KINGSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE (CUNY)
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH – SUMMER 2014
ENG 92A6-S24 (23361): DEVELOPING COMPETENCE IN READING AND WRITING
Dr. Amy Washburn
E-mail: amy.washburn@kbcc.cuny.edu
Site: www.amyleighwashburn.com
Phone: 718-368-5273
Office: F-331
Mailbox: C-309
Office Hours: M and W 10-10:30AM, T and TH 1-1:30PM, & by appointment
Reading and Writing Center: 718-368-5405, L-219
Course Description: English 92 is a pre-first-year course emphasizing the development of critical reading, writing, and thinking abilities necessary for success in college level courses.
Its primary purpose is to prepare students for the kinds of learning experiences they will encounter in college-level courses, both in English and in other disciplines.
Learning Outcomes (adapted from the Department of English):

Identifying and exploring issues of social and personal significance contained in class readings.

Using writing as a means of reading comprehension; understanding the connections between reading and writing, i.e., the use of reading logs and journals, as well as a variety of other low stakes responses to reading selections.

Paraphrasing and summarizing texts.

Generating both broad and local questions in relation to a topic and to a text, fostering critical thinking; utilizing questioning as a valuable mode of pre-writing and prereading; applying the use of questions to the revision process; bringing relevant questions to the discussion of themes and issues within the student’s writing.

Becoming familiar with the task of analyzing texts; recognizing, representing, and restating ideas expressed in separate texts; drawing connections and comparisons within and across texts; representing and responding to the complexity of an issue as it is presented in a text.

Creating and employing generalizations judiciously; expressing judgments succinctly and at appropriate places in an essay, being sure to demonstrate the process of critical thinking in coming to those judgments.
Required Texts:
•Son, Diana.
Stop Kiss . New York: Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 2000 (Blackboard)
•Additional critical readings (Blackboard)
•Additional writing and citation help available at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
•Access to a dictionary and thesaurus

2
Portfolio Requirements:
Students in English 92 must fulfill course attendance requirements and complete all assigned work.
Some of students’ work in the course will be contained in a course portfolio that students will submit to a committee of English 92 professors at the end of the term.
Only those students who complete all assigned work, including all essays (with appropriate drafts), will be permitted to submit a course portfolio.
The following items will be included in the course portfolio:
1.
A multiple-draft, reading-based, professor-guided essay
2.
An in-class essay
3.
A departmental final exam
4.
A score on the CUNY ACT Reading Exam
CUNY/ ACT Reading and CATW Writing Exams
In order to be eligible to take English 12: First-Year English I, students must pass two CUNY exams, one in reading and one in writing. If students pass both of these exams and receive a high pass on their portfolio, they will be permitted to register for English 12. If students fail either of the CUNY exams, they will not be permitted to register for English 12 until they pass the both the ACT and CATW exams in a future English course. Permission to take the CUNY exams only is granted to those students who meet the course requirements as defined by Kingsborough
Community College, the Department of English, and this syllabus.
Writing Procedures:
• You will engage in a process of composing (i.e., prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading) for all writing assignments.
• You will receive a wealth of feedback on your essays from your peers. You also will conference with me. Before you submit your final drafts, you will produce several drafts for each essay, including for peer review and professor review. You will present your papers to the class during writing workshops during the semester for feedback. If you fail to complete your rough drafts on time, you will not be eligible to take the ACT.
• You will have the opportunity to revise your essays. You will discuss your writing in informal conferences with me.
• You will be given ample feedback on each assignment before the next one is due. This feedback will allow you to learn from the comments and apply the comments to the next writing assignment.
Discussion Procedures:
• You will be well-prepared for all class discussions by doing all the assigned reading and writing prior to class.
• You will demonstrate your understanding and analysis of the readings by being fully engaged in class discussions.

