English 28: Intermediate Reading and Composition

Mr. Joseph Ferrerosa

English 28 sec. 1138

Fall 2017

CON High SJ 2324

MWF 1:50 - 2:50 pm

MWF 2:50-3:10 pm

ferrerj@lacitycollege.edu

Office hours: MW 3:20 – 3:50 pm

Course DescriptionPerquisite: ESL 6A or 73 or 97 or equivalent or appropriate placement score. Co-requisite: English 67

PLEASE NOTE: English 67 is a required part of this course. We will spend additional class time

together as a result. Please plan accordingly.

DESCRIPTION: Students receive instruction in techniques of writing at the college level. Students

develop writing and reading skills, with emphasis on grammar, various essay writing, and analysis of

fiction and non-fiction materials.

This class in particular will look at essays and fiction as a means of learning more about issues that

currently affect students in our society. This course will eventually lead to a persuasion paper of 4-6

pages to prepare students for the Research Paper in English 101.

Student Learning Outcomes for English 28:

1. The student will write within full MLA guidelines with prose that is generally free of major

sentence-level errors.

2. The student’s writing will actively attempt to analyze the content of a reading and will show

moderate synthesis of concepts from the course’s reading and lectures, incorporating direct

evidence from the focal reading.

Required Texts

50 Essays by Samuel Cohen and Kindred by Octavia Butler.

NOTE: These are LOANED books, which means you need to return them to me at the end of the

semester. Failure to do so will have several consequences. Please keep in mind that you should also keep

them as pristine as possible.

High School vs. College

Although this a dual enrollment class at a high school, it will be treated as a college course. This simply

means that it will involve the same rules as a college course such as: attendance records, due dates (when

assigned) and readings that are considered “college level.” Keep in mind that being mature is also a part

of college level classes, which means keeping an open mind and not attacking others whether physically

or otherwise. So be sure to keep this in mind throughout the semester.

Important! Drop Date InformationThe deadline to drop without a “W” is the last day of Week 2 (of the semester), which is Sunday, September 10th for Fall 2017. If you must drop a course, drop before the specified deadline for dropping a class without a grade of "W." Dropping after Week 2 will result in a “W” on your transcript. Effective July 1, 2012 students will only have 3 attempts to pass a class. If a student gets a "W" or grade of "D", "F", “I”, or "NP" in a class, that will count as an attempt. A student’s past record of course attempts district wide will also be considered. Therefore, before the end of Week 2 you should carefully consider if you can reasonably manage this course with the other factors in your life (e.g. work, family, course load). If you think you will not be able to complete this course with a C or better, drop by Sunday, September 10th. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to talk to me. You may also see a counselor in the Counseling Center in the new Student Services Building on the 2nd floor.

Note: For Dual Enrollment students, you must know your student ID number in order to drop the course on your own. Short-term classes: Drop dates for short-term classes are not the same as full semester classes. For specific deadline dates, please contact the Admissions Office.

HOLIDAYS

Labor Day (F-M Sep 1-4)

Veteran’s Day (F Nov 10)

Thanksgiving (M-F Nov. 20-24)

Note: All holidays are under the LAUSD calendar and are specific to this class.

Tentative Course Schedule 1

September

Week 1: Introductions

8/28 Intro to class syllabus, plagiarism, English 28 Questionnaire

HW: Pick up texts and read Sherman Alexie’s essay

8/30 “Superman and Me,” types of essays, MLA Format, commas, identify thesis, Quiz 1

1 All readings, dates and exams are subject to change. Legend: KIN = Kindred

9/1 HOLIDAY (NO CLASS)

Week 2

9/4 HOLIDAY (NO CLASS)

9/6 “Politics and the English Language,” thesis, writing process, clichés

HW: Prepare outline and bring to class on Wednesday

9/8 “Learning to Read and Write,” writing process, verb tenses, Quiz 2

HW: Outline for Essay 1 due; prepare at least 2 body paragraphs for peer review

Week 3

9/11“Reading to Write,” peer review, apostrophes

HW: Draft due

9/13 “Learning to Read,” paragraph building, capitalization, quoting

9/15 “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression,” Bloom’s Taxonomy, Quiz 3

HW: Prepare to turn in final draft of Essay 1

Week 4

9/18 “The Education of Women” and from The Vindication of the Rights of Women, run-ons

HW: HW: Essay 1 due, “In-Class Writing Guide” and “Group Writing” (handouts)

