Syllabus for English 1302

Composition, Rhetoric & Reading

Summer II 2010
Instructor Course

Sean Ferrier-Watson, MA ENGL 1302.041

MTWT 1:00-3:00PM
PJC-GC 125

Office Office Hours

PJC-GC 201 after class,
or by appointment

E-mail/Phone # Website
seanfwclass09@yahoo.com www.SeanENGL1302.wordpress.com
903-454-9333

Required Texts

Meyers, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8 th ed. New York: Bedford, 2007. ISBN-13:
978-0-312-45282-7

Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 6th ed. New York: Bedford, 2007. ISBN-13:978-0-312-45025-0

Course Content
This course is a continuation of English 1301. It will emphasize critical reading, competent
writing, vocabulary building, and the use of a library. The course will focus on literary study,
library readings, research essays, and themes.

Course Prerequisites
English 1301

Purpose
This course is a composition and rhetoric course. The course will concentrate upon improving
thinking and writing skills. It will emphasize the aims— the “why”—and the modes—
the “how”—of composition as they apply to the communication process. Assignments will
include pre-writing activities, essay writing, editing, revision, oral discussion, group work, and
reading of novels, as well as lectures. Homework will include readings and exercises in the
textbooks. A major portion of the course will be devoted to writing about literature and will
include a documented research paper.

Assignment Policy
With the exception of some daily grades, all assignments should be completed on time and
formatted correctly to be considered for full credit. Major essays must be formatted in accordance
with MLA guidelines and typed in legible twelve point font. The page length and other detailed
specifications are listed further below. These assignments will be submitted in class on the
deadline listed on the course schedule. All papers should be hardcopies (printouts). If class is
canceled for some reason on a due date, the papers may be submitted electronically to the class
email account (seanfwclass09@yahoo.com) or left under my name at the front office. I will
deduct points for papers turned in late or electronically otherwise.
Procedure
The class will utilize daily lectures, class discussions, some group workshops, and
creative writing to instruct the student in researcher methods. Regular attendance is
required. Assignments will demonstrate comprehension of subject matter and modes of
writing; by end of semester, essays and tests should demonstrate practical use of modes
and academic discourse and substantial mastery of the basics of Modern Language
Association style and literary research methods.

Successful Students
ENGL 1302 students will improve attitudes towards written communication, refine writing skills
for college level discourse, increase critical reading skills, build analytical thinking skills.
successfully complete argumentative essays, respond to literature and criticism, successfully
complete a properly documented research paper, and identify and utilize MLA style for citing
sources.

Attendance Policy
Attendance is mandatory. As with any college class, attendance is a vital part of the learning
process. If a student misses more than three class sessions, a deduction will be applied to the
student’s participation grade (attendance is an important part of your grade, so please do not
underestimate the attendance policy). Absences are considered to be unauthorized unless due to
sickness, valid emergencies (i.e. hospitalization of family or friend), or sanctioned school
activities. The student must present proof of the incident before an excuse will be issued. If,
through a misfortune, a student should arrive after the instructor has recorded absences, it is the
student’s responsibility to talk with the instructor immediately after class in order to discuss
changing the unauthorized absence to a tardy. Excessive absences can result in a failing grade for
the class. If the problem is serious enough to miss a significant amount of class, then the student
should consider dropping the course or speaking with the university. There will be no make up
for missed assignments, but the instructor may allow for extra daily assignments for students with
authorized absences.

Late Policy
I will accept late major grades for partial credit. The grade for these assignments will be
determined by its merit and number of days past the due date. Daily grades and attendance are not
redeemable under this policy. If you are absent or fail to complete a daily assignment, I will not
allow a make-up grade.

Special Needs or Learning Disabilities

The Student Development Center is responsible for coordinating services for students with
special needs. Individual students have the right and the responsibility to decide whether and
when to choose among accessible service offerings. Paris Junior College provides equal
opportunities for students with disabilities and ensures access to a wide variety of resources and
programs. The College will make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with a
documented physical, psychological, or learning disability who have been admitted to the College
and have requested accommodations. Any student who has special needs or disabilities is
encouraged to feel free to discuss his or her concerns with me privately. Your concerns will
remain confidential.

Daily Grade/ Homework Policy

Daily coursework and homework will be assigned periodically throughout the semester. These
assignments are graded pass/fail. In other words, if you fail to complete the assignment or
 approach it incorrectly, you will not receive credit for the assignment. Note: daily grades and
homework are not replaceable. If you miss a daily assignment, please do not ask to make it up. I
will, however, offer extra credit assignments for daily grades from time to time, but you should
not make a habit of missing these assignments.

