
Robert D. Bullard's Dumping in Dixie
Alice Walker’s “Everything is a Human Being”
Cesar Chavez’s “Wrath of Grapes Speech”
W 3/3
Julie Sze’s "Childhood Asthma in New York City" and
"The Racial Geography of New York City Garbage"
Winnie Hu’s "City Council Backs Mayor's Trash Disposal Plan"
M 3/8
Michael Pollen’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma Excerpts
Michael Pollen’s “You Are What You Grow”
Writing Assignments Due
W 3/10
Elizabeth Royte’s "Street Farmer"
Jennifer Lee’s "In Brooklyn, Her Farmer's Heart is Happy"
Dickson Despommier’s "A Farm on Every Floor"
M 3/15
Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Curse of Akkad”
Jeff Goodell’s “We Must Act Now,” an Interview with James Hansen
W 3/17
James Hansen’s “Cap and Fade”
Barack Obama’s Speech at the UN Summit on Climate Change
PlaNYC 2030 Climate Change Section
M 3/22
Topic Proposal
Alan Durning’s “The Dubious Rewards of Consumption”
Jon Gertner’s “Why Isn’t the Mind Green?”
W 3/24
Stephanie Kaza's Mindfully Green Excerpts (Handout)
Paul Hawken's Blessed Unrest Excerpts
Thomas L. Friedman’s “Connecting Nature’s Dots”
M 3/29
Spring Break
W 3/31
Spring Break
M 4/5
Spring Break
W 4/7
Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland Pgs 1-83
M 4/12
No Reading Due
W 4/14
Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland Pgs 83-131
M 4/19
Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland Pgs 131-176
W 4/21
Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland Pgs 177-219
M 4/26
Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland Pgs 219-256
W 4/28
No Reading Due
Annotated Bibliography
M 5/2
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple Pgs 1-8
W 5/4
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple Pgs 8-73
M 5/9
Class Cancelled: Individual Meetings
W 5/11
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple Pgs 74-177
M 5/16
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple Pgs 177-240
W 5/18
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple Pgs 240-288
5/195/25
Final Exams
Research Paper Rough Draft
Final Research Paper
and Presentation