3
• You will be respectful of your peers’ ideas and my ideas. (Being respectful also includes turning off cell phones and refraining from other disrespectful behaviors, such as sleeping, doing homework, texting, and leaving class for food, coffee, or phone calls.) You will be expected to turn off your cell phones. Failure to do so will result in an absence for each time your phone rings, or I catch you texting.
•Those of you who are not prepared, not engaged, and not respectful will be asked to leave class.
Civility: Kingsborough Community College is committed to the highest standards of academic and ethical integrity, acknowledging that respect for self and others is the foundation of educational excellence. Civility in the classroom and respect for the opinions of others is very important in an academic environment. It is likely you may not agree with everything which is said or discussed in the classroom, yet courteous behavior and responses are expected. Acts of harassment and discrimination based on matters of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, religion, and ability, etc., are not acceptable. As a Safe Zone ally, I promote strict enforcement of these rules. All students, faculty, and staff have a right to be in a safe environment, free of disturbance, and civil in all aspects of human relations.
Attendance:
Attending class is imperative, for that is when much of the discussing, writing, and critiquing will take place. I expect you to attend class regularly and punctually. You are allowed eight hours of absence before you are given an Unofficial Withdrawal (WU) in the course. An
“absence” is any time that you are not in class. There is no distinction between an “excused” and “unexcused” absence in college. Frequent lateness also counts towards absences. Absences do not allow extensions on papers. This course is only six weeks long, so you should make sure you are in class.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged (intentionally or unintentionally) use of summary, paraphrase, direct quotation, language, statistics, or ideas from articles or other information sources, including the Internet. You must cite according to MLA format, outlined in the recommended text. If you plagiarize all or part of a writing assignment, you will automatically receive an F on it, and it cannot be revised. If you repeat the offense, you will fail the course and/ or be reported to Office of the Dean of Student Affairs. At Kingsborough Community College, plagiarism falls under the larger heading of Academic Dishonesty and is adjudicated by the Office of the Dean of
Student Affairs. To read a detailed description of each form of Academic Dishonesty, as well as descriptions of sanctions that may be enforced, please see the Policy on Academic Integrity at http://www.kingsborough.edu/subadministration/sco/Documents/CUNYAcademicIntegrityPolic y.pdf.
Access-Ability: Kingsborough Community College provides accommodations to students with disabilities. If you have a documented disability and need supplemental accommodations in connection with this class, contact Access-Ability services directly; they are located in D-205 and their phone is: 718-368-5175. Please contact them as early in the semester as possible.

4
Schedule of Assignments: The following schedule is tentative and may change based on the needs of the class. All reading and writing assignments must be due prior to class.
Week One (6/19)
TH: Syllabus Distribution and Introductions
Week Two (6/23-6/26)
M: Overview of the ACT/ CATW
“Being Curious about Our Lack of Feminist Curiosity,” Cynthia Enloe (Blackboard)
–
Reader Response Due
T: “Acting in Concert,” Judith Butler (Blackboard)
–
Reader Response Due
W: In-Class ACT exam
TH: “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” Audre Lorde (Blackboard)–Reader Response Due
Week Three (6/30-7/3)
M: Thinking about Homosexuality,” Anne Fausto-Sterling (Blackboard) – Reader Response Due
In-Class CATW exam
T: “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh (Blackboard)
– Reader Response Due
W: In-Class ACT exam
TH: “Racism without Racists,” Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (Blackboard) – Reader Response Due
Week Four (7/7-7/10)
M: In-Class Essay
T: Stop Kiss , Diana Son, scenes 1-12 (Blackboard) – Reader Response Due
W: In-Class ACT exam
TH: Stop Kiss , Diana Son, scenes 13-23 (Blackboard) – Reader Response Due
Week Five (7/14-7/17)
M: Analytical Essay Rough Draft Due – Professor/ Peer Review
In-Class CATW exam
T: Analytical Essay Professor/ Peer Review
W: In-Class ACT exam
TH: Analytical Essay Professor/ Peer Review
Week Six (7/21-7/24)
M: Analytical Essay Revision Draft Due – Professor/ Peer Review
In-Class CATW exam
T: Analytical Essay Revision Professor/ Peer Review
W: In-Class ACT exam
TH: Analytical Essay Revision– Professor/ Peer Review
Week Seven (7/28-7/31)
M: Analytical Essay Final Draft Due – Course Wrap-Up
T: Final Portfolio Due – Course Wrap-Up
W: Circumstance
TH: Final Exam (TBA)