Major Essays
We will have three major essays in this class: 1) a reader response essay, 2) an essay selecting
one contemporary mode of literary criticism, and 3) a critical analysis involving scholarship from
another discipline. I will provide a prompt sheet for all three essays, and each of these essays will
be worth 20% of your course grade (see below for more details).

Weekly Response Essays

These essays are designed to be a first step into writing one of your major essays. They should
respond to one of our readings for the week and make an original argument, focusing on one of
the critical modes discussed in class. I expect all of these essays to conform to MLA guidelines
and reflect your skills as an argumentative writer--a clear title and thesis statement must also
accompany your response.

Rewrite Policy
Students will be allowed to rewrite one major essay for full credit. I will not permit students to
rewrite a paper with a grade above an 88%. All rewrites must be submitted one week after the
graded assignment has been returned to the student. Since the final essay is due the last day of
class, it will of course be an exception to the rewrite policy. I recommend that students only
rewrite papers with a grade of B- or lower. If you have any concerns about the rewrite policy,
please address these concerns with me as soon as possible. (Note: this policy will not apply to late
submissions.)

Peer Editing
Criticism is an important part of the writing process. It provides insight, awareness and
perspective to any well written work. As students of writing, you will need to practice well
developed and constructive criticism. To help cultivate this process, I will divide you into peer
editing groups. These groups must be composed of three to five students and will be expected to
meet in and out of class. Since many of you are new to college writing, I highly recommend that
you seek as much feedback as possible on an assignment before submitting it for a grade. Peer
editing and other in-class activities are an essential part of class participation. If you are not
participating in peer editing, then it is reasonable to expect a deduction in your final grade.

Grading Policy

Participation 20%
 Attendance 10%
 Homework/Daily Work/Peer Editing 10%
Weekly Response Papers 20%
 1 page in length, typed and double spaced
 Respond to the reading for the week
 Do not merely summarize the content of the reading
 Make a critical argument about the text
 Four total for the semester
Essay #1 20%
 3-5 pages in length
  Must contain a works cited page
 Check handout for details
Essay #2 20%
 3-5 pages in length
 Must contain a work cited page
 Must contain a working bibliography to accompany proposal
 Check handout for details
Essay #3 20%
 3-5 pages in length
 Must contain a work cited page with three sources
 Must contain an annotated bibliography of six sources consulted
 Check handout for details

Class Assignments & Reading Schedule

Summer 2010
July
Week 1

12—First Day!
 Class Introduction
 Review of Syllabus & Class Schedule
13—Hemingway & Faulkner
 “Soldier’s Home,” 185p
 “On What Every Writer Needs,” 192p
 “A Rose for Emily,” 95p
 “On ‘A Rose for Emily,’”102p
14—Joyce Carol Oates
 “The lady with the Pet Dog,” 249p
 “Three Girls,” 77p
15—Alice Walker & Jamaica Kincaid
 “Roselily,” 266p
 “Everyday Use,” 757p
 “Girl,” 719p
 Weekly Response Paper Due

Week 2

19—John Updike & Katherine Anne Porter

 “A&P,” 753p
 “The Witness,” 742p
20—Ursula K. Le Guin &Margaret Atwood
 “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” 732p
 “Bored,” 849p
 1st Essay Due
21—Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Naguib Mahfouz, &Mohit Prasad
 “One of These Days,” 692p
 “The Answer is No,” 690p
 Two Poems, handout (Fijian poet)
22—Don DeLillo & Rick Bass
 “Videotape,” 627p
 “Her First Elk,” 658p
 Weekly Response Paper Due

Week 3
26— Nathaniel Hawthorne
 “Young Goodman Brown,” 398p
 “Birthmark,” 416p
27—Kate Chopin & Flannery O’Connor
 “The Story of an Hour,” 15p
 “Good Country People,” 456p
28—Flannery O’Connor & Sussan Minot
 “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” 445p
 “Lust,” 349p
29—Ralph Ellison
 “Battle Royal,” 285p
 Annotated Bibliography and Proposal Discussion
 Essay #2 Due
 Weekly Response Paper Due

August

Week 4
2—Shakespeare
 Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 1589 (Read Act I-IV)
3—Shakespeare Cont.
 Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Finish the play)
4—Arthur Miller
 Death of a Salesman, 1908 (read first half)
5—Arthur Miller Cont.
 Death of a Salesman (second half)
 Weekly Response Paper Due

Week 5
9—MLA Style & Literary Criticism
 Looking at contemporary issues in literary criticism
10—Library
 We will move to the library to research after the start of class
11—Peer Editing Day
 We will meet in class and go over completed rough drafts
12—Final Essay Due
 Essay #3
13—Grades are due