Hello, below you will find Reading Packet #1, due to be read by Wednesday, Sept. 7. There are four poems to read. Two of them are provided in full text below and the other two are to be found on the Internet. Print out all four poems and bring to class on the 7th. You will also note that NO question and comment homework is due for this packet.
POETRY READING PACKET #1 (four poems)
“Taking my Son to School”
by Eamon Grennan
(do a google search of the above poem exactly as it is written above. The first posting will be a commencement speech give by Mr. Grennan. Open this and you will see the poem right at the beginning of the speech. Focus only on the poem, not the speech)
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"One Home”
By William Stafford
Mine was a Midwest home—you can keep your world.
Plain black hats rode the thoughts that made our code.
We sang hymns in the house; the roof was near God.
The light bulb that hung in the pantry made a wan light,
but we could read by it the names of preserves—
outside, the buffalo grass, and the wind in the night.
A wildcat sprang at Grandpa on the Fourth of July
when he was cutting plum bushes for fuel,
before Indians pulled the West over the edge of the sky.
To anyone who looked at us we said, “My friend”;
liking the cut of a thought, we could say “Hello.”
(But plain black hats rode the thoughts that made our code.)
The sun was over our town; it was like a blade.
Kicking cottonwood leaves we ran toward storms.
Wherever we looked the land would hold us up.
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“Where Children Live”
by Naomi Shihab Nye
Homes where children live exude a pleasant rumpledness,
like a bed made by a child, or a yard littered with balloons.
To be a child again one would need to shed details
till the heart found itself dressed in the coat with a hood.
Now the heart has taken on gloves and mufflers,
the heart never goes outside to find something to do.
And the house takes on a new face, dignified.
No lost shoes blooming under bushes.
No chipped trucks in the drive.
Grown-ups like swings, leafy plants, slow-motion back and forth.
While the yard of a child is strewn with the corpses
of bottle-rockets and whistles,
anything whizzing and spectacular, brilliantly short-lived.
Trees in children's yards speak in clearer tongues.
Ants have more hope. Squirrels dance as well as hide.
The fence has a reason to be there, so children can go in and out.
Even when the children are at school, the yards glow
with the leftovers of their affection,
the roots of the tiniest grasses curl toward one another
like secret smiles.
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“To a Daughter Leaving Home”
by Linda Pastan
(please google the poem and you will find it on PoemHunter.com)
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tuesday, August 30th--11 am
Greetings!
Below you will find a copy of the course outline as well as the Grade Worksheet distributed yesterday in class.
ALSO!
Attention, 1A students in my Section 4 class only (10-10:50 am) !!!!!
We are changing rooms!!!!
Beginning tomorrow, we will be meeting in Mendocino 1030.
See you there!
My other two sections of 1A will meet as usual in the originally scheduled room.
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FALL 2011, CSU SACRAMENTO
COURSE: English 1A: College Composition I
Section 1, MWF, 8-8:50 AM (Mariposa 1010)
Section 84, MWF, 9-9:50 AM (A LEARNING COMMUNITY) (Brighton 109)
Section 4, MWF, 10-10:50 AM (Mendocino 1030)
INSTRUCTOR: Catherine Fraga
E-mail: sacto1954@gmail.com
Office Hours: CLV 149, MWF 11-11:50 AM or by appointment
CLASS BLOG: http://English1AFall2011Fraga.blogspot.com
Prerequisites: Placement by examination OR successful completion of English 1 or its equivalent.
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REQUIRED TEXTS & MATERIALS
• Made for You and Me: Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home—A Memoir
By Caitlin Shetterly
Publisher: Voice
• The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood
by Kien Nguyen
Publisher: Bay Back Books
• Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers—8th Edition
by Jay Silverman, Elaine Hughes, Diana Roberts Wienbroer
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• 8 1/2” x 11” lined notebook paper (paper that is torn out of a notebook without a straight edge will not be accepted).
• Stapler
• Reliable access to a computer and a printer.
