ENGL 101H, Fall, 2015
Dr. Harnett
TuTh Week 1 Class Notes, page 1
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
 Welcome to GCC and to ENGL 101H! This is the Honors section of Freshman
Composition.
 Supplemental Instruction Leaders: Viktoriya Shumakova, Tatianna Giron, and
Carina Nalbandian. SI Information. You are required to attend at least 5 SI
sessions this semester. These sessions are designed to support you further with
your writing.
 Scholars Announcements:
o Meet with me to sign your Scholars Program Contract if you have not yet
done so.
o Sign up for a committee if you have not already done so.
o Be sure that you are receiving Scholars emails and that you are on the list
correctly.
 About me and my academic career: see my CV on the website. Dr. Michael C.
Harnett. From Ojai, CA. Attended USC, Claremont Graduate University,
University of Texas, UC Santa Barbara (Ph. D. in Educational Psychology, with a
particular focus on student motivation to learn); also I received a grant from
National Endowment for the Humanities to study William Blake at UC Berkeley.
My Teaching: I’ve taught since 1986, including at The University of Texas at
San Antonio, St. Mary’s University of Texas, UC Santa Barbara, and several
community colleges in Texas and California. I’ve taught since 1997 at GCC.
Here, most recently I have been teaching ENGL 101, 101H, 102, 102H, 105, 106;
HUMAN 105, 105H, 120. I also have a Faculty Service Area in Psychology, and I
have taught Introduction to Educational Psychology (PSYC 150). I’m committed
to helping you to progress in your critical thinking and academic writing, as
a foundation in any discipline for your transfer to a university and your
career preparation. Please know that you can rely on me for help and advice
as you prepare applications, personal statements, and other things related to
your college work, career planning, and your overall motivation and wellbeing. I’m glad to be of help to you in any way I can. Please feel free to
contact me and visit me.
 Office: LB 216, which is also the Scholars Program Office. Please note: If I need
to change these times on any day, I’ll place a note on my office door and/or I’ll
make an announcement on my website’s main page (see below).
 Websites: http://mharnett.weebly.com/
o Please check the main page and your class’ 101H page regularly for
announcements and updates. I’ll post my class notes and course materials
each week. You access each page within the main class page by hovering
the cursor over that page’s link, and the successive links will appear.
 Scholars Program Website: http://gccscholars.weebly.com/
o Email: mharnett@glendale.edu. Backup email: mharnettgcc@gmail.com.
Scholars email: scholars@glendale.edu.
o I’m on Facebook as well, as part of the GCC Scholars group.
 Course Overview—syllabus
ENGL 101H, Fall, 2015
Dr. Harnett
TuTh Week 1 Class Notes, page 2
 Books—get both texts now, and I recommend a grammar and MLA
documentation handbook such as A Writer’s Reference. In addition, I have
tentative plans for us to see a performance of The Importance of Being Earnest,
and although that source is available online (linked in the syllabus), you might
very well prefer to have a paper copy of it.
 Policies
 In-class work and assignments: Save all work you do in class and have it ready
for me to grade after each class.
 Grading, other info., & questions from you
 Emails: Note that due to FERPA regulations, I have to communicate with you
using your GCC student email.
 Library Workshops (attend 3) and SI requirements (attend 5+).
 Out of Class Activities!
o Hikes! Since our first book addresses hiking, we will do one, then, if there
is interest, I will arrange several other, progressively longer hikes
throughout the year. More information on these soon. There is already
some interest in a Mt. Wilson hike.
o Basketball! I and a group of current and former students play each week,
starting later this semester, 8:00-10:00 AM in the Gym. It will be on either
Fridays or Saturdays.
o Running, Golf, Tennis, Bowling,….
o Other?
[Allow at least 1 hour for discussion of readings and writing the Diagnostic Essay.]
3 Readings to complete and discuss today—look for quotes and ideas in them to use
for today’s writing sample (note that these sources are not listed in MLA format):

Rebecca Block & Lynda Hoffman-Jeep, “Fashioning National Identity: Frida Kahlo
in ‘Gringolandia.’ Woman's Art Journal, Vol. 19, No. 2. (Autumn, 1998 - Winter,
1999), pp. 8-12.
 Available on my website as a PDF
The following two selections are available as Word and PDF documents on the website.
 Sandra Cisneros, “My Name” at http://theliterarylink.com/mangostreet.html

Hugh Gallagher, “The Ultimate College Application Essay”
http://www.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/essay.html
Discuss the readings and selected examples indicating authors’ impressions they create
vs. the “real them.” Is identity changeable or stable? Why do people seek new identities?
Note that research works this way, in that you come up with an idea, then seek support
for it through sources. The papers for this class are all research papers in the sense that
they do these things:
1. They ask you move beyond basic statements in order to come up with a deep
point as the thesis, an insight that is meaningful to share with others.
ENGL 101H, Fall, 2015
Dr. Harnett
TuTh Week 1 Class Notes, page 3
2. They demand systematic logic, relevant examples from sources, and clear
explanations of ideas to support the thesis insight.
Writing Sample (15 minutes to prepare; 30 minutes to write)
 Prompt and sample with some reminders about writing essays
 Organizing the essay: choose examples and find the best way to use
them as support for your thesis
 Intro and thesis
 Development of supporting ideas and examples
 Conclusion
 Drafting
 Revising and editing
Complete your essay by the end of the period and hand it in. Make sure to follow MLA
format; see the pages that follow the prompt.
For Next Time:
 Buy all books for the course. Read Bryson, A Walk in the Woods, Chapters 1-3.
Be ready for a quiz. Consult the syllabus to see what is assigned for each class
meeting. Always bring any book or assigned reading we are covering to class,
printed out or, as applicable, saved as a document on your flash drive or email.
Being prepared with materials, and having read and annotated them, is part of
your participation grade.
 Sign up online on the GCC Library’s website for 3 library research workshops.
Do this now! The workshops will be full later, and they are a requirement.
 You will need to attend at least 5 of the SI’s for this course. There are
opportunities to attend over 25 SI’s over the course of the semester, so 5 is a
minimum. I encourage you to do two things: attend more than 5 SI and to see me
in my office as often as possible.
 Especially if you are in your first year of college, you are making a transition in
that the responsibility for planning, completing work, learning, taking initiative,
and being motivated, to name a few main things, depends much more on you than
ever before. You determine your own success. So I invite you to meet with me
and consult me as much as you’d like as that I can be of the most support for you.
You are in your career apprenticeship now, so in these few years, it’s important to
do your very best—and again, I am here to help you along in that great endeavor.