Revised Course Schedule/Grading
Freshman Composition
Dr. Julia Carpenter
The final course grade will be based on the following:
Category
Participation in Group Activities and Discussions, Peer Reviews and
Attendance
(14 sessions at 20 points each session)
Quizzes (7 quizzes at 20 points each)
Response Essays
(5 response essays based on readings, 28 points each)
Essay #1: Narrative Essay
(Rough draft -100 points , Final Draft-320 points)
Essay #2: Descriptive Essay
(Rough draft – 100 points , Final Draft- 320 points)
Essay #3: Definition Essay
Essay #4: Comparison and Contrast Essay
(Rough draft-100 points , Final Draft-320 points)
Essay #5: Argument Essay
(Rough draft – 100 points , Final Draft -460)
Presentation
Total Points
280
Percentage
10%
140
140
5%
5%
420
15%
420
15%
280
420
10%
15%
560
20%
140
2800
5%
100
Grading Scale:
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F 59 and below
NOTE: Bring 75 Readings Plus to Every Class Session. Response Readings will require using the text as a reference.
1
Date
Topics
Due for this Class Date
5
09/24

Rough Draft –
Descriptive Essay




Global Comments – Narrative
Essays
Sentence Fragments Exercise
Adjectives and Adverbs
Exercise
Run-on Sentences Exercise
Dialogue in Narrative Essay
Exercise
Homework – To Read in Preparation
for Following Week
The Little Seagull Handbook

75 Readings Plus
Process Analysis


In-Class
Response Essay Based on:




W-3f (Revising, Editing and
Proofreading)
James Baldwin “Fifth Avenue,
Uptown”
Ellen Goodman’s “The Company
Man”
2
“Process Analysis” pages 84-85
Dane Ackerman “Why Leaves
Turn Color in the Fall”
Peter Elbow “Desperation
Writing”
Richard Marius “Writing Drafts”
Homework To Turn In the Following
Week
Brainstorming Sheet for Descriptive
Essay (prewriting)
Response Essay on James Baldwin’s
“Fifth Avenue” and Ellen Goodman’s
“The Company Man” Due 10/1/14
Date
Topics
6
10/01
Lecture Topic




Citing and Integrating
Quotations
Cooperative Group Activity – InText Citations
Practice Peer Reviewing Sample
Descriptive Essay
Peer Review Descriptive Essay
Due for this Class Date
Response Essay #1 on
James Baldwin’s “Fifth
Avenue” and Ellen
Goodman’s “The
Company Man”
Homework – To Read in Preparation
for Following Week
The Little Seagull Handbook






Characteristics of a Definition
Essay
Structure and Steps for
Developing a Definition Essay
Quiz on 75 Readings Plus #3
Defining p.22-23
S-7 Parallelism p. 256
Shifts (Tense, Point of View) p.
287
Final draft of Essay #2: Descriptive
Essay (10/08/14)
75 Readings Plus







7
10/08
Homework To Turn In the Following
Week
Final draft of Essay #2:
Descriptive Essay
(10/08/14)
75 Readings Plus


3
Be Prepared for Response Essay Quiz
based on 75 Readings Plus
Definition


 Assignment Essay #3 Definition
Essay
Division and Classification p.148149
Predictable Crises of Adulthood
Gail Sheehy
The Truth about Lying
Judith Viorst
What Secrets Tell Luc Sante
The 12 Most Annoying Types of
Facebookers Brandon Griggs
“Definition” pg 114-114
Jo Goodwin Parker’s “What is
Poverty”
Gloria Naylor “Meanings of a
Word”
Joseph Epstein “The Green-Eyed
Monster: Envy is Nothing to Be
Jealous Of”
Essay #3 Definition Essay
Date
Topics
8
10/15

Response Essay #2 based on 75
Readings Plus Readings

Intro to Comparison and
Contrast
Due for this Class Date
Homework – To Read in Preparation
for Following Week
Handbook
Essay #3 Definition
Essay


Homework To Turn In the Following
Week
Rough Draft Essay #4: Comparison
and Contrast Essay
Comparing and Contrasting p. 21
Appropriate Words p.289
75 Readings Plus
Comparison and Contrast
In-Class Activities


Discuss and Analyze Readings

Grammar Corner




Appropriate Words
(Formal and informal, Jargon
and Cliches)
Bruce Catton “Grant and Lee: A
Study in Contrasts”
Mar Twain’s “Two Views of
Mississippi”
Suzanne Britt “Neat People vs.
Sloppy People”
Bharati Mukherjee “Two Ways to
Belong in America”
Assignment Sheet: Comparison and
Contrast Essay #4
9
10/22
Lecture
In-Class Activities