• Two (2) Blue (or Green) Books for the two in-class essays
(these can be found in the university’s bookstore—they are available in two different sizes—either size is acceptable)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
English 1A is a freshman writing course that offers students the opportunity to learn and develop the reading and writing skills that will be most useful to them during a four-year college program. The course is designed to help students improve their ability to understand and critically judge reading material and to write an essay which has a single controlling idea and which is coherently developed using idiomatically and grammatically correct English.
The heart of the course is readings that require a range of narrative, analytical, reflective and research writing skills.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attendance and punctuality are required. I have designed this course so that it depends on your presence and participation. If you’re absent, you are still responsible for finding out what you’ve missed (including lecture notes, handouts, changes in due dates, etc.) Refer to your class phone list.
2. Having more than three absences will seriously alter your final grade. This is not because I do not consider you mature enough to make a commitment to a class; it is because if you do miss more than 3 classes, you miss group work, or in class writing, or a journal assignment, or a quiz, or an in class essay assignment, and/or a bevy of other possible events, all of which affect the grade you earn. Please communicate with me. I am very understanding and reasonable.
If you must miss a class on a day an assignment is due, you are still responsible for getting the assignment to me on time. Again, use the phone list, call your mother, or??? This is merely a fairness issue; we all have life situations that are often difficult and unexpected, and if others manage to still get their work in on time, I cannot give special exceptions to just a few.
3. There will be numerous reading and writing assignments in this course. I expect you to complete them on time and come prepared to class. We may not get an opportunity to discuss everything we read for class, but that is inevitable in any college course.
4. You will complete a question and comment assignment for several of the reading assignments. The question is optional, but the commentary is not. Your commentary must be a minimum of eight sentences in length. (I know ALL the shortcuts students may try. Be assured that if you write eight very short, simple sentences you will not receive credit for the assignment. A thorough explanation of what is required for these question and comment assignments and a sample will be provided.) No late homework will be accepted.
5. Out of class essays may be handed in late, but there is a stiff penalty. For every day your essay is late, the grade for that essay will drop a full ten points. This includes weekends. Points subtracted for lateness cannot be made up during the revision process.
6. Journal writing assignments are assigned and completed in class and are not allowed to be made up.
7. Quizzes: There will be three scheduled quizzes on the Handbook and five unannounced, unscheduled quizzes during the semester. If you come prepared to class the quizzes should present no problems for you.
8. A note on classroom etiquette:
If you feel you cannot survive each class session without the use of your cell phone, iPod, iPad or laptop computer, please do not enroll in this class. (I own three of these devices, and value each of them, but I do not plan on using them during my classroom time with you. Simply, it is the highest degree of rudeness and disrespect.) If I see you busy texting, etc. I will not hesitate to ask you to leave. (IF THERE IS A COMPELLING REASON THAT YOU MUST KEEP YOUR PHONE ON VIBRATE FOR AN EMERGENCY PHONE CALL THAT MAY OCCUR DURING CLASS HOURS, PLEASE INFORM ME BEORE CLASS.) Each cIass session is a mere 50 minutes long and plan to give you my full attention for 50 minutes and I expect the same from all my students. (Of course, if you have documented paperwork from the university indicating the need for a computer in the classroom, that is perfectly fine!)
9. HOW YOUR GRADE IS EARNED:
See attached grade roster. At no time should you wonder how you are “doing” in the course. The grade worksheet makes it very easy to keep track. Simply record your scores as you receive back your graded work. Do not discard any assignments that are graded and returned to you until the semester is over.
10. English 1A is graded A, B, C, D, or F. Do not assume that because you have not submitted an out of class essay assignment, you will still be able to pass the course. Even though you have missed the due date, and have an automatic “F” for that assignment, YOU STILL MUST WRITE AND SUBMIT ALL THREE OUT OF CLASS ESSAYS TO PASS THE COURSE, as well as earning passing scores on your other work.
Theme: The Significance of Home
• We will consider home as our course-long theme. The significance of home – as a place of beginnings, as a starting point, as a place of comfort, regret, anguish, joy, personal growth, and loss – fuels a meaningful, intriguing collection of themes. Home is a base from which all of us emerge.