9/20 “Give Her a Pattern,” fragment sentences, Quiz 3

9/22 “Subjection of Women,” sentence structure

HW: Outline due

Week 5

9/25 “Professions of Women,” quotation marks, in-text citations

9/27 “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” misspelled words

HW: Draft due

9/29 “Mother Tongue,” “On Discovery,” exam test strategies, Quiz 4

Week 6

10/2 “How It Feels to be Colored Me,” parallel structure and dangling modifiers

10/4-6 Midterm

Week 7:

10/9 “Shooting an Elephant,” persuasion paper strategies, topic proposal

HW: Bring in a list of 3 topics for persuasion paper

10/11 “Morals of a Prince,” KWR process

HW: Topic proposal due

10/13 “The Declaration of Independence,” “Gettysburg Address,” counterargument, Quiz 5

HW: Draft due on Monday

Week 8

10/16 “A More Perfect Union”

HW: Draft 1 due

10/18 “On the Pleasure of Hating,” “On Civil Disobedience,”

10/20 “Allegory of the Cave” (perhaps the best essay ever), Quiz 6

HW: Draft w/ at least 3 pages due

Week 9

10/23 Plot and summary, “Young Goodman Brown” and “Cask of Amontillado”

10/25 “Tell-Tale Heart” and “Most Dangerous Game”

HW: Read “Themes, Symbols and Motifs” (PDF)

10/27 “The Raven,” “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Quiz 7

HW: Essay 3 due

Week 10

10/30 The Raven clips

HW: Enjoy bringing your brothers and sisters trick or treating

11/1 “The Sandman”

HW: Bring in draft for Essay 4

11/3 “The Sandman,” Quiz 8

Week 11

11/6 KIN 9-37

11/8 KIN 38-52

HW: Essay 4 due

11/10 VETERANS DAY (NO CLASS)

Week 12

11/13 KIN 52-74

11/15 KIN 74-108

11/17 KIN 108-131, Quiz 9

Week 13

11/20-24 Thanksgiving (NO CLASS)

Week 14:

11/27 KIN 131-168

11/29 KIN 189-213

12/1 KIN 213-240, Quiz 10

Week 15

12/4 KIN 240-265

12/6 KIN 265-285

12/8 Wrap-Up Course, Final Exam prep

WEEK 16

12/13 FINAL EXAM @ 1:50 - 3:50 pm

Grading

Grading Scale: English 97 is a six-unit course that is graded as Credit (“C”) or No Credit (“NC”). If you

receive at least 70% or better on everything, you will pass this course! The grading scale is as follows:

A = 90-100; B= 80-89; C = 70-79; 60-69 = D, F= 0-59

Participation/HW = 10%

Quizzes = 10%

English 67 = 5%

Essay 1 = 10%

Essay 2 = 10%

Midterm = 10%

Essay 3 = 15%

Essay 4 = 15%

Final Exam = 15%

Total = 100%

AssignmentsParticipation/HW: Your participation grade mainly revolves around class attendance, attitude and doing

the HW as seen above in the syllabus. It is very important you come to class especially at the beginning

of the semester. If you miss the first two classes without letting me know, I will drop you. If you have

three or more unexcused absences in the semester, you will be dropped from the course. Therefore, it’s

important to let me know in advance (via e-mail). Excused absences are things that are out of control

such as: religious holidays, death of a family member and illness.

Attendance: Attendance is critical in this class. You are allowed no more than two 2 unexcused

absences for the semester. Being to every class is essential for you to succeed in this course. If

something unexpected comes up, please let me know. There are cases of excused absences such as a

religious holiday or a doctor’s note. Please send me an e-mail or notify me in advance and be sure to get

the signature of an official person that verifies your need to be absent.

English 67 Lab Hours: As part of the class, you agree to sign up for a section of English 67. This means

that every time you show up to class, you will receive English 67 credit hours. As long as you show up,

you will receive 10% credit.

Quizzes: Quizzes will be given on readings we do throughout the semester. Usually I divide quizzes into

5-10 questions. These quizzes are a mix of multiple choice, fill in the blank, short answer or true and

false. Keep in mind that you cannot make up a quiz, but you can certainly take it before the rest of class

takes it.

Essay AssignmentsOut of Class Essays: I expect you to write two (2) out of class essays. I will provide prompts and/or

guidelines for you to follow. You will respond to only one (1) prompt question. These will be of varying

lengths. Essay 1 will be 2-3 pages in length, Essay 3 will be a longer analysis of 4-6 pages. All page

lengths count as long as they reach the designated page. The page limits do not count the Works Cited

page.

