English 125 1
Department of English
York College/CUNY
ENG 125: PQ
Spring 2014
2A05, T, Th 2:00-3:50
Heather Robinson
Office: AC-2A16A
E-mail: hrobinson@york.cuny.edu
Phone: (718) 262-2479
Course Outline
English 125
Composition I: Introduction to College Writing
Course Description:
ENG125 Composition I: Introduction to College Writing. 3 hr + 1 hr conference, 3 cr. This course introduces
students to academic reading and writing practices and strategies through close reading, textual analysis,
writing, and revision. Focusing primarily on expository, analytical, and academic texts, students develop their
critical thinking skills and are introduced to the fundamentals of college-level research. Students will spend
one hour per week in conferences, collaborative learning activities, or peer review. This course may be
offered as an online course. Preq: By placement exam.
Learning Objectives
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Read and listen critically and analytically, including identifying an argument’s major assumptions and
assertions and evaluating its supporting evidence.
Write clearly and coherently in varied, academic formats (such as formal essays, research papers, and
reports) using standard English and appropriate technology to critique and improve one’s own and
others’ texts.
Demonstrate research skills using appropriate technology, including gathering, evaluating, and
synthesizing primary and secondary sources.
Support a thesis with well-reasoned arguments, and communicate persuasively across a variety of
contexts, purposes, audiences, and media.
Formulate original ideas and relate them to the ideas of others by employing the conventions of ethical
attribution and citation.
Course Title:
Section:
Meeting Times:
Room:
Course Instructor:
Email:
Office:
Office Hours:
English 125, Composition I: Introduction to College Writing
125:PQ
Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00-3:50 pm.
AC-2A05
Dr. Heather Robinson
hrobinson@york.cuny.edu
2A16A
Tuesdays, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, unless otherwise announced. You are also
free to make an appointment at any time.
Required Texts
Comley, Nancy R., David Hamilton, Carl H. Klaus, Robert Scholes, Nancy Sommers and Jason Tougaw.
Fields of Reading. 10th edition. (Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2012.)
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Grading:
Final grades ranging from A to F will be based upon completion of all course requirements (writing and
reading assignments, class participation and attendance) and the Final Examination. The three formal
papers will make up the bulk of your grade, as outlined below:
Assignment
Percentage of final grade
1. Paper #1 (3-4 pages)
2. Paper #2 (3-4 pages)
3. Paper #3 (4-6 pages)
4. Annotated Bibliography
5. Department Final Exam
6. Homework, Quizzes, Attendance and Participation, and In-class writing
15%
25%
30%
10%
10%
10%
Note: Formal assignments that do not meet the assignment requirements will receive a zero (0) grade.
Attendance Policy: Your success in this class depends on regular and punctual attendance. The English
Department's policy for multiple section courses such as this one is:
 Students in classes that meet twice a week may miss no more than five (5) sessions. Six (6) absences
are grounds for failure.
 Missing 15 minutes of class—arriving late, departing early, or leaving during class–counts as half an
absence.
Classroom Courtesy
Please arrive on time and stay in the room throughout the entire class period. Perhaps once a semester you
may need to answer an emergency call of nature, but walking in and out during classtime is distracting and
rude to the rest of the class. Certainly there is no reason to do this regularly. Turn off all cellphones when the
class starts.
Communication
The best way to reach me is via email. I will try to respond in 24 hours; occasionally it may take a little longer.
One of the first things I’d like you to do after class is to send me an email from your York College email
address, to hrobinson@york.cuny.edu. This will get your email address in my address book, and it will help
you to work out any glitches with your York College email address. Blackboard sends emails to York College
email addresses, so you will miss out on a lot if you don’t check this email address.
If you’re having problems with an assignment, if something that I have asked you to do is unclear, if you’re
having personal issues – anything! – let me know as soon as you can, either in person, or via email. I will try
my best to help you, but I can’t know if you are having trouble if you don’t tell me. In a face-to-face class, the
dynamic that I see in the classroom helps me to figure out who needs help, but we don’t have that kind of
indirect communication in this online class. The only way I know what’s going on is if you tell me, or if you
disappear. The first option is a much better one!
Information about Assignments
All assignments are due at the beginning of class. They should be appropriately printed and stapled. Anyone
who is missing from the beginning of class, or leaves class to go and print an assignment, will be marked
late. Do your printing before class starts.
No Late Assignments
I will not accept late assignments, except due to extenuating circumstances. You must tell me about any
problems that you are having before the assignment is due. I do give extensions under some circumstances;
I do not give extensions when they are requested after the assignment is due. If you know that you will miss
a class, please email me your work, at hrobinson@york.cuny.edu, before the beginning of class. Work that is
submitted via email after class starts will considered not to have been submitted.
Format
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All formal assignments must be submitted in a typed-document. I will accept documents in a .doc, .docx .rtf,
.txt, or .odt format. Many PCs come with Microsoft Works installed. I cannot read .wps files. Use Microsoft
Word, Open Office, NeoOffice, or Wordpad or Notepad if you don’t want to be bothered changing the file
type (all word processors can save files as .rtf and .txt). Written assignments that are submitted via
documents in the .wps format will be marked late, because it will take a little while for me to email you, and
for you to resubmit the file in the right format. If you need help, let me know (send me an email or call) at
least one day before the assignment is due, and I will help you.
Academic Integrity Statement
A violation of academic integrity is any instance when a student attempts to pass off someone else’s words
or ideas as their own, no matter where s/he obtained those words or ideas, and no matter where these ideas
are presented. We practice using quotation and citation in this course so you can benefit from others’ ideas,
while attributing them appropriately. There is nothing wrong with representing someone else’s ideas in your
work; you just have to give them credit. Additionally, there is nothing wrong with getting help on an
assignment, but the final product must be predominantly the result of your own work. All academic integrity
violations in English 125 will result in an F (zero) on the assignment, and/or a failing grade in the course,
and/or referral to York College’s Academic Integrity officer.