• Most of us have pre-conceived notions of home as a place of love, comfort, security. For millions of children, however, these definitions do not fit their reality of home as a place to escape: escape from cycles of poverty, mistrust, abuse.
• The course will explore not only home as a safety net, but also the illusions we have of home perpetuated by Madison Avenue advertising agencies.
• What are our expectations of home? Again, does our “real” home live up to the expectations society has created? How do different cultural values and priorities play a role in determining what home should and should not be? Attempting to answer these questions is the task I have set for us during this semester.
• What does it mean to leave home for the first time? What does it mean to be rootless, without a home?
• Finally, how can we reconnect to the earth as home, knowing full well that the lives we have created for ourselves impact the finite planet all of us call home?
• We view at least two films which explore the theme of home. These films will allow us to observe and witness concepts we have read about and discussed.
COURSE OUTLINE
(Please note: Bring this outline to class each session; changes could occur at a moment’s notice. Also, most reading and writing assignments are noted -- other class exercises and lectures may not be noted specifically)
ALL OUT OF CLASS ASSIGNMENTS (HOMEWORK, ESSAYS, ETC) MUST BE TYPED AND DOUBLE SPACED UNLESS INSTRUCTED OTHERWISE. PLEASE USE TIMES NEW ROMAN, 12 POINT FONT.
Week One (August 29-Sept. 2)
• Introduction to the Course (course theme explained)
• Course Outline Distributed (handout)
• Question/Comment Homework Explained
• Unacceptable Errors (handout)
• Oral Presentation Assigned (for last week of class)
• Discussion: Reading and Evaluating Poetry
Week Two (Sept. 5-9)
• MONDAY, SEPT. 5, NO CLASS, LABOR DAY, CAMPUS WIDE HOLIDAY
• Read Packet 1 (Wednesday)
• In class Journal #1 (Wednesday)
• Read Packet 2 (Friday) Q & C #1 due today
• Group Work #1 (Friday)
Week Three (Sept. 12-16)
• Quiz based on pgs. 2-60 in Rules of Thumb (Monday)
• Discussion: How to Evaluate a Documentary Film (Wednesday)
• Out of Class Essay #1 assigned today (Wednesday)
• Discussion: Reading and Evaluating the Short Story (Wednesday)
• No class today. Get started on Essay 1! (Friday)
Week Four (Sept. 19-23)
• View 1st half of film in class (Monday)
• View 2nd half of film in class (Wednesday)
• Preparation for in-class writing next week (Friday)
• IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU START READING MADE FOR YOU AND ME. THE FIRST 65 PAGES IS DUE TO BE READ BY WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12TH.
Week Five (Sept. 26-30)
• In-class Essay #1 (Monday)
• Out of Class Essay #1 due today (Wed.)
• Read Packet #3 (Wed.) Q & C #2 due today
• Out of Class Essay #2 assigned today (Friday)
• Discuss MLA Documentation in class (Friday)
Week Six (Oct 3-7)
• Read pgs. 112-134 in Rules of Thumb (Monday)
• Quiz on pgs. 112-134 (see above) (Monday)
• Read Packet #4 (Wednesday)
• Group Work #2 (Friday)
Week Seven (Oct.10-14)
• Read pages 136-149 in Rules of Thumb (Monday)
• Quiz on pages 136-149 (see above) (Monday)
• Read pages 1-65 in Made for You and Me (Wed.)
• In class Journal #2 (Wed.)
• Group Work #3 (Friday)
Week Eight (Oct. 17-21)
• Read pages 66-152 in Made for You and Me (Monday)
• Discussion: How to Read and Evaluate Essays (Wed.)
• Read Packet #5 --Q & C #3 due today (Friday)
Week Nine (Oct. 24-28)
• Read pages 152 through to the end of the book Made for You and Me (Monday)
• In class Journal #3 (Wed.)
• Out of class essay #2 due today (Friday)
Week Ten: (Oct. 31-Nov. 4)
• Read Packet #6--Q & C #4 due today (Monday)
• Read Packet #7 (Wed.)
• Review of all Sentence Level Errors (Friday)
Week Eleven: (Nov.7-11)
• If you have not already, begin reading The Unwanted. Please have pages 5-136 read by Wednesday of this week.