All essays will follow MLA format, which means they are typed, double-spaced, make sure in the

Paragraph feature that all spacing between paragraphs is set to 0” Before and After, with 12-point,

Times New Roman font on regular printing paper. All margins must be 1” and all paragraph indents

must be done with the TAB button. Use the “insert” feature of Microsoft Word to include your name on

the top-right hand side of every page (I will demonstrate this in class). All essays must contain a title (not

title page), and all essays start with your name, class, my name and the date in the top left-hand corner

like so:

Your Name

English 101

Mr. Ferrerosa

00/00/00

WARNING: If you don’t turn in one or more your essays, you run the risk of failing the course. If

you cannot do or turn in Essay 3, you will fail the course.

In-Class Writing Exams: You will be given two (2) in-class writing exams: Midterm and Final. For

each exam you will have the entire class period. For the Midterm you will have 1 hour and 20 minutes,

and for the final two hours (see tentative schedule for dates and times). If you cannot make it to an exam,

e-mail me 24 hours in advance and I’ll set up an earlier time for you to take the exam.

WARNING: If you miss one of the exams (without letting me know in advance), you run the risk of

getting no higher than an 85% in the course. If you miss both exams, you will fail the course.

Late Work Policy

You must provide a reason for turning in work late. I will accept a doctor’s note or a family emergency

such as a death in the family or religious holiday. If that is the case, you need to notify me within 24

hours, otherwise I will assume you simply chose not to turn in the assignment. All unexcused work

turned in past the due date will automatically lose 10%. Every day following past the due date will result

in another 10%, which is why I will not accept late work 2 days beyond the deadline. If it is an excused

absence, I will collect it during the next class period (i.e. Monday or Wednesday).

Class Policies

Etiquette for coming in late: If you come in late or leave early, please go to your seat. If it’s the day an

assignment is due, please wait until the break or after class to hand it in.

Etiquette in the classroom: If you have a question or wish to speak, please raise your hand. We will be

talking about many issues, so please respect everyone’s views.

Etiquette of drinking, eating, gum and texting: NO SODA, NO FOOD, and NO TEXTING!

Etiquette for cell phone usage: Please have it on silent when you enter the class. No calls inside of

class. If you need to make a call, please go outside of the building. Students who do not adhere to this

policy will be asked to leave the class. If it happens a second time, the student will be referred to the Vice

President of Student Services, and will return to class only after the Vice President has cleared him/her to

return.

Etiquette for extreme cases: please be aware that I have the right to call campus police in order to escort

a student that I believe is threatening or causing harm to the classroom environment.

Some Important Resources

Los Angeles City College Library: Have a question about MLA format or want to borrow a book?

Consult the website or ask a librarian online. You have access to librarians online who are willing to

answer any research questions you might have. We also have the Inter-Library loan, which means you

can borrow anything from another college in the LACCD and return it via the LACC campus. See their

website for hours and materials: www.library.lacitycollege.edu

LAPL: If you are a resident of Los Angeles County (some exceptions i.e. the County of Los Angeles

libraries), you have access to all Los Angeles public libraries free of charge. You can borrow books, print

and request materials just like the LACC Library. They also have an L.A. Inter-Library system, which

means you can get materials from San Pedro sent to your local library and can return it to your local

library. The John C. Fremont Library is right across the street from campus. See their website for

locations: www.lapl.org

Financial Aid: If you need help paying for books and other college expenses, call the Financial Aid

Office at (323) 953-4000 ext.2010, http://www.lacitycollege.edu/stusvcs/finaid/.

Accommodations (OSS): Students with a verified disability who may need authorized accommodation(s)

for this class are encouraged to notify the instructor and the Office of Special Services (323-953-4000,

ext.2270) as soon as possible, and at least two weeks before any exam or quiz. All information will

remain confidential.

Student Code of Conduct (plagiarism): Violations of academic integrity include, but are not limited to,

the following actions: cheating on an exam, plagiarism, working together on an assignment, paper or

project when the instructor has specifically stated students should not do so, submitting the same term

paper to more than one instructor, or allowing another individual to assume one’s identity for the purpose

of enhancing one’s grade (see LACCD Board Rule 9803.28). Penalties may include a grade of zero or "F"

on an exam or paper, or even suspension from the College.