English 102 Syllabus

Professor: Iris Chao

Email: chao_iris@sccollege.edu or ichao7@hotmail.com

Office Hours: By appointment only

PREREQUISITE(S)
Prerequisite
A grade of C or better in English 101 or English 101H.
CATALOG DESCRIPTION
A second semester course in composition and literature that uses literature to develop critical thinking skills with extensive readings selected from the four major genres.

Through reading about the monster and/or the monstrous in literature, students will question what it means to be human and understand how cultures create fictional monsters as ways to define what it means to be civilized.

Out of Class Academic Expectations

Your study and work habits outside of class are an extension of your time in class.  The workload for this course is approximately 12 hours per week (4 hours in class, and up to 8 hours outside of class).  This means that in addition to our time spent together during meetings, you should expect to spend at least 4 additional hours per week on homework, reading, research and writing.  Additionally, even if a specific assignment is not due for the week, you are still expected to spend this amount of time on activities that will increase your understanding of the subject, such as re-reading texts, writing notes, reviewing course materials, working on upcoming assignments and pursuing independent reading.

Textbook Information (all required readings will have free online links provided under Modules - copies can be purchased online i.e. Amazon):

They Say, I Say 

Student's Guide Introduction to Critical Thinking

"Beowulf"

"Phantom of the Opera"

Dracula

Frankenstein

"The Lottery"

"Mask of the Red Death"
Martian Chronicles
Wicked

Never let me go

Split

Grading for Course:

ASSIGNMENTS                  PERCENTAGE

Paper 1: Inquiry                              10%

Paper 2: Definition                         10%

Paper 3: Literary Analysis           15%

Paper 4: Persuasive                      20%

Paper 5: Final Essay (timed)       10%

Attendance/ Participation            10%

Response Folder                            10%

Homework/ Quizzes                     15%

Assignments

ALL TYPED PAPERS MUST BE DOUBLE-SPACED WITH 1” MARGINS ON ALL FOUR SIDES (MLA FORMAT)

Course Requirements and Grading Criteria

 

Homework/ In-class work grading scale:

+          =A

\/+        =B

\/          =C

\/-         =D

-           =F

You will be graded for all stages of the writing process we cover in class—the homework/ in-class work grading scale will be used.

 

The grading scale is as follows:

100-98 = A+              89-87 = B+                79-77 = C+                69-67 = D+

97-94 = A                   86-84 = B                   76-74 = C                  66-64 = D

93-90 = A-                 83-80= B-                  73-70 = C-                 63-60 = D-

                                                                                                            Below 60 = F

Attendance Policy:

Instructor may drop/ fail students due to excessive absences (more than four).

Every 4 tardies = one (1) absence (10 minutes late)

No late assignments accepted. Assignments missed during absences cannot be made up.

Late final draft papers will be accepted, but the grade will go down for each day it is late [does not apply to in-class or final paper][in-class essays can only be made up with appropriate excuse (see above)].

The instructor reserves the right to give a grade of 0 or to require a proctored rewrite if he/she feels that the paper may be the product of too much outside help, if it does not reflect the writer’s abilities or if the voice and style coming through the paper do not match the writer’s voice and style in the discussion boards, drafts, emails and other writing done in class.  Furthermore, all major assignments will be submitted to Turnitin.com.

A RESEARCH GUIDE:

You can consult the Online Writing Lab at Purdue: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

READING, WRITING and ARTICULATING  

It is essential to your success in this course that you read and complete the assigned works prior to class discussion, and that you engage in class discussion. Keep in mind, too, that if you find that a particular text or film just doesn’t do it for you, this is perfectly understandable and you should bring up your guttural feelings of disgust, malaise frustration or whatever in class. Your sense may actually constitute the beginnings of a valid critical response. Learning how to be patient with a text is part of the process of becoming a good critical reader. The long and the short of it is: if you have not done the reading, you will probably not understand a lick of what I say about the texts, will no doubt be ineffective (or worse, mute) in class discussion, and will not be able to begin work on your writing assignments. You will quickly find that this is an intense course that demands your attention, participation and organization.