5
Kingsborough Community College, CUNY
English 92: Developing Competence in Reading and Writing
Dr. Amy Washburn – Summer 2014
Reader Response Journal
Overview
You are required to do regular responses of at least one to two pages to the each scheduled reading throughout the semester. They should be informal prose. I will be grading these responses more on content than on form. You will select one theme from a text, select at least one passage from a text, and analyze them. You should pick a topic, make an argument, and use at least one passage from the text to support your claims. You should not write summaries. You should not discuss personal experiences. You should not discuss current events. Rather, you should focus on discussing the text itself, and develop your own critical insights. For instance, you might decide to write about racial privilege in Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege.” You might decide to discuss McIntosh’s experiences with race and gender by focusing on the theme of housing. Was her neighborhood segregated/ gentrified? How did she react? Did she feel comfortable in her white communities? Did she feel out of place in communities populated by people of color? What were her neighbors like? What were their values and incomes? What does acknowledging her racial privilege do or not do to challenge discrimination? How does her gendered marginalization limit her voice, even with racial privilege? One of these ideas may be your focus and argument. Then you should locate at least one passage from the text to support your ideas about this topic. These responses must demonstrate that you have read the works, and thought critically about themes within them over the course of your reading. In addition, you should demonstrate that you can do close readings of the texts by pulling examples from them and analyzing their significance. The journals function to assess whether or not you have fulfilled the reading assignments. They replace quizzes. They promote critical discussion in class. They also will help you generate ideas for your analytical essay.
Grading Checklist
• You should check the passages you highlighted, underlined, and or annotated while reading.
• You should refer to specific realizations you have come across while reading.
• You should record the passages that you find intellectually stimulating.
• You should demonstrate why passages are essential to your interpretation by providing your own critical insights/ reasons.
• You should ask yourself the following questions: “what,” “how,” and “why”—what something is, how something happens or should happen, and why something exists or occurs. What is your topic? How can you argue your stances on the topics by giving examples and using the texts?
Why are you arguing for this stance, and are you analyzing the reasons you provide?

6
Kingsborough Community College, CUNY
English 92: Developing Competence in Reading and Writing
Dr. Amy Washburn – Summer 2014
Analytical Essay
Due 7/14 (Rough Draft), 7/21 (Revision), & 7/28 (Final Draft)
Overview
The purpose of analytical writing is to argue your interpretation, perspective, point of view, or slant on particular works. It should lure people to your way of thinking or, at the very least, to make them aware of your views. You should not include summaries or personal experiences.
Instead, you should show your own critical understanding of Diana Son’s play Stop Kiss and one essay we read in class—what you think of them. You should shape your subject matter in a sophisticated and persuasive way. You should consider subject, occasion, and point of view as readers and writers for a general audience. You should narrow down your topics by a theme.
Then you must make a solid argument that contains several main ideas that support your purpose. For instance, you might explore the theme of corrective assault in Diana Son’s Stop
Kiss . Why is Sara the target of a hate crime? How does violence function as a form of heterosexual social control? How does she respond? Why does she respond this way? How does she resolve her conflict? You might make an argument about bravery or survival. In addition, you could use Fausto-Sterling to discuss sexual identity, behavior, and desire. One of these ideas could be your focus and argument. However, then you must find specific passages from the texts that show this argument. You must use specific textual evidence--quote and paraphrase--to support your central arguments. You must explain and analyze why you are using the passages to build your arguments in all paragraphs. For this reason, you should not under-quote or overquote material. All of your citations for passages should be cited according to MLA format (see the citation guide below and on Blackboard for further assistance).
You should organize your essay in a way that shows your introduction, purpose, point of view, audience, central argument and main ideas, forms of supporting evidence, and conclusion. You should check for coherence within and between paragraphs, as well as proofread your work for errors in grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling. You should think hard, think deep, and write an analytical essay of approximately five to six pages that shows your thematic interpretation of
Diana Son’s Stop Kiss and your favorite essay read in class. You may select any theme and passages from the play and essay that you want. You should submit all drafts and peer reviews.
Your paper should be double-spaced, typed, and stapled, have one inch margins all around, be
12 point Times New Roman font, and have a proper heading with your full name, my full name, the full course title and section, date, and a title.
Grading Checklist
•You should write an introduction that has a strong hook or captivating opening (i.e., quote, anecdote, or question).
• You should synthesize your central arguments and main ideas.
• You should write in a professional tone by removing or revising personal experiences and reflections. Instead, you should focus on social and cultural commentary about the texts for your body/ middle paragraphs.
• You should save passages from the texts you enjoyed and used in your journals, yet locate additional passages that further support your critical insights.

