Spring 2009
Phone: 604-323-5768
e-mail:gisaak@langara.bc.ca
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English 1127: Essay Writing and Short Prose Selections
Glenn Isaak
Office: A 118s
Office Hours:
to be announced in class early in the term
Description: This is a course in reading, writing and thinking. We will read and write various
kinds of essays, and, hopefully, learn to appreciate modern literature by reading, and writing
about, short stories.
Our primary goal in this course will be to master composition skills. The best way to do
this is to practice, practice, practice. The writing assignments are designed to give you that
practice. We will also study essays by accomplished writers with the aim of learning from their
examples.
We will read a number of short stories as well. Studying this kind of “imaginative”
writing offers oodles of benefits. We’ll learn to comment intelligently on what we’ve read, and
to appreciate literature for its own sake, on its own terms.
Successful completion of this course means that students should be able to:
* write a short college-level essay with a clear and significant thesis, effective paragraphs, and
coherent sentence structure
* analyse a short story using the elements of fiction and figures of speech
* do basic academic research
* understand and apply the principles of appropriate use of secondary sources
* understand and apply the principles of MLA documentation in academic writing
Required Texts:
The Mercury Reader: Essays
Introduction to Literature: Fiction
Furberg, J., and R. Hopkins College Style Sheet, 5th ed.
Strongly Recommended: a good handbook for writers and a good dictionary
Assignments:
Critical Summary ………...........................................................................................................10%
Argument Synthesis (in-class) ...................................................................................................10%
Research Essay Proposal............................................................................................................10%
Literary Analysis Essay (in class) .............................................................................................15%
Researched Argument Essay .....................................................................................................20%
Final Exam .................................................................................................................................25%
Attendance and Participation......................................................................................................10%
Grades and the percentages associated with them are as follows
95+ = A+
85+=A75+=B 65+=C+
55+=C90+=A
80+=B+
70+=B60+ =C
49-=F
50+=D
Reading/ Assignment Schedule *
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Readings must be completed at the beginning of the week in which they are assigned.
Jan 5-9: Course Overview; Read: “Trying to Write: The Essay and its Contents”; “Today’s Kids
are, Like, Killing the English Language. Yeah, Right.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jan 12-16: Read: “Don’t You Think It’s Time to Start Thinking?”; “”How to Mark a Book”;
“The Motive for Metaphor” Review Grammar
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jan 19-23: Read: “Speech Codes on the Campus and Problems of Free Speech”;
“The Case Against College”
Critical Summary Due
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jan 26-30: Read: “Politics and the English Language” “A Modest Proposal” “Lifeboat Ethics:
The Case Against Helping the Poor”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Feb 2-6: Read: “I’m Not Racist But…” ; I’m a Banana and Proud of It”; “In Defense of
Multiculturalism”; “My Body is my Own Business”; “Public and Private Language”; “What
Means Switch”; “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English”; “Me Talk Pretty One Day
Researched Argument Essay Proposal Due
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Feb 9-13: Individual Conferences Read: “Time to Think about Torture”; The Culture of
Martyrdom: How Suicide Bombing Became Not Just a Means But and End”; “Modern Witch
Hunts Fueled By Irrational Fear, Media”; “There is no Worldwide Terrorist Conspiracy”;
“Stereotyping of Arabs by the U.S. Ensures Years of Turmoil”; “The Connection Between
Militarism and Violence Against Women”; The Abu Graib Scandal: Sources of Sadism”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Feb 16-20: Finish Conferences Discuss Readings
(Spring Break Thursday, Friday: no classes)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Feb 23-27: Argument Synthesis Essay
Introduce the short story Read: “Silence” “Araby”;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------March 2-6: “Greasy Lake”; “Cathedral” Researched Argument Essay Due (Thursday)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------March 9-13: Individual Conferences : Oral Defence
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------March 15-19 : Finish Individual Conferences Read: “The Storm”; “The Masque of the Red
Death”;
Literary Analysis Essay (Thursday)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------March 23-27: “ A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”;
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------March 30-April 3 Read: “How to Become A Writer ”; “A Conversation with My Father”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------April 6-10 Review for Final
Last Day of Classes: April 7
Note: This schedule is tentative, and is subject to revision.