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English 1128
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 8:30 – 9:25
Cheratra Yaswen
604-323-5212
cyaswen@langara.bc.ca
office: A206
office hours: Monday: 12:30 - 1:30, Tuesday: 12:00 – 1:30, Thursday: 12:00 – 1:30,
Friday: 12:30 – 1:30
Course Objectives:
This course is designed to help you improve your essay writing skills, conduct academic
research, understand and analyze essays, and understand and interpret short stories. To
this end, we will focus on six major areas of study: MLA citation and avoiding plagiarism,
general essay writing, research, essay comprehension, literary analysis, and writing
literary analysis essays.
Upon successful completion of English 1127, the student is able to:
- analyze short fiction
- identify and understand the components and techniques of essays
- think critically
- write clear and correct sentences and paragraphs
- write essays that demonstrate and awareness of audience and the importance of both
form and content
- draft, revise, format, document and correct writing
Assignments:
- participation 5%
- library workbook 5%
- pop quizzes 5%
- Sept. 29: in class argumentative essay (1 hour) 10%
- Oct. 10: take home argumentative essay 10% (about 750 - 1000 words)
- Nov. 17: in class literary essay (1 hour) 15%
- Dec. 1: literary research essay 20% + pre-writing aspects 5% + correct citation 5%
= 30% total
- date TBA: final exam (2 hours) 20%
You must receive a C- or higher in all in-class work and the final exam to pass this course.
Textbooks:
1. Fiction: A Pocket Anthology, Can. ed., Eds. R.S. Gwynn and Wanda Campbell
2. courseware package
3. College Style Sheet, 6th ed., Eds. Jon Furberg and Richard Hopkins
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Course Outline:
Note: This outline is subject to change as I assess student needs.
Week One (Sept. 5 - 8):
- introduction to the course
- diagnostic writing
Read: “Four Kinds of Reading” by Donald Hall
Week Two (Sept. 11 - 15):
Topics: grammar, essay structure
Read: “How Much Hate to Tolerate”
Week Three (Sept. 18 - 22):
Topic: essay structure continued
Read: Sample Student Essays:
1. “Political and Economic Views on American Private University Admission Standards”
2. “Off-field Strategies”
3. “Thinking About Tai Chi”
Week Four (Sept. 25 - 29):
* Sept. 29, in-class essay *
Topics: critical reading, logic
Read: “The Evolution of Evolution” by Helena Cronin
Read: “Thank Heaven for Little Boys” by Anna Veciana-Suarez
Week Five (Oct. 2 - 6):
Topics: reading comprehension, use of different genre to address an issue
Read: “The Bureaucrat’s Indian” by Daniel Francis
Read: “A Strong Race Opinion” by E. Pauline Johnson
Read: “A Coyote Columbus Story” by Thomas King
Week Six (Oct 10 – 13; there will be no classes on Oct. 9):
* Oct. 10, take home essay due *
Topic: literature (vs. escapist or ‘narcotic’ reading)
Read: “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood
Read: “The Listerdale Mystery” by Agatha Christie
Read: “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather
Week Seven (Oct. 16 - 20):
Topic: literary terms, reading literature
Read: “Reunion” by John Cheever (you need to read this to understand the next reading)
Read: Fiction, p 1-21
Read: “The Painted Door” by Sinclair Ross
Read: “The Storm” by Kate Chopin
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Week Eight (Oct. 23 - 27):
Topics: research methods, MLA citation, uses of research
Read: College Style Sheet p. 32-88 (This is a lot of boring reading but it’s very important.
It will make more sense after we do exercises on the material.)
Week Nine (Oct. 30 – Nov. 3):
Topic: canonicity debates
Read: “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan
Read: “In the Canon for all the Wrong Reasons” by Amy Tan
Week Ten (Nov. 6 - 10):
Topic: same theme, different stories
Read: Timothy Findley’s “Stones”
Read: Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible”
Week Eleven (Nov. 13 - 17):
* Nov. 17, in class essay *
Topic: reading and understanding essays about literature
Read: Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour”
Read: Mary E. Papke’s “On `Story of an Hour’”
Read: “Erdrich’s ‘The Red Convertible’” by Brian Sutton
Read: “Erdrich’s ‘The Red Converitible’” by Pratima Dutta
Week Twelve (Nov. 20 - 24):
- read: Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
- read: Susan Farrell’s “Fight Vs. Flight”
- read: John Gruesser’s “Walker’s ‘Everyday Use’”
Week Thirteen (Nov. 27 – Dec. 1):
* Dec. 1, research paper due *
Read: Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls”
Read: Marlene Goldman’s “Boys and Girls”
Participation:
Though attendance of all classes will help ensure that you receive a good participation
grade, mere attendance is not enough to receive the full 5% for participation. You must
also demonstrate that you are prepared for class and have read the assigned readings.
(The pop quizzes will help me determine if you have prepared for class). You must also
contribute to class discussions, activities and exercises. I understand that some students
may feel uncomfortable or shy about class participation but you must make an effort.
Attendance:
Late students can be very disruptive in class. If you are more than five minutes late for
class, you will not be allowed to enter the class and will be marked absent.
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You will lose one percent of your final grade for each day that you miss class without an
excused absence. In order to receive an excused absence, you must notify me before class
if you will not be able to attend and I will have to approve of your reason for not
attending. If you miss a class because you are sick, I may ask for a doctor’s note.
Late Papers:
Assignments must be handed in at the beginning of class on the day they are due; if they
are not, they will be considered late. Late papers will not be accepted unless you have
provided me with a legitimate reason well before the paper is due and I have accepted
that reason as legitimate. Computer failures and family or relationship problems are not
considered acceptable excuses for late papers. If you are ill and cannot hand in your paper
on time, I will require a doctor’s note and advance notification. If I receive a late paper
and have not already given permission for you to hand it in late, I will not grade it and it
will be considered incomplete.
Incompletes:
If you stop attending classes altogether or fail to hand in any of your assignments, you
will receive a grade of incomplete for the course. If you decide to withdraw from the
course, make sure to do so officially through registration or you will receive a grade of
incomplete.
Tutors and Outside Help:
If you decide to hire and/or get a tutor to help you with this course, you must inform me
that you have done so and provide me with a way to contact your tutor. Likewise, if you
receive help from anyone on your paper, you must inform me of this. No-one may write
or rewrite any portion of any of your assignments, for any reason, including a substantial
correction of your grammar. If anyone does, you will be guilty of academic dishonesty
(i.e. plagiarism) and will fail the assignment.
Plagiarism (Academic Dishonesty):
Plagiarism is a serious offence; it is theft. If any of your assignments are plagiarised,
either in full or in part, they will receive an automatic F. Please keep all your notes and
rough drafts of your assignments as I may ask to see them to help determine your
academic honesty. If you are unsure about how use citation in order to avoid plagiarism,
please refer to your College Style Sheet. If you have any further questions about
plagiarism, please feel free to discuss them with me in my office hours. In this course, we
will also discuss plagiarism and how to avoid it.
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