7
• You should explain and analyze why the passages you chose are important. You should support your claims by adding additional topic paragraphs.
• You should include a conclusion that neither summarizes your introduction nor includes topics that you did not discuss in your essay. It should focus on wrapping up your portfolio.
•You should develop and organize your sentences and paragraphs coherently, with clear topic sentences, a clear focus, and strong examples.
• You should revise your essay with a close eye on eliminating any grammatical and mechanical errors.
Citation Guide
•Remember to include all drafts.
•Remember to include a proper heading.
•Remember to craft a creative title. (i.e., “Analytical Essay,” “Son and Fausto-Sterling,” or
“Sexuality” are not creative).
•Remember to do parenthetical references in MLA format. For instance, according to MLA format, all references for plays should have the author’s last name, the act, scene, and line numbers in parentheses followed by a period. For instance, Sara says, “. . .” (Son 1.2 25-28). If
“Son” is in a sentence, just write the page number. For instance, Son writes, “. . .” (1.2 25-28).
For parenthetical citations from other sources, such as books and journal articles, you should cite the author’s last name and page number at the end of the sentence, i.e., (Lorde 7).
•Remember a passage that is more than four lines long needs to be indented, but you should avoid citing long passages and select just the most relevant passages.
•Remember that periods and commas always go in quotes and that only quotes within quotes have single quotes.
•Remember to do a Works Cited page. No secondary sources are required, but if you wish to use them, you can do so.
For a book, the MLA citation is:
Brady, Evelyn et al. In the Footsteps of Anne: Stories of Republican Women
Ex-Prisoners . Belfast: Shanway Press, 2011.
For an article in a book, the MLA citation is:
James, Joy. “Framing the Panther: Assata Shakur and Black Female Agency.”
Want to Start a Revolution?: Radical Women in the Black Freedom Struggle . Ed. David
F. Gore, Jeanne Theoharis, and Komozi Woodard. New York: New York University
Press, 2009. 138-160.
For a journal article, the MLA citation is:
Butler, Judith. “Critique, Dissent, Disciplinarity.”
Critical Inquiry . 35.4. (Summer 2009):
773-795.
For a website, the MLA citation is:
Goodman, Amy. “Deportations Continue Despite Review of Immigrants with Family
Ties.”
Democracy Now!
7 June 2012. Headlines. <www.democracynow.org>.

8
In-Class Exam
You will take an in-class exam in which you will write an essay in class on a theme in one of the short essays we read in class. As the time draws closer, I will let you know what the topic will be. This exam cannot be revised. It must be included in your portfolio.
Departmental Final Exam
An in-class exam is given by the Department of English in English 92. At the end of the semester, you will take this reading-based exam, and it will be included in your final portfolio. It will be evaluated along with the material you have done in class. The final exam is short answer and multiple choice.