English 1F: Critical Reading and Writing about Cultures (I) --- 2009 Fall


Instructor: Dr. Leslie Bai
Office: HM 217C Tel.: 718-314-0076
Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday, 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm or by appointment
Email: lesliebai@yahoo.com, hbai@liu.edu
Course webpage: http://wotan.liu.edu/~lbai
Class blog: http://lesliebai.blogspot.com

Required Texts:
Nadell, Judith, John Langan & Eliza A. Comodromos. The Longman Writer: Rhetoric, reader, research guide and handbook, 7th ed. (Brief Edition). New York: Pearson Longman, 2008

Other required materials:
A pocket dictionary
A folder for portfolio
Copies of assigned reading materials for class discussion.

Course Objectives:
English 1F is an introductory writing course that uses interpretation and analysis of texts on cultures to promote critical thinking and creative writing. Through reading various texts on cultures, students are encouraged to have deeper thinking from different perspectives and to learn more about reading process and the construction of a written text. By the end of the course, students should learn how written texts create meaning, and how we, as writers, can create meaning with our own texts. In one word, students should have a better understanding of and greater skills in critical reading, thinking and writing.
What you are expected to do:
Analyze complex texts through close reading;
Develop strategies for analyzing how authors achieve their purposes;
Thinking critically about the written text's meaning as well as the strategies of constructing the text;
Write essays based on critical analyzing of others' work;
Develop writing strategies based on own critical thinking and specific evidence drawn from other sources.
Course requirements
In-class diagnostic writing
Essay I - Critical Thinking and Writing: Critique (20%)
Essay II - Create verbal-visual texts (20%);
Essay III - Analysis of a pair of related texts (20%)
Essay IV - Personal Reflective Essay (20%)
In-class practice (10%)
Class Participation (10%): Attendance Sheet is filled out every time.
Portfolio
*Any essay submitted after the due date will NOT be accepted.Failing to submit TWO essays will fail the course.

Statement on Plagiarism
Plagiarism is intellectual theft. If you submit someone else's writing as your own, you shortchange yourself and your education - you simply cannot learn without doing the work. Equally important, if you plagiarize, you create a situation that is unfair to those serious students who do work hard. As the University's catalog states, "the offense of plagiarism may be punished by a range of penalties up to and including failure in the course and expulsion from the university." The English Department takes this policy seriously and enforces it vigorously. If you plagiarize, you will fail the course.
Plagiarism includes:
Submitting as your own work a paper that has been written by someone else;
Submitting as your own work a paper that has been purchased or copies from the Internet;
Submitting as your own work, and without documentation, prose that has been copied from a printed or electronic source.

Participation and Attendance
You are expected to attend all the class punctually and participate actively in the creative and intellectual work of each session, and any absence will restrict your accomplishment of each assignment and slow your individual progress. If you have to miss a class because of poor physical condition or other uncontrollable emergency, make an early contact and get permission from the teacher first, and, meanwhile, you are still responsible for all assignments, materials and due dates relevant to the day, as well as for being prepared for the following class. More than 6 absences without permission will result in failure in the course.

Writing assistants in the Writing Center
The Writing Center, located in Humanities 202, is a free academic support service, open to all students. Writing assistants in the Writing Center are available to help students with critical reading, analysis, drafting, researching, revising and editing.
You are encouraged to seek help there in the following period:
Mondays - Thursdays 9:00 am --- 7:00 pm
Fridays 11:00 am --- 3:00pm

Weekly syllabus

Week 1: (9/9)
Introduction to Class
In-class diagnostic writing: Langston Hughes "Let America be America Again" (Rereading America, p848)


Week 2--4: (9/14---9/30) ESSAY I: Critical Reading and Writing
Critical Thinking: Perceptions and Perspectives (Perspectives, Selecting Perception)
Read Textbook: Chapter 2-3
Focus: Writing Process---Purpose, Audience, Tone and Point of View
Instruction to Essay I.
Reading Assignment:

Writing Assignment:


Week 5-7: (10/5---10/21) ESSAY II: Verbal-Visual Text
Reading Textbook: Chapter 4-6, 10, 11
Focus: Patterns of Development
Describing and Narrating (Sample: Maya Angelous: "Sister Flowers", Textbook, p167)
Instruction to Essay II.
Student Sample Writing: "Visual Images of National Identity"
Reading Assignment:

Writing Assignment:


Week 8-11: (10/26---11/17) ESSAY III: Comparing & Contrasting texts
Read Textbook: Chapter 15, 18
Focus: Outlining
Instruction to Essay III.
Reading Assignment:

Writing Assignment:


Week 12-15:(11/23-12/16) ESSAY IV: Reflective Argumentation
Read Textbook (Chapter 18, 19 & 20) Searching materials for research
Focus: Information literacy (Library Instruction: Librarian)
Instruction to Essay IV.
Student Sample Writing: "Compulsory National Service" (Textbook, p480)
Reading Assignment:

Writing Assignment: