Professor Michael Gormley
mgormley@qcc.mass.edu
Office Hours: By Appointment
English 100-15 Fall 2012
MWF 12:00-12:50
ALF 106
Introduction to English Composition
Welcome to the class! This course is an introduction to college-level essay writing
emphasizing the writing process from planning and drafting through revising and editing.
Students refine their style of writing by focusing on sentence structure and language
usage and write essays displaying unity, support, and coherence. Students practice
expository writing using a variety of rhetorical strategies. The exploration of writing is
examined through reading and analyzing essay models. Students develop familiarity with
research tools.
Goals, Outcomes, and Instructional Objectives:
More specifically this course will:

Examine the drafting process.

Allow students to find their voice on the page.

Construct a foundation for researched writing.

Show students the link between reading and being a successful writer.

Give students access to an environment that encourages writing outside of the
classroom.

Will offer more nuanced goals as the class progresses.
Required Texts:
The Norton Reader (13th edition), full version. Published by Norton and Company, 2012.
The course website is qcceng100.wikispaces.com
Teaching Procedures:
This course functions primarily in the classroom. It is there that information on
becoming a better writer will be offered. That said, in order to make the classroom a
productive space, each student is expected to be fully prepared each day and ready to
discuss all the topics. This is how class participation is determined.
Further, I do not accept papers electronically; I only grade hard copies. If a paper
is not turned in during the class time it is due, the paper is late. I do not accept late
papers. This course is too short to fall behind.
Grading Policy:
This course is comprised of three papers and class participation:
Personal Narrative
25%
Alternate Narrative
25%
Research Paper
25%
Class Participation
25%
Grading Scale:
100-93: A
92-90: A79-77: C+
76-73: C
89-87: B+
72-70: C-
86-83: B
69-60: D
82-80: B59 and below: F
Attendance Policy:
Attendance is mandatory. Each student receives 3 unexcused absence for sickness and
other instances with extenuating circumstances. Starting with the fourth unexcused
absence, the student’s overall letter grade will be lowered by 5 points for each absence.
Making me aware that you will be absent does not mean you are excused. You must
speak to me in person if there is a circumstance that could warrant an excused absence. I
also mark every time you are more than a few minutes late. For every two instances of
tardiness, you will receive an unexcused absence. I take attendance every class.
Assignment Schedule:
Please note that there is the potential for flexibility in this reading schedule. If there are
any changes to be made, I will let you know in class before hand.
Wed. 9/5
Fri.
9/7
Syllabus
Introductions
Mon. 9/10
Wed. 9/12
Fri.
9/14
Considering the Course
The most important thing - Hooks
The tangible - Sensory isolation - Gripping Description - Abstract Lenses
Mon. 9/17
Figurative Language
Due: Read Wilderness, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,
and Two Figures (handouts))
Figurative Language
Due: Read Locked Horns by Rebecca Solnit (453)
Knowing the self - Phoenix moments
Due: Read Salvation (1059) by Langston Hughes
Wed. 9/19
Fri.
9/21
Mon. 9/24
Wed. 9/26
Fri.
9/28
Mon. 10/1
Wed. 10/3
Fri.
10/5
Due: Read The Way of the Scout by Tom Brown (handout)
Picking the moment
Due: Read Inside Delta Force by Eric L. Haney and Two Views
of the Mississippi by Mark Twain (handouts)
Due: Read The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday
(119) and On Writing by Stephen King (443)
Round Table
Due: Personal Narrative - First Draft
Round Table
Round Table
Mon. 10/8
NO CLASS - Columbus Day
Wed. 10/10 From here, where?
Due Personal Narrative - FINAL DRAFT
Fri.
10/12 The Angled Phoenix - Where Was Gandalf?
Mon. 10/15
Due: Read Super-frog Saves Tokyo
Wed. 10/17 Creating A Full World
Fri.
10/19
Due: Read Pemberly Previsited by Allegra Goodman (978) and
The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday (119)
Mon. 10/22 Voices
Due: Read N. by Stephen King (handout)
Wed. 10/24 A writer's style
Due: Read Where I Lived, and What I Lived For by Henry
David Thoreau (1098)
Fri.
10/26 Due: Read Good Readers and Good Writers by Vladimir
Nabakov (973)
Mon. 10/29 Copy Edit
Due: Alternate Narrative - First Draft
Wed. 10/31 Entering Research
Due: Alternate Narrative - FINAL DRAFT
Fri.
11/2
Due: Read Notes on Punctuation by Lewis Thomas (450)
Mon. 11/5
Wed. 11/7
Fri.
11/9
Mon. 11/12
Wed. 11/14
Fri.
11/16
Due: Read Good Readers and Good Writers by Vladimir
Nabakov (973)
Due: Read Is Everything Determined? by Stephen Hawking
(908)
Due: Read In Search of a Room of One's Own by Virginia
Woolf (1005)
NO CLASS - Veterans' Day
An argument's progression
Due: Read Born To Run by Christopher McDougall (handout)
Due: Read The Separation of Church and State by Stephen
Carter (843)
Mon. 11/19 Career Change
Wed. 11/21 Reflection
Fri.
11/23
NO CLASS - Turkey!
Mon. 11/26
Due: Read Darwin's Middle Road by Stephen Jay Gould (959)
Wed. 11/28
Due: Read The Eureka Foundation by Isaac Asimov (890)
Fri.
11/30 MLA Citations
Mon. 12/3
Wed. 12/5
Fri.
12/7
Math, Mashups, and The Mississippi
Due: Read Two Views of the Mississippi by Mark Twain
(handout)
TBD
TBD
Mon. 12/10 TBD
The due date of the research paper will be announced closer to finals week.