Freshman Composition Syllabus

Course Syllabus:  ENGL 101 63501 Fresh Comp Syllabus V3 (1).pdf

Meet Your Instructor:  Welcome to the class!

Instructor Bio:

I've been teaching English at Santa Ana College since 2000, and I have taught all levels of English, including Engl 60, 61, 101, 101H, 103, and 270. I also teach full-time at North Orange Continuing Education in the Learning Center. I teach online/hybrid and face-to-face classes.

For me, teaching is not just a job; it is who I am and what I do. I strive to make my traditional and online classes engaging. I value my students' contributions and feedback, and I understand the competing needs of the community college student. I realize that many of my students work full time, have families, and juggle other demands while going to school. However, I also hold my students to a high level of achievement and commitment in pursuit of their education. I am passionate about Growth Mindset, which is a belief that a person's intelligence can grow by completing difficult tasks. The idea is that person's brain is more like a muscle that grows when a person works out, instead of fixed quality like one' height. 

For more information, check out: 

• My teaching website
• Rate My Professor ratings

Badges:  

• Santa Ana College Silver Canvas Badge

• Santa Ana College Accessibility Badge

Course Description:  

Catalog description: Expository and argumentative essays and the research paper. Special interest sections described in schedule of classes. CSU/UC

Instructor’s description: This course is designed specifically to teach students how to communicate clearly, think critically, and express their ideas and thoughts in college level essays. Students will learn to read and respond analytically to various sources and incorporate these sources into clearly organized academic essays while using college-level concepts, diction, and textual support. Students will also learn to conduct academic-level research and incorporate it effectively into a research paper. The emphasis for this class will focuses on how the media shapes American society.

While this is a face-to-face class, the majority of the class assignments and activities will take place online through Canvas.

Course Requirements: 

This course depends heavily on class participation; therefore, excessive absences, tardiness, and/or lack of preparation will adversely affect a student’s grade. The students are responsible for all materials and work, and they will be required to download the assignments off the class Canvas website. Students may be dropped from the course if their total absences exceed 10% of the total scheduled class hours.

Prerequisite: English 061 or English for Multilingual Students 112 or Adult Basic Education 116 with a minimum grade of C or qualifying profile from English placement process.

Textbook Information:  

• Greene, Stuart and April Lidinsky, From Inquiry to Academic Writing, 4th. Bedford St. Martins, 2015. (ISBN 978-131-907-1233)
• Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. The Bedford Handbook, 10th, Bedford St. Martins, 2017. (ISBN 978-145-768-3039)
• Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories, New Internationalist, 2016. (ISBN 978-1-906523-13-8)
• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Modern Language Association, 2016. (ISBN 978-160-329-2627 (optional)
• **Please note that the first two books are on reserve at the library (available for two hours) and there are several copies of One World in the library. 

Additional Course Information: 

Learning is not a linear process; it is collaborative. We learn from each other. Each student comes from a different background and has different experiences, which create diverse perspectives and ideas. This is a vital element of our society and integral to how we learn and grow. Therefore, we need to set up an environment where students feel safe to express their opinions/perspectives, without fear of judgement or being demeaned. As a college student, you are expected to behave maturely, handle disagreements professionally, and exhibit proper discipline and self-control. The classroom is a place of challenge, growth, and critical thinking. It may not be a place that will confirm your worldview. Students are encouraged to voice their opinions, while respecting the opinions of others, even if they disagree.

Course Learning Objectives: 

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Read, analyze, and evaluate a variety of primarily non-fiction texts for content, context, and rhetorical merit with consideration of tone, audience, and purpose. 
2. Apply a variety of rhetorical strategies in writing unified, well-organized essays with arguable theses and persuasive support.
3. Develop varied and flexible strategies for generation, drafting, and revising essays. 
4. Analyze stylistic choices in their own writing and the writing of others
5. Write timed essays in class exhibiting acceptable college-level control of mechanics, organization, development, and coherence
6. Integrate the ideas of others through paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting without plagiarism
7. Find, evaluate, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary sources, incorporating them into written essays using appropriate documentation format. 
8. Proofread and edit essays for presentation so they exhibit no disruptive errors in English grammar, usage, or punctuation. 

Student Learning Objectives:  

1. Students will demonstrate proficiency in summarizing, paraphrasing, and analyzing text.
2. Students will demonstrate proficiency in supporting complex thesis statements with sufficient support.
3. Students will demonstrate proficiency in using standard written English
4. Students will demonstrate proficiency in integrating and documenting appropriately-chosen sources, in MLA format, in an academic research essay.