Tentative Syllabus
2013-14
First Quarter
The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
From Observations to Arguments
Approaching Poetry
Various Authors
Outside Reading #1
Second Quarter
The Interpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahiri
Oedipus Rex
Sophocles
Equus
Peter Shaffer
Outside Reading #2
Third Quarter
Poems about Animals
Various Authors
The Stranger
Albert Camus
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Woody Allen
Slaughterhouse Five
Kurt Vonnegut
Outside Reading #2
Fourth Quarter
Complicating Conventional Wisdom
Various Authors
The Intuitionist
Colson Whitehead
Poems about Animals
Various Authors
Homework and Paper Policy
Homework:
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Homework is due at the beginning of class. It must be present and complete to receive full
credit.
Missing or incomplete homework can be submitted at the beginning of the next class for ½
credit.
Homework will not be considered or awarded credit beyond this point.
Papers:
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Papers will suffer a 5% deduction each day during the first week that they are overdue.
After one week, no late paper will receive a grade above 65%.
After two weeks, no late paper will receive a grade above 50%.
After four weeks, late papers or projects will not be accepted and will receive no credit.
Being absent from class does not excuse you from the assignments that were due, or that were
assigned, on the day(s) you were absent. It is your responsibility to complete assignments that were
given during your absence, and to submit them as soon as you return to class.
A FEW RULES FOR EFFECTIVE WRITING
1. Use Paragraphs to indicate changes in subject or speaker.
Using paragraphs effectively helps you to organize your ideas and helps your reader to follow your thinking. When
you are writing dialogue, remember to begin a new paragraph every time your speaker changes.
2. Avoid sentence fragments
Sentences express complete thoughts. Sentences contain subjects (actors) and predicates (actions).
Avoid sentence fragments. Like this one.
3. Avoid Run-On Sentences
Many people believe that run-ons are simply long sentences. While many run-ons are long, they are runons because of the way that they are constructed or punctuated, not because of their length. A run-on
sentence occurs when complete ideas are joined incorrectly with a comma instead of a period or a semicolon or in other cases when there is no punctuation at all both of which lead to confusion and headaches
for the reader and therefore should be avoided, I know that you’ll pay particular attention to this
important rule and stay away from run-ons I always do.
4. Pronouns must agree in number with the words to which they refer
 Once a person makes up their mind, there is nothing that they can’t do.
– This is incorrect because “a person” refers to one person while “their” and “they” are plural.
 Once a person makes up her mind, there is nothing that she can’t do.
– This is acceptable because all pronouns here are singular and refer to the singular “a person.”
 Once a person makes up her/his mind, there is nothing that s/he can’t do.
– This is acceptable because all pronouns here are singular and refer to the singular “a person.”
 Once one makes up one’s mind, there is nothing that one can’t do.
– This is acceptable because all pronouns are singular, but it is also somewhat awkward.
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Once young people make up their mind, there is nothing that they can’t do.
This is acceptable because all pronouns are plural and refer to “young people,” which is also
plural.
5. Verb tenses should be logical and consistent
 Try to write about literature using the present tense; it is the most direct and accessible for your
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reader. Rather than saying “Romeo said” or “Holden thought,” use “Romeo says” or “Holden
thinks.”
Do not shift tenses without having a clear and specific reason for doing so.
It is really frustrating to read a sentence and being captivated by an idea only to discovered a
shift in verb tense, which makes the sentence hard to follow and left the reader to scratch his
head and questioned his own intelligence or sanity.
6. Titles must be punctuated appropriately; authors should be cited accordingly
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Titles of longer works – books, plays, movies, CD’s, periodicals, etc. – are underlined.
Titles of shorter works – poems, stories, songs, articles, essays, etc. – are placed in quotation
marks.
Some people take the easy way out and put all title in italics. While this isn’t the best way to
punctuate titles, it is better than not punctuating them at all.
When you introduce a work, try to include the work’s author or creator. If you refer to this
author again, refer to her/him by her/his last name.
7. Quotations should be punctuated appropriately
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Commas and Periods always go inside closing quotations marks.
Semi-colons and colons always go outside closing quotation marks.
Exclamation points and question marks can go either inside or outside of closing quotations,
depending on their relation to the quoted material.
Ex. “I love trash!” sang Oscar the Grouch.
Because the exclamation point applies to the words within the quotation marks, it goes
inside the closing quotation.
Ex. Who wrote “Smells Like Teen Spirit”?
Because the question mark applies to the whole sentence and not simply the words
within the quotation marks, the question mark goes outside the closing quotation mark.
8. Introductory elements of longer sentences should be set off with commas.
Ex. “Although I can’t begin to offer you anything like a satisfactory answer, I do like your question.”
9. Use commas before coordinating conjunctions when joining independent clauses.
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My sons like to read Captain Underpants, but my daughter is only interested in Elmo.
– Correct.
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She listens to soundtracks of awful movies, and I think that it may drive me crazy.
– Correct.
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I love to run on misty fall mornings and to cross country ski on bright winter afternoons.
– Correct. No comma is needed because “to cross country ski…” is a dependent clause.
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I love Peanut Butter, and Jelly.
- Incorrect. No comma is needed between items in a pair.
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I love Peanut Butter and Jelly on toast and, my son likes it with sliced bananas.
- Incorrect. – Commas go before, not after, coordinating conjunctions.
10. Do not confuse commas and semicolons
Semicolons can be used two ways:
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To separate items in a series that contain commas within them
Ex. My favorite cities are Paris, France; London, England; and White Plains, New York.
2.
To connect complete but related thoughts. In these instances, a semi-colon stands in for a period,
or for a comma and coordinating conjunction.
Ex. I went; she stayed.
He thinks that English class is a waste of time; he isn’t especially bright.
Some people think that napping is over-rated; it isn’t.
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Use paragraphs to indicate changes in subject or speaker.
Avoid sentence fragments
Avoid run-on sentences
Pronouns must agree in number with the words to which they refer
Verb tenses should be logical and consistent.
Titles must be punctuated appropriately
Quotations must be punctuated appropriately
Introductory elements of longer sentences should be set off with commas
Use a comma & coordinating conjunction to join independent clauses.
Do not confuse commas and semicolons.