York College gives four definitions of types of academic integrity violation (these definitions can be found in
the York College policy on academic integrity, which I have linked to below):
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Cheating: Cheating is the unauthorized use or attempted use of material, information, notes, study aids,
devices or communication during an academic exercise.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research or writings as your own.
Obtaining Unfair Advantage: Obtaining Unfair Advantage is any activity that intentionally or
unintentionally gives a student an unfair advantage in his/her academic work over another student.
Falsification of Records and Official Documents
York College’s policies and procedures concerning academic integrity can be found here:
http://www.york.cuny.edu/president/legal-compliance/legal-affairs/cuny-legal-policiesprocedures/Academic-Integrity-Policy.pdf/
For more information about plagiarism, see the description in the The York College Bulletin.
http://york.cuny.edu/produce-and-print/contents/bulletin and Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab resource,
“Avoiding Plagiarism,” http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html
York College Resources
Computers with word processing software and internet access are available in the library and in computer
labs.
York College Library: http://york.cuny.edu/library
York College Computer Labs: http://york.cuny.edu/it/acet/computer-labs
York College Writing Center: http://york.cuny.edu/student/writing-center
Located in the Academic Core 1C18, The Writing Center assists students with writing skills. The Center
offers scheduled tutoring, drop-in tutoring and workshops. For more information, stop by, call (718) 2622494, or check the Writing Center Website.
English as Second Language (ESL) Tutoring Center
Tutoring is available for ESL students in Academic Core 3C08. Call (718) 262-2831 for schedule.
Students with Disabilities
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Students with disabilities may contact the STAR Program to learn about and gain access to resources
available to them at the college. See their website at http://www.york.cuny.edu/student-development/star for
more details.
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Class Schedule (Subject to Change)
Week 1
Week
Week 2
Tues
1/28
Thurs
1/30
Tues
2/4
Thurs
2/6
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Tues
2/11
Thurs
2/13
Tues
2/18
Thurs
2/20
Tues
2/25
Thurs
2/27
Tues
3/4
Thurs
3/6
Week 7
Tues
3/11
Thurs
3/13
Week 8
Week 9
Week
10
Week
11
Tues
3/18
Thurs
3/20
Tues
3/25
Thurs
3/27
Tues
4/1
Thurs
4/3
Tues
4/8
Reading Assignment 1: George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/everythingsanargument4e/content/cat_020/Orwell_Shooting.pdf
Orwell reading questions due
Reading Assignment 2: James Baldwin, If Black English Isn’t A Language, Tell Me What Is
Baldwin reading questions due
Formal Paper Assignment #1 distributed: How does institutional power shape an
individual’s reality?
Formulating a paragraph that uses evidence to respond to the assignment prompt.
-choosing quotations that make claims or give examples
Tomorrow is the last day to withdraw without a W
Reading assignment 3, Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue.”
Writing connections between quotations
Sontag reading questions due.
Incorporating quotations
Rough draft of paper #1 due
Peer review of first rough draft
Developing a thesis; reverse outlining
No class: Classes will follow a Monday schedule
Introductory paragraphs
Final Paper #1 due
Judith Lorber, Social Construction of Gender
Lorber reading questions due
Revisiting paragraph structure: claims and evidence
Reading assignment 5: Stephen Jay Gould, Women’s Brains
Gould questions due
Choosing quotations for evidence
Formal Paper Assignment #2 distributed: What tools do others use to define us? How
can those definitions be damaging? How can we resist that damage and/or those
definitions? How can we create a culture that doesn’t do so much damage?
Reading Assignment 6: Marjane Satrapi, The Veil
Using graphic novels as evidence
Developing a research question on the topic “Looking at Other Bodies.” Defining focus for this
topic in class.
Satrapi reading questions due
First library/computer lab visit: keyword searches, and evaluating sources for reliability and
relevance.
Making connections between texts; writing topic sentences
Evaluating evidence and using it to support claims.
Rough draft of paper #2 due
Peer review #2
Working on the research question; connecting the research question to sources
Final draft of paper #2 due
Reading Assignment #7: Gloria Anzaldua, How to Tame a Wild Tongue.
Annotated bibliography assigned
MLA citations. What are citations for?
Anzaldúa questions due
Second library/computer lab visit: keyword searches, limiting results, and evaluating sources.
Research question due.
Writing an annotated bibliography entry
Reading assignment #8: José Antonio Vargas, My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant
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SPRING
BREAK
SPRING
BREAK
Week
12
Week
13
Week
14
Week
15
Thurs
4/10
Tues
4/15
Thurs
4/17
Tues
4/22
Thurs
4/24
Tues
4/29
Thurs
5/1
Tues
5/6
Thurs
5/8
Tues
5/13
Thurs
5/15
Vargas Questions due
Working with your sources: how do they help you to answer your research question?
No class
No class
No class
Peer review of two annotated bibliography entries
Reading Assignment #9: Tina Fey, “Lessons from Late Night.”
Final Draft of Annotated Bibliography Due
Paper #3 Assigned: Using the Anzaldúa and Vargas essays and ONE other essay that you
have read this semester, please consider the following question:
How do we define legitimacy? What markers of status do we use to create a legitimate
identity for ourselves, and what do others use? Where should the definition of legitimacy
come from? Ourselves or others?
Fey questions due
Rough Draft of Paper #3 due
Peer review #3
Final draft of paper #3 due
Practice Exam
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