• Out of class essay #3 assigned (Monday)
• Discuss The Unwanted, pages 5-136 (Wednesday)
• Veteran’s Day, Campus Closed, Holiday (Friday)
Week Twelve: (Nov.14-18)
• View film in class (Monday)
• Complete viewing of film in class (Wednesday)
• In class essay #2 on film viewed this week (Friday)
Week Thirteen: (Nov.21-25)
• Thanksgiving Holiday, Nov. 24 and 25, no classes
Week Fourteen: (Nov. 28-Dec. 2)
• By today you will have read the entire memoir, The Unwanted (Monday)
• Out of class essay #3 due today (Wed.)
• Discuss The Unwanted in class (Wed.)
• In class Journal #4 (Wed.)
• Group Work #4 (Fri.)
• Take home test on The Unwanted distributed today (Friday)
Week Fifteen (Dec. 5-9) LAST WEEK OF INSTRUCTION
• Take home test on The Unwanted due today (Monday)
• Grade Sheet Check and Oral Presentations (Wed.)
• Oral Presentations (Friday)
• Last class day (Friday)
Week Sixteen (Dec. 12-16) FINALS WEEK)
• (there is no final exam in this class)
***A NOTE ABOUT REVISIONS***
Since this is a composition course, where the goal is to become a better writer and a more sophisticated thinker, you are invited to revise one of the three out of class essays. If you choose to revise an essay, the revision along with the original, is due no later than one week after you receive the graded essay back. You MUST highlight all changes and additions you make on your revised essay.
English 1A, Fall 2011, Prof. Fraga
GRADE WORKSHEET-----1975 POINTS POSSIBLE
Stapler Check (25 pts.)
Wednesday, Sept. 7—stapler in your possession!______
Oral Presentation=(100 pts.)
Oral Pres._____(100)
Out of Class Essays (400 points)
Out of Class Essay 1_____(100 pts.) Out of Class Essay 2_____(200 pts.) Out of Class Essay 3_____(100 pts.)
Rules of Thumb Quizzes (300 points)
Pgs. 1-60 (100)_____ Pgs. 112-134 (100)_____ Pgs 136-147 (100)_____
Unannounced Quizzes (250) (50 points each)
Quiz 1____Quiz 2_____Quiz 3_____Quiz 4_____Quiz 5_____
Journals=(100 pts.)
Journal 1 (25) _____Journal 2 (25)_____Journal 3 (25)_____Journal 4 (25)_____
Homework=(200 pts.)
Q and C #1 (50)_____Q and C #2 (50)_____Q and C #3 (50)_____Q and C #4 (50)_____
In Class Group Work (200 pts.)
Group Work 1 (50 pts)_____Group Work 2 (50 pts)_____Group Work 3 (50 pts)_____Group Work 4 (50 pts)_____
In Class Essays (200 pts.)
In class essay #1 (100)_____In class essay #2 (100) _____
Take home essay on The Unwanted (200)_____
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How to assess your grade earned: Divide the points you earn by 1975 to find the percentage. Then see chart below.
100-94=A 63-60=C- Example: 1725 pts. earned=87%=B+
93-90=A- 59-54=D Example: 1444 pts. earned=73%=C+
89-84=B+ 53-0=F Example: 1901 pts. earned=96%=A
83-80=B Example: 1808 pts. earned=91%=A-
79-74=B-
73-70=C+
69-64=C
63-60=C-
59-54=D
53-0=F
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Welcome to your College Composition I blog!
Enjoy the rest of your summer break and be safe.
I look forward to meeting all of you on Monday, August 29th!
Prof. Fraga
I recommend that you purchase your required materials for this class as soon as possible. The university bookstore is VERY busy during the first week of classes. The three required texts are listed below for your convenience.
• Made for You and Me: Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home—A Memoir
By Caitlin Shetterly
Publisher: Voice
• The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood
by Kien Nguyen
Publisher: Bay Back Books
• Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers—8th Edition
by Jay Silverman, Elaine Hughes, Diana Roberts Wienbroer
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
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