Course: English 112 -- English Composition
Instructor: Dr. Julie Barak
Office: 435 Lowell Heiny Hall
Offic Hours: 9:00-9:50 MWF, 11:00-11:50 TR
Phone: 248-1072
E-Mail: [email protected]
Home Page: http:www.mesastate.edu/~jbarak

Course Goals: To examine, discuss, and practice composing various styles and modes of writing in order to develop the confidence, independence, and skills necessary to tackle virtually any writing task assigned in any college class. Smaller pieces of our task might include, but are not limited to, thinking, reading, and writing critically about literature and other types of texts; discovering the steps in the research process and applying those steps in our own writing; summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting and citing source material without plagiarizing; eliminating distracting mechanical errors from our writing.

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 Course Methods: Two things are important about the course in terms of methods. First of all, the course is designed as a writing workshop. That means that we’ll spend most of our class time writing, reading, and talking about writing and/or reading. We’ll write about others’ writing, write about our own writing process, write about various subjects, read our own writing out loud in large and small groups, read others’ writing, and discuss everything! Second, I’ve chosen a topic to help us begin our reading/writing/conversing. That topic is the people, politics, history and culture of Kenya. I hope that as you learn about Kenya, you’ll make comparisons to the U.S. and branch off into reading and research that builds bridges between the two. Or, maybe, what you read about Kenya will prompt you to ask some questions about U.S. customs, beliefs, policies, and habits that will shape a research project for you.

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Required Texts:
Ngugi, The River Between.
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.
Watson, Modern Kenya: Social Issues and Perspectives.

 Optional Text:
Harvey, Writing with Sources: A Guide for Students.

 Other Expenses:
Occasional copies of your own writing for large and small group discussion.

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Course Requirements:

• Three Papers: One essay on Romeo and Juliet (10%), one on The River Between (15%), and one extended research paper that has its source in a chapter of Modern Kenya (25%). More details about and explanation of these assignments will follow.
• Writing Process Journal: This journal reflects on your writing process. In it, you might consider answering questions like the following: How does what I read affect what I write? What are the best circumstances for writing for me? Why am I struggling with a certain essay at this point? What are possibilities for moving beyond these struggles? What kind of revision is necessary in this piece of writing? What should I do next in this piece of writing? How do I feel about the feedback I’ve received about this essay? What do I want to accomplish with this text? Who is my reader and what do I want them to think or feel when they’ve concluded the piece? Where can I gather more details to support my thesis? How do I feel about other classmates’ writing? What would I do with that writing if it were mine? What did I learn about writing from an in-class exercise? As we go through the semester I’ll make more suggestions for the journals. Basically, though, this is the place to record your thoughts about your writing. Spend 15-20 minutes a day jotting down your thoughts, ideas, struggles, plans. (15%).
• Discussion Leadership: Two students will lead the discussions of the readings each day. You should come to class prepared with observations, questions, connections that will promote a discussion of the text under scrutiny. You’ll have to act as a leader more than once during the semester. Sign-up sheets will be circulated and posted so that everyone knows who is responsible for what when. (15%).
• Attendance and Participation: In a workshop setting, your contributions to discussion are very important. If you’re not here you can’t share what you know and we all miss out. So, show up and speak up. You lose points for turning in late work, for not attending class, for not sharing your ideas and writing, for "corrosive" behaviors – those behaviors that eat away productive, cooperative learning. You gain points for showing up, sharing your work and your responses to others’ work, asking thoughtful questions and making useful suggestions. (20%).

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 Policies and Procedures:

• Academic Misconduct. Please read the section on cheating and plagiarism in the student handbook. The consequences for cheating and plagiarism are severe, including failure for the assignment, possible failure of the course, disciplinary referral to the dean, and possible expulsion from the college. If you have questions about these violations of academic honesty, please come and see me.
• Disabilities. If you have any condition, such as a physical or mental disability, which will make it difficult for you to carry out the work for the course, please talk to me and we will work with the support services here at Mesa State to provide you with the necessary assistance.

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Schedule: Week #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17

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