Rough Draft Essay #4:
Comparison and
Contrast Essay
The Little Seagull Handbook

Response Essay #3 based on 75
Readings Plus Readings
75 Readings Plus
Discuss and Analyze Readings
Cause and Effect
Grammar Corner


Unnecessary Words p.306

Unnecessary Words (really, very
)
Wordy phrases and
Redundancies

4
Barbara Dafoe “Where Have All
the Parents Gone”
Phillip Meyer “If Hitler Asked You
to Electrocute a Stranger Would
You? Probably”
Final Draft Essay #4: Comparison and
Contrast Essay
Date
Topics
10
10/29
Lecture Topic

Cause and Effect
Due for this Class Date
Rough Draft Essay #4:
Comparison and
Contrast Essay
Homework – To Read in Preparation
for Following Week
 K.C. Cole “The Arrow of Time”
The Little Seagull Handbook

In-Class Activities



Quiz on 75 Readings Plus #4
Discuss and Analyze Readings
Peer Review – Rough Drafts of
Comparison and Contrast Essay
11
11/5
Argument

Editing for Clarity Exercise
Commas and Semicolons
Comma Fun
Lecture Topic

Characteristics of Argument
Response Essay #4 based on 75
Readings Plus Readings


Discuss and Analyze Readings
Assign Argument Essay
Final Draft Essay #4:
Comparison and
Contrast Essay
The Little Seagull Handbook



W-7 Arguments (p. 43-48)
Italics p.349
Hyphens p. 345
75 Readings Plus
Argument


Grammar Corner

Janet Kornblum “Tapping into
Text Messaging”
Michael Rubinkam “Texting in Class is
Rampant”
In-Class Activities

Final Draft Essay #4: Comparison and
Contrast Essay
Be Prepared for Response Essay Quiz
on 75 Readings Plus Readings
75 Readings Plus
Grammar Corner



P-1 Commas and Semicolons (p.
324-330)
Homework To Turn In the Following
Week
Italics
5
Nat Hentoff: Should This Student
Have Been Expelled?
Alan Dershowitz “Shouting Fire!”
Be Prepared for Quiz on 75 Readings
Plus Readings
Rough Draft Essay #5 Argument Essay
Date
Topics

12
11/12
Rough Draft Essay #5
Argument Essay
The Little Seagull Handbook


Analyzing Arguments
In-Class Activities



Homework – To Read in Preparation
for Following Week
Homework To Turn In the Following
Week
Hyphens
Lecture Topic

Due for this Class Date
P-4 Quotation Marks p.333-337
MLA Style (pages 109-157)
75 Readings Plus
Quiz on 75 Readings Plus #5
Peer Review of Argument Essay
Grammar Corner
Argument

Quotation Marks

6
Andrew Revkin “Global Warming
is Eroding Glacial Ice”
Phillip Stott “Cold Comfort for
Global Warming”
Final Draft Essay #5 Argument Essay
Be Prepared for Reponse Essay Quiz
on 75 Readings Plus Readings
Date
Topics
13
11/19
Lecture

Persuasive Strategies
In-Class Activities

Response Essay #5 based on 75
Readings Plus Readings
Due for this Class Date


Final Draft Essay
#5 Argument Essay
Be Prepared for
Quiz on 75
Readings Plus
Readings
Homework – To Read in Preparation
for Following Week
The Little Seagull Handbook

75 Readings Plus



Grammar Corner

In-Class Activities

Discuss and Analyze Readings
P-4 Quotation Marks p.333-337
Homework To Turn In the Following
Week
Be Prepared for Quiz on 75 Readings
Plus Readings
Rough Draft – Presentation on
Argument Essay
Persuasion
Jonathan Swift “A Modest
Proposal”
Martin Luther King Jr “I Have a
Dream”
Naomi Shihab Nye “To Any
Would-Be Terrorists”
Grammar Corner
Based on Global Issues in Class
Papers
14
11/26
15
12/03
Lecture

Strategies for Giving
Presentations
Rough Draft
Presentations on
Argument Essay
The Little Seagull Handbook
W-6 Giving Presentations p.37-42
In-Class Activities



Prepare for Presentation Argument
Essay
75 Readings Plus Quiz
Practice: Presentation:
Argument Essay
Peer Feedback
Grammar Corner
7
Be Prepared for Quiz on 75 Readings
Plus Readings
Revisions on Presentation on
Argument Essay
Date
Topics
16
12/10
Based on Global Issues in Class
Papers
Final Presentations on Argument
Essay
Due for this Class Date
8
Homework – To Read in Preparation
for Following Week
Homework To Turn In the Following
Week