 

WARNING: It is very likely that you may have to seek help with your grammar in order to pass this course. If you are an English Language learner (and many of us are), be prepared for that contingency if you receive a grade lower than C on your first assignment.

POLICIES

• You will lose one full grade per day for late final papers (unless we have previously agreed on another arrangement).
• YOU AND YOU ALONE are responsible for obtaining any handouts and/or information from a missed a class. I suggest an exchange of emails with a fellow student for this purpose.
• Failure to do the assigned reading will transform me into a cruel taskmaster.
• Multiple absences WILL negatively affect your final grade. Please let me know beforehand if you need to leave class early or if you will be late.
• NO LAPTOPS. NO PHONES. (except for class work)

ACADEMIC HONESTY/PLAGIARISM:

The work you turn in for this course must be your own original compositions, and the use of other sources or materials must be properly acknowledged.  Plagiarism means misrepresenting someone else’s words or ideas as your own or without appropriate credit, turning in someone else’s work as your own, turning in work in one course that was produced to satisfy the requirements of another course, or unacknowledged collaboration on assignments.  In addition to being careful to properly attribute proprietary ideas, be aware of the difference between proofreading and plagiarism: a proofreader points out mistakes and typographical errors which you are capable of detecting but have missed.  It becomes plagiarism when your reader rewrites your essay.  Plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, or any other form of academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will result in penalties ranging from failure on the offending assignment to failure in the class and being reported to the Dean of Student Services.

Because this course requires extensive use of primary and secondary material, it is especially important that you be aware of your intellectual obligations and take care to document your work diligently.  We will discuss the problem of plagiarism and how and why to avoid it in class.  Please consult the section on plagiarism and how to avoid it in our writing handbook, or, if you have any doubts or questions, just ask!  You can also read the “Academic Honesty and Dishonesty” section of the Schedule of Classes.

Students with Disabilities

If you need course accommodations because of a disability or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please contact Disabled Student Services to register and verify your disability.

COURSE SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BY THE INSTRUCTOR

Additional Course Information: The analysis and interpretation of literature require a variety of critical thinking skills. Students must:
1. Identify and respond to the writer’s central purpose;
2. Determine the philosophical/artistic assumptions implicit in the content and structure of literary works;
3. Apply criteria of literary/artistic excellence developed by the various “schools” of interpretation;
4. Discover the importance and utility of his/her own experience in the world as a tool for criticizing literature;
5. Distinguish between his/her own responses to a work and the work itself;
6. Identify levels and shades of meaning in figurative language and in literary symbols;
7. Predict probable consequences within the plot line by recognizing foreshadowing and then justify those assumptions;
8. Recognize the close relationship or identity of form and content in literature

Course Learning Objectives: 
Writing segments are recursive and ongoing.
I. Critical Reading—The student will use critical reading strategies to understand literary works at both the literal and symbolic level in
the following genres: short story, novel, drama, and poetry. Students will be introduced to literary schools of literary criticism. Critical
reading strategies include the ability to distinguish between inferences, opinion, fact, prejudice, and belief. The student will use nduction and deduction to make conclusions about the text, drawing inferences and recognizing premises. The student will identify
questionable assumptions and fallacious reasoning. Furthermore, the student will identify syllogisms, example arguments for
soundness, assess authoritative testimony, draw sound inferences, and recognize rhetorical devices, such as sarcasm, irony, and
satire.
II. Purpose, Audience, Strategies—The student will understand various rhetorical purposes, will recognize the needs of various
audiences, and will use a variety of strategies to develop a text for a specific purpose and to appeal to a specific audience.
III. The Writing Process—The student will build upon the knowledge he or she gained in English 101 and continue to generate ideas for
a draft through pre-writing techniques. In preparing a completed draft for evaluation, the student will generate ideas through pre-writing
and pre-reading-reading techniques, plan and organize those ideas, write a rough draft, revise it for content, form, and appropriateness
of expression, and edit it for correctness.
IV. Finding and Limiting Topics and Methods of Framing Thesis Statements—The student will find and limit a topic and use sentence
patterns to frame an effective thesis statement with clear, logical support for literary analysis, evaluation, and/or explication.
V. Basic Structure of the Essay—The student will build upon the knowledge he or she gained in English 101 while integrating newly
developed skills of literary analysis to produce effective introductions that include significant, clearly defined claims, unified and
coherent developmental paragraphs, and conclusions that reframe the essential elements of the essay and provide the paper with an
effective sense of closure.
VI. Sentence Structure, Diction, and Mechanics—The student will develop style, sentence variety, and correctness by observing,
analyzing, and imitating written models, through sentence combining and by applying customary rules of grammar, punctuation, and
spelling. The student will understand and demonstrate the impact of connotative language in his or her writing.
VII. Sources and the Researched and Documented Paper—The student will use the library and other resources such as the Internet to
gather information for the documented paper. In addition, the student will choose a critical literary analysis topic and an argumentative
topic in which he or she will research and synthesize material, avoid plagiarism and document sources.
VIII. Literary Elements - The student will be able to name, define, identify and apply selected literary terminology to the critical content
and analysis of the short story, the novel, poetry and drama.
IX. Diversity - The student will identify how specific literary works reflect or challenge cultural, historical, or political contexts.
X. Discussion and Writing - The student will advocate literary analysis based on critical thinking strategies such as the Toulmin method.
In doing so, the student will develop a claim, construct sound arguments, avoid fallacies, evaluate supporting evidence, supply sufficient
support for claims, and write argumentative and persuasive essays on critical positions and problems and literary analysis.
XI. Exploring Enduring Questions - The student will analyze timeless and universal questions that are reflected in literary themes.

Student Learning Objectives:

Communication Skills                5 - Essential-always try to achieve

1. Listening and Speaking - Students will:

1. Read critically all assigned books and related materials.
2. Actively listen to class lectures, each other, audiovisual presentations and be able to identify the critical points.
3. Summarize the assigned material and articulate their own ideas about the content.
4. Write essays supported by evidence and logic, writing in an organized and grammatically correct fashion.
5. Actively participate in class discussions.

 

Thinking and Reasoning                5 - Essential-always try to achieve

1. Critical Thinking - Students will:

1. Read and demonstrate comprehension of local, regional, and international maps that illustrate U.S. history at home and abroad.
2. Recognize and differentiate historical periods.
3. Analyze and explain the content and significance of historical documents.
4. Evaluate statistical data and synthesize information into reasonable conclusions.
5. Compare and contrast approaches to similar problems and issues by peoples of different cultures.
6. Explain the relatinship between historical events and later developments in the United States.

 

Information Management                4 - Very important-often try to achieve

1. Information Competency - Students will:

1. Differentiate between primary and secondary historical sources.
2. Critically evaluate historical documents and other sources to determine their credibility and reliability.
3. Access and evaluate a variety of information sources such as print material, classroom lectures, media sources, and computer-accessible material.

 

Diversity                        3 - Important-sometimes try to achieve

1. Social - Students will:

1. Analyze historical events and evaluate their impact on Americans in different geographical regions.
2. Assess critically how history.

 

Civic Responsibility                    3 - Important-sometimes try to achieve

1. Civic Responsibility - Students will:

1. Identify and discuss thematic ethical and moral dilemmas that are present in the literary readings. Also, they will examine both historical and contemporary social issues that are present in the literary readings.

 

Life Skills                        2 - Unimportant-rarely try to achieve

1. Creative Expression - Students will:

1. Identify and discuss thematic ethical and moral dilemmas that are present in the literary readings. Also, they will examine both historical and contemporary social issues that are present in the literary readings.

Careers                        2 - Unimportant-rarely try to achieve