ENGLISH 0310 SPRING 2012 SYLLABUS
HCCS-CENTRAL
TUESDAY & THURSDAY N00N-2 P.M.
Iris Rozencwajg PhD
Office: FAC 319
iris.rozencwajg
CRN 76237
Phone: 713-718-6665/71
Office hours T Th 2 p.m.
Prerequisite: Placed into ENGL 0310 (or higher) in writing.
Required Texts: Buscemi and Smith,75 Readings Plus, 9th edition
The New McGraw-Hill Handbook TEXTS MAY BE RENTED from Bookstore
and are also available on Reserve in the Library to photocopy.
College-level dictionary—bring to every class (Oxford
recommended)
Other required materials: notebook with lined 8 ½ x 11” paper,
blue or black pens for in-class writing; bluebooks/greenbooks
for final exam (available in bookstore).
Students are responsible for the HCCS Student Handbook (online)
for HCCS policies and procedures and are also responsible for
MLA guidelines (online) for academic writing formatting. These
are in the Handbook and also online at PURDUE OWL.
Course Description: A course designed to prepare students for
ENGL 1301. ENGL 0310 provides a basic review of the principles
of grammar, usage, and mechanics and utilizes the writing
process to teach students to write short essays (around 500
words min.—two 12-point typed double-spaced pages with no extra
space between paragraphs). This two-hour class includes a lab
hour for grammar review.
By the end of this course, students should be able to
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use a variety of sentence patterns in writing;
comprehend and respond to assigned readings;
employ the writing process (planning, drafting, editing,
revising, and developing a thesis and topic sentences) in
assigned writings;
write a variety of essays using appropriate rhetorical
models such as narration, description, process analysis,
definition, division and classification,
comparison/contrast, example and illustration, cause and
effect, analogy, argument and persuasion; and
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incorporate the ideas and words of other writers into their
own essays, using established strategies and MLA formatting
for quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing, each with intext citations and a reference to a Works Cited entry.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend every class. You are
responsible for all material covered during an absence. Please
check with instructor for make-up assignments—not all
assignments may be made up. Instructor may drop a student with
more than 8 hours & 10 minutes (not classes) of absence
(includes tardiness and early departures) (the HCCS limit).
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: ENGLISH 0310
5 essays, in/out of class
50%
Instructor’s choice: responses, discussion, other 10%
Midterm in-class essay
20%
Final in-class essay
20%
Students must keep all essays and drafts throughout the semester
and be ready to produce them if asked for.
Students must be able to write satisfactory in-class essays in
order to pass this course, although that alone does not
guarantee course completion.
Students are expected to act in an academic/professional manner.
GRADING: DETERMINED BY YOUR PERFORMANCE on required papers as
well as on reading responses, grammar review, discussion in
class (based not exclusively on personal opinion but on facts
and opinions derived also from essays and handouts we will read
in class)
We use MLA style for quoting or paraphrasing the words of other
writers, and for citing sources. Find examples of these
essential skills on the MLA website, in our Handbook, or on
PURDUE OWL. See Grading Profile for ENGL 0310 standards.
Scholastic Honesty: Students are expected to act with honesty
and integrity in the writing of papers and during in-class
discussions. Plagiarism—unattributed use of another person’s
words or ideas—earns a ZERO for the assignment, no appeal.
IMPORTANT NOTICES
Students who must repeat a course face significant tuition/fee
increases at HCC and other Texas public colleges and
universities. If you are considering withdrawal, confer with
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your instructor/counselor as early as possible about your study
habits, reading and writing, test-taking skills, attendance,
class participation and opportunities for tutoring or other
assistance that might be available.
If you intend to withdraw from this course, do so before
Thursday, March 29th, at 4:30 p.m., or I will be forced to give
you an IP for this course if you are failing for the first time.
Students who stop attending class and do not withdraw themselves
prior to this deadline may either be dropped for excessive
absences or be assigned the final grade of FX, compared to an
earned grade of IP or F which are due to poor performance.
Please note that HCC will not disburse financial aid funding for
students who have never attended class. Students who receive
financial aid but fail to attend class will be reported to the
Department of Education and may have to pay back their aid. A
grade of FX is treated exactly the same as a grade of F in terms
of GPA, probation, suspension, and (un)satisfactory academic
progress.
Turn off all electronic equipment before entering class, and do
not charge your battery in this classroom, or I may give you a
zero for that class. Kill the vibrate and put such equipment
into a zippered container and put that bag or backpack on the
floor. Before you leave the room during an in-class assignment,
place your phone on my desk or risk suspicion of soliciting
outside help and receive a zero for that assignment.
REASONABLE ACCOMMOTAION: Any student with a documented
disability (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, vision,
hearing, other) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodation
must contact the Disability Support Services Office in LHSB
(Learning Hub) 106 on the first floor every semester. Phone 713718-6164 To visit the ADA website, log onto www.hccs.edu, click
Future Students, scroll down the page and click on Disability
Information.
SUPPORT SERVICES:
Tutoring is free and is required for this course. Check the door
of FAC 321b for the spring schedule.
The Library is located on the third floor of the Learning Hub.
Apply there for your FREE HCCS I.D.—required for use of Reserve
books and also for the copy machine.
Open Computer Labs are available for word processing in the
Computer Writing Lab in FAC 302 and in the Library.
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EGLS3—Evaluation for Greater Learning Student Survey System
At Houston Community College, professors believe that thoughtful
student feedback is necessary to improve teaching and learning.
During a designated time, you will be asked to answer a short
online survey of research-based questions related to
instruction. The anonymous results of the survey will be made
available to your professors and division chairs for continual
improvement of instruction. Look for the EGLS3 as part of the
Houston Community College Student System available online:
hccs.edu/EGLS3
Note: Instructor reserves the right to change course calendar
during the semester.
ENGLISH 0310
SPRING 2012
COURSE CALENDAR
Please read the week’s assignments the weekend before they’re
due. All readings are from 75 Readings Plus, 9th edition, unless
otherwise indicated and are due on the date they appear in this
calendar. Out-of-class essays (#1, #2, #3) are due at start of
class, typed, with all drafts included. The only correct heading
for each paper, including in-class assignments and reading
responses, must be as follows, in upper left corner:
Student’s first and last name
ENGL 0310
Rozencwajg
Month/day/year
Papers to be handed in must be stapled (with Grading Profile on
top) in upper left corner. Your seven major essays must include,
in this order, a packet of pertinent work:
GRADING PROFILE on top
FINAL DRAFT of essay, labeled, pages numbered
Other drafts and free writing for this essay
Assignment sheet for this essay on bottom
WEEK ONE
January 17-19
TUESDAY
DUE: Introduction to class, to books, to Grading
Profile, dictionary and to each other
Subject/Verb/Object
Diagnostic Essay (not for grade)
THURSDAY DUE: A picture from the Internet, newspaper, magazine
[The difference between description and response] a/an/the
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WEEK TWO
January 24-26
TUESDAY
DUE: Once More to the Lake 53; A Partial Remembrance
of a Puerto Rican Childhood 65
DESCRIPTION & NARRATION
Planning, Drafting, Editing, Revising: Stages of the Essay
See MLA-perfect Student Essay in Handbook 379-90
THURSDAY DUE: Coming to an Awareness of Language 21
The Plague 31 ****Essay #1 assigned, due Thurs., Feb. 9th
WEEK THREE
January 31-February 2
TUESDAY
DUE: Why Leaves Turn Color in the Fall 86 and Alone on
the Hilltop 98 PROCESS ANALYSIS Bring drafts of Essay #1
The English Sentence: PARTS OF SPEECH Handbook 478
THURSDAY DUE: Essay Draft with Thesis underlined—everything
depends on the THESIS (the topic sentences and each of their
paragraphs; the ARGUMENT governs all)
WEEK FOUR
February 7-9
TUESDAY
DUE: What is the one thing I want the reader to know?
Practicing PARAPHRASE, each twice as long as the original
THURSDAY
DUE: ****Essay #1, typed, # words, at start of class
WEEK FIVE
February 14-16
TUESDAY
DUE: Growing Up Asian in America 156
DIVISION & CLASSIFICATION
***********Essay #2 assigned, due Thursday, Feb. 23rd
THURSDAY DUE: The Men We Carry in Our Minds 212 and Two Ways to
Belong in America 221—list 10 important words from these essays
WEEK SIX
February 21-23
TUESDAY
DUE: For each of the words from Thursday, write its
part of speech, a full dictionary DEFINITION, and a sentence
that shows you understand the meaning of the word; then go on to
the next word and do all these things for that word, and so on
THURSDAY DUE: ****Essay #2, typed, # words, at start of class
MLA Works Cited, Handbook 389-90; practice using Hanging
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WEEK SEVEN
February 28-March 1
TUESDAY
DUE: A Few Kind Words for Superstition 233; Black Men
and Public Space 247 EXAMPLE & ILLUSTRATION
THURSDAY
***Essay #3 assigned: due Thursday, March 8th, #words
WEEK EIGHT
March 6-8
TUESDAY
Collaboration Projects Assigned, due Tues, March 27th
THURSDAY
******DUE: Essay #3 at start of class
********In-class Midterm Essay Exam, #4
SPRING BREAK
MARCH 11-17
NO CLASSES
WEEK NINE
March 20-22
TUESDAY
DUE: If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger
[. . .] 292; Our Oceans Are Turning into Plastic. . .Are We? 330
CAUSE & EFFECT (Note: each essay asks a question)
THURSDAY DUE: Am I Blue? 348 and The Cosmic Prison 360 ANALOGY
TODAY IS THE DEADLINE FOR REVISIONS OF ESSAYS 1, 2, 3 UNDER 70
WEEK TEN
TUESDAY
March 27-29
DUE: COLLABORATION PROJECTS Oral Presentations & Essay
THURSDAY TBA
Last day to withdraw from any course—4:30 p.m. deadline
WEEK ELEVEN
April 3-5
TUESDAY
DUE: Lifeboat Ethics 381 and The Details of Life 389
ARGUMENT ESSAYS
THURSDAY
count
*****Essay #5, in-class, in ink, lined paper, word
WEEK TWELVE
April 10-12
TUESDAY
DUE: Global Warming is Eroding Glacial Ice 413
Global Warming is not a Threat to Polar Ice 418
PERSUASION as a primarily rhetorical strategy
THURSDAY
TBA
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WEEK THIRTEEN
April 17-19
TUESDAY
Film with Writing Assignment
THURSDAY
MLA practice: 1st Works Cited; then in-text citations
WEEK FOURTEEN
April 24-26
TUESDAY
Handouts to analyze
THURSDAY
count
*********Essay #6, in-class, in ink, lined paper; word
WEEK FIFTEEN
May 1-3
TUESDAY
DUE: On Dumpster Diving 476 Analyzing and Argument
THURSDAY
Exam prep and conferences
WEEK SIXTEEN
NO CLASSES—FINAL EXAM THURSDAY MAY 10 12-2
Exam, Essay #7, must be written in blue or black ink in bluebook
or greenbook (available in bookstore), complete with word count,
or Instructor won’